MyDesultoryBlog maintenance and WordPress 5.6.2 update

| February 28, 2021

Just marking server and blog updates to end the month of February 2021. I’ve put this WordPress 5.6.2 update off a few weeks in order to be sure I had a full backup, etc. Note to self, check on the Seagate hard drive attached to the iMac as Time Machine backups have been regularly failing […]

Encore diesel repair and last minute haul out in February 2021

| February 27, 2021

This past week was a semi-rushed haul out week for Encore in Florida. I headed south for 3 days of work on the “running hot” Volvo diesel auxiliary, as my assumption was that the heat exchanger was plugged up/calcified and needed to be taken off and cleaned (something I’ve never done). I met a friend […]

Friday Filler: A little duct tape humor (quack, quack)

| February 26, 2021

Opinion: We need an all of the above energy plan in the U.S.

| February 25, 2021

As an advocate of renewable energy, be it biofuels, hydro, solar, wind, etc for decades, I don’t understand why Americans can’t come together on a united “all inclusive” energy plan? I know a few anti-solar/wind energy types, but usually they are just pushing back against the extremist wanting to do away with all fossil fuels […]

Woodworking Idea: A homemade Router Table Multi-Sled

| February 24, 2021

After setting up my router for better, cleaner and easier woodworking dados last week, I started thinking about something better than using my table saw’s stock miter gauge for making “coping” style end cuts on the router table. Beside a $220 commercial Coping-Jig (left), there are hundreds of homemade plans on the Internet to do […]

Is there a high quality, maintenance-free garage door and opener?

| February 23, 2021

One of the most unappreciated attributes often overlooked when dating and looking for a life partner is that of a handyman, or to be a little more politically correct, a “handyperson.” I do know that having the Mister Fix-it gene, or is it a learned skill (???), has been one of my strong traits, but […]

Music Monday: The Marshall Tucker Band – “Can’t You See”

| February 22, 2021

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Thoughts on the passing of conservative icon: Rush Limbaugh

| February 21, 2021

Rush Limbaugh died on Wednesday of this past week. It wasn’t a surprise to those who have followed his health challenges and in particular a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis a year previous. He continue his radio work up until the end and left a G.O.A.T. legacy in conservative talk radio that will likely never […]

Woodworking: Tinkering on a prototype desktop book stand

| February 20, 2021

The weather has been … well, wintery and I’ve been working on a self-designed prototype desktop bookshelf or bookstand with the thought of making a couple of them. Unfortunately desks … let alone books … are disappearing as a Future of Everything WSJ article mentioned this past year. The design is relatively simple in that […]

Tech Friday: Switched our iPhones to Mint Mobile to save $$$

| February 19, 2021

Well it is official, we are both with Mint Mobile. I’ve been using them for a month now and haven’t had any issues with their service (backboned on T-Mobile I believe) … and since saving money for the same service is a no-brainer, I’ve switched Brenda’s iPhone over this month as well …  and added […]

Archive: The Howards and the Woodcocks in Florida #TBT

| February 18, 2021

A couple of weeks ago I shared a 1990s photo of Brenda’s dad with a close friend Hugh Woodcock and saw another one from 1997 to archive for a Throwback Thursday #TBT. Both MomH (2017) and DadH (2013) have passed away, but since Mrs. Woodcock (Ann) commented on my “snowy February stay-at-home” post, I figured […]

Archive for posterity: Sold a little more fractional Bitcoin shares

| February 18, 2021

Almost 1 year ago, I started to use the Chromium-based Brave Browser and an Uphold account to receive the BAT (Basic Attention Token). I convert to Bitcoin along with the income generated on MyDesultoryBlog.com … which currently seems to be the digital currency of choice; I really did it just for the fun of it […]

The retirement dividend income plan was challenged in 2020

| February 17, 2021

For those of us living in a post-pension world, planning for retirement comes down to how much can be saved in 401K and IRAs … and how to make it last once retired. Most people rely on the “multiple buckets approach” to coming up with enough dollars to pay for bills and “hopefully” live comfortably […]

Workshop brainstorming for better chip and dust containment

| February 16, 2021

It is time for a little more research on better dust and chip control in my basement workshop. Brenda can deal with the noise and giving me a place to escape, but she is not fond of the dust that makes its way upstairs – those with basement woodworking workshops know what I mean. I’ve […]

Winter weather for mid-February 2021. More snow.

| February 15, 2021

Click here for ani-gif above for full 25 second iPhone slow-motion video The icy sleet on top of our existing snow and pre-cleared roads has made travel dangerous this Monday afternoon in southwest Ohio. Thankfully for President’s Day Brenda and I are home (although it was by chance and not planned) and are able to […]

Music Monday: Steely Dan – “Peg” from their 1977 album Aja

| February 15, 2021

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Happy Valentine’s Day to friends and family, especially my girls!

| February 14, 2021

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The coyotes in southwestern Ohio are healthy and active

| February 13, 2021

We live in a fairly developed area and yet the variety of animals surviving amidst the traffic and people continues to amaze me. When we built in Liberty Township, Ohio in the mid-1990s you would have called our area “developing but rural.” Now, there is no question we are suburban and “in my opinion” … […]

The pitfalls of Zoom meetings: “I am not a cat” #humor

| February 12, 2021

It was the Zoom video that nearly broke the Internet this past week and it made me smile enough to save the mp4 video to my blog. Very funny. 😊  

Just how safe are your passwords and online security measures?

| February 12, 2021

My friend Jeff is a cyber security guy and is regularly interrogating me about “best practices” online. I suspect he sees so much that it nearly frightens him away from putting anything online (which is nearly impossible these days). When I first started working with computers in the early 1980s (prior to being online), a […]

What do you know about the Tennis Racket Theorem?

| February 11, 2021

After reading about the Dzhanibekov Effect and seeing a demonstration, I just had to know more. The tennis racket theorem or intermediate axis theorem is a result in classical mechanics describing the movement of a rigid body with three distinct principal moments of inertia. It is also dubbed the Dzhanibekov effect, after Russian cosmonaut Vladimir […]

A snowy 2021 February stay-at-home day and a few idea photos

| February 10, 2021

We received a surprise snowfall on Monday night this week and it caught most of us, including the weather people and snowplows off-guard. Brenda worked until close in Oxford, Ohio and it took her nearly an hour and a half to drive home .. no salt on the roads and very few snowplows were out. […]

Political venting and a new website called TheHustings.news

| February 9, 2021

Did you ever have a political discussion or receive an email that generated a desire to reply and explain? That sort of happened to me this weekend … but I decided there isn’t an upside in the one on one reply. The best approach, as is often the case when talking about faith and religion, […]

Music Monday: Gilligan’s Island theme mashed with Led Zeppelin

| February 8, 2021

For those who grew up on one of my favorite TV shows, Gilligan’s Island … and in later years listened to the music of Led Zeppelin … here’s an interesting YouTube video for this week’s Music Monday. On a more depressing note, I was sad to hear America’s favorite “girl next door” actress Dawn Wells […]

Congratulations to Tampa Bay, Super Bowl LIV champs

| February 7, 2021

It wasn’t the most exciting Super Bowl or even a close game as most fans expected, but this year’s big game between Tampa Bay and last year’s champs the Kansas City Chiefs, it came down to leadership and experience. The mature G.O.A.T. Tom Brady lead the Buccaneers to an overwhelming win. His 3 passing TDs […]

Woodworking Ideas: Thinking about a cyclone chip separator

| February 6, 2021

Now that I have my new DeWalt DW735x planner working (and stored) in the pool detached garage with my ShopVac, I’ve been contemplating a better "chip separator" so that the filter doesn’t plug up so fast. I’d love to have a bigger system, but really just need to build my own cyclone separator with a […]

Tech Friday: New 1500mAh batteries for my Lumix GX8

| February 5, 2021

When I pulled out my Lumix GX8 DSLR camera over Christmas, I noticed that the “cheap” batteries that I had purchased as backups to the primary Panasonic branded 1200mAh battery were no longer holding charges. They were still chargeable, but their life was short. So I added a new spare battery to my shopping list […]

Archive: DadH, Hugh Woodcock, Lynda and Mark photos #TBT

| February 4, 2021

I always stop in to visit with lifetime friends of Mom and Dad Howard,  Ann and Hugh Woodcock when I’m close, but hesitate to even tell them I’m nearby “in the days of COVID19.” I really hate putting it off though, since one never knows how many days friends in their 90s have? The photo […]

Filler: Workshop Waxed Canvas apron ideas–just #photos

| February 3, 2021

  

“Three on the Tree” (for car enthusiast or those of a certain age)

| February 2, 2021

Earlier in the years, this image of a “Three on the Tree” manual column shifter-pattern was tweeted by a automotive friend and it triggered memories for me. Younger people nowadays might not even remember manual shifting on the column with a clutch .. or for that matter ever shifting a “Four on the Floor” … […]

Music Monday: The Cranberries – “Linger” (Irish Alt Rock)

| February 1, 2021

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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.
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