TechFriday: Larger screened iPhones flipping to landscape

| June 30, 2017

Switching from an iPhone 5s to an iPhone 7 Plus has a few surprising pluses and minuses that need to be address by new users. One such negative adjustment has a fix that on the surface may not be found by everyone. The annoyance: The larger iPhones (currently 6 Plus & 7 Plus) go into […]

Getting hit or hitting something while sailing

| June 29, 2017

One of the fears when sailing long distances across oceans is either getting hit or hitting something. Numerous stories have been told by those who survive hitting “something” … and who knows how many are never told? My phobia is striking a partially submerged shipping container, debris or log with our fiberglass boat on a […]

Extra work that makes little sense – salt and pepper shakers

| June 28, 2017

Did you ever find yourself spending way too much time on something where it makes no logical sense? Well this is the case for a set of my wife Brenda‘s salt and pepper shakers … of which she has many. Her grandmother had a collection that was split between her grandchildren and daughter-in-law (Brenda’s mom), […]

New iPhone7plus and new VirginMobileUSA as carrier

| June 27, 2017

Well so much for waiting for the new iPhone8 to arrive in the fall … as was the plan. On the other hand, the $1000 “rumored” price was frightening me anyway. Last week for a Tech Friday post I blogged on the VirginMobileUSA “Inner Circle” promo that offered unlimited talk, text and “almost” unlimited data […]

Summer Music Monday with a Jackson Browne Two-fer

| June 26, 2017

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How it works: An in tank fuel pump YouTube video

| June 25, 2017

Well done … don’t forget to use your “brother’s sock.” 🙂

Very handy and inexpensive shield from a soda – pop bottle

| June 24, 2017

After pelting my eyes with metal chips while grinding as a teenager, I’m overly careful when using tools nowadays. The nighttime of agony and picking out metal chips from my eyes was enough to teach me a lesson … and I’m so thankful to still have my eyesight. Be warned if you are reading this […]

Tech Friday: Virgin Mobile USA wants iPhone users

| June 23, 2017

In the battle of carrier wars, Virgin Mobile USA is stepping in with an attractive "first year" deal for buyers of a new or refurbished iPhone either through the Apple Store or their own site. Under the deal, customers will get up to one year of service for $1. Virgin piggybacks service on the Sprint […]

Good times and great family memories in Florida #TBT

| June 22, 2017

It is too easy to stumble across great memories and think, "that would make for a great Throw Back Thursday #TBT post!" If I were to do that, there would be no end to "blog fillers" on Thursdays (or really on Wednesday evenings). Here’s a favorite photo of Katelyn and Taylor on a trip to […]

Oil continues to dampen spirits of shareholders of Big Oil

| June 21, 2017

While the economy slowly improves and Wall Street waits with anticipation for congress to act on tax reform and in particular tax cuts that will bring the corporate tax in the U.S. in line with the rest of the world, oil companies continue to struggle. Obviously we’re still using oil … but the "glut" is […]

ElioMotors public image is still showing a stiff upper lip

| June 21, 2017

With financial concerns looming for Elio Motors, they continue to put out positive PR remarks to their "All In" reservation holders, prospective buyers and investors. Everything from their perspective is positive is a series of questions/answers  posted on their website. One Q & A indicates that Elio Motors is "targeting 2018" to be the year […]

Glut of crude is making the oil business a lot less attractive

| June 20, 2017

Traders of oil are bearish as the previous climb above $50/barrel could not hold under the pressure of global oversupply. For those of us who remember the doom and gloom of “peak oil,” paying $4+ per gallon at the pump and jumping on the alternative fuel bandwagon … it is hard to fathom that we’re […]

Taking a BMW X5 35D to the track – Thanks Andrew!

| June 20, 2017

My Volkswagen TDI and BMW Diesel friend Andrew (proprietor FixMyVW.com) to his BMW X5 35D to the track in Atlanta this past weekend. He posted the run on YouTube and since his “tune” and exhaust is what I put on my 2010 BMW X5 35D … it did getting me pretty excited. Published on Jun […]

Music Monday: Back In The High Life Again by Steve Winwood

| June 19, 2017

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Painted heirloom wicker chairs on this Father’s Day weekend

| June 18, 2017

It is good day when projects get accomplished. Saturday was a sunny and dry for the painting of my GREAT grandparents’ two wicker chairs (unsure, but think they were from my Grandmother Ruth “Walker” Bluhm side). My Grandmother and Grandfather Bluhm used them for years on their Wright Avenue front porch in Toledo Ohio, then […]

Put out some baby powder to see what is sneaking around

| June 17, 2017

The population of rodents and critters has risen in the years we’ve been living in Liberty Township, Ohio. We have either encroach on the critters … or more likely encroached on the predators of the critters. In either case, we have more and more of them in our yard and boldly closing in on the […]

TechFriday: Twitter updates their mobile look

| June 16, 2017

We’ll see how the new iOS Twitter update is received by users, but since it is my go-to social network for all things news, I’ve download the hefty update to my aging iPhone5s and will see how bogged down it feels (very sluggish of late on most apps). Hopefully it will continue to run reasonable […]

FaceTime with Annalyn and Mt Rushmore photos

| June 15, 2017

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Fed raises rates in June not September as expected

| June 14, 2017

Sort of a surprise to most Fed watchers today as the consensus was for the Federal Reserve to raise rates a 1/4 point in September, not June. Perhaps it won’t make much difference for the whole year, but Chair Janet Yellen obviously wants to stay ahead of the curve. The target inflation rate remain 2% […]

Happy Flag Day – an excellent podcast from Mike Rowe

| June 14, 2017

Flag Day 2017 — “Something To Stand For” by Mike Rowe of MikeRoweWORKS

Definitely Desultory – Who are the four kings in a deck of cards?

| June 14, 2017

#TeamFiona playing cards on sale for short time at Cincinnati area Kroger It is strange after 50 years that curiosity finally piqued my interest as to how the four kings on playing cards came to be …  who are they?  Of course  the beauty of having the Internet at your fingertips is that finding “an” answer […]

It seems inevitable gasoline and diesel taxes will go up

| June 13, 2017

There was a time when I thought I could count on Republicans who now control the House of Representatives, Senate and Whitehouse in Washington DC to reduce taxes — how naïve of me. The latest going around is how "gasoline and diesel taxes haven’t been increase in years and how they need to go up […]

Music Monday: Wichita Lineman sung by Glen Campbell #vinyl

| June 12, 2017

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Excellent weather, great fun and good food

| June 11, 2017

Not too many photos, but Taylor‘s friends all seemed to have a great time celebrating his birthday this weekend in the backyard. The Knockerballs were a hit … and Taylor even showed his love for his mom  Ha! (video below).

Thinking of a college roommate and his family today

| June 11, 2017

It was one short year ago (6/11/2016) that the the news shocked me that one of my college roommates collapsed and died while cycling near Columbus Ohio. My college orientation roommate and one of three 4th year roommates, Bill Gordon was an avid cyclist and was probably in far better physical shape than most, but […]

Happy Birthday to my son and memories from the past

| June 10, 2017

Happy Birthday Taylor … I don’t think I could be prouder of the man you have become. Last year was a great one and the plans you have for this year are exciting as well.  I always look forward to our time together. One of the things my son and I share is our interest […]

TechFriday: Apple announced iOS11 at the WWDC17 conference

| June 9, 2017

Along with all that is happening with hardware and innovation at the Apple developers conference — WWDC — one of the more anticipated upgrades to the mobile operating system was announced. Along with the likely "millions" of suggestions from daily users, my iOS11 suggestion/request was probably lost in the shuffle … although I’ve made the […]

Archive: A look at allergy medication options

| June 8, 2017

A lot of people struggle with seasonal allergies, but for me it seems to be something I’m noticing later in life? As with most minor health issues, we deal with it and move on when it goes away. This past month or so the runny-nose and watery eyes symptoms have bothered me enough to take […]

Sandal sun stripes, yard work and finding fingers and fist

| June 7, 2017

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Guest post: Monitoring Remote Locations #DIY – by Jeff Pitts

| June 6, 2017

One of the fun areas of IT that has been growing in recent years is the “maker community” of products for do-it-yourselfers. These devices range from the Raspberry Pi, Pi Zero, Photon, Arduino, etc. The movement is bringing electronics to those of us that have that tinkerer mindset, but it also extends the opportunity to […]

Priorities: Get your chores done, then you can watch the game

| June 5, 2017

One of the more interesting photos making the social networking circles was that of a man mowing his lawn as a nasty looking tornado was churning in the background. According to the news, the man said "I was keeping my eye on it." That said, this is NOT the kind of guy you want to […]

Elio Motors make appearances and send out optimistic updates

| June 5, 2017

BUT … I would be remise not to share a few of the negative articles regarding Elio Motors weak fiscal condition, but would like to think this car will still be built. Last month Digital Trends published their update. Elio Motors, the Arizona-based startup that promised to change the way Americans commute, is in dire […]

Rethinking our National Debt while still encouraging growth

| June 4, 2017

From a small business perspective, excessive debt is near the top for reasons entrepreneurs fail in business. In my experience there are bankers and leasers with terms in the lenders favor, but not in the borrower’s favor. Bankruptcies are harmful not only to the person and family going through the ordeal, but on the creditors […]

Stratolaunch emerges from the hanger

| June 3, 2017

Stratolaunch, cited as the "world’s largest plane," has been under construction for four years, but is finally ready to come out of the hanger. The plane has a wingspan larger than a football field and according to the design firm Stratolaunch Systems, is designed to carry rockets into the stratosphere before firing the payload into […]

TechFriday: Apple iPhone8 and iOS11 as WWDC 2017 nears

| June 2, 2017

Who doesn’t love anticipating "the next big thing" when it comes to tech, especially the mobile tech we used everyday? I for one am ready to replace my iPhone5s with some new hardware — if for nothing else, a snappier interface (it just feels slow). The plan for about a year has been to wait […]

Once upon a time, we did sail on Lake Erie #TBT

| June 1, 2017

After searching through directories of a couple older computers looking for a document unrelated to the photo above, I ran across this picture of our family on our sailboat Tulla from the miid-1990s. I may have posted something (???) in a sailing related post years ago, but don’t think so? Anyway ia #TBT (ThrowBackThursday) post […]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog