How to offend readers, followers and magazine subscribers

| June 2, 2016

Kiplinger has long been one of the many websites who’s content, along with their magazine, that I’ve enjoyed reading. I follow several contributors to their content on social networks and complained recently that I disliked their multi short page approach for reading content. I’m sure they want to generate "clicks" and therefore break and article […]

Reefing tips from SailingTotem blog

| March 19, 2016

When do you reef? How should you reef? What are some excellent ways to screw it up? A few thoughts from Jamie (filtered through fun with salty sayings and his fondness for puns). Many witty phrases… Source: Reefing, by and large

Side by side — My unscientific Lyft vs UBER comparison

| March 17, 2016

After using both Lyft and UBER quite a few times over the past year, it has been difficult to say one is much better than the other … they are pretty similar. From the consumers perspective, it is far better to have the competition as it spurs innovation, competitive pricing and better service. We riders […]

Life skills for the long haul: 8 Financial Decisions

| February 5, 2016

Some simple financial steps, 8 to be exact, to follow from Money were shared this month and they are worth reading and remembering. I’ll post below in case they disappear … but you should read it here. 1. Save More for Retirement How much money will you need each year to enjoy a happy and […]

How many times did our dog go in and out?

| January 3, 2016

The long holiday weekend with decent weather gave me a chance to knock out a few chores. One was to clean and close up Tootsie‘s dog door. I realized that over her 17 year life that she was in and out of this Plexidor opening a couple dozen times a day … at least! It’s […]

Losing Mozilla Firefox add-on data for FireFTP after upgrade

| December 28, 2015

After making the Microsoft update from Windows 7 to Windows 10, there were a few items lost in the mostly automatic update (BTW, it is as painless an upgrade Microsoft has ever done). One of the add-ons for the Mozilla’s Firefox browser that I find hard to live without is FireFTP (simple FTP client). Much […]

Financial wisdom – Double Cash Back Credit Card from Citi

| September 24, 2015

Just in case you are the type of responsible credit card user who pays off the balance each month and has excellent FICO scores, you might want to consider using the Citi Double Cash Card. It is a no annual fee credit card and pays a total of 2% on purchases … I think that […]

Anchor Marker Floats – Currents

| September 16, 2015

Archiving anchoring advice from a September 9, 2015 article in Bluewater Cruising‘s online Currents web publication. Anchor Marker Floats by Fran and Jean-Guy Nadeau Arriving in a crowded anchorage can be a daunting challenge. The degree of apprehension skyrockets while you bumble about trying to find that perfect spot while the skippers of the surrounding […]

Seeing life through the prism of our own world

| September 2, 2015

Let me start off that I have been abundantly blessed and thankfully to this point I haven’t faced the need for “therapy,” as the many versions of the below tee-shirt make light of. In my case was fortunate to be born to loving parents who emulated what it was to be a great mother and […]

Air travel on the cheap. First flight on Frontier Airlines.

| July 11, 2015

It was a quick and inexpensive flight to Florida this past week to do a little tropical weather prep aboard Encore. Summer is the time of year that “commuter cruisers” double their line, remove sails and store an extra windage in case hurricane winds target the area … besides I really was looking forward to […]

Advice: Best promo for WSJ.com if you want to try it out

| June 22, 2015

For those of you who are NOT Wall Street Journal readers, but have always wanted to try it out, here’s your chance. The $1 price is about as cheap as I’ve ever seen from WSJ.com  … for a 3 month introductory deal. The yearly or normal monthly subscription is higher and can be hard to […]

New Balance Shoes: Great product and made in the U.S.A

| June 11, 2015

Although I still own and wear an old pair of New Balance athletic shoes, this is a reminder post to myself (posted before) to consider the New Balance brand when replacing my current Sketchers (no complains as they are great shoes too). I liked the comments in the video (below) and article on CNBC about […]

Freshen up those old Sperry Topsiders for summer

| June 1, 2015

With summertime around the corner, it is time to update on what has almost become an annual boat shoe post (Post 1, 2, 3).  Seasons aside, there really isn’t a time that isn’t right for Sperry Topsiders … in my opinion … but wearing a T-shirt, a pair of shorts and having warm weather makes […]

Better kitchen knifes: Appreciating a sharp blade and good steel

| May 28, 2015

Shortly after Brenda and I were married, I commented that I was going to write an advice book for new couples that included the good and bad decisions we made when buying things for our home, yard, kids and our life. After all this time I’ve yet to write the advice book, but continue to […]

Building a Carpenter Bee Trap — Thanks Tim!

| May 17, 2015

Here are instructions for a simple, but effective carpenter bee trapLINK

Tip: Cover sharp edges of cotter pins with a blob of silicone

| April 22, 2015

Every once in a while I run across a good idea and save the tool tip. I don’t recall which sailing magazine or source I clipped this to my iPad in, but wanted to archive to my blog. I’ve noticed a few purchased products with a silicone blob on electrical connections, but adding a little […]

The original BLUE Dawn Dishwashing Liquid

| April 18, 2015

If you’ve been around our house much, you will notice that we always have Dawn Dishwashing Liquid around. It has become our go to product for things other than dishes (use it for that too) as a hand wash, a degreaser and as a way to remove poison ivy oils after working in the yard. […]

Get What’s Yours: The secrets to maxing out your Social Security

| March 12, 2015

In discussing FICA taxes the other day, I discovered just how much I didn’t know about one of the biggest taxes we pay throughout our entire working lives. I’m guessing most Americans are in my shoes? Now “let me be clear,” as President Obama has been known to say, I’m NOT “that” close to retirement […]

Gasoline varnish and alcohol in a carburetor

| March 10, 2015

When regular leaded gasoline gets old, a thin layer of varnish coats the inside of fuel lines and the jets of the carburetor. This can plug or narrow jets that meter fuel into the carburetor and with cause the engine to either run lean or not run (start) at all. For fuel efficient and environment […]

Victorinox Swiss Army knives/tools and customer service

| February 19, 2015

As mentioned previously, I returned my “out of production” (Europe only) Victorinox SwissFlame knife in for warranty service, and although they could not repair it, they honored the lifetime warranty. Not only did they sent me the new SwissTool™ Spirit X as a replacement, but they return the defective knife – superb customer service. As […]

Food for thought: A grandfather and his two wolves story

| February 2, 2015

Give this Native American story some thought  … A Native American grandfather tells his grandson that there are two wolves inside of him, fighting for control. One wolf, is the wolf of love, peace, and kindness. The other wolf is a wolf of greed, hatred, and corruption. The grandson asks "Which wolf will win?" The […]

How to idea – Cleaning hard water stains from porcelain

| January 31, 2015

The inexpensive miracle cleaner and kitchen staple known as vinegar has hundreds if not thousands of uses … but few of those uses are as helpful as cleaning and dissolving hard water calcium build up. I use a vinegar mix regularly for window washing, as a way to keep the shower and shower head free […]

Liberty Mutual Auto Insurance: Loyalty rewarded – NOT!

| November 29, 2014

I received a letter from Liberty Mutual, my auto insurance company, earlier this month “appreciating my loyalty”  … until I looked at the details – Eligible in 2019 — hmm, must be a mistake? So … I first called the number on the bottom of the letter and reached the corporate folks so that they […]

Sharpening 5 knives and a tip for sheathing an awl

| November 18, 2014

One of the items from my mother and father-in-law’s farmhouse that I wanted were her thin-bladed stainless steel kitchen knives. They were “always” dull, but the cast handles and all metal construction made them perfect for the dishwasher (although a couple of the tips were pretty bent). We have two similar knives in our kitchen […]

Backpedaling … stop to measure before buying a refrigerator

| November 13, 2014

So much for posting about refrigerator shopping … and good thing I measured.       appropriate Samsung RS22HDHPNSR Side by Side refrigerator Today was “slow down day” since our old, ugly, broken fridge is still working and the size has me re-thinking the “good deal.” The previously mentioned refrigerator that I “was” planning to […]

Investing: Don’t try to time the market, BUT if you do…

| November 3, 2014

Most financial experts emphasis not to “time the market” when investing, but it is difficult to resist researching and compiling statistics?  Well, I’m guilty and have used a few when routinely adding investments to a retirement portfolio, particularly when buying the broad market. In the 1990s when trading futures somewhat regularly (not comfortably or particularly […]

Two iPhones, an iPad and MiFi mobile life update – $74/mo

| November 1, 2014

Slowly but sure I’m corralling my carry and travel computing gadgets and getting a handle on wasteful monthly expenses associated with keeping them connected. Those who have followed my blog from a technology perspective have probably detected my economizing while still “trying” to remain in current century computing. This year our grown children are on […]

Ting and Freedompop – A successful week only using wireless

| October 29, 2014

Since moving away from Sprint and finally down to two cellphones in the family …except for a couple of spare emergency “burner” phones (grin) –one with my overseas travel SIM and the other a Samsung Galaxy S2 total free wireless plan on Freedompop. The point is that we were able to travel comfortably with our […]

The new halyards for Encore are ready for splicing

| August 23, 2014

The convenient way to replace running rigging on sailboats are to purchase lines pre-made for a particular boat at places like SailboatOwners.com.  Of course that would be the “easy” way, but it does discourage upgrading shackles and thimbles or whipping and splicing your own lines. Since our Encore is strictly a cruising sailboat, the premium […]

TechFriday: My three favorite cases for the iPhone 5 and 5s

| August 22, 2014

After almost two year of using several different wraps and “powered cases” for my iPhones, I whittled my picks down to three … or 4 if you consider “no-case” as an option. In fact, using the iPhone without a case makes it very small and lightweight; slipping the tiny iPhone 5 and 5s in a […]

Try this for a Honda Odyssey with a power sliding door problem

| August 19, 2014

Last week my brother asked me to take a look at my dad’s 2001 Honda Odyssey because the power sliding rear doors had both failed. The dealer quoted $200 EACH to fix the door and since both had failed we figured it might not hurt to rule out a fuse or relay. I stopped and […]

Archived: Author Elmore Leonard has a few writing tips

| August 17, 2014

Author and writer Elmore Leonard is known for his crime fiction, but he started out writing westerns. Leonard has written nearly two dozen novels and most of them are bestsellers (Glitz, Get Shorty, Maximum Bob  and Rum Punch).  Ten of his advice tips when it comes to being both a popular and respectable writer are: […]

Still loving the Sof Sole insoles for my Sperry Top-siders

| August 7, 2014

Another year with the Sof Sole inserts in a couple pairs of my well worn Sperry Top-siders. Too bad I’m not making a commission on either the insoles or the shoes, but that doesn’t prevent me from recommending them. If you’ve “smelled up” your original Sperry insoles, or just need a little more cushion, consider […]

A frequent question: What about an Australian Cattle Dog?

| August 6, 2014

I recently chimed on a forum question regarding dogs for sailboats and a member wanting input on an Australian Cattle Dog. Since we’ve had Tootsie for 16 years now (below), I felt qualified to offer an opinion … besides I wanted an excuse to archive her recent photo. Our “beast” has been a wonderful addition […]

A better USB cable – 28/24 AWG and Gold plated connectors

| July 31, 2014

A couple of days ago I whined about my failed or failing charging/sync cables used  on phones, tablets and electronic devices. I then started searching for the replacements but was discouraged with the delayed shipping for non-branded cables from China. Then after reading about the cheap quality, I revisited Amazon decide to find out if […]

A word of warning before shopping online for refinance rates

| June 5, 2014

Be warned before you contact a company like Quicken Loans with a mortgage refinance request (rates are pretty low again) because they will be pumping your contact information to bunches of boiler room sales people who will send canned emails and make phone calls all day and evening (even different people from the same company […]

Convert your old video tapes now and consider @Southtree

| June 4, 2014

A few years ago, Brenda and I started to convert our family video tapes to DVD … back when our tape devices (VHS machine and Camcorders) still worked, but recently I noticed my old 8MM camcorder no longer would play tapes. In fact, the camcorder munched one of the tapes when my daughter Katelyn wanted […]

It is time to test a homemade concoction for killing weeds

| May 22, 2014

Mixing up a batch to test on some fresh new growth and will report back. Have you tried this or any combination of homemade weed or vegetation killers similar to Round-Up or Weed-Be-Gone?

The iPad2: One of the best tech purchases I’ve ever made

| March 27, 2014

Yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of my purchasing a second-hand iPad 2, shortly after playing with my friend’s new iPad 3 (that device has been out over 2 years, not sure about my iPad2 … 4 years?). I can’t believe how much I use this tech gadget — everything from email to web surfing […]

TechFriday: Use a VPN on Internet wifi hotspots

| March 21, 2014

Before I renew my current VPN service it is time to keep them honest when it comes to their subscription pricing. I’m testing the lower cost AnchorFree’s Hotspot Shield Elite using their trial program before renewing my more expensive, but easy to use VPN service just to see if there is any difference. So far […]

Panos, fender cleaning and that new rental car smell

| March 17, 2014

Above is an iPhone panorama photo of the aft of Encore but it was so distorted that I had to try and tweak it in Photoshop. Better than it was, but still a quirky perspective. The fenders used to keep boats from bumping together or into docks and pilings take abuse and get pretty weathered. […]

Freedompop LTE hotspot is better than Time Warner at home

| March 14, 2014

Just another plug for Freedompop’s LTE wireless access; it is  providing better wifi access than public hotspots and even Time Warner Cable at home.

Tech Friday: If you have a blog, control your own content

| February 28, 2014

Once upon a time it seemed smart to host only light content on my own blog. In the early days it was easy to store larger files like video, audio and photos “for free” with content hosts like YouTube, Flickr and Posterous (among others). The plus was that I didn’t fill the “out of pocket” […]

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee update @jbmco

| February 17, 2014

Last week I posted a quick coffee review on CCSpecialty Coffee’s 100% Hawaiian Kona Fancy coffee and promised that an update on the Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee would follow. Over the weekend we had an opportunity to try the new beans over dessert after my wife’s homemade spaghetti. Three of us taste tested and enjoyed […]

Obamacare, Target, Neiman Marcus, etc and Identity Theft

| January 19, 2014

The much publicized Obamacare, Target and Neiman Marcus security issues are an in-your-face reminder (receive my email from Target last week) that individuals need to be wary and take precautions with their financial, medical and personal identity information. Having been through the nightmare of ID theft back in the 1990s, before companies or banks were […]

Tech Friday: Revisiting Soluto after switching to an SSD

| January 17, 2014

A Tech Friday reminder to consider Soluto if you have a slow booting computer and revisit it after upgrading hardware … especially if you are  for trying to stretch the “use by date” of an aging computer. Everyone I know love a fast booting computer, although I doubt a Windows machine is ever going to […]

Collaborative teambuilding with reduced conflict in business

| January 2, 2014

What better way to start keeping my resolutions for the New Year than to start with a post about teamwork and conflict (self and tolerance).  Liane Davey in the Harvard Business Review shared five tips over the holidays in here article called Conflict Strategies for Nice People. She states that although it can be uncomfortable […]

How to get rid of a headache without taking an analgesic

| December 22, 2013

Who says spending time on social networking sites like Twitter is a waste of time? Here’s a tip that makes perfect sense in theory (mind you, I have not tried it). I don’t often have headaches, but if I do, it would be nice not to resort to taking Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid), Tylenol (Acetaminophen) or […]

Woodworking: The best material for a table saw throat plate

| December 18, 2013

When needing to make precise cuts or dadoes on the table saw, I have found that making them from the marine material Starboard is the best (shop around for price). Most likely the experts in woodworking have found other stock that would just as well, like the self-healing cutting board material, but since I had […]

Tech Friday: Annoying Microsoft Windows Automatic updates

| December 13, 2013

     As the big tech companies look for ways to push the use of their products, some of us are looking for ways to keep them from taking over our computers. I welcome having the option (easy option) to disregard the intrusions, but often spend too much time ignoring, opting out or disabling something […]

Importing and Exporting from overseas in a global economy

| December 8, 2013

Have you ever purchase items from overseas that you thought were a great deal? Well, buyer beware since there can be glitches when it comes to jumping online and “importing or exporting” (the key words) to and from the U.S. when it come to customs … besides the inherent risk involved in exchanging money. I […]

An energy saving improvement and a night light option

| December 5, 2013

I purchased a new 12 watt LED bulb for reading(larger bulb in left of photo) that promised to offer a few more “soft but bright” lumens from my chair side lamp. I “was” using two Cree LED bulbs (smaller bulb in left photo), but the light output still wasn’t comparable to a good three-way incandescent […]

What a racket: The great insurance pricing scam

| November 6, 2013

I had a somewhat frustrating day dealing with insurance policies and realized that we’ve been overpaying for a very long time … unless I’m missing something?  It started with a simple phone call to verify that a 15 year term life insurance policy was indeed expired. A call to the Select Quote people confirmed I […]

TechFriday: Get your Personal Google+ URLs now

| November 1, 2013

There are 3rd party options which redirect long strings for URLs, but most users prefer grabbing the official personalized ones when they are available. Facebook offered user names a couple years ago and Google is slowly getting it together by including real names. You should probably claim your name now if you want a custom […]

New shoes! Woohoo, another pair of Sperry sailing shoes

| October 22, 2013

  With a $25 coupon about to expire, I decided to buy a new pair of grippy Sperry SeaRacer Sneakers. These boat shoes were not exactly what I expected as they were much lighter in weight and lighter in construction than any “sneaker” I’ve ever had. In fact, they were almost wimpy.  But … after wearing […]

Chewing string cheese to reduce tooth decay

| September 10, 2013

Saw this in the Wall Street Journal personal section today and although I knew about the gum, I did not know about the string cheese (for the fun of it, I’m trying the iPhone’s Mobile OCR app to capture text). Studies show two things people can chew to help ward off tooth decay. One, Dr. […]

An update on my Sperry Topsider boat shoe insoles

| August 1, 2013

Last year I animadverted about the inserts in my boat shoes and recently noticed that my August 2012 post was a recent MyDesultoryBlog’s top five … according to Google Analytics. Considering it is a top 5, it might be time for a boat shoe update? Boat shoes are a go to shoe in our house […]

Words to live by …

| July 12, 2013

“Don’t overlook doing something good just because you aspire to do something great.”

Weed Man does an obvious upsell or perhaps bait-and-switch

| June 25, 2013

When a deal seems a bit too good, there is probably a reason to be skeptical. Now to be fair, I knew that for $25 I was not going to get my yard completely treated, but was expecting this Cincinnati area Groupon deal to be a way for Weed Man to demonstrate their professionalism and […]

Tech Friday: Frustrated with WordPress search options?

| June 21, 2013

Are you frustrated with the basic search feature available in WordPress? If so, join the club. I’ve been back and forth with several different search plugins and have even tried customizing my own using a Google API. Unfortunately none of them worked well for me when I was searching my own site for items that […]

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