Does she smile or not smile … that is the question?

| February 20, 2022

The photo to the left is one of those photos taking up bandwidth and being passed around the Internet in emails and on social networks. The assumption is that most people see a photo of a girl who is NOT smiling. The suggestion is that if you “squint” a bit, you can see a photo […]

A new-to-me Arabica Bean Coffee and a family photo to save to the 2022 Valentine’s Day blog archive

| February 16, 2022

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How long can the U.S. keep bailing before the ship sinks?

| January 25, 2022

So … how’s the economy doing in 2022? Well, if you measure it based on the stock market or maybe finding a job (if you want to work) … then the façade looks ok. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find out that your paycheck doesn’t go that far … IF you can find what […]

Tech Friday: Keen 1963 portable phone insight Mansfield, OH

| January 7, 2022

Here’s a look back to a Mansfield News Journal article and something a little different for a New Year’s Nostradamus-y Tech Friday post … also in using the word “keen” it reflects the Christmas present/hiking shoes I bought (well Katelyn actually ordered) for Brenda … along with a bed-desk for her “preferred” office. 😉

Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2021 – Elon Musk

| December 26, 2021

Before the year 2021 disappears, it is worth highlighting Time magazine’s pick for Person of the Year  – although I generally just roll my eyes. This time in picking Elon Musk, it is hard to disagree. The pick of Musk, the richest man on Earth, is a good one as he is not only an […]

Even at my age, curiosity makes me do unusual things

| December 18, 2021

Our Omaha Steak special New Year’s spiral cut ham arrived this week and after finding room in our freezer for 10 pounds of ham, I moved the foam cooler out to the garage. After giving some thought to how nice and cold the contents were, I decided to see if the dry ice was keeping […]

We are thinking about retirement … in a few years!

| December 15, 2021

As Christmas cards arrive and the 15th of December hits, it is time to start winding down my business year and thinking about 2022 (BTW, we mailed our cards this week). One thing I have noticed this year is that more cards are from people who are now retired or are retiring. Hm … does […]

A practical lesson for students who insist that socialism works

| November 27, 2021

For many people, working 40 hours a week would be a dream

| November 3, 2021

There was a Q & A “workfriend” letter in the New York Times a couple months ago suggesting that a “40 hours a week is not sustainable.”  A 27 year old made the comment and it triggered my GOM (Grumpy Old Man) response … especially after reading: I have hobbies. I have creative pursuits and therapy […]

The many political ‘ISMs’ discussed in our culture today #TBT

| October 21, 2021

Every time I use political term with an “ism” these days, I sense I need to clarify the meaning as much as for myself as to the person I’m talking too. Often I’ll refer to an online resource in order to be sure that I’m not misspeaking … but usually its because the terms have […]

Pyramids: Amazing human-powered ancient engineering

| October 17, 2021

Saw this last week posted on the @ArchaeoHistories Twitter feed. This is how the pyramids looked when they were built four thousand five hundred years ago. Where it was covered with white limestone and its top was made of gold to reflect the sun’s rays.

From not being diversified to owning too many tickers?

| October 12, 2021

For most investors, the normal criticism is that they are not diversified enough … or at least they often own too much of one sector or one stock (happened in the old days when companies often matched or did a partial match in company stock). I’ve tried to keep “diversity” in mind over my lifetime […]

Patriotism and respect for our American Flag #audio

| October 3, 2021

While slowly getting going on Saturday, the Fox and Friends Weekend broadcast was on in the background. A frustrating … and depressing story … from an  older veteran, retired Col Leonard B Scott III, the “Old Ranger,”  from Edmond, Oklahoma (who had his flags stolen), caught my ear and irritated me a how some people […]

A colorized photo triggering interest in Ernest Shacklton

| September 30, 2021

"Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success." –Ernest Shackleton  Seeing a colorized version of a photo on Twitter the other day from the British National Antarctic Expedition at the turn of the century triggered memories of […]

Tech Friday filler: Mobile Internet traffic worldwide

| September 24, 2021

Saved an interesting graphic posted on social media this past week. It is interesting to look at and contemplate how we use our smartphones and tablets … it also works as a Tech Friday filler.

A map of showing the 4037 cities with populations over 100K

| September 23, 2021

This map was posted on Brilliant Maps back in 2015, but graphically seeing the 4037 cities around the world with over 100,000 people in them was interesting for those of us who enjoy studying maps. LINK to larger black and white and LINK to color overlay map It may not be the most up-to-date map, […]

Some thoughts on investing as technology races forward

| August 20, 2021

Most aging entrepreneurs and investors can “in hindsight” spot their mistakes and missed opportunities, but with age and experience, also comes wisdom. The pace of change is rapidly accelerating and decisions seem to be made much faster and happen quicker nowadays’; I suspect even millennials are learning this faster? As a more cautious trader and […]

Will this pair of Sperry boat shoes last for the rest of my life?

| August 7, 2021

Besides making one of those “senior moment” gaffes by switching my mini split HVAC unit accidentally from AC to “HEAT” (I was roasting in my office), I bought a new pair of shoes after being disappointed in the cheaply made pair that I bought last year. Those that read this blog know that I’ve been […]

What’s new these days: Renting outdoor gear from Eddie Bauer?

| August 1, 2021

Perhaps I’ve been asleep at the wheel, but when looking to buy another pair of Eddie Bauer shorts (liked the lightweight ones I ordered last month – below), I noticed that they are promoting a “Rent Your Adventure” outdoor camping gear program. It caught me off-guard  to see them renting outdoor gear as well as […]

New Shepard Blue Origin launched with Jeff Bezos this morning

| July 20, 2021

Most news outlets are covering the Jeff Bezos and crew launching the few minutes delayed Blue Origin first crewed 11-minute space flight on the anniversary of Apollo 11’s moon landing in 1969. The New Shepard spacecraft launched flawlessly and was a beautiful site … although, shockingly short, for $28 million dollars per passenger.   Interestingly, […]

Lots of tools, more tools and an old Boy’s Life booksafe #TBT

| July 15, 2021

After seeing this photo of someone workbench screwdriver holder, I don’t feel quite as bad about my multiple tool boxes and workbench racks. Without a doubt, I do have my share of tools and gadgets, but I’m not sure how many screwdrivers it is necessary to have in one holder? The Facebook photo above aside, […]

Abhimanyu Mishra, the youngest Chess grandmaster in history

| July 6, 2021

It was probably the intimidating photo of 9 year old Abhimanyu Mishra that caught my attention, but as someone who once enjoyed the “recreational game” of Chess as a boy, it is also impressive to see what this young New Jersey boy has accomplished. At the GM Mix in Hungary last week, a 12-year old […]

Another Music Monday TV theme song from an in-my-opinion effective Applebee’s commercial with “Cheers” intro

| June 21, 2021

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The odds are at least 50-50 … right? #learning #statistics

| June 16, 2021

So why do I always end up trying to open the wrong end of a trash bag? With human intelligence and adaptive learning being what it is, one would think knowing which end of the trash bag to open when pulling one out of the box or roll would favor me getting it correct? I’m […]

Music Monday: a commercial for Applebees, John Sebastian, Television themes songs and Welcome Back Kotter (1975-1979)

| June 7, 2021

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Jimmy Buffett in Delray Beach & automotive pandemic insanity

| June 3, 2021

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Happy Mother’s Day: Revere, respect and honor your mother. Who knows how many days either of you will have.

| May 9, 2021

I probably should be quoting from Leviticus 19:3, but I can’t help but remember Ferris Bueller commenting that, “Life moves pretty fast …” when thinking about respecting and honoring mothers today. So for Mother’s Day 2021, focus your attention on your mother before it is too late … because from experience, “life does move pretty […]

Looking at New York City from the Empire State Building #pano

| May 4, 2021

How many building top water tanks can you count? (you could spend hours zoomed in on this photo … and if that is not enough, there is a naked man somewhere in this “Where is Wally or Waldo-like” photo).  LINK: “World’s Largest Photo of New York City“

Celebrities Then and Now Photos (popular on social media)

| April 11, 2021

Last week my sister-in-law shared an update on her Facebook page of some well-known Hollywood celebrities that I thought would be interesting to at to MyDesultoryBlog. I downloaded the 30+ different-sized photos, resized a few and decided it might work as an automated slide show (if you want my resized originals, download this .zip archive). […]

Happy Easter 2021 – He is risen. He is risen indeed.

| April 4, 2021

For Christians, there’s no more celebrated day than Easter … for without a risen Savior, no other day in Christianity would matter. He is risen indeed!  BUT … why does the day always change? I mean, we’ve assigned December 25th to celebrate Christmas and most other holidays on our calendar at least fall in the […]

An etymology share: “What Time Is ‘Noon?”

| March 31, 2021

When was ‘noon’ a time that was later in the day … like 3PM? Let’s check with merriam-webster.com: There’s something aesthetically pleasing about the word noon. Its palindromic spelling feels appropriate for the middle of the day, when the sun is directly overhead and the hands on the clock are pointed upward in a straight […]

The pitfalls of Zoom meetings: “I am not a cat” #humor

| February 12, 2021

It was the Zoom video that nearly broke the Internet this past week and it made me smile enough to save the mp4 video to my blog. Very funny. 😊  

These days, I have been upscaling my coffee and my toothpaste

| January 23, 2021

Once upon a time, I was … or at least tried … to be frugal in most things. I’ve always shied away from buying higher priced brand names, when there were less expensive option. Coffee is a prime example … since I was perfectly happy with the Chock full o’Nuts brand of canned coffee since […]

Sad, but still enjoying the final season of Last Man Standing

| January 6, 2021

Now that the final season of Last Man Standing has started (Jan 3, 2021), Brenda and I are finally catching up on the previous season that I recorded on the DVR. We had forgotten just how much we enjoyed this sitcom. It is hard to remember the last time both of us laughed at the […]

Old handsaws, rusting jack posts and a deck of cards #TBT

| December 24, 2020

Since I expect to be busy with our family on Christmas Eve Day, I’ll prepare a post for Throwback Thursday #TBT with a few old handsaws from my families past and asked the rhetorical question to myself: “Why do you keep old handsaws that you never use?” Actually I don’t recall really needing to use […]

Would you feel safe swimming with an Orca Pod? #video

| August 26, 2020

Just a filler video that I found eye-opening since my wife Brenda is a openwater, correction … shoreline swimmer. 😮

A weekend Brenda birthday photo and Jimmy Buffett video

| August 18, 2020

We are really enjoying the time we have to stay around home this summer amidst Coronavirus concerns … although Brenda has never stopped going to work … she works in an “essential business” – pharmacy. We certainly enjoyed having Katelyn, Drew, Annalyn and Ellerie to our house for a mini-vacation for several days earlier this […]

The longest serving US military rifle – the Coconut Rifle

| July 8, 2020

The “Coconut Rifle” … known to most as the Colt ArmaLite AR-15 (SN 000106) … the original for what is now the longest primary service weapon in our country’s military history. The originals firearms (20 of them) were manufactured by Colt in 1959. One of them #106 was involved in a July 4th 1960 “Watermelon […]

Currently my favorite podcast: Streetwise by Jack Hough

| June 17, 2020

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Have Americans completely lost their minds – Defunding Police?

| June 6, 2020

It is hard to imagine the lawlessness and chaos we would see without a fair bit of law enforcement of some kind? Perhaps Americans aren’t really hearing each other and are unwilling to have a logical debate … but “defunding the police” make no sense to me whatsoever? If fair minded people were talking, there […]

Patio cleaning, finishing opening the pool, tree cutting and a fond Al Szuch’s Bait Shop memory … triggered by smell #TBT

| June 4, 2020

The “to-do” list is slowly being chipped away at as last weekend Brenda and I enjoyed the nice weather at home to work on yard chores. She is still struggling with a back issue, but felt good enough to use the Kubota (against my advice BTW – bumpy lawn) to mow the front lawn. I […]

Face masks, eating out again and PPE in the age of COVID19

| May 30, 2020

It has been a couple weeks of more states and localities re-opening. Brenda and I stopped at Fazoli’s to pick up something last weekend, but instead decided to try something new .. at least since restaurants shut down. We donned our face masks and ordered our meal sitting every other table. All was good. Then […]

If the end of bread is not called the heel, then what do you call it?

| May 28, 2020

What do you call the two pieces of bread that bookend all of the slices? Every once in a while, a quirky story gets me thinking and talking to those around me. I once though everyone called the ends of a loaf of bread the “heels.” Unbeknownst to me, even my wife had a different […]

Happy Birthday Ron! Did you know you had a doppelgänger?

| May 21, 2020

Happy Birthday to my brother today. Although it is not every year I mentioned birthdays, particularly for those of us who prefer the year count be ignored, but this year with social distancing and lack of a physically connecting, I’ll post a birthday wish to Ron. Happy Birthday! While I’m thinking about it, I came […]

Book: “Fortitude” by Dan Crenshaw (thanks, Taylor)

| May 16, 2020

I commented to Brenda, “We must have done something right?” It was both a statement .. and a half question .. when reflecting on the book our son Taylor read, liked and then bought to give me for my birthday. It was definitely a very thoughtful and appreciated gift. Representative Dan Crenshaw’s book Fortitude slightly […]

Where COVID19 cases are on the rise and a Center for Disease Control and Prevention PSA on the Symptoms of Coronavirus

| May 15, 2020

We are all likely on information overload when it comes to the Coronavirus and how it has impacted our country and the world. Still, it seemed appropriated to include a reminder as we start to re-open the country that the threat is far from over – we have just “flattened the curve” as it were. […]

Experiencing website issues – an update is planned

| May 6, 2020

Today’s post serves as a test … since I’m having a few webserver and database problems. If you are a regular reader, this will also be a notice that this blog will likely be sporadic until it is fixed. Once my business sites are updated, then I’ll address my long-in-the-tooth (see below) Quickdex project site and […]

Who wants ice cream? The inside scoop on the Zeroll scooper.

| May 3, 2020

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Come on people, we are better than this! #COVID19

| April 29, 2020

As one commenter on the Bluewater Sailing and Cruising FB social group stated, “People are disgusting.” Its also what we  are all seeing in the parking lots of our communities during the coronavirus pandemic. All kinds of PPE is being lazily discarded. Without thinking, people toss their used rubber gloves, wipes and masks after they […]

Obituary: Doris Eggleston. An educator than made a difference.

| April 26, 2020

Some of us are fortunate in life to have had a few teachers take enough interest to make a difference. I suspect they inherently knew the positive influence a good teacher can make long after a student leaves their classroom. One such teacher, really an extra curricular advisor for me, was Doris Eggleston. Last week […]

Plugging yet another tire and “smelling the roses” #video

| April 18, 2020

Another nail or something in the tire, this time in Brenda’s Acura RDX. Thankfully it was in the tread and small, so an easy plug … but plugging two tires within 30 days? (the animated gif above is just a little soap water sprayed on the tire for leak detection) As for a video that […]

Having fun with a “left brain – right brain” teaser photo

| April 17, 2020

We all must be looking for things to share or to occupy our thoughts after about a month stuck at home (like the Engine Parts word search post early this week)? Perhaps we are not alone since my brother Ron sent one of those viral images that makes its way around the Internet last year. […]

We’ve come a long way from “Reach Out and Touch Someone”

| April 14, 2020

Once upon a time, families who only snail-mailed cards and letters would on special occasions, like Easter, dial their corded rotary phones and pay for an expensive long distance call in order to “Reach Out and Touch Someone” as the marketing jingle would advertise (a 1970s commercial below the break). I remembered many phone calls […]

What should you do about the Coronavirus? #COVID19

| March 28, 2020

Here’s an easy Question and Answer put together by Apple: Take this simple test as a starting place to know what you should be doing. L I N K

Music Monday: Band on the Run – Paul McCartney and Wings

| March 23, 2020

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As depression kicks in, watched the film “Miracle” for inspiration

| March 18, 2020

For those of us who in December thought this Coronavirus ‘thing’ was a Chinese story and not going to be a big deal here in America; we were wrong. COVID19 and the economic impact is being felt far and wide by everyone in the world. I still want to believe it will be short-lived and […]

All things RMS Titanic … now you know the rest of the story

| March 11, 2020

My friend Jeff gave me a couple “used” books for Christmas this year after we talked last year about our favorite authors and books over the decades. Sloan Wilson, of “Man in the Gray Flannel Suit” fame, also wrote several World War II US Coast Guard and Merchant Marine novels that both of us read […]

Are US presidents “rock-stars” based on political ideology?

| February 25, 2020

It is shocking to see the “rock-star welcome” (or thumbs down reception in socialist leaning countries) that “recent” American presidents get when they are overseas. I said “recent American presidents” in respect for the popularity President Obama had when traveling in the leaning countries of Europe; he was seen as tilting the U.S. to the […]

Valentine’s Day is also Single Awareness Day #humor

| February 14, 2020

Nope … I’m not going to forget Happy Valentine’s Day and have remembered to get something “sweet” for Brenda … although it is a good thing she reminded me earlier in the week with a “be sure to pick up a couple gift cards for the kids” comment. Whew! I was also reminded by my […]

Music Monday: A lesson from Warren Zevon, the “Excitable Boy”

| January 6, 2020

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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.
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