RichC | 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 […]
RichC | 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 […]
RichC | 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 […]
RichC | June 15, 2017
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RichC | 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).
RichC | 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 […]
RichC | May 30, 2017
Not that I have a Yanmar diesel on our sailboat, but love the kit from Balmar to convert an auxilary diesel from V-belt to Serpentine belt and pulleys.
RichC | May 18, 2017
Great tips from tech writer Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal on dealing with a few Gmail nits most of us using Google’s free services have. See her article at WSJ.com. 1. Priorities, Priorities You may not know it, but Google’s email bots have not one but two ways of automatically organizing your messages: […]
RichC | May 14, 2017
My take after reading the informative Volkswagen Diesel Scandal timeline article published in the New York Times a couple months ago was that the stricter diesel engine emission standards imposed by the U.S. EPA forced Volkswagen in a corner. With the prospect of losing business, they opted to "cheat" in order to continue selling their […]
RichC | May 11, 2017
The previous later evening blog update when the contractor left was a bit of a blurry photo, so I wanted to include a better photo and opted to give the Lumix GX8 pano-mode a try (above). Since I was not sure exactly how it would turn out, opted for a normal wide angle image as […]
RichC | May 6, 2017
Our kitchen update is nearly finished and we only have a few touch up items, the correct under the counter LED lights and a freezer door replacement to go. The mounted TV is now working with everything self contained on the sliding mount and everything works off of a single power plug. I’m still having […]
RichC | May 4, 2017
The contractor that dented our Samsung refrigerator ask me to get a replacement freezer door so I called J & J International at 800-627-4368 and had to log a case #149782 and give them our model and serial number before they could research and price the part. Hopefully if I order it they will continue […]
RichC | April 28, 2017
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RichC | April 25, 2017
The granite countertops were installed last week, still putting us a couple of weeks from having a usable kitchen as the construction continues to crawl along (no plumbing, cooktop, backsplash, trim, electrical or paint). It is tough being without a functioning kitchen and washing up dishes in the laundry room is getting old … but […]
RichC | April 23, 2017
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RichC | April 21, 2017
Here’s a quick slideshow of photos updating the granite countertops to our kitchen remodel after they were installed this past week. Thankfully every measurement was “spot on” and the install went without a hitch (the photos make them look a lot darker than they really are). A couple photos show a sample of the new […]
RichC | April 13, 2017
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RichC | April 4, 2017
Although Pinterest isn’t my thing, it is a good place for "lookers" to collect ideas. One of the items yet to order for the kitchen upgrade will be counter height stools and my daughter, who is on maternity leave, said she would do some looking on Pinterest (whew, I don’t have to look there!). The […]
RichC | March 30, 2017
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RichC | March 28, 2017
The kitchen remodeling hit a snag today as the custom cabinet that was suppose to fit the new Bosch double-oven was way off. I’m not sure why it was off because the specifications sheet for the oven was sent to the manufacture, but it wasn’t even close. The "fix" is that the installer will butcher […]
RichC | March 21, 2017
Finally, our long awaited kitchen project begins in earnest. Monday was what Fixer Upper’s Chip and Joanna Gaines call "Demo Day." Our long and drawn out updates and upgrades are finally starting and have grown in both design changes and cost as the weeks have grown into months … if not years! We really started […]
RichC | March 19, 2017
My son Taylor is geography and map kind of guy so I gave him a mag-lift spinning globe for his desk for Christmas 2016. His interests and innate sense of direction is probably why he pursued “Urban Planning and now coordinates development for Clermont County Ohio as a county planner. Anyway, I had forgotten that […]
RichC | March 18, 2017
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RichC | March 16, 2017
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RichC | March 12, 2017
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RichC | March 5, 2017
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RichC | February 23, 2017
Likely I am not the only one who gets distracted when researching something on the Internet. This past weekend it was the Ballard Locks in Washington State that caught my eye and stole about an hour of my attention and time. Once upon a time, we contemplated a move to Seattle during the late 1990s […]
RichC | February 21, 2017
I was fortunate to have one of the greatest childhoods. My immediate family was very close with my mom’s parents (my grandparents) and her sister and family. We spent many times together and every holiday. My cousin Diane and husband Bert remain “relatively” close to this day and occasionally text message back and forth. Hm, […]
RichC | February 15, 2017
Video training on setting up a speed limiting drogue for emergency steering on a sailboat. 33 minute training video demonstrates two popular approaches that give racers and cruisers more than one option when steering a disabled vessel with a damaged or lost rudder. Each drogue is deployed according to the manufactures recommendations with lots of […]
RichC | February 12, 2017
Posting a few leftover photos from my last trip to the boat. One is a waterproof fitting to bring the solar cable thru Encore‘s deck (eventually a new project) … and a couple more of an early morning sunrise at the dock at Harbortown Marina in Fort Pierce. Really the trip was a quick getaway […]
RichC | February 7, 2017
It is hard to remember exactly where each rail, cleat and fitting is on the aft deck of Encore, so this post is to archive a couple photos as a way to remember. It probalby won’t help much as it is still hare to tell where there is space and where there is not. In […]
RichC | January 29, 2017
Snipping an idea. Perhaps make the board with inset magnets to hold the pieces? Perhaps laminate over a peg board to more easily space Neodymium Magnets that fit in each hole?
RichC | January 28, 2017
Designer rendition Last summer we started to plan for a kitchen remodel as our "builder grade" cabinets and mishmash of appliances were in serious need of replacement. We updated our dishwasher and refrigerator already, but need to finish off the final stages once and for all. I’m currently working with a designer and close to […]
RichC | January 24, 2017
Having just returned from my mother-in-law’s funeral in western New York has me thinking of my late mother and now on January 24th … particularly my father. Today would have been his 88th birthday if he were still alive … although I’m not so sure many of us want all that many more years as […]
RichC | January 18, 2017
It was a Baby Shower weekend, and what a wonderful one at that. Terrrific family and friends … and a beautiful mother to be and a “Babygirl” shower a few notches above (well my opinion). My wife Brenda and two of Katelyn’s friends from medical school put on a classy baby shower and turned our […]
RichC | January 11, 2017
The long drawn out "laundry room upgrade" is finally finished as mentioned yesterday, but at least it improves and modernizes what we had. The old GE top-load washing machine was regularly being fixed and the dryer was long past it’s prime … but still working after the "bearing kit repair." The newer graphite color […]
RichC | January 10, 2017
Brenda and I admire art, be it paintings, carvings, knick-knacks, sailboat models or a piece of old furniture. Over the years we have added several items to our home, be they purchased from an estate sale or hand-me-downs. While adding the new shelves to our laundry room and repainting, I stopped to admire the craftsmanship […]
RichC | January 7, 2017
While contemplating complexity vs simplicity in life and on sailboats, I once again stumbled on a precious morsel by Lin Pardey who has been land-based in New Zealand. Taleisin was sold to a young couple who now enjoys Lin and Larry’s “home” for over 30 years (mentioned before). Lin continues to write, appear at boatshows […]
RichC | January 5, 2017
Although I just updated a few of the fittings on Encore‘s ShadeTree awning system, I’d prefer fewer bungee cords and fiberglass and vinyl wear points. After posting a comment to Eben Bruyns the new owner of Taleisin (Lin and Larry Pardey‘s boat), I noticed the D-ring fittings and cinch lines and figured I would archive […]
RichC | January 2, 2017
This Time.com post isn’t brand new, but since my daughter is due in March, “we” have an interest in baby names. Have you ever wondered how popular your or your child’s name was when named “back in the day?” We you a “Trendsetter” or named “after its time?”
RichC | December 30, 2016
There are much better places to save articles than a publicly available blog like Evernote, GetPocket, Google apps as well as locally archived HTML, Docs and PDFs, but I still occasionally enjoy having them on MyDesultoryBlog. So as with a few other archived articles on reefing (1 & 2), I’m saving this Cruising World Seamanship 101: […]
RichC | December 28, 2016
With the intent to capture the end of the year 2016 tax credit and take advantage of a slow work week, I scheduled the replacement of our 21 year old Bryant HVAC equipment. The installers from Logan-Inc worked one full day to replace our two furnaces with higher efficiency Trane models (XR95 + S9V2) and […]
RichC | December 26, 2016
Adding a couple catch-up photos to the mix after driving the BMW X5 35d (26.1 mpg) up for a busy Christmas weekend with Katelyn, Drew and Taylor in Wayzata, Minnesota. We took Drew’s Acura RX out for a nice Christmas Eve dinner and am starting to realize Brenda and I are definitely looking older (and […]
RichC | December 19, 2016
Admittedly I’m proud of my kids and enjoy seeing them living their lives … especially when a few of my interests rise to the top. In Taylor’s case, he has expand on our mutual interest in backpacking and photography on his trip to Hawaii last month. Memory Road: In 7th grade I had an […]
RichC | December 17, 2016
The cold weather is upon us (it is in the single digits today) and with a little snow on the ground in Cincinnati, it is beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas. We are in the "prepare mode" and in the middle our checking the list twice festive shopping and wrapping routine, but […]
RichC | December 14, 2016
I finally finished up a long overdue project for Taylor … a headboard for his bed. He had giving me a couple magazine images as to what he wanted, but I just haven’t found the time or put together the materials I needed to build it (let alone been ambitious enough to start the project). […]
RichC | December 10, 2016
In continuing the quest to be able to bring along our fully inflated Zodiac dinghy when gunkholing aboard Encore, I am still pondering an inexpensive davit option. The dilemma has been trying to keep the Capehorn Steering gear (hopefully functional) while still "safely" toting along a dinghy. The foredeck space is limited since the baby […]
RichC | November 24, 2016
On the recommendation of Carolyn Goodlander (wife of Fatty Goodlander), I’m giving the FastSeas.com weather routing and passage planning online tool a try. Not that I’m planning a bluewater passage to Bermuda just yet, but it is interesting how technology has changed route planning. Where it seems to help is in tweaking departure dates and […]
RichC | November 22, 2016
I couldn’t resist sharing one of my son’s photos from his Thanksgiving trip to Hawaii. The first few days have been spent at a friends house on Oahu not to far from Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Kaneohe Bay, but they are not sitting still. Each day after the morning rain, at least the two […]
RichC | November 13, 2016
Surprise! At least that’s what I found out when I opened a couple virtual invoices from Amazon for my two AWS accounts (personal and business). After moving files for online web content to Amazon’s fast and reliable S3 cloud-based servers a couple years ago, I’ve been happily adding content regularly since then as the cost […]
RichC | October 26, 2016
The advancements in unmanned aviation continue to impress me as a new generation of pilots is flying by remote control rather than “stick and rudder,” “yoke and peddle” … but all can still fly by the “seat of their pants.” I’m still unsure what to call these computer controlled devices nowadays … quadcopters, quadrotors (what […]
RichC | October 22, 2016
My daughter took her "leased" Juke into the Nissan dealership in Minnesota for a $25 oil change and while it was in the service bay, the service department recommended she do a few additional maintenance items totaling $1200 … "but we can do it all today for a flat $1000" (don’t you just love it […]
RichC | October 13, 2016
After doing a little maintenance and replacing the front tires on the John Deere 330 last month, I finally finished the simple 10K generator setup and wired up a new longer power-to-house cable. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to come up with a mount that makes it easy enough from my wife to connect the generator […]
RichC | October 9, 2016
Archiving another project idea for living on the hook (someday) yet still having hot water for dishes, cleaning and SHOWERS (a freshwater shower is a luxury for most sailboats).
RichC | October 6, 2016
Let’s hope this “curtain call” (cough, cough) isn’t a precursor for Hurricane Matthew bearing down on Encore in Fort Pierce Florida? The subject line was more of a slip of the tongue regarding “curtains” when I really intended a twisted “Suzy Homemaker” innuendo — Sailor Homemaker (my attempts at sewing curtains). Failed joke aside, I […]
RichC | October 5, 2016
Google calendar has automatically added a few important annual events to my calendar (my settings), but unfortunately it is not artificially intelligent enough to remove or delete. Today I was sent a reminder that we normally celebrate our late dog Tootie’s birthday on October 5th. She is missed and I often catch what I thought […]
RichC | September 10, 2016
Sometimes American ingenuity and out-of-the-box MacGyver thinking comes together in the craziest ways. My dad gave me an incredibly useful 10 gallon Portable Air Tank that is easier to use than a slow poke portable air compressor. I use to use it extensively when having to fill the leaking tires on the John Deere prior […]
RichC | September 2, 2016
My brother and I closed our final chapter of "Our Life in Sidney, Ohio" this week after finalizing the sale of my parents home. The "young" new owners have some great plans for their first house and I’m sure will be very happy; it is a great place. They will return life back into the […]
RichC | August 25, 2016
After we “cooked” our generator (my fault for not telling Brenda to prop open the enclosure door), I’ve been tinkering to get parts in order to fix it as mentioned before … but my best attempt as scrounging parts has failed. I could only come up with a possible match for the windings and the […]
RichC | August 20, 2016
An aside … I spent my formative years engrossed in photography, back before it was digital and when "souping" film in a darkroom. Nowadays 90% of what I take is on a smartphone due to the simplicity and recent improvements in quality. Still, the best photographic images come from a quality lens and large sensor […]