LED bulbs failing way too soon
RichC | November 29, 2016
It is a little disappointing to not get the number of hours out of LED bulbs as they advertise … something in the neighborhood of 50,000 hours. I’m not sure there is any warranty on Chinese Ebay bulbs, but I do know that I really liked these smaller "very low wattage" bulbs as outdoor end […]
My kids taking a walk on the same day in two different places
RichC | November 28, 2016
Chuckling at the difference between how relaxed Taylor‘s “walk” on Kauai looks (while on his backpacking trip to Hawaii) compared to the walk Katelyn and Drew took this weekend in Wayzata, MN (our September trip). Taylor’s message to me after a few days “offline” — “We made it!” A photo of the Three Amigos […]
Even Brad Paisley owned a 1984 Chevrolet Cavalier
RichC | November 27, 2016
Jay Leno’s Garage on CNBC is one of the automotive programs I record and one my dad would have enjoyed watching with me … too bad it is just a couple years late. Anyway, last week he had musicians who love cars on the program and country music star Brad Paisley shared his first car […]
Black Friday and Cyber Monday thoughts of shopping – eww!
RichC | November 26, 2016
No visits to the mall, stores or even online shopping for me on Black Friday, but I have started the process of looking for a new camera "system" to replace my aging DSLR. With my first granddaughter on the way, it might be time to get back to my roots and revisit my old hobby […]
TechFriday: Spending a few hours installing old software
RichC | November 25, 2016
It is easy to forget just how much software one ends up with after 9 years using a computer. There was everything from odd ball utilities to a variety of outdated Adobe Creative Suite design software that I occasionally need. These were all versions installed from CD and are not openly supported anymore. Unlike my […]
Happy Thanksgiving 2016
RichC | November 24, 2016
Because my kids are out of town and Brenda is working today, I didn’t intend to post anything for Thanksgiving this year; I just figure I would just let an uneventful day pass. BUT, after mentally reflecting on this past year, I realized just how much I have to be thankful for … considering what […]
Archiving a sailing route planning site — fastseas.com
RichC | November 24, 2016
On the recommendation of Carolyn Goodlander (wife of Fatty Goodlander), I’m giving the FastSeas.com weather routing and passage planning online tool a try. Not that I’m planning a bluewater passage to Bermuda just yet, but it is interesting how technology has changed route planning. Where it seems to help is in tweaking departure dates and […]
Shortened work week … or none at all for Taylor in Hawaii
RichC | November 22, 2016
I couldn’t resist sharing one of my son’s photos from his Thanksgiving trip to Hawaii. The first few days have been spent at a friends house on Oahu not to far from Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Kaneohe Bay, but they are not sitting still. Each day after the morning rain, at least the two […]
The hand-me-down Charbroil grill is almost as good as new
RichC | November 21, 2016
Last weekend my friend Jeff told me his old grill was mine for the taking, but that it was in need of some cleaning, some repair and new burners (besides the fire department tag it as unsafe for his apartment patio). I ordered new parts and a cover for under $50, repaired the rust holes […]
Remapping a couple keys on the new Lenovo Yoga 710
RichC | November 20, 2016
I couldn’t take the continued typos anymore and had to map the "right-shift" key on my new Lenovo Yoga 710 to the "arrow-up" key. So as not to lose my "arrow-up" key, I mapped that to the rarely used "right-ctrl" key. Now all is well with the world. … although I really struggled coming […]
Tinkering with a new Lenovo Windows 10 notebook computer
RichC | November 19, 2016
I just couldn’t pass up burning my $280 Best Buy credit on a new mid-level Windows 10 Lenovo Yoga notebook computer. It is going to take some time tweaking it before I’m comfortable with it, but I decided that a new MacBook Pro was not in the cards for me (too expensive and missing so […]
Testing a new computer and Open Live Writer set-up
RichC | November 19, 2016
This is only a test post … but of a painting I like. It depicts Oliver Hazard Perry, of "Don’t give up the ship" fame, and the September 10, 1813 Battle Of Lake Erie. If you are ever touring the islands of Lake Erie’s western basin, be sure to visit Put-in-Bay and Perry’s Victory and […]
Single guys in Hawaii. What could go wrong?
RichC | November 18, 2016
My son Taylor and his buddy Cam heading off this Friday morning on a trip to Hawaii. They have been planning a backpacking trip after locking up permits to hike the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali Coast on Kauai since spring. One of their college friends works and lives in Honolulu so they have […]
A 10-Digit Key Code to Your Private Life: Your Cellphone Number
RichC | November 17, 2016
You might want to use that old wire line phone number or better yet, a Google Voice number for “all things” requiring a phone number. A mobile number can be even more valuable than a Social Security number, since it’s tied to so many databases and connected to a device you carry with you. Source: […]
Enjoying the night sky and the EXTRA Supermoon this month
RichC | November 16, 2016
The autumn Supermoon of 2016 has certainly been a beautiful sight in the night sky these past few days. The last couple of evening I’ve enjoyed the view and "attempting" to capture the using only my iPhone 5s since my son has my DSLR for an upcoming trip to Hawaii; I’m hoping he will practiced […]
Free grill needing a little TLC. Good thing I can haul and weld!
RichC | November 15, 2016
My good friend and old college buddy lives in an apartment which as been visited by the fire department — they tagged his door regarding the grill on his patio. Bad for him, good for me. All I had to do was go pick it up … glad I put the hitch on the BMW […]
Testing HTML5 Compact Audio plugin for WordPress
RichC | November 14, 2016
As part of getting a handle on the Amazon S3 costs, it is finally time to move into the 21st century and eliminate the old-school audio player on MyDesultoryBlog. I attempted to go with an HTML5 player a few years ago, but struggled with using it especially with different browsers. A few years later, everything […]
Amazon storage server options can be surprisingly costly
RichC | November 13, 2016
Surprise! At least that’s what I found out when I opened a couple virtual invoices from Amazon for my two AWS accounts (personal and business). After moving files for online web content to Amazon’s fast and reliable S3 cloud-based servers a couple years ago, I’ve been happily adding content regularly since then as the cost […]
Beautiful photography of a fisherman in China
RichC | November 12, 2016
Photo credit: Xiaolong Guo
Cartridges Cut in Half: A Unique Look at 6 Popular Rounds
RichC | November 12, 2016
Have you ever wondered what ammo and its components look like internally? If so, check out the interesting and educational photos below. During a bit of free time at FOG (Finger of God) Firearms and Cartridge Company, our staff cut in half six popular hunting,… More » Source: Cartridges Cut in Half: A Unique Look […]
Neil Armstrong memories … he would have been disappointed
RichC | November 11, 2016
A lot has changed in the 11 years that have passed since I posted on “First Man” Neil Armstrong … but after re-watching the 60 Minutes clip and pondering going “back to the moon and to Mars by 2018,” Armstrong would have been disappointed as a lot hasn’t changed. Click for post from 11/11/2005 WHY […]
New Ukrainian Rocket Launcher Appears to Use Raspberry Pi
RichC | November 10, 2016
A mockup weapon seen at a Ukrainian trade show appears to use a Raspberry Pi micro PC as the basis of a guidance system—probably not at all what the inventors of the hobby computer had in mind when they introduced their affordable wonder to the world. The weapon was reportedly sighted at last month’s Bezpeka […]
Craziness and flight are synergetic terms
RichC | November 10, 2016
When contemplating just how crazy men were when trying to fly in the era of the Wright brothers, you realize "some" are still testing the envelope when it comes to craziness and flight (or perhaps "stupidity and flight?")
The morning or mourning after: Trump wins, Clinton concedes
RichC | November 9, 2016
Closing in on a president-elect Trump at 2AM
RichC | November 9, 2016
They won’t call it, but it is all but a shoe in for America’s next president … Donald J. Trump. Since both Clinton and Trump are in NYC, here’s the current New York Times website front page. Good night all and hold on for a wild financial market ride tomorrow.
A second temporary BMW 528i upper radiator hose repair
RichC | November 8, 2016
Besides being distracted on Tuesday watching the general election news, a call from my son Taylor brought me back to reality. I scrapped my afternoon plans and drove down to Clermont County where he works to "try a second time" to make a temporary repair (the first one was Sunday night). There is a ridiculously […]
Together with Katelyn and Drew for their baby reveal [video]
RichC | November 8, 2016
The highlight of this past weekend was in getting together with the Oostra family on a sunny and beautiful Sunday afternoon where Katelyn and Drew had a “Baby Oostra” reveal party. A popular trend nowadays is for young couples to make the gender reveal “an event” … and creativity seems to be the key. A […]
One last uncomforting look at our presidential choices
RichC | November 6, 2016
As someone who politically grew up at a time when Ronald Reagan instilled optimism in America and in Americans, I am disgusted and embarrassed to to watch and vote for the “least worst” person running for president. On this coming Tuesday, or for many mailing in absentee or early voting, we’ll be doing just that […]
Under pressure, Apple has cut prices on USB-C adapters
RichC | November 5, 2016
While I continue to struggle with the "do I need a new notebook computer" question, I continue to frustrate myself with the old 2007 Gateway, iMac desktop and iPad? It would really be nice to have a fast, lightweight traveling notebook computer (with more than 30 minutes of battery life!), but have found that a […]
TechFriday: Some cheap components have arrived from China
RichC | November 4, 2016
The pile of new electrical parts in my photo likely doesn’t mean much to those who don’t enjoy tinkering with computer and robotic projects, but for me a novice in programming computers gadgets, it is an chance to learn on the cheap. With the budget Raspberry Pi and Pine64 computers, beginners of “all ages” have […]
Dad posts heartbreaking photo of daughter
RichC | November 3, 2016
This is not a feel photo or story, and I suspect like me, seeing 4 year-old Jessica Whelan suffering from cancer and in pain in front of her dad is enough to bring tears to the eyes of any parent. For those sheltered from this kind of agony, a social network shared photo like this speaks […]
Chicago Cubs are finally World Series Champions
RichC | November 3, 2016
I had the best of intentions in updating a more complete rundown of World Series Game 7 between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians, but with extra innings and a rain delay, the game went into the wee hours. Maybe more tomorrow? For now, congratulations to the 2016 World Series Champions the Chicago Cubs […]
Nothing like NYTimes Page A21 to inform readers #sarcasm
RichC | November 2, 2016
While I suspect a Thursday post to be about game 7 of the World Series between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs (let’s just call them the comeback kids now that they have won the last 2 games and have tied the series up), I’ll post an election observation and get my bias media post […]
Can science and snakes help solve our Opioid problem?
RichC | November 2, 2016
Our go-to pain killers are addictive and over prescribed … that’s a given. The problem is what can be done besides better management and stiffer penalties (debatable) to solve the near epidemic problem with Opioid addiction (PDF). Enter the lowly venomous snake. Toxins in the venom of poisonous snakes have the properties of triggering nerves […]
A WW2 map that illustrates the ugliness of war
RichC | November 1, 2016
For those who study history and in particular World War II, this map illustrates the human toll on each country around the world. Likely the information is well know, but seeing the losses as a percentage of population suffered outside the United States visually leaves an impression.
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.