RichC | March 12, 2020
Question: How old do you have to be to identify this widely recognized sound from our automotive past? What is this sound? My first “real job” was as a Shell gas station attendant when I turned 16 years old (although cut lawns, did odd jobs and worked as “boy” labor for a commercial fishing […]
RichC | February 27, 2020
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RichC | February 20, 2020
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RichC | January 28, 2020
As a German car guy from way back (VW, Mercedes, BMW), there was time I really wanted to also have a Porsche. When I was looking for my first car, it was an economical 914 with a Targa top … but ended up with a 1974 Mercury Capri (probably a smart move). Later in life […]
RichC | January 27, 2020
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RichC | January 21, 2020
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RichC | January 20, 2020
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RichC | January 16, 2020
While soring through my office file cabinet to make room for more current folders, I ran across an old lease contract and photo from an “almost happened” business decision. It would have been a decision and a location move that may have changed our future and had ripple effects even for the lives of my […]
RichC | January 2, 2020
Every once in a while, a story about cars and history (my memories) catches eyeballs. One such story in Hemmings Motor News last year did that for me in part because my dad had a 1972 Ford Pinto and because the Mt. St. Helens eruption in May of 1980 was a big deal news story. […]
RichC | December 31, 2019
While getting the Christmas decorations for Evergreen Farm Estates down from the poolhouse-garage loft earlier this month (Brenda and neighbor Pam have always decorated our neighborhood) … I spotted the yard game of Jarts. (you probably need to be a baby boomer to remember them?) What were they thinking??? Just as with the “design of […]
RichC | December 30, 2019
Here’s a #7 hit in 1977 (which has me thinking of American Top 40 and Casey Kasem) way back in the year I graduated high school. The song was “I Go Crazy” song by Paul Davis, who “looks like one of the Allman Brothers” as the late Ricky Nelson comments at the beginning of the […]
RichC | December 26, 2019
While sifting through a few old .MP4 files, I found one of my first iPhone 5 test video clips from 2012 and it had a bit of footage of my Sonex airplane project (posted a few photos back then) that I was working on a year before selling it. It was shortly before I sold […]
RichC | December 23, 2019
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RichC | December 16, 2019
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RichC | December 12, 2019
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RichC | December 11, 2019
Pocketknives have been part of my life since I was a 5 year old … yes, you heard that right, FIVE YEARS OLD. My grandfather gave me my first 1-inch semi-toy pocketknife when my family was still living on Spencer Street in Toledo – which means I was likely still only 4 (it was a […]
RichC | December 9, 2019
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RichC | December 7, 2019
One of the most impactful photos for me on Pearl Harbor Day is one we took while watching the oil still rising to the surface from the USS Arizona while visiting the memorial. It was a solemn visit and moving time for us, decades after the surprise attack by Japan on December 7th 1941. As […]
RichC | December 5, 2019
While searching for a photo of an accident when a helicopter landed in our backyard, I ran across a photo of one of the “tools” I miss the most: a Bobcat 743 purchased when we built our house back in 1995-96. I did the same thing with a more powerful tractor besides our John Deere […]
RichC | December 2, 2019
Thanksgiving dinner with the Corbett, Oostra and Ankrom familes (click for high res) It is nice to have a few holiday rituals and for us, it is a Thanksgiving family feast with my brother and his family. Brenda, in particular, has now fully taken over the setting of a nice decorative table with all the […]
RichC | November 26, 2019
Most men I know can rattle off a few milestone moments in their life as they bumbled their way through being a child, then teenager and finally an “on-your-own” adult. One of the organizations that once helped young men learn responsibility and integrity (and hopefully still does) was the Boy Scouts. With good leadership, most […]
RichC | November 21, 2019
Hello World! It is frightening to think that I’ve been using computers for FORTY years and have used and have seen the slow evolution in input devices clustered around a device called the Computer Mouse. So for ThrowBack Thursday #TBT this week, the above is a photo of the original “mouse” in 1964 by Douglas […]
RichC | November 19, 2019
I spent the weekend wasting time reorganizing, sorting and cleaning up my woodworking workshop this past weekend and realizing I have a few older “semi-collectable” tools that I really should comment on … or as Brenda says, write my notes down in a book while I can still remember things. Now as I mentioned to […]
RichC | November 18, 2019
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RichC | November 9, 2019
When chatting about our recent vacation to Florida with a long time customer (friend) in Akron, Ohio, he asked why we picked Delray Beach, Florida as an area to buy a condo (I detected he is beginning to think about retiring). Although I realized that I really haven’t given much thought to how we ended […]
RichC | November 8, 2019
We often use the term “Luddite” whenever we refer to people resisting new technology or mechanization. Recently a Wall Street Journal article detailed a timeline of changes as much of the world is faced with yet another wave of robotic automation and artificial intelligence (AI) changing career and taking over many of the jobs we […]
RichC | November 2, 2019
As we joke every year, Jeff has finally caught up to me in age … and is now 60 years old (he is 6 months younger than me). We do enjoy kidding each other and I know my life would not be as full without him around. He has most definitely in my life for […]
RichC | October 28, 2019
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RichC | September 28, 2019
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RichC | September 8, 2019
Hopefully grandparents are as appreciated ad much today as they were in generations past? I think most are, but as a new grandfather, it is hard to live up to the legacy left by grandparents of previous generations. I’m thankful for the 10-years I had with my grandparents on this year’s National Grandparents Day (September […]
RichC | September 2, 2019
All too often lately I’m reminded that the memories I have as a boy growing up are seen as being from “the olden days.” An article in this past month’s WSJ highlighted the beloved Gordon Lightfoot, a Canadian folk singer and songwriter who’s work spans many decades. His music was enjoyed and listened to by […]
RichC | August 12, 2019
As hinted at last week, today is the day I want to wish my wonderful wife Brenda a Happy Birthday. We are looking forward to our slowly closing the chapter of “career” (no hurry yet) … and are starting to plan the new chapter called “retirement. Anxious? Who me? Although we may have changed a […]
RichC | August 8, 2019
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RichC | July 25, 2019
When talking about the wide spread damage in the Dayton area by a tornado earlier this year with the guys putting on our new gutters (Raspberry Pi cam picked up one of the guys’ legs and tweeted it to me) … I mentioned that I once did some tornado repairs in my hometown. I couldn’t […]
RichC | July 22, 2019
What would summer be without Jimmy Buffett music and cheeseburgers? How about remembering summer fun with Jimmy Buffett‘s Cheeseburger in Paradise song from back in 1978 with a relatively new personal connection twist? Besides me being a nearly life long listener, this past year or so I have another connection to Buffett as mentioned before. […]
RichC | July 20, 2019
As has been highly celebrated and reported in every form of media this week (and mention in not just one, but two earlier blog posts), today is the 50th anniversary of the landing a man on the moon. It was the historic Apollo 11 eight-day mission to the moon and back with the goal of […]
RichC | July 16, 2019
In the space race with the Soviet Union (USSR) during the 1960s, the United States “rocketed” ahead on July 16, 1969 as NASA sent the three men of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins into space at 9:32AM EST. The Apollo command module and Lunar Module (LM) sat atop the huge 363-feet […]
RichC | July 14, 2019
As we approach the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon in 1969, I’ve been enjoying both television anniversary shows, articles and the book Moondust – In Search of the Men Who Fell to the Earth. The Andrew Smith book, in particular, has been enjoyable as it blends events from the author’s memory […]
RichC | July 11, 2019
For decades I drove the Cincinnati to Cleveland/Akron/Warren Ohio drive at 4AM each week, but in recent years business has changed and the drive is no longer a regular thing. Part of me misses that early morning trip, but the other part that remembers snowstorms, construction and traffic delays does not. This past week I […]
RichC | July 7, 2019
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RichC | July 1, 2019
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RichC | June 29, 2019
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RichC | June 27, 2019
While cleaning out a few old files folders, I came across a couple Consolidated Printing and Publishing Co. building photos in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio that my insurance agent took and included glued onto a policy folder. They are likely from the late 1980s and are worth archiving and using for a Throwback Thursday #TBT post. […]
RichC | June 20, 2019
Although the Throwback Thursday #TBT memory of celebrating my late parent’s 50th wedding anniversary in 2007 leaves me bittersweet, I’m so thankful we had our time together (photo above and below the break is with them on Kelley’s Island in 2007). I’m not sure where the time disappeared … but I honestly thought that both […]
RichC | June 13, 2019
We have so many cans (mostly Brenda’s Diet Pepsi, but plenty of my Diet Mountain Dew as well) is almost embarrassing how I take aluminum cans to a local recycling center. It is even more eye-opening to “see” just how much pop (soda) we buy and consume! How is it possible to drink this many […]
RichC | June 12, 2019
Just north of Cincinnati the sky was perfect for viewing the rise of Jupiter as the sky darkened about 9:30PM. The bright dot (photo below from my iPhone) rose in the SE sky and arched slowly until reaching its highest point due south at about 12:30AM and then moved lower well after I was in […]
RichC | June 10, 2019
From 3 years old (photo) to 30 years old this year in 2019 … the years of watching Taylor grow up have zipped way too fast. I suspect every parent and grandparent has said that at one time or another? Birthday “year” celebrations, become “decade” celebrations, and we no long even contemplate the candles on […]
RichC | June 6, 2019
Who doesn’t enjoyed reminiscing and remembering fond memories from the past? I know I do … and it is obvious the actor Rob Lowe does as well. Last week the actor was in Sidney, Ohio before his one-man show at the Schuster Center in Dayton. His fondest for the Dayton area is fairly well know, […]
RichC | May 23, 2019
I had several hobbies as a teenager, but photography was one that I thought might lead to a career. It “sort of did” since it opened the doors to eventually starting a printing and publishing company. When studying photography, several names of recognized photographers were published in the magazines and books. One French photographer that […]
RichC | May 20, 2019
Whenever I hear the Doobie Brothers, I can’t help but think about being back in high school and listening to my high school pep band at basketball games (while I was behind the basket shooting photos for the paper). Several songs were regularly played as I recall … China Grove, Listen to the Music and […]
RichC | May 12, 2019
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RichC | May 9, 2019
Although the Love Bugs didn’t seem quite a bad driving through Florida this past week as they were a few years ago (added old photo for ThrowBack Thursday #TBT), they still managed to annoy me aboard Encore and messed up the Honda Odyssey. Thankfully there were also several heavy thunderstorms when driving and since I […]
RichC | May 2, 2019
A tweet from an online friend and an automotive journalist reminded me (Throwback Thursday) that my photography hobby helped me adapt to a new high school back in the mid-1970s when we moved from the Toledo area to Sidney, Ohio. It was at a time when friends were already made and connecting with others was […]
RichC | April 20, 2019
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RichC | April 8, 2019
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RichC | April 3, 2019
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RichC | March 28, 2019
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RichC | March 27, 2019
A couple of decades ago I suffered from Ménière disease (Ménière’s disease) and struggled to find treatment and relief from the miserably vertigo episodes. One does not understand how debilitating and miserable that this be, so much so that any potential treatment, regardless of the risk, seemed worth it at the time. In my case, […]
RichC | March 25, 2019
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RichC | March 21, 2019
My friend Jeff Pitts has been my closest friend ever since our college years at Ohio Northern University (also the only guest blogger so far). Besides college, he was on my bachelor party trip, years and years of hiking and camping … including a great trip to the Canadian Rockies with my son Taylor, who has […]