My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on June 28, 2026

The deer are everywhere this year, or at least it seems (click photo for larger). I’m either expecting at least one of them will end up as roadkill behind our property or we will have our plants and trees chewed up and buck rubbed further. It is amazing any of our trees survive.

On the Kubota mower repair, the parts that arrived to the dealership were wrong. Likely looking at old diagrams had “us” (repair guy and me) putting in the wrong numbers. So I told him to “hold tight” for now as I also ordered a completely new non-OEM wheel and tire set on Amazon. It arrived from Texas and of course wasn’t nearly the quality of the original part and already had a broken Zerk grease fitting. The fitting was cross threaded and of the cheaper quality they could likely find. 

I do like the fact that the tires are already mounted and were of the “solid rubber and no-flat” variety. Unfortunately being a zero-turn generic wheel, did not fit our commercial grade Kubota diesel mower. Not to be dissuaded, I tried to adapt the new wheel with a couple of pipe spacers in place of a bushing in order at least to get the front lawn mowed. Whew … it held. Do I try to find a couple right sized bushings? 

Now the entire repair fiasco has me contemplating buying new zerk grease nipples and trying to tap a larger hole in the existing wheel (that is “if” the manufacturer will not replace my used wheel). 

Stay tuned.  

Category: Nature, Photos, Repairs, Shopping | No Comments »
Tags: amazon, deer, fawn, frontyard, grease, kubota, mower, Zerk

Posted By RichC on June 27, 2026

For those needing to coordinate banking and brokerage activities, I found this helpful.

For most established accounts in 2026:

• Bank-to-bank transfer: 1–2 business days
• Bank-to-brokerage: 2–4 business days
• Brokerage-to-bank: 1–3 business days

* If you’re moving money regularly between the same institutions, you can often learn the exact pattern. For example, many investors know that transfers from checking to a brokerage consistently arrive the next business day while transfers back take two days.

Category: Financial, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: ach, banking, brokerage, investing

Posted By RichC on June 26, 2026

Over the years I’ve purchased my share of Zebra F-301 0.7 mm ballpoint pens and F-type black ink cartridges. A couple of decades ago, a customer in NE Ohio, and long time now retired business friend, gave me a box of barrel imprinted pens that had a typo; I’ve enjoyed them ever since … until they all have finally dried up.

Now I’m faced with a dilemma: Do I purchase more Zebra F-301 pens than I really need during the Amazon Prime Day deals, or just the cartridges? Decisions, decisions … but I suspect you know what I already did. 😉 

Category: Human Interest, Misc, Productivity, Shopping | No Comments »
Tags: amazon, black ink, cartridge, f-301, habits, journal, notes, pens, prime day, refill, writing, zebra

Posted By RichC on June 25, 2026

About 20 years or so ago, I installed a 50A 240VAC breaker and outlet in our pool garage where I used it for both a TIG and MIG welding setup. It has been working fine for years, but has been used somewhat infrequently for welding compared to charging an EV. Now that we are using it daily with the Tesla Mobile Connector (with the appropriate pigtail) as our primary (and only) way to home charge our Brenda’s Tesla Model 3 it has started to trigger app warnings during longer charge cycles.  

Initially I thought it might be a fluke, but Drew noticed it on his Model S during their last visit too. Hm … this required some digging since I didn’t notice any breaker, conduit, plug or cord overheating (at least to the touch). What happened though is that the Tesla app warns and backs down the amps … creating a much slower charge (see above warning and stepping down to 16A). I noticed it when I expected a full charge during a recent trip and ended up with less.

So, I started pricing out a Tesla Wall Connector ($485) plus an electrician ($804) AND a compatible Siemens tandem breaker ($238) to create panel space (currently maxed out). Hm, maybe I’ll stick with the Mobile Connector and pigtail plug a little longer. After chatting with an electrical friend (not licensed) he suggested that I might try buying a new plug and swapping it out as the tension may not be a tight after plugging things in and out over the years. Good idea.

But before that, I decided to give one more thing a try. Perhaps there is some corrosion on the clamping brass that holds the Mobile Connector prongs? So off with the breakers and in with a little sandpaper on a file. I’m not sure it did anything about the tension (if that is the problem) but it might be worth a try before purchasing a new welding plug. 

Category: Automotive, Misc, Repairs, Tesla | No Comments »
Tags: charging, electrical, electrician, ev, home charging, overheating, plugs, quick fix, tesla model 3

Posted By RichC on June 24, 2026

Our Kubota zero-turn mower is down.  This is not good considering the weather continues to be rain on and off — perfect for grass growing.

Hopefully the parts I have ordered from both the local Kubota dealer and from a vendor online with arrive this week. The dealer says mid week for their order, whereas the online vendor said they have shipped the non-Kubota parts but are giving me a delivery date of 6/29. Ugh!

I’ve tried to salvage bearing out of an old front wheel but am finding it  impossible after a couple hours of wasted frustration. So … I’ll keep watching the lawn grow and wait. I still can’t believe the ZD326s is 18 years old!
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Category: Misc, Repairs, Shopping, Tesla | No Comments »
Tags: kubota, maintenance, mower, yardwork

Posted By RichC on June 23, 2026

Part of our family spent Father’s Day in Toledo (KDAE), so Taylor, Megan and Gigi came up over the weekend to celebrate with us and enjoy the pool. Thankfully for those of us who clean pools, Gigi is like our Tootsie was and tries to avoid going in the water.  

As for our mini-celebration, Taylor and Megan are always great with thoughtful cards and something to mark the day. Brenda decided since Taylor didn’t have a birthday cake, that she would double up the celebration days with the Angel Food Cake, Strawberries and Whipped Cream that tend to be both Taylor and my favorite.

We grilled some of our Omaha Steak burgers (and a veggie burger for Megan) and had a wonderful day together. Foot problems aside (it continues), we did take a slower than normal walk — checking out the new Evergreen Farms Estate neighborhood bridge (it was hit by a drunk driver last years). 

Sorry Megan and Katelyn … I didn’t include you in the photos (but thanks for taking them)!

(more…)

Category: Archive, Holiday, Personal, Photos, Video | No Comments »
Tags: cheeseburger, efe, family, fathers day, gigi, kdae, megan, pool, taylor, tootsie, walking

Posted By RichC on June 22, 2026

Generally, classical music is not why I drift to the SiriusXM 60s Gold station. Other stations start to sound “the same” and so beside listening to the BBC or NPR for newsy segments and story pieces, I’ll try songs from the 1960s … for the good memories. 😉

“Classical Gas” from 1968 came on, and truth be told, I didn’t recall Mason Williams until I read his name and connected it to the song. This is a drawn-out way to say that it triggered me to include it in Music Monday. So enjoy something different.

Speaking of different, Williams also performed Stand-up comedy. According to Wikipedia, “he set most of his comic ideas to music and sang or recited the jokes in lyric form with guitar accompaniment. Williams recorded an album where he entertains a live audience with ‘them poems about them people.’ The album covered such varied topics as ‘Them Moose Goosers,’ ‘Them Sand Pickers,’ and ‘Them Surf Serfs.’ Several other ‘them’ poems, along with many ditties, song lyrics, odd and amusing photographs from around the country, and assorted bits of visual and verbal silliness are collected in The Mason Williams Reading Matter (Doubleday, 1969).”  

Category: Entertainment, Idioms, Music, Video | No Comments »
Tags: 60s gold, classical gas, mason williams, music monday, musicmonday, orchestra, siriiusxm, wikipedia, youtube