RichC | December 2, 2018
Perhaps it is human nature to reflect on ones own personal shortcomings and selfish thoughts at the passing of another well remembered United States president? President George H.W. Bush (1924-2018) lived an amazing life in an amazing time to have been alive. His completed life reminded me of a verse in Ecclesiastes (see bottom of […]
RichC | November 11, 2018
The "Bells of Peace" will ring out nationwide from smartphones on the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" to mark the centennial of the end of World War I in November 1918 – click for app On the 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month … one hundred […]
RichC | October 30, 2018
The fight was known as "The Rumble in the Jungle" and was perhaps the most iconic boxing event ever. The underdog and mouthy, rope-a-dope dancing Muhammad Ali put the undefeated world heavyweight champion George Foreman down in eight rounds. What an event and one not forgotten by the 60,000 in attendance or by the 50 […]
RichC | October 24, 2018
I can’t vouch for the complete book (I’ve just starting reading it), but for those of us who appreciate first hand accounts of heroism, survival and World War II history … spending $2 on Alistair Urquhart’s "The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific," is well worth it. An amazing story […]
RichC | October 18, 2018
For years I’ve known the odd hood ornament on my dad’s Packard Hawk (above) was not accurate or something that was original to the car, but had no idea where it came from? Last week after an online chat and a little digging with a car-loving friend of mine, we did a little digging and […]
RichC | October 17, 2018
There was a time we winced at dentistry pre-20th century (some still do today), but imagine going to an Egyptian dentist back in 2000BC or there about? Yikes! "Egyptians were very comfortable with and knowledgeable about the human body. Mummifying bodies required them to drain the blood and extract the organs leading to a basic […]
RichC | October 16, 2018
While sharpening my chisels and practicing my hand-cut joinery last weekend, I remembered that I added a "new to me" wood chisel to my tool roll when sorting tools from my late father-in-law’s barn. It was too large for the current project, but looks as if the steel might hold an edge better than my […]
RichC | October 13, 2018
A friend from a Facebook group posted a 1982 Mercedes Benz advertisement with a W123 beauty – I thought it looked pretty close to my ‘82 MB 300D Turbodiesel. Nice! When the W123 went out of production in 1986 it had surpassed the Stroke Eight as the bestselling Mercedes-Benz with more than 2.5 million cars […]
RichC | September 11, 2018
“We’re Going to Do Something …” After a week of total disgust over Nike selecting Colin Kaepernick as their new spokesperson suggesting he "sacrificed everything" when he knelt during the National Anthem and wore socks portraying "police as pigs" … I saw Mike Rowe’s Facebook post and thought his way too polite comment sum things […]
RichC | September 9, 2018
Social networks like Twitter"can" be interesting places for people who have opposing views to debate and exchange views … or they can be just a bunch of haters. BUT … because I participate in the former, I do enjoy the back and forth with people who have good or better thoughts than me … or […]
RichC | September 2, 2018
The nations’ citizens, Washington DC elites and the news media devoted significant time to honor and mourn with Senator John S. McCain’s family last week and especially on Saturday. I watched the funeral proceedings and memorial events along with much of the country who recognized his devotion to country. His loyalty to the men and […]
RichC | August 17, 2018
While monitoring a military history Twitter feed, decided to add this “bomb bay view” photo from the World War II bomber group my father-in-law flew with. He was the navigator for the 394th Bomb Group of Martin Marauder B-26s and flew nearly 50 bombing missions over Germany. They were known as the “Bridge Busters.” (Read […]
RichC | August 8, 2018
With a niece a new dentist and both a late father-in-law and brother-in-law who were dentists, the #70 Mike Rowe "The Way I Heard It Podcast" was interesting – You Might Feel A Little Pinch. I’m thankful for modern dentistry … although may look at my dentist with a little more scrutiny. Check out mikeroweWorks […]
RichC | July 3, 2018
While working with my "travel tool bag" today, I pick up a open end wrench with SHAW on the handle. It brought back memories of my Grandpa Bluhm and where he once worked back in the 1950s or 60s. I sent a photo to my cousin Diane, but because it was a tool, don’t really […]
RichC | May 25, 2018
Noticed a blog post from 12 years ago discussing “portable” computing and how things have changed. In 2006 the average laptop weighed about 7 pounds with batteries, compared to 20 years prior where my Compaq was 28 pounds … and required 110VAC power. LINK to post Now an iPhone or iPad can run circles around […]
RichC | April 28, 2018
While on the subject of reading and books (after posting about Robert Kurson’s Rocket Men a couple days ago), I realized I didn’t really share much a book I read a couple years ago (mentioned briefly in 2016). Star Sand by Roger Pulvers (May 2016) is currently a free Kindle download for Amazon Prime customers and […]
RichC | April 22, 2018
Ordered the book Rocket Men, The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon based on the author Robert Kurson and enjoying the writing style and content in his previous book Shadow Divers. If you enjoy history, space exploration, NASA and the heroic astronauts and scientist that […]
RichC | April 21, 2018
It is probably the 1958 Packard Hawk photo on this particular Hemmings Daily post that caught my eye, but the article (and follow-up comments) are interesting too. I’ve archived the PDF of this post just in case it disappears. Photograph by Thomas A. DeMauro No single factor ever sinks an automaker. The struggle between profits […]
RichC | April 11, 2018
With freedom desired by nearly everyone on earth and history clear as to choice and “the market” lifting our standard of living, why do so many young people embrace socialism and big government?
RichC | March 16, 2018
If our remembering the Mỹ Lai Massacre and teaching the history prevents the mass killing of civilians by U.S. soldiers in the future, it is a sober lesson that needs to be taught. One would have hoped we could have learned from a prior military actions, like from the No Gun Ri massacre in Nogeun-ri, […]
RichC | February 14, 2018
Happy Valentine’s Day to my wife Brenda, daughter Katelyn and to Annalyn on her first Valentine’s Day (but don’t read this Dark Origins Of Valentine’s Day history!) It’s not that I forget or take lightly my wife and daughter, but it is hard to beat thinking about my granddaughter as my special “smallest and sweetest” […]
RichC | February 7, 2018
This ain’t my first rodeo (was looking for an excuse to use the idiom) as it pertains to stretching the life of my favorite pair of Sperry Topsiders. The idiom this ain’t my first rodeo is generally traced back to the movie Mommie Dearest, in which the character Joan Crawford says, “This ain’t my first […]
RichC | February 5, 2018
One of the longest running names in “R&B” and “doo wap” music is the Hall of Fame vocal group called The Drifters. They have been performing and recording music since the early 1950s (according to Wikipedia their “Years active are 1953 – present day!”) Obviously I did not know them from that early era, but […]
RichC | January 25, 2018
Throwback Thursday #TBT photos usually have to do with oneself or at least something from our own lifetime. I’m archiving a unique photo of this great American leader (the first known of him in 1840), as I wanted to save it to my blog. Most of us study our US Presidents in school, but usually […]
RichC | January 22, 2018
After contemplating the purchase of Larry P Arinn‘s Churchill’s Trial at full price since it was published, but having too many unfinished books on my Kindle and reading table, the $1.99 price was exactly what I needed to download. I’m looking forward to the scholarly writing of Dr. Arinn as he delves into the trials […]
RichC | January 15, 2018
Today, January 15, 2018, our nation celebrates the life and accomplishments of one of our greatest Americans on his national holiday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This past Friday, President Trump signed a proclamation that honors Dr. King by designating his birthplace, church and tomb as a National Historic Park. Along with the president’s respectful […]
RichC | December 25, 2017
While reading about the Winter Solstice, songs we call “carols” were not originally what come to mind today. I Saw Three Ships (carol – written in 1410) The first songs/carols in Europe were not Christmas Carols, they were pagan songs sung while dancing around stone circles on the shortest day of the year – […]
RichC | December 7, 2017
We remember December 7th, 1941 to honor those who perished and as a reminder of what lead up to Japan’s 1920’s ambition to dominate the Pacific Basin believing it was their manifest destiny (see series Pearl Harbor – Then and Now on the Defense Media Network). The unprovoked surprise attack on Hawaii in the early […]
RichC | December 6, 2017
Now if I were to be true to myself, I’d be driving a station wagon like this Buick Special Estate Wagon, Model 49 mentioned in Hemmigs. As posted previously, my first car was almost a 1958 Buick Special, but after my stint with wagons in the 1980s (Volvo DL245, Chevrolet Caprice Wagon and Oldsmobile Custom […]
RichC | November 30, 2017
As someone who had an early interest in cryptocurrency as a replacement for product and services exchange, the recent rise of Bitcoin is nothing more than frightening. Supply and demand obviously has traders of this public ledger block chain protected transaction “currency” excited and like all manias, is concerning since eventually trading profits will be […]
RichC | October 14, 2017
Having a couple of connections to U.S. submariners, I found this bit of Akula-class Soviet Navy submarine history interesting and a great read. How The Soviet Akula Changed Submarine Warfare In late 1984, when the first Akula submarine of the Soviet Navy put to sea, it immediately changed the way anti-submarine warfare would be conducted. […]
RichC | October 13, 2017
The early 1980s were challenging as manufacturing headed overseas, inflation ate up the buying power of every dollar and the cost to borrow was at an all time high. In fact, Brenda and I were giddy to have acquired a 12% mortgage on our first house in 1982 because our friends were applying for new […]
RichC | October 9, 2017
You’re getting old when you can say that you were listening to Jimmy Buffett music when only on vinyl, although it could have been on 8-track or cassette tape? Thankfully I was not listening to his song The Wino and I Know on 78s as the lyrics in the song goes (a vinyl record format […]
RichC | September 22, 2017
The Ken Burns and Lynn Novick 10 part documentary THE VIETNAM WAR airing each night this past week on PBS has been eye opening even for someone who "thought" they knew their Vietnam history. I’ve read a lot of books over the years and lived through most of the war stateside in real time (to […]
RichC | September 12, 2017
I do my best to keep the goings-on activities of Taylor, Katelyn and Drew up to date, so here’s a promotional update after a move back to Ohio from Minnesota for my daughter Katelyn’s new pediatric practice in Oregon, Ohio. Need a pediatrician? It is a bit weird for having been born in Toledo where […]
RichC | September 8, 2017
Accessing the Internet with broadband speeds has definitely improved this past year or so in our area. I remember connecting via modem at 300 baud, improving to 1200, then 56K and making the expensive big move to a twin pair of 128K ISDN lines giving me 256K of bandwidth in the 1990s. Eventually I jumped […]
RichC | September 3, 2017
What a great story told by YouTuber Scott Manley about the early days of NASA, their Apollo 14 computing problem and a "tech support call" to a programmer (video below). The story is longish and likely only of interest for those on the geeky side who work with computer or are programmers — it would […]
RichC | August 27, 2017
RichC | August 16, 2017
Another photo (above) from my an envelope containing a few of my dad’s trips before meeting my mom … interesting to think about the history of stock car racing in Daytona Beach Florida. Back in the early 1950s the beach and A-1-A were used at the straightaways and a grandstand at the corner. What I […]
RichC | August 15, 2017
A couple of days ago I mentioned the passing of my father two short years ago. A day later my brother reminded me that it had been two years and sense it surprised him too. The thought of my dad had me move a pile of papers I’ve had in my office; we cleared them […]
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