RichC | October 6, 2022
The old Chrysler Town and Country Throwback Thursday #TBT post triggered my archiving of another old automotive photo of Brenda’s beloved 1998 Toyota Rav4. Having own that small ute with a surprisingly large interior for so many miles (265K) and so many years (18), it may be one of the best vehicles we have ever […]
RichC | September 27, 2022
After fixing “Arthur Avenue Pork Sausage and Pepper Heroes with Melty Mozzarella Cheese and Garlic Potato Wedges” … as the recipe card states on Sunday night, which was the last of our subscription meal for a while … my son Taylor called at 8PM after getting himself “in a pickle” (a perfect place for a Shakespearian […]
RichC | September 20, 2022
After helping Taylor move a few larger things over to his new condominium last weekend, he sent a photo of his still bare living room, but it is coming together. The TV is working so he could watch the 2022 losing Cincinnati Bengals (now 0-2) on Sunday afternoon. He has been slowing moving boxes of […]
RichC | September 13, 2022
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RichC | September 6, 2022
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RichC | September 5, 2022
Labor Day weekend was relatively busy with chores and stay-at-home chores. We have also noticed a coyote regularly making his round again (photos above). On Friday night we stopped to see Taylor’s new condominium in Walnut Hills (Cincinnati) and then had dinner at O’Bryon’s Bar and Grill. We ate outside up on the roof as […]
RichC | September 2, 2022
We are looking forward to seeing Taylor’s new condominium in Cincinnati for the first time this weekend. He informed us that he “has the keys to the castle” a couple days early (negotiated current tenant move out date). We can’t wait. It also came on the same day Katelyn and Drew forwarded a photo of […]
RichC | August 27, 2022
Along with Brenda sending me a couple of belated video clips from her phone from earlier this month with our granddaughters, I thought the one of Annalyn mowing with me was pretty special. She spent hours with me while Ellerie was taking her nap and thoroughly enjoyed driving the Kubota … thankfully missing the trees!
RichC | August 27, 2022
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RichC | August 26, 2022
It was an ugly day on Wall Street as investors reacted to comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell who indicated “that the Federal Reserve must continue to raise rates” and “hold them at a higher level until they are confident inflation is under control.” Some economists highlighted in Barron’s Magazine last week, have suggested that […]
RichC | August 25, 2022
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RichC | August 24, 2022
While Brenda and I were in Atlanta celebrating her sister’s birthday, Taylor was once again at another wedding clear across the country. One of his elementary school friends (they stayed in touch) gave a bunch of friends a chance to get together in a nice location – Lake Tahoe. Of course this wasn’t the first […]
RichC | August 14, 2022
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RichC | August 12, 2022
It has been a perfect summer week with Ellerie and Annalyn and all topped off with our family together to celebrate Brenda’s birthday. Katelyn and Drew are taking the girls to Kings Island today while we recuperate and I try to get a few things done that have piled up from phone calls, emails and […]
RichC | August 1, 2022
Well it looks like COVID19’s BA.5 subvariant has found us … or we found it. Fortunately for us, we have been vaccinated and at least I have one of the boosters … so hopefully the more serious and severe illness seen by many can be avoided. As of my writing (over the weekend) the symptoms […]
RichC | July 30, 2022
This past weekend I started what is going to be a slow, but deliberative process of moving out of the basement and back into the upstairs home office. No window blinds yet, but we did move the oriental rug from our first floor to the upstairs (Brenda would like to get something new for the […]
RichC | July 28, 2022
A bit of news from my son Taylor who has decided to buy a condo in Cincinnati rather than renting a few blocks away. He has been looking for a while now and pondered a house vs property vs urban condo or townhouse. Escalating prices since the pandemic turned and rising rates in both lending […]
RichC | July 27, 2022
Eventually I’ll get to part 3 of our family Canadian Rockies 40th Anniversary trip (post-trip nightmare, part 1 and part 2), but for now I’ll archive a few photos from this past week’s babysitting trip to Perrysburg. COVID has made its way through the Oostra family after their trip … likely the herding through the […]
RichC | July 13, 2022
Instead of starting a rant on our nightmare return trip from the Canadian Rockies flying Air Canada … I’m going to let the stress dissipate for a while. It was painful travel. So instead I’ll archive a couple exciting photos from Katelyn and Drew as their builder has started clearing the trees from their lot […]
RichC | June 29, 2022
After nearly 40 years of buying and using Apple products, it is kind of embarrassing that I doubted Steve Jobs and the iPhone publicly on my blog on June 29, 2007. Happy Anniversary iPhone! Check out this post from 15 years ago.
RichC | June 10, 2022
Taylor last weekend at the Cincinnati Zoo with Megan While typing the subject line of this post, I wondered at what “age” is respectful to NOT mention a number when sharing a Happy Birthday greeting? Hopefully not at 33 yet, since from memory those were the years I pretty much felt my best (pre Menieres!) […]
RichC | June 7, 2022
Brenda and I enjoyed our anniversary weekend staying around home, working in both the yard and for me painting on Sunday afternoon (Brenda helped out at a store short a pharmacist in Dayton). Slowly I’m making progress in painting the guest bedroom (pano photo below). Ceiling are done, walls have their first and second coat […]
RichC | June 7, 2022
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RichC | June 5, 2022
A poor quality scan of our 1982 wedding with DadH, MomH, MomC and DadC Often a 40th Wedding Anniversary triggers a husband or wife to make the comment “thanks for putting up with me” or something to that effect. Although there is truth to it, spending the rest of your life with another person is […]
RichC | May 31, 2022
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RichC | May 22, 2022
It is difficult to ignore the success of the private space industry and admire companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX as it launches and re-launches rocket after rocket. From satellite launching to shuttling astronauts to and from the International Space Station, SpaceX definitely has the potential to land astronauts back on the moon and to be […]
RichC | May 21, 2022
It is likely an age thing, but once upon a time, I didn’t think twice about trenching and digging. Now, I’m tired out by lunchtime (this was a Saturday (5/21/2022) morning project) and I didn’t even finished the trench for drainage pipe (it is relatively soft after the heavy rain, but has a lot of […]
RichC | May 18, 2022
When the weather finally warmed up and I was motivated to head outside to work in the yard and start cleaning things up around the house, it was good for my activity level. Let’s see if this will correspond with losing a few pounds and getting a little healthier – it certainly can’t hurt (a […]
RichC | May 17, 2022
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RichC | May 14, 2022
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RichC | May 11, 2022
Since I use these dovetail MicroJig clamps for woodworking in my workshop, it seemed only logical to archive a photo so I can build a "jointer jig" or perhaps more appropriately just a jig to use with the table saw for small tapers … or especially for cuts when the piece of wood isn’t flat […]
RichC | May 8, 2022
It is difficult not to recognize what great moms both MomC and MomH were to me … but since they are no longer here, I want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to a couple of great moms — my wife Brenda and daughter Katelyn. They both have risen to the most important role of […]
RichC | May 7, 2022
It is definitely spring and as with many growing families working hard and fortunate enough to be living in the United States, ours are pursuing the American dream of building or owning a home. Katelyn and Drew sent perhaps a final undeveloped photo of their beautiful NW Ohio property on a wooded cul-de-sac. I say […]
RichC | April 25, 2022
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RichC | April 19, 2022
After filling up the 2010 BMW X5 35d with diesel … ouch … I drove to the least painful Ohio DMV location in my area according to the online wait times. Thankfully I came prepared with my passport, address verification and requested ID information. After $56.40 … I came out in less than 30 minutes […]
RichC | April 16, 2022
First, I mentioned pool repairs were underway earlier in the week. The tiles that I’ve been repairing are now long past due for a full replacement. So the water has been pumped out and a pool tile crew is beginning the demolition prior to making repairs and installing new waterline tile. Brenda’s comment made me […]
RichC | April 14, 2022
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RichC | April 12, 2022
While ordering Titebond III glue in the 16 oz size (best choice for wood glue) from Walmart.com ($7.98) instead of Amazon, who happened to only have other sizes and bulk packaging (although gone is $67 Prime shipping), I needed to add another item to my order to avoid the shipping charges. The Kubota ZD326 zero-turn […]
RichC | April 9, 2022
Saw this “trash” can on social media the other day and don’t know if there was an R2-D2 Star Wars intent or not, but it did make me smile … ALMOST as much as receiving a photo from Katelyn and Drew while on spring break vacation with Drew’s family in South Carolina. It sure looked […]
RichC | April 7, 2022
While clearing out a few more old boxes and tossing junk in preparation for new floors in my office (and guest bedroom) last weekend, I just couldn’t throw this 1963 “fine artwork” colored by yours truly without taking a photo and archiving on my blog. A digital image take up far less space then paper […]
RichC | April 6, 2022
Our concrete driveway is not small … and if you add to our front drive to the rear paved driveway, it is fair to say that we have a lot of money invested in concrete and asphalt. So … when last year’s front driveway replacement didn’t go well, we ended up in a dispute (friendly) […]
RichC | April 3, 2022
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RichC | March 15, 2022
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RichC | March 12, 2022
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RichC | March 8, 2022
The final steps of finishing the rocking chair for my granddaughter are finally getting done. The canvas strips of material have been added with a little flexible adhesive in the center and epoxy on the ends. The canvas material should do a couple things, first prevent the painted rockers from wearing to bare wood and […]
RichC | March 5, 2022
What parent doesn’t enjoy seeing their adult children respected enough in their profession to be asked to comment? Since I’m one that does keep an online scrapbook of sorts (this blog) … I’m archiving a recent article with Katelyn in Toledo Area Parent titled “Less Mealtime Stress with Responsive Feeding.” Seems like a week to […]
RichC | March 1, 2022
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RichC | February 20, 2022
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RichC | February 19, 2022
I used the word “customized” because besides getting the “rocker” for this chair from a set of plans … for safety sake … I’ve been tweaking the children’s rocking chair from collected ideas … and trial and error. Besides wanting to use dimensional lumber and running it through the planner for the frames, I’ve pulled […]
RichC | February 16, 2022
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RichC | February 15, 2022
This post is going to be “a day late (or so) and a dollar short” post … just as the Cincinnati Bengals were in Sunday night’s Super Bowl LVI. Our young Bengals put up a valiant fight, but came away with a disappointing loss: Rams 23, Bengals 20. As so many have said, 2022 for […]
RichC | February 10, 2022
In early February 2022, most of the U.S. received a heavy ice and snow storm. There were quite a few shared photos on the social networks and an animated GIF of a huge snowman triggered memories of our Hudson, Ohio winters in NE Ohio. Back then I had an old Ford 800 that I used […]
RichC | February 8, 2022
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RichC | January 30, 2022
Since we will be focused on watching football and especially the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend, I’m pre-posting something that frustrates me when going to the grocery or drugstore. I know the inexpensive “brand” of shampoo that I like, but Suave for Men makes so many different blends, bottle sizes and labels that I can never […]
RichC | January 27, 2022
Well I don’t enjoy dealing with insurance companies or claims … that is for sure! Brenda’s Acura RDX was backed into in a Kroger parking lot last week so the insurance adjuster phone tag begins (a previous time it was the Honda Pilot and a CVS parking lot). This time the young driver who backed […]
RichC | January 26, 2022
Brenda and I stretched out a cooler than expected weekend in Florida to get the condo ready for our Canadian renters. It worked out nicely since we had enough sun to start in order to go to the beach and plenty of time over the weekend to clean things up AND watch some excellent NFL […]
RichC | January 19, 2022
For the lack of a better subject line, this will be called a Workshop Wednesday post … even though I’m rarely in the workshop on Wednesdays (it was last weekend). Anyway, I was busy making a jig to help cut the “cheap” (and I mean “cheaply made”) crown molding that I purchased from Wayfair for […]
RichC | January 18, 2022
Well done again Katelyn,Drew, Megan and Taylor. Thank you. Of all the “too many” gifts this year, you guys have managed to “once again” come up with great gifts. The automated and “generous” (inside joke) liquid hand soap dispenser is perfect for our kitchen. Brenda and I use it multiple times each day and find […]
RichC | January 15, 2022
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RichC | January 6, 2022
The scratch-built & designed (from a photo Katelyn sent) folding-case wooden Dollhouse for Ellerie was a success for Christmas this year. I was pretty sure Katelyn would like this sort-of heirloom toy, but I was unsure if a little granddaughter used to blinking gadgets and modern plastic toys would take to it, but she enjoyed […]