RichC | August 21, 2019
We have always shuffled our “fleet” (as my son-in-law calls it) and strive to keep the loss through depreciation on vehicles to a tolerable level … while still driving reliable vehicles. Thankfully our current and recent vehicles have served us well and regularly hit the quarter million mile mark before we retire them. In my […]
RichC | August 20, 2019
Last week was a grandparent’s dream as we had our wonderful 2-1/2 year old granddaughter Annalyn for the week. Of course we initially wondered if she would be a little homesick and miss mom and dad, but from the first moment when I drove halfway to make the pickup from Katelyn, I knew it was […]
RichC | August 15, 2019
Has it really been over 15 years since I was commuting back and forth from NE Ohio in my 2003 Volkswagen TDI (and filling up with biodiesel or seeing my car image on other peoples’ blogs?) Yes it has been awhile. After posting about a friend’s new Volkswagen Atlas (Tim Hunter sent me a new […]
RichC | August 14, 2019
Our current NetGear Nighthawk R7000 router has been exceptionally stable considering the issues I’ve had with cheaper routers and networked devices in the past. I’m pretty happy with it, but in order to get solid coverage, had to add a WiFi Range Extender to cover the detached garage and poolhouse (and yet still have weak […]
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
While digging through a few older photos in contemplation for Brenda’s upcoming August birthday post, I stumbled across a few of our “dating years” photos (saving those for later) and one from my mom and dad’s house when we were celebrating her birthday 11 years ago (above). Wow … compared to our Put In Bay […]
RichC | July 30, 2019
The summer of 2019 around our house has meant more repairs and maintenance updates than usual. This means weekends have been busy with house projects and in also finding and hiring help to complete the updates that are too overwhelming for this one “aging” guy to handle on his own (although my 60th birthday celebrations […]
RichC | July 27, 2019
A lot of things needed to go right when NASA sent three astronauts rocketing towards the moon in July of 1969 … but one real close call happened after their safe return to earth. It seems, some of the iconic photographs were “almost lost to posterity,” explains Zeiss, the company that provided the lenses for […]
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 23, 2019
The weather has been super hot and humid so far this July over most of the eastern half of the country. It is pool and grilling weather to be sure … although when the pool water temperature is 90 degrees, it really doesn’t feel all that refreshing anymore. Since I was clearing off the porches […]
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 21, 2019
I am calling today “embarrass your wife day,” as she admitted to the questionable decision to open a door with a hammer when I was out of town last week (although she hid the damage for a day). Now that a few days have passed, it is a bit easier to chuckle and admire the […]
RichC | July 19, 2019
Disturbing and “creepy” (as Katelyn messaged) … although I don’t mind looking a bit younger. 😉 Photoshop in the old days was fun to play around with, but nowadays, video and photo manipulation is beginning to frighten me. Taylor sent me this age-changing photo from our weekend at Put-In-Bay using FaceApp. Although there is […]
RichC | July 17, 2019
Finished up the vanities in the master bathroom at the condo this past weekend and all went well in putting in 5 new valves and 2 drains. I shocked even myself in that all “went as planned.” Unfortunately the struggle began when mounting the polymer rather than wood molding across the back to top off […]
RichC | July 15, 2019
My wife does not appreciate the common everyday American branded sinks, vanities or faucets … and wanted something a little more unique for the Condo master bathroom (sort of like the other bathroom update last year – see photo at bottom of post). I really didn’t think that much about it until realizing that not […]
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 9, 2019
The holiday weekend at our house in Cincinnati was fun for all as I enjoyed my kids stretching out my birthday celebration with a Saturday Indians – Reds baseball game (posted on Saturday). We all had a great time together and enjoyed the hot weather, pool, having ice cream at The Cone and plenty of […]
RichC | July 7, 2019
As a grandparent, I so enjoyed how technology has been able to keep our family connected. Perhaps it is not unlike remembering my mother talking with her parents daily on the “wired” telephone after we moved “so far away” for back in the day when families often remained in the same neighborhoods and cities where […]
RichC | July 6, 2019
Thanks Taylor for planning and my family for spending an extended birthday weekend over the 4th of July. We all enjoyed the great time together as a family at Great American Ballpark watching my two favorite MLB team battle it out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon – Cleveland 7 – Reds 2 final score. We […]
RichC | July 3, 2019
Our front door security camera picks up the strangest visitors #deer.
RichC | June 29, 2019
A week ago Brenda and I headed up to our “old stomping grounds” (idiom) to celebrate Taylor’s 30th and my 60th birthday at Put In Bay, Ohio. Katelyn planned a family gathering for us since her partner owns a house and a few rentals on the island and graciously let us stay in the place […]
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 26, 2019
The plan was to post an update on the terrific 30th (Taylor) 60th (Rich) birthday weekend celebration with the whole family planned by Katelyn on Put-In-Bay last weekend … but I’ve been too busy to get my photos and thoughts together. So this will just be a smallish update highlighting the Fitbit Versa that Katelyn, […]
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 18, 2019
With steady rains (and downpour storms) over the past week, the ground was soft enough for even this 60 year old guy to trench. I’ve been wanting to work on the “sump pump to pool” bypass ever since testing it with a temporary pipe to 2” roll up hose a few years ago. The water […]
RichC | June 14, 2019
After the weekend bonfire for Taylor’s birthday party … without burning down the woods or catching any trees on fire … I told myself, “I’m never going to let the pile get that big again.” From now on the fires need to be of a “reasonably” safe size. Now, what that size is … I’m […]
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 11, 2019
We had a great 30th birthday party for Taylor and his friends on Saturday in the backyard … just as we have many times before. As a parent it is nice to know he has always enjoyed bringing friends to our house rather than going someplace else … and seemingly his friends are okay with […]
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 5, 2019
Nasty bugger … thankfully I think I caught this guy (or any of his buddies) before sucking my blood. Nowadays with Lyme Disease you can’t be to careful with letting ticks bite or burrow. I’m not sure our area is considered risky, but I don’t want to chance getting infected either (I thnk this guy […]
RichC | June 4, 2019
One of the long running medical debates in my family is my use of a fairly expensive supplement called glucosamine. Ever since I injured my knee 15+ years ago and received what seemed like a miracle steroid injection – suffered for weeks — I’ve been more serious about taking better care of my joints. Aging […]
RichC | June 3, 2019
Happy Anniversary Brenda, a couple of days early. Generally, I associate the band Journey with “my” 1970’s music that is often included for a Music Monday post, but in the case of the recording “Faithfully,” it was released the year Brenda and I were married in 1982, not officially 70s (this is off their 8th […]
RichC | June 1, 2019
For Christians, who pray for wisdom, for the health and safety of our families and the stressful issues we face daily, prayer is something most of us have been taught to do from an early age. I’d like to think that this daily “practice” of prayer prepares us to be great “prayer warriors” for others […]
RichC | May 25, 2019
It feels a late start to opening the “mudhole” … I mean “muddy” pool … this year as our trips to Florida have set me back on the usual spring chores. I think the earliest we have opened the pool as been March, but this year is about the latest that I can recall, although […]
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 21, 2019
An odd subject line to be sure, but several “Native Ohio trees” grown by my younger brother Ron were planted in the back of our property and they always makes me think of him. Today is his birthday and wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday. (photo from Raspberry Pi cam yesterday 5/20/2019 … reminds […]
RichC | May 19, 2019
Working on remodeling projects away from home a few days at a time really seems to stretch a project out (photo – flying home from Fort Lauderdale FLL last night – I was checking out the FULL anchorage at Lake Sylvia from the plane). Thankfully both Brenda and I have always enjoyed the hands-on projects. […]
