A bit of my family legacy and our history found through tools

| January 31, 2019

In my workshop there is a spot on the wall behind dad’s small drill press and my router table for old tools. As mentioned before, I use Brenda’s dads’ dental tools regularly and have put a few of DadH’s woodworking tools on the wall – it is too bad I passed on the dental chair. […]

It is cold and windy. Another layer of warm clothes please.

| January 30, 2019

An ani-gif of our Canary driveway cam early Wednesday Morning – 1/30/2019 The … dare I say a hated and banished phrase … “polar vortex” has swooped down from the north and frozen everything. It is brutally cold, but then it is winter. Schools, of course, are closed and even mail delivery in Cincinnati has been suspended. […]

Time mellows the moment – The Great Christmas Tree Disaster

| January 30, 2019

In an old spinnaker (sail) from our Thistle, I finally hauled out our larger than usual Christmas tree this past week. It was then that I realized I had neglected to archive the “Great Christmas Tree Disaster of 2018” story from December. Hm, how could I have forgotten … likely for the same embarrassing reason […]

The Super Bowl and tech humor shared by a Facebook friend

| January 29, 2019

Just another "Patriots are in the Super Bowl" year again. Whoop-de-do.  Scott Bilik and I have been Internet “tech” friends for a long time … and humorously is my Twitter “Godfather.” He has suffered his share of heartache having lost his wife Michelle to cancer in 2013, but remains strong in his faith and marches […]

“Poor Packard” – the old Detroit plant continues to degrade

| January 28, 2019

It seems there is no end to suffering in the rustbelt when it comes to legacy automotive companies like Packard. The deteriorating Detroit plant which has seen years of neglect saw one more nail pounded into its coffin … the crosswalk collapsed and was cleaned up in January 2019 (photos above). The iconic name and […]

Miter Saw workbench project and things we take for granted

| January 27, 2019

After finally removing my built-in radial arm saw from my workbench, I was able to rework the area attached to my workbench in order to fit my “somewhat new” 12” Hitachi Miter Saw. With this new sliding miter saw, I no longer have a need for bulky power tool duplication, and as a workshop accumulates […]

2019 Figure Skating Championships in Detroit & Annalyn photos

| January 26, 2019

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Sooner or later a close call with a drone will be too close

| January 25, 2019

As more and more federal employees decide they aren’t going to continue to work without a paycheck, the focus has shifted to the unpaid in the Coast Guard, TSA and Air Traffic Control. Air travel has now moved front and center as the “shutdown-standoff” continues (the Senate is at least negotiating). Flyers are feeling it […]

Tech Friday: A virtual assistant showing a little humor

| January 25, 2019

It won’t be long before virtual assistants end up in our car … question is, which one will it be? (from what I’m seeing as of 2019, it would be Amazon’s Alexa). Currently Amazon has definitely taken the lead in our home as the affordable Echo Dots are now throughout our house. I … well […]

A light for my bandsaw and a discontinued Ridgid worklight

| January 24, 2019

Today would have been my dad‘s 90th birthday. Here is something he would have enjoyed… With it being so cold this week, it was a good time to be working in the basement workshop in the evenings. Besides working on getting my Hitachi Miter Saw fitted to my workbench and dust collection for a new bookshelves […]

Let’s go swimming … come on in, the water is fine. #sharks

| January 23, 2019

A filler post, but not a good photo for those nervous about swimming in the ocean. The photos last week from a couple of freedivers in Hawaii swimming with a massive Great White Shark known as #DeepBlue really has me wondering just how wise it is to be that adventurous. There is a fine line […]

Random thoughts – Stretching the last of deodorant on a cold day

| January 22, 2019

Am I the only one who contemplates the minutest things … or am I normal? This COLD morning I thought, “Hm, this is the last of my deodorant and it’s really cold … perhaps I can get away with a single swipe and make it last another day?”   The Raspberry Pi Cam view of […]

Server problem test post – Blood Moon for January 2019

| January 21, 2019

It has been a morning of computer server problems after updating Certbot on one of my Linux servers in order to keep the Let’s Encrypt certificates updating properly (the email warning below). For customers on Consolidated Printing and Publishing servers, there will not be a problem as the certs are commercial … but for my […]

Music Monday: Thank God Almighty – Free At Last

| January 21, 2019

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Advice: Compare price vs shipping times when ordering online

| January 20, 2019

A quick piece of advice for those who are in the habit of shopping online … especially if you are used to using Amazon and their Prime shipping. I’ve habitually price products since Amazon isn’t always competitively price with other online vendors, BUT my advice is to remember just how dependable and reliable shipping from […]

Irresistible! “Hi Bompa … I see you” from my granddaughter

| January 19, 2019

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Tech Friday: Options to subscriptions services raising prices

| January 18, 2019

The recent price increases rumbling through the economy are starting to be felt in the products we all use and have learned to appreciate. One of the services I’ll likely eliminate before the monthly price increase is the streaming service Netflix. We did this once before, but with all the new added content and lack […]

BMW water injection and how it works to make +50 hp

| January 17, 2019

One of my favorite YouTube channels is Engineering Explained and in this video car guru and mechanical engineer Jason Fenske explains just how BMW used water injection to increase power at full throttle and high manifold pressures. Great stuff. And if this kind of "automotive engineering stuff" interests you and you like aviation like me, […]

Electrical grid shortcomings in a cyber war or EMP event

| January 16, 2019

Although we hear (or at least I read) about cyber attacks to the U.S. electrical grid and utilities on a regular basis … but I’m not sure we take these events seriously enough? I’ve blogged on this ever since reading One Second After, a detailed factual-fiction story about just how devastating, vulnerable and dependent we […]

Appreciating a heated garage after the first big winter snow

| January 15, 2019

With a “heavy snowfall” that amounted to about 10 inches before melting a bit, I was thankful to have put the snow blower on the tractor last week.  It was about the wettest snow I’ve ever tried to blow and that’s saying something since I’ve been removing snow with the John Deere 330 since the […]

Music Monday: And for something totally different from Annalyn

| January 14, 2019

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Shrimp are small, yet regulations and tax incentives can be big

| January 13, 2019

With incentives, South Dakota and Minnesota compete for tiny trū Shrimp and its promise of indoor shrimp farms. A company named trū Shrimp Co. had planned to break ground this spring in Luverne, Minn., on a $330 million to $360 million indoor shrimp farm. It aims to produce 8 million pounds of shrimp a year […]

The wet, heavy snow might be too much for the John Deere?

| January 12, 2019

The Raspberry Pi Cam photo automatically captured the backyard snow during a break in the falling snowflakes. The storm was well forecasted, so decided it was time to put the snowblower on the old John Deere 330 diesel tractor. I hope the wet snow will “blow” as my preliminary shoveling has me thinking it might […]

Politicians of all stripes love spending someone else’s money

| January 12, 2019

There is one thing that is consistent in Washington DC … politicians and bureaucrats love spending other people’s money. It doesn’t matter whether they are a Democrats or a Republicans …  socialists or capitalists … politicians all want someone else to pay for their ideas. The current top two politicians in the news are newly […]

Tech Friday: The best TECH life-changers in the last couple years

| January 11, 2019

The Amazon Echo in Kitchen/Great Room and the new Echo Dot 3rd Gen in my workshop Not a day goes by without Amazon’s Echo devices doing something for us in our home … and it is only a matter of time before “she” (Alexa) will be assisting me in the car too. It is almost […]

Learning about the Packard Twelve leaves me curious #TBT

| January 10, 2019

While reading a few interesting older blog posts at Consumer Guide, my Twitter friend Tom Appel (@Car_Guy_Tom) post got me thinking about the strange company that seemed to be trying to revitalize the Packard car brand. The company built a prototype some years ago and by attending a few shows, generated some attention with the […]

Battery replaced in my aging iPhone7plus under Apple program

| January 9, 2019

It was a somewhat frustrating end of year scrabble to get my iPhone 7 battery replaced under the Apple “program” after their throttling older iPhones was disclosed in 2017. My battery was still holding up, but who wants a phone with only 85% “Maximum Capacity” or hidden software artificially slowing down my now older iPhone […]

To-Do and old photos from history – Machu Picchu from 1911

| January 9, 2019

Photo from history website pulled from Reddit Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca settlement in Peru, wasn’t discovered by someone with a camera until 1911. American archeologist Hiram Bingham took the first known photo when he visited in 1911. Bingham arrived in Peru with a small team of explorers to search for the famous “lost” cities […]

How hot is too hot for a Late 2012 Apple iMac 3.4GHz Core i7?

| January 8, 2019

No matter who you talk to, running the processor at water’s boiling point is too hot and not healthy for a computer chips. After replacing my iMac’s power supply board … and hard drive … I thought my problems were over, but probably not. It looks like I’m going to have to clean the old […]

Music Monday: Starting with a change for 2019 – Kenny Chesney

| January 7, 2019

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Read between the lines – When will ElioMotors begin production?

| January 6, 2019

Last year, the chit-chat from Paul Elio was that production of the Elio was scheduled for the end of 2019 … far longer than any reservation holder had anticipated. I’ve remained confident and have ignored the doubters … but likely because I’ve put on an artificial blindfold to remain positive – who likes  admitting they […]

Work, play, responsibility and aging: Finding the sweet spot

| January 5, 2019

This “finding the sweet spot” post was started as I was closing my books on 2018 and winding down the year. The New Year’s Day mark was still a couple days away and while contemplating what 2019 would surprise me with, I wrote down a few goals (and resolution ideas).  A few of the thoughts […]

Aviation progress is poised to take-off

| January 4, 2019

Aviation has bogged in the last few decades, but with computer assisted quadrotors, private space ventures and renewed supersonic travel … perhaps the next couple decades with be inspirational? Supersonic jets may be about to make a comeback – Reinventing Concorde

Our Annalyn is amazing, altho I’m not surprised #video

| January 3, 2019

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How does a rock solid dividend stock sound about now? $RPM

| January 2, 2019

Are you looking at top quality dividend stocks? RPM International is a buy and hold stock that has a track record of increasing cash dividends to shareholders that can’t be match by many companies. Today it was down 1.87% to $57.68/share and is starting to look attractive again (at some point I’ve got to believe […]

LSSU’s banished words and phrases from 2018

| January 2, 2019

Each year since 1976 Lake Superior State University posts its list of “banished words.” Usually, we’ve all heard (or used!) the overused words and phrases — this year is no exception. I thankfully have only repeated a few, but have certainly heard most of them overused. The 2019 list, along with reasons for banishment by […]

Happy New Year – Make the most of each day this 2019

| January 1, 2019

This year our our 2018 Christmas letter included a quote by the Dalai Lama and it reminds me that our time on earth is finite. Once a grain of sand has passed through the hour glass, it is gone … so make each day count this 2019. There are only two days in the year […]

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