Amazed at the mobility improvement so soon after surgery

| January 15, 2023

Brenda is making remarkable improvements (in my opinion) in her mobility after having expedited full hip replacement surgery on Monday afternoon at 4PM. As mentioned yesterday, she was released from the hospital on Wednesday night and after a semi-restful day on Thursday, began physical therapy on Friday. Katelyn came down from Perrysburg and was wonderful […]

A whirlwind medical week for Brenda (3 weeks of pain actually)

| January 14, 2023

Prior to Christmas, Brenda was moving furniture around in our carpeted bedroom in order to clean behind our king size bed and headboard. She knew at the time it was too heavy, but continued to push and pull with her legs and hip. When I got home, I noticed the bed and nightstands were out […]

Tech Friday: Installed Wyze Doorbell and temp probe grilling

| January 6, 2023

It is hard to resist loving gadget gifts and this past year for Christmas I was excited to receive a Wyze Doorbell from Drew (and Katelyn – Thx!) Although the previous year in 2021, I will admit that I was intimidated … and still am … by the fancy double temperature Bluetooth and WiFi Weber […]

Recipe reminiscing, the lost art of handwriting and longer days

| January 5, 2023

A little bit of recipe reminiscing for Throwback Thursday #TBT this week. Over New Year’s Day, I enjoyed a “Bean Soup” recipe conversation with my daughter Katelyn. We discussed using the ham bone and pieces of ham from our Christmas dinner. I opted for a delicious Ham and Potato soup and froze a couple smaller […]

What a difference 90-days can make when #homebuilding

| January 4, 2023

It has been about a month-and-a-half of steady construction on Katelyn and Drew’s #homebuilding project (the hashtag is how I’ve tagged their home construction on MDB). Since the Oostras were together on January 1st, they enjoyed a drive out to their Whitehouse, Ohio property as a family to check on the progress. It was shocking […]

Saving family photos from our Corbett-Oostra Christmas 2022

| December 29, 2022

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Archiving our early 2022 Christmas present: A New Rug

| December 23, 2022

Brenda has struggled most of the year to find a replacement Oriental or Persian Rug for our Great Room after retiring our original rug to my office. In November, Katelyn connected her with “Donald,” the decorator she is using to help with their homebuilding, and after several Facetime calls finally decided on a VERY large […]

Boring shoe waxing and updated family homebuilding photos

| December 23, 2022

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My brother emailed a photo of our grandfather from 1966 #TBT

| December 22, 2022

Tis the season, to reflect a bit …  at least for me. I posted a few old photos last week, so when my brother sent me one of Earl Daniel Corbett, our grandfather, it seemed appropriate for Throwback Thursday #TBT. He mentioned  that he came across it at a Corbett family reunion and said it […]

Keeping an eye on the weather for Christmas week travelers

| December 17, 2022

We have had a relatively mild, although gloomy, couple of weeks this December 2022 so far … unlike it was in 2010. BUT … this could change by the end of next week as the forecast is for a winter snowstorm to hit much of the eastern half of the U.S. According to forecasting yesterday, […]

Archive: Old photos found from my ONU college days #TBT

| December 15, 2022

First up, is a rainy photo of the second car that I rebuilt … but this 1974 Capri was really my first car since I bought it with my own money (paid $600 at a junkyard in 1978). The car I think of as my first car would be a 1967 Ford Custom 500 (link […]

Archive: Merry Christmas 2022 and have a Happy New Year

| December 14, 2022

As is my December tradition, I’m including a digital copy of what once was our Corbett Christmas Letter but is now a just a “card” on my blog. Our year as a family was full of too many great times to include, but highlighted by a special event: a 40th Anniversary and trip planned by […]

Happy Birthday Drew and creative names for snowplows

| December 13, 2022

My daughter is great at sending links to items she thinks would be great for the blog. The other day Katelyn sent an “Ohio Turnpike Name-A-Snowplow Contest” story that had some pretty creative names — well actually, like her mom, she had her husband send it 😀 (BTW, Happy Birthday Drew!).  Here are the winners: Ctrl-Salt-Delete, Nicole […]

Archive: Christmas trees, homebuilding and Ellerie’s big bed

| December 11, 2022

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Homemade Croutons: My mother would have smiled

| December 10, 2022

With inflation pushing grocery prices up, Brenda refuses to purchase store-bought croutons unless they are “on sale.” So since we had a quarter loaf of stale bread after our recent week away, I decided to cube and turn it into Rosemary, Italian seasoning, Garlic and Olive Oil croutons. After making them (bake 10 minutes at […]

How many flat tires does a person repair in a lifetime? #TBT

| December 8, 2022

The Throwback Thursday #TBT tag was just an excuse to ask the question: “How many flat tires does a person need to have repaired in their lifetime?” I don’t know the answer, but I do know that I’ve repaired A LOT. It seems I’m forever needing to add air (change in temperatures), have a slow […]

For the record, we joined Costco with the rest of America

| December 4, 2022

With a new Costco store opening close to home in Liberty Township, Ohio (and one in Delray or actually in Boca Raton, FL), Brenda and I have finally decided to join. My buddy Jeff has been a Costco shopper for eons … and Katelyn and Drew are always telling us about their weekend trips to […]

Archive: I love seeing “homebuilding” progress photos

| December 3, 2022

Thankfully, even as the weather begins to cool these days, the homebuilding progress doesn’t screech to a halt as it did years ago (showing my age). With that, it is great to archive a photo or two as the walls go up on Katelyn and Drew’s new house in northwest Ohio. There is a small […]

Tech Friday: A big screen TV deal and Christmas light flashback

| December 2, 2022

It is hard to believe that watching sports and movies on a 37" television just isn’t satisfactory enough these days? So when I saw a Walmart pre-Black Friday deal on a 65" TCL Roku TV for $228, I could not pass up the deal. It is very impressive for the money and a perfect upgrade […]

Archive: Some family time with our granddaughters

| November 30, 2022

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Thanksgiving 2022: “Out of the mouth of babes …”

| November 24, 2022

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Our family together for Dave Schneider’s Celebration of Life

| November 15, 2022

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Archive: Promedica CEO Retirement and Succession Plan

| November 13, 2022

A little family hospital business … and related news to archive … as Randy Oostra (my daughter’s father-in-law) announced his retirement last month. It was something we knew was coming (mentioned to me in September), but was no doubt one of those decisions that a successful career driven person does not take lightly. I can […]

Remembering Lt. Frederick Howard on this Veterans Day

| November 11, 2022

Although there are many who serve or served our country we can think about on this Veterans Day, I’ve opted to reflect on my late father-in-law, Frederick Howard, who navigated B-26 bombers over Europe in World War II. He was definitely part of the “Greatest Generation” and volunteered immediately when he came of age and […]

Progress on Katelyn and Drew’s house and 1995 #TBT

| November 10, 2022

In keeping with the desultory and archiving nature of MyDesultoryBlog, here are a couple construction progress photo of Katelyn and Drew’s new house in NW Ohio. One with the first floor “sticks” going up and the other just the subflooring. Katelyn also sent me a walk-thru video from their property (narrated by my oldest granddaughter) […]

Nice night in SW Ohio, but not in South Florida

| November 9, 2022

It was a clear, still night to take a walk around the neighborhood, but not so much on the east coast of Florida. I can’t help but pay attention to the wind, rain and surge associated with Hurricane Nicole as it comes ashore tonight. Tomorrow will tell the tale.

Weather watching as SubTropical Storm Nicole approaches

| November 8, 2022

The hurricane tracking cone is a little squirrelly, but SubTropical Storm Nicole does look at if it will hit the Bahamas as a hurricane and likely from our recent experience of enjoying the “WARM” water on South Florida’s Atlantic beaches (a couple of photos below the break from earlier this month). As of Tuesday afternoon […]

The long awaited MAGFAST pre-order has arrived, multiple trailer loads of autumn leaves and watching the 2022 World Series

| November 6, 2022

Although I have yet to open the individual components … the L-O-N-G awaited MagFast “premium charging” kit has finally arrived. The new magnetically connected kit is not yet fully complete as there are still a couple components that will be shipped later. This will probably be the last pre-purchased product I purchase after losing my […]

Belated Obituary: David George Schneider (1952 – 2022)

| November 5, 2022

The sharing of this obituary news is a month late in coming … partially due to the sudden shock … and partially due to not having the right words to share on my blog … but a friend of our family and Megan’s father, Dave Schneider, passed away on October 5, 2022. He was one […]

Archiving photos from our Trick or Treating family in 2022

| November 1, 2022

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Weekend BMW X5 35d Eurol Oil 5W-30 and Filter changes

| October 26, 2022

Last Saturday’s project was some overdue maintenance on what was a very nice day her in SW Ohio. The temps were warm at 77 degrees and the sky clear. I took the opportunity to start draining the oil in the BMW X5 35d with 195K miles in the morning, then drove the Mercedes 300d Turbodiesel […]

Our granddaughters’ First Ohio State Buckeyes football game

| October 25, 2022

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Archiving: A trip to NW Ohio to see our granddaughters

| October 22, 2022

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Things that were better in the “Good Old Days” … free air! #TBT

| October 20, 2022

Now, I’m not quite old enough to have regularly used this kind of service garage air station to fill car tires for FREE, but I have used them AND it still triggers memories: Do you remember the “bump, bump, bump” surging as air  filled the tires? As I’ve mentioned twice before, one of my first […]

With the first freeze in SW Ohio … I’d rather be on the beach

| October 19, 2022

There was a leftover beach flyover video on my phone from our late September – early October Florida vacation so with a private family post creating registered only viewing and the first real cold weather of the season, this makes for an envious filler. I’m looking forward to warm weather and the beach again. Why […]

Katelyn and Drew’s pile of drying lumber gets a tarp

| October 19, 2022

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Red Baron Brick Oven Pizza and beach pigeons …

| October 11, 2022

With a lot of football watching in the evening last week while on vacation in Delray Beach, our appetite was for pizza. Normally we might have ordered it from a pizza shop, but since Target had Red Baron pizzas on sale for $3.99, we opted for their Brick Oven medium pizza. Shockingly, neither Brenda or […]

What would October be without our fall trip to Florida?

| October 9, 2022

Brenda and I have been fortunate to almost always taken an autumn trip to Florida. Years ago it was often to visit my parents who would go to Panama City Beach or take a trip with the kids. After Katelyn and Taylor were in college, it was often to visit Brenda’s parents and then to […]

Archiving a photo of our 1998 Toyota Rav4 for #TBT

| October 6, 2022

The old Chrysler Town and Country Throwback Thursday #TBT post triggered my archiving of another old automotive photo of Brenda’s beloved 1998 Toyota Rav4. Having own that small ute with a surprisingly large interior for so many miles (265K) and so many years (18), it may be one of the best vehicles we have ever […]

Taylor has a CAN-DO attitude that can get him in trouble

| September 27, 2022

After fixing “Arthur Avenue Pork Sausage and Pepper Heroes with Melty Mozzarella Cheese and Garlic Potato Wedges” … as the recipe card states on Sunday night, which was the last of our subscription meal for a while … my son Taylor called at 8PM after getting himself “in a pickle” (a perfect place for a Shakespearian […]

A few years ago, Taylor moved to Williston, ND #TBT

| September 22, 2022

A lot has happened in 9 short years … but it has been NINE years! Where does the time go? While cleaning out a few miscellaneous files and moving a few photos off my iMac’s upgraded SSHD and to cloud storage only, I noticed a few of my son Taylor after his move to Williston, […]

Taylor’s slow move, galls autumn oak leaves and pool pump

| September 20, 2022

After helping Taylor move a few larger things over to his new condominium last weekend, he sent a photo of his still bare living room, but it is coming together. The TV is working so he could watch the 2022 losing Cincinnati Bengals (now 0-2) on Sunday afternoon. He has been slowing moving boxes of […]

The enticement emails from HelloFresh.com worked

| September 17, 2022

Having initially enjoyed the weekly meal offering from Hello Fresh, the menu started to get a little stale as new items began to resemble previous meals. With inflation at the grocery store (and the fuel and time cost), the price was somewhat less of a gripe, but both of us started to notice fewer and […]

Leftover family weekend photos and a Mud Hens game

| September 13, 2022

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Salvaged office closet shelves project and polished headlights

| September 6, 2022

Having a few extra “rainy” hours over the Labor Day weekend, I decided to tackle an office closet project that I’ve been pondering. The plan was to either build in a few permanent shelves with holes for wiring to primarily hold the electronic equipment feeding the TV or add a small shelf to replace the […]

Leftover Labor Day weekend photos from the Oostras

| September 6, 2022

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Checking out Taylor’s place and Labor Day weekend chores

| September 5, 2022

Labor Day weekend was relatively busy with chores and stay-at-home chores. We have also noticed a coyote regularly making his round again (photos above). On Friday night we stopped to see Taylor’s new condominium in Walnut Hills (Cincinnati) and then had dinner at O’Bryon’s Bar and Grill. We ate outside up on the roof as […]

Chick-Fil-A masks and Taylor has “the keys to the Castle”

| September 2, 2022

We are looking forward to seeing Taylor’s new condominium in Cincinnati for the first time this weekend. He informed us that he “has the keys to the castle” a couple days early (negotiated current tenant move out date). We can’t wait. It also came on the same day Katelyn and Drew forwarded a photo of […]

A couple Great Horned Owls surprised us with their hoots

| August 29, 2022

Neither photo is mine, but Brenda and I were both startled in hearing the sounds of owls coming from was seemed like inside the house.   Great Horned Owl Hoots After we slowly crept around inside our house, wondering where they were, we deciphered that the “hoots” were coming from the fireplace. "Hm, were they […]

Summer 2022: If only every day could be like this

| August 28, 2022

Neither Brenda or I have fully retired yet (although I loaf more than I should), but there is no reason THIS couldn’t be every day during retirement IF the weather was perfect all year around. I probably take more time off during the summer than I should and having the girls for a week in […]

My granddaughter enjoyed mowing with me on the Kubota

| August 27, 2022

Along with Brenda sending me a couple of belated video clips from her phone from earlier this month with our granddaughters, I thought the one of Annalyn mowing with me was pretty special. She spent hours with me while Ellerie was taking her nap and thoroughly enjoyed driving the Kubota … thankfully missing the trees!

A quick babysitting trip to Perrysburg and a check on Katelyn and Drew’s property and house building progress

| August 27, 2022

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A day of negative news and some positive: The stock market was down big, but the plus, Taylor closed on a condo

| August 26, 2022

It was an ugly day on Wall Street as investors reacted to comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell who indicated “that the Federal Reserve must continue to raise rates” and “hold them at a higher level until they are confident inflation is under control.” Some economists highlighted in Barron’s Magazine last week, have suggested that […]

The 2022 school year has started for my granddaughters

| August 25, 2022

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Leftover travel weekend update and photos from our kids

| August 24, 2022

While Brenda and I were in Atlanta celebrating her sister’s birthday, Taylor was once again at another wedding clear across the country. One of his elementary school friends (they stayed in touch) gave a bunch of friends a chance to get together in a nice location – Lake Tahoe. Of course this wasn’t the first […]

A birthday weekend in Georgia with the Gerbers

| August 23, 2022

It was a nice weekend to drive to Atlanta, even though it was only for a short birthday visit for Brenda’s sister Ann. As always, we had a very nice time together, had a great day hiking up to Indian Seats (panorama above) and our favorite part, catching up on the life of their girls. […]

Fitbit: What does COVID do to your resting heart rate?

| August 16, 2022

Since I wear a Fitbit and monitor a few things like heartrate, exercise and daily step count, I was concerned when my resting heartrate (graph left) seemed to be rising? After talking with my daughter about it, she mentioned that it sure seemed to correspond to my COVID diagnosis. Hm??? Hopefully it will return to […]

Summer 2022 at home with our granddaughters wrap-up

| August 14, 2022

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A Happy Birthday for Brenda … with her granddaughters

| August 12, 2022

It has been a perfect summer week with Ellerie and Annalyn and all topped off with our family together to celebrate Brenda’s birthday. Katelyn and Drew are taking the girls to Kings Island today while we recuperate and I try to get a few things done that have piled up from phone calls, emails and […]

Summer storms continue, more COVID and Gilligan’s Island

| August 6, 2022

Well if one has to stay at home … looking at our backyard “storm is coming” pool photo … and we aren’t to be out and about, there could be worse places to be isolating? The summer storms continued rolling thru this past week and and after testing positive the previous week, I thought a […]

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.
My Desultory Blog