RichC | June 20, 2016
We had another outstanding summer weekend weather-wise and enjoyed every minute of each day. I spent my Father’s Day afternoon working on the BMW X5 35d and installing a 2" hitch receiver (upcoming post). Getting all the snapped and clipped on trim off was the biggest hassle … but it is done. We enjoyed grilling […]
RichC | June 12, 2016
Taylor’s Birthday party this weekend brought back memories of past pool parties when our kids were younger. Kids no more … these were all late 20s adults … but had fun acting like kids again for a day. The above photo include most from their group … click for full size! The birthday was really […]
RichC | June 11, 2016
My cousin (a loyal blog reader … a little embarrassing) exchanged a couple of text messages the other day after she commented on "our" grandfather’s photo and grandmother’s painting. It is nice to know that I’m not the only one who is sentimental about our grandparents, considering the very few years they were in our […]
RichC | June 10, 2016
We recently returned from the high school graduation of my niece Sarah Gerber who has fought and lived with childhood cancer her entire life. She continues to defy the odds with an inoperable brain tumor and her story is truly encouraging for all who face similar medical challenges. Sarahs’ 18 years are ones of courage, […]
RichC | June 9, 2016
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RichC | June 7, 2016
The other day in Mental Floss I read that a "Study Confirmed What We Already Knew: Living Near Water Can Reduce Stress." I can attest to this since we lived by the water when I was a boy. My parents had a home on the shores for Lake Erie with a 150 foot private beach […]
RichC | June 5, 2016
It was a busy weekend for a few of us in our family. My brother, his wife Claire and son Jaben, my cousin Diane and her husband Bert, as well as Brenda and myself decided to self-sell the balance of my mom and dad’s home contents rather than have an auction. It was quite a […]
RichC | June 4, 2016
Talk about “desultory” … who else blogs on Milwaukee Dill pickle “jars???” Like George Berdes (link), I love Milwaukee Midget Dill Pickles … although I’m not so sure about the corporate conglomerate brand Pinnacle Foods? I add “5” midget dills to my plate at every home lunch and have done this for years with […]
RichC | June 3, 2016
The Howard side of the family gathered in Atlanta for the high school graduation of my youngest niece Sarah Gerber this past week. The party was on Memorial Day and graduation for the Lambert High School class of 2016 the day after. Brenda’s sister Ann and her family live in a northeastern suburb that is […]
RichC | May 31, 2016
RichC | May 29, 2016
The spring cleaning chore in getting the pool desking and patio furniture cleaned after a winter and heavy pine pollen season never gets any easier. I’ve almost got it down to a full, long day and I’m convinced the heavy teak adirondack chairs are getting heavier? The weather was for the most part perfect for […]
RichC | May 26, 2016
Looking back on this #ThrowbackThursday, we must have been nuts! Brenda and I never really hesitated to have parties at the house until text messaging, social networking, the ubiquitous cellphone and DRIVING became a way for invitees to broadcast what they were doing and where they were at. Although the end of school Memorial Day […]
RichC | May 24, 2016
As with previous years, the ducks have adopted the pool as a safe place to learn to swim. One would think a pond would be better, but danger lurks beneath the surface for ducklings (snapping turtles). Unfortunately once the mom leads them into the pool, they can’t get out … so I fished them […]
RichC | May 23, 2016
My Sidney Ohio ties are close to ending as my brother and I are getting Mom and Dad’s house ready to sell. We’re planning an estate sale on June 4-5th to clear out the final household furnishing. It should list for sale it shortly after that. Just in case any of my friends or acquaintances […]
RichC | May 21, 2016
With a little help from the tow company’s flatbed delivery guy, my Dad’s 1958 Packard Hawk has been safely moved from Sidney, Ohio to my garage. Although I was able to get it started a few weeks ago, something is wrong with the transmission (stuck in gear) and it also has a known master […]
RichC | May 17, 2016
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RichC | May 14, 2016
I love glancing at old photos especially when looking for something to add to a birthday wish — here’s a photo from about 10 years ago when Katelyn was in med school and living in an apartment with her roommates in Kent, Ohio. As you can tell by the "tiny toys" on the address sign, […]
RichC | May 12, 2016
Short on blog posting time after a bit of travel this past week, so just a spring weather photo while driving Ohio highways. Thankfully we have avoided most of the damaging storms hitting the midwest. Heavy rains, dark skies and a bit of lightening has been the norm … I really need to get the […]
RichC | May 10, 2016
With the passage of another birthday came a bunch of appreciated well wishes from long time friends. While I was including a couple old photos with my comment back to a couple high school and college buddies, I realized how much we had changed. I also spotted a few other photos of myself (with my […]
RichC | May 8, 2016
Unfortunately I’m not able to be with my mother-in-law or my wife today, but here’s wishing her a wonderful Mother’s Day (Happy Mother’s Day to Brenda too!)
RichC | April 26, 2016
Our lawn has never looked greener than this year (above, although cloudy in the photo) even if the landscaping and general cleanup leaves a lot to be desired. Which reminds me, we have a lot to do before calling it summer, but for now just getting the limbs and fallen trees cleaned up is […]
RichC | April 18, 2016
While cleaning out my mom and dad’s house in preparation to sell it, my brother and I are getting bogged down looking through items my parents kept. Sunday’s "finds" were sentimental treasures that my mom kept tucked away in her memory box. There were items like my first pair of glasses, the leg tag for […]
RichC | April 17, 2016
What a difference a week can make come April here in Cincinnati. Last Saturday we woke up to snow (backyard photo below) and this weekend after cutting grass Friday night has the grass green and tulips blooming yesterday morning. Instead of shoveling snow that means yardwork and time to think about spring cleanup. Also wanted […]
RichC | April 13, 2016
It is hard to believe that 3 years have come and gone already, but time does not stand still. Katelyn and Drew will be celebrating their wedding anniversary over the weekend rather than today; they have a special getaway planned! I’m so glad they found each other (Pumpy Umpy is glad too).
RichC | April 12, 2016
We found out a couple things Monday … first, the Raspberry Pi garage camera seems to be working just fine after tweaking a few thing while experimenting in the house, albeit the video is a bit delayed (15 seconds maybe ???). So far so good with video … next to get some motion detection so […]
RichC | April 7, 2016
Here’s a personal "what I’m doing" post after spending an evening with my son Taylor finishing up his taxes. We of course used this excuse to have dinner together too. I think we have both always enjoyed our time together, but the older (and more mature) he gets, the more I really do enjoy talking […]
RichC | April 3, 2016
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RichC | March 28, 2016
A bit delayed in posting to the blog, but we’ve been a bit distracted. Brenda and I met my daughter Katelyn and her husband Drew for a few days on the boat to enjoy some time together. Way too much time goes by between visits for my taste. The weather was nice with a few […]
RichC | March 22, 2016
I’ll keep baby Bruno Ray’s announcement short and sweet since I didn’t check with mm and dad first before posting on my blog. But my nephew David’s wife Rachel gave birth to a handsome little boy with a full head of dark hair. Rachel’s dad delivered her little bundle of love via c-section as planned […]
RichC | March 9, 2016
As we continue to drill down to select the best candidates to represent both the Republicans and Democrats in November’s presidential election, the process has been pretty disgusting … perhaps not the process, but the candidates ugliness. Here’s how I am coming to a conclusion before voting next Tuesday. As a long time Republican, I […]
RichC | March 8, 2016
Previously I’ve posted before about my Dad’s 1958 Packard Hawk, but now that it has been passed down to me, there is more of an incentive to pay attention to articles, stories, car shows, etc. Thanks to my high school friend, Greg Fogelsong (a automotive guru), he noticed a photo similar to my dad’s Packard […]
RichC | March 5, 2016
I replaced my one-cup Keurig coffee maker last weekend after attempting to take it apart to find a leak. Unfortunately these plastic parts are made in such a way that getting to the internal tubing are impossible. Last year I considered a Hamilton Beach Flexbrew machine for the boat (never did buy one) and decided […]
RichC | February 25, 2016
With the early springtime weather we have been having this February, and a new roof towards the end of last year, we lost a few shingles. It isn’t really a surprise since asphalt shingle need some hot sunny days in order to flex into position and tack themselves to each other. The recent winds came […]
RichC | February 9, 2016
A bit of overnight snow freshened the air, quieted the surroundings and made the morning commutes in southwest Ohio a little more interesting. Although I tweaked the early morning backyard photo since is was still dark (click photo for larger), I enjoyed remembering what it was like to work in tonal photography – it has […]
RichC | February 2, 2016
It has been a challenging few years for the “greatest generation” in my family as age and death is catching up with us. My brother Ron called this past weekend to let me know that my Aunt Fran (my dad’s brother’s wife) passed away on Saturday. My sympathy goes out to my cousins and my Uncle […]
RichC | January 24, 2016
Not much can top the great hospitality, enjoyable conversation (TV trivia talk) and great breakfast fixed by my friends Mark and Dar — or just having lunch at our favorite sandwich shop. As Gomer, Mark’s fellow Marine would say, “thank you … thank you … thank you.” BTW, the Jones really should open a “Bed and Breakfast” someday, it would […]
RichC | January 23, 2016
The weather isn’t perfect in Florida, but it sure is a lot better than most states to the north. As the snow comes down on most of the eastern part of the country, I at least won’t have to deal with it until I fly back. I’m going to declare success in removing hatches, shipping […]
RichC | January 17, 2016
Archiving a January 2016 photo of my nephew Jaben and my son Taylor before the Bengals demise last week. They decided to get together in Cincinnati and watch the playoff game together – from all accounts, they had a good time. I’m sure my brother feels the same way … it is nice to see […]
RichC | January 15, 2016
We’ve had a professional security system in the house for years, but I’ve always thought it would be nice to make a homemade version for the detached garage/pool house – might be a perfect Raspberry Pi project? The first step was to see just what kind of wifi signal was there, considering the tiny $10 […]
RichC | January 9, 2016
Thankfully the weather held and the construction was able to continue on the chimney repairs. They completed the final soldering of seams on the stainless steel custom top this morning and were quick to show up and collect the check too. Although this was an expensive surprise after replacing the roof, I’m glad to have […]
RichC | January 4, 2016
This post is more to test a “borrowed” wireless keypad that is set up on the Raspberry Pi — I’m not fond of the Logitech K400r. The photo to the left is part of the ongoing roof project and continuing chimney repair. In order test the Raspberry Pi’s image serving ability, I uploaded it from […]
RichC | January 3, 2016
The long holiday weekend with decent weather gave me a chance to knock out a few chores. One was to clean and close up Tootsie‘s dog door. I realized that over her 17 year life that she was in and out of this Plexidor opening a couple dozen times a day … at least! It’s […]
RichC | January 2, 2016
Guess what arrived for my new “old” car? Yup … the historical plates after last weeks title transfer. The registration has finally been updated for my late father’s 1958 Packard Hawk (you’ll need to think Studebaker Hawk if you haven’t seen the last Packard badge car). I’ve posted previously from a couple car shows […]
RichC | December 29, 2015
Posting a few photos after completing the woodstove project that I’ve been working on this past month or so. It is working great as we used it to dry a bit after the rainy and wet Knockerball fun when the kids were home for Christmas. After spending a few hours cleaning the old stove and […]
RichC | December 27, 2015
Katelyn and Drew headed back home to Wayzata, MN this Sunday morning after monitoring the wave of nasty weather pushing north later today. It looks as if they will be in the clear by the time they get to Chicago; the ice, snow and rain should be south of Wisconsin and Minnesota … at least […]
RichC | December 26, 2015
We had a wonderful family time on Christmas day. Taylor came after work on Christmas Eve day and Katelyn and Drew drove from Minneapolis after a half day of work (long day for them), so we were all home for Christmas morning. After our morning gift exchange, which was wonderful, although too much … we went outside and enjoyed […]
RichC | December 23, 2015
It is time to post the annual Christmas tree photo on the blog. I’m trying an evening pic with the iPhone … as steady as I can? The tree is full, but not quite as tall as our usual trees. I’m sure the kids will be disappointed that it isn’t bigger, but then Taylor always […]
RichC | December 21, 2015
Another excuse to try to get Blogsy, the blog posting app on my iPad, to include photos without posting them to Flickr or Google (the two options besides “normal WordPress media” built into Blogsy). Unfortunately the suggestion from the programmer was to use a separate sFTP client — very cumbersome and not the way to […]
RichC | December 19, 2015
It’s wasn’t as painless as envisioned during the planning stage, but the dry-stack brick heat-shield for my garage shop is ready for the old woodstove. After spending a few evenings this week fitting, bending and riveting the 6061 aluminum, I think it is ready for the catalytic woodstove to be connected to the new chimney […]
RichC | December 16, 2015
When you begin to depend on prompt order fulfillment and reasonable delivery times from online retail stores, it feels like we’ve gone back a decade or two? On Cyber Monday, November 30th, I placed an order with Target thinking there was plenty of time before last minute Christmas ordering. I entered both my email address […]
RichC | December 15, 2015
One of the issues we found when replacing our roof last month was a wobbly chimney chase for the fireplace in the house. The original fireplace has a stainless steel chimney that extends from the first floor through the second floor, the trusses and then the “chimney chase” on the roof. The builder must not […]
RichC | December 14, 2015
“Tis the season” that many of us are franticly shopping, decorating, cooking and finalizing all the trimmings associated with December and weeks leading up to Christmas. Perhaps we should be a little be more focused on the reason we celebrate rather than all the trimmings — Christ’s birth! It is easy to get lost in all the preparations than […]
RichC | December 13, 2015
Looking at this sunrise photo at the Grand Canyon on a small screen does not do it justice, so click so it’s full-size; that’s a great photo from Drew’s new Nexus 6 smartphone. Perhaps its not just the amazing view or stunning sunrise photo … but the fact that my “crazy daughter” (as Drew titled his email) […]
RichC | December 12, 2015
Well I really am working on getting ready for Christmas this weekend, but wanted to post an updated photo as the dry-stack brick project in the poolhouse/ garage. As mentioned previously, the floor leveling was the biggest pain in order to level the top of the “walls.” I used an aluminum angle to hold a […]
RichC | December 10, 2015
20s?? Well for Drew (photo) … for only a few more days! Katelyn and Drew are in Arizona celebrating Drew’s 30th birthday with his family this week and they sent me a couple photos from the desert and in a hot air balloon flight — beautiful! It is great to see all three kids (Taylor […]
RichC | December 7, 2015
After fastening aluminum angle to the floor and leveling the corner with sand, I packed and filled the base with brick to continue adding our old catalytic woodstove to the shop. Then it was time to start the dry-stack walls … until I ran out of spare brick. Thankfully the brick is available so should be […]
RichC | December 6, 2015
Actually needed a photo to test the new server running WordPress.
RichC | December 6, 2015
Slowly but surely I'm rebuilding the archives and associated linked images from my old back ups for MyDesultoryBlog. There may be a reason to keep things in multiple locations BUT it does make upgrading servers a bit more difficult. The long story is that through Consolidated Printing and Publishing, I have worked with the same […]
RichC | December 3, 2015
I’m not going to repost the lost message from Thanksgiving in Wayzata, MN this year, but some of the personal photos are on Facebook (I don’t post there too often, but in case you want to connect click here).
RichC | November 27, 2015
There is something about mirrors, garage doors and Brenda that do not get along. This time it was pulling into the garage, not backing out – I’m suspecting her weak left arm??? Unfortunately the flexing or snapping was so hard that it also broke the driver’s window. Wow! Thankfully, Rich at Kiss Autoglass was able […]