RichC | 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 […]
RichC | September 6, 2022
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RichC | 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 […]
RichC | 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 […]
RichC | 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 […]
RichC | 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 […]
RichC | 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!
RichC | August 27, 2022
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RichC | 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 […]
RichC | August 25, 2022
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RichC | 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 […]
RichC | 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. […]
RichC | 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 […]
RichC | August 14, 2022
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RichC | 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 […]
RichC | 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 […]
RichC | August 3, 2022
It is likely that I’ve used and cleaned over 100 paint brushes in my lifetime … besides the throw-away bristle and foam versions. That said, I find myself gravitating to a couple favorites that I hang over the basement utility sink. These are of the softer full-bodied brushes that hold paint well, brush smooth and […]
RichC | August 1, 2022
Well it looks like COVID19’s BA.5 subvariant has found us … or we found it. Fortunately for us, we have been vaccinated and at least I have one of the boosters … so hopefully the more serious and severe illness seen by many can be avoided. As of my writing (over the weekend) the symptoms […]
RichC | July 30, 2022
This past weekend I started what is going to be a slow, but deliberative process of moving out of the basement and back into the upstairs home office. No window blinds yet, but we did move the oriental rug from our first floor to the upstairs (Brenda would like to get something new for the […]
RichC | July 28, 2022
A bit of news from my son Taylor who has decided to buy a condo in Cincinnati rather than renting a few blocks away. He has been looking for a while now and pondered a house vs property vs urban condo or townhouse. Escalating prices since the pandemic turned and rising rates in both lending […]
RichC | July 27, 2022
Eventually I’ll get to part 3 of our family Canadian Rockies 40th Anniversary trip (post-trip nightmare, part 1 and part 2), but for now I’ll archive a few photos from this past week’s babysitting trip to Perrysburg. COVID has made its way through the Oostra family after their trip … likely the herding through the […]
RichC | July 21, 2022
This is part 2 (see pre-wrap-up and part 1) of our Canadian Rockies 40th Anniversary trip, but I can tell from the start that I’m not going to get very far (late and tired … and just WAY too many photos). Still, it is enjoyable to think about and remember the great time we had […]
RichC | July 17, 2022
Well … this is part 1 of the Canadian Rockies 40th Anniversary wrap-up (a pre-post was made last week) and since there are just WAY too many photos and memories to recall for just one post (the curse of multiple smartphones with cameras that also shoot motion GIFs and video). It was much simpler 34 […]
RichC | July 14, 2022
It is probably good to have waited another day before posting in frustration over how our return flight was handled by Air Canada since we were not happy being stuck in Toronto after our final leg was canceled. To add insult to injury we already had a delayed flight on Sunday, then boarded and deplaned […]
RichC | July 13, 2022
Instead of starting a rant on our nightmare return trip from the Canadian Rockies flying Air Canada … I’m going to let the stress dissipate for a while. It was painful travel. So instead I’ll archive a couple exciting photos from Katelyn and Drew as their builder has started clearing the trees from their lot […]
RichC | June 28, 2022
Back in the late winter or early spring, the pool supply catalogs began arriving in the mail. Chlorine pucks and shock powder were my primary “look for” items as we were contemplating opening the pool for the season. Unfortunately this year, we were a little slower than usual due to pool repairs, but noticed there […]
RichC | June 26, 2022
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RichC | June 19, 2022
I enjoyed a very nice Father’s Day on “Saturday” yesterday with Taylor, Megan and their long time friend Meredith, who was “dog-sitting” her sister’s dog “Chase” (below). They enjoyed the nice weather around and in the pool while I busied myself with a few projects … one of which was adding the additional pipes to […]
RichC | June 15, 2022
Big storms ripped through our area on Monday night and left a mess of things in much of SW Ohio. Lots of tree damage and even a loss of power for 24+ hours in our neighborhood. I spent the lunch hour working with a couple of neighbors to clear our lane and yet still have […]
RichC | June 12, 2022
Thank you Drew for sharing this amazing backyard rainbow photo from last week! “I set My rainbow in the cloud … and I will remember My [promise to] … every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh … that is on the earth” — Genesis […]
RichC | June 10, 2022
Taylor last weekend at the Cincinnati Zoo with Megan While typing the subject line of this post, I wondered at what “age” is respectful to NOT mention a number when sharing a Happy Birthday greeting? Hopefully not at 33 yet, since from memory those were the years I pretty much felt my best (pre Menieres!) […]
RichC | June 7, 2022
Brenda and I enjoyed our anniversary weekend staying around home, working in both the yard and for me painting on Sunday afternoon (Brenda helped out at a store short a pharmacist in Dayton). Slowly I’m making progress in painting the guest bedroom (pano photo below). Ceiling are done, walls have their first and second coat […]
RichC | June 7, 2022
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RichC | June 5, 2022
A poor quality scan of our 1982 wedding with DadH, MomH, MomC and DadC Often a 40th Wedding Anniversary triggers a husband or wife to make the comment “thanks for putting up with me” or something to that effect. Although there is truth to it, spending the rest of your life with another person is […]
RichC | June 4, 2022
Q: What do you call a religious person who claims that the end is near? Answer: A fanatic. Q: What do you call a secular person who claims that the end is near? Answer: An environmentalist. When my podcasts on my weekend playlist are finished and I’m still in the mood for some audio content, […]
RichC | June 2, 2022
The “bowling” comment I made a couple weeks ago triggered me thinking about what “junk” to put back in my office storage closet and what to toss. There are “functional” but OLD computers (with hard drives and too much CPP customer data), boxes of magazines … and more to the point … my old bowling […]
RichC | May 31, 2022
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RichC | May 28, 2022
We are enjoying my late mother-in-law’s transplanted Buttercups (Ranunculus) that we brought home from the Jamestown, NY farmhouse (winter pics). Initially, Brenda’s sister Chris asked me to bring her some home for her since I was the one driving back and forth to western New York to clean out, take care of the property and […]
RichC | May 26, 2022
I have put off buying diesel fuel for the Kubota mower and John Deere 330 as long as possible … but inevitably the reserve of 25 gallons stored in fuel jugs gets used up. It looks as if it is time to pay $$$ the inflated prices on fossil fuels — elections have consequences (pre-Russia invasion […]
RichC | May 25, 2022
Now that the desk and hardwood floors are complete, and floor finish has cured enough in my home office, it is time to tackle the trim painting, putting the closet and bookshelves back. Another project I’ve been contemplating is to revitalize my older well-worn corner computer desk. Having used it for a couple of decades […]
RichC | May 21, 2022
It is likely an age thing, but once upon a time, I didn’t think twice about trenching and digging. Now, I’m tired out by lunchtime (this was a Saturday (5/21/2022) morning project) and I didn’t even finished the trench for drainage pipe (it is relatively soft after the heavy rain, but has a lot of […]
RichC | May 21, 2022
The new Lorell brand glass desk floor mat for my home office arrived and so I temporarily set it up in the basement since the painting and last few modifications are yet to be finished before moving back upstairs. All in all I’m impressed with nice quality of the largest size (60” x 48”) tempered […]
RichC | May 20, 2022
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RichC | May 19, 2022
Posting a couple of memory photos as a Throwback Thursday #TBT filler post after a conversation with friends last week. One had to do with text messaging, “distracted driving” and remembering my road warrior days of driving back and forth from Cincinnati and NE Ohio while trying to remain connected and productive. Thankfully all ended […]
RichC | May 18, 2022
When the weather finally warmed up and I was motivated to head outside to work in the yard and start cleaning things up around the house, it was good for my activity level. Let’s see if this will correspond with losing a few pounds and getting a little healthier – it certainly can’t hurt (a […]
RichC | May 17, 2022
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RichC | May 15, 2022
My weekend chores and projects are in full swing as I cut the lawn longer than usual since it grew fast and thick while we were on vacation. Hopefully after a few cuttings, the thatch will disappear (I’m not fond of raking and hauling to the compose pile). Early Saturday morning I put the final […]
RichC | May 14, 2022
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RichC | May 10, 2022
Depressing as it may be, our vacation in Delray Beach is over, but it was a perfect and needed rest and relaxation trip. Our old 2002 Honda Odyssey is still surviving … although I did pondering a new Florida vehicle after having to jumpstart and fidget with the flakey AC. Yet it still didn’t convince […]
RichC | May 8, 2022
It is difficult not to recognize what great moms both MomC and MomH were to me … but since they are no longer here, I want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to a couple of great moms — my wife Brenda and daughter Katelyn. They both have risen to the most important role of […]
RichC | May 7, 2022
It is definitely spring and as with many growing families working hard and fortunate enough to be living in the United States, ours are pursuing the American dream of building or owning a home. Katelyn and Drew sent perhaps a final undeveloped photo of their beautiful NW Ohio property on a wooded cul-de-sac. I say […]
RichC | May 5, 2022
Although I don’t know all that much more than what I read about China, the culture and history intrigues me. After moving to Sidney, Ohio in high school, I felt like a fish out of water since most kids grew up in town and had gone to school with each other their entire life. When […]
RichC | May 4, 2022
Just archiving progress on the hardwood floors project before moving any furniture back in the guest bedroom (above left) and my home office (panorama photo below). I also wanted to save a photo of the can of Minwax branded wood finish, used and mixed to match our existing floor stain (great job by Schindler Hardwood […]
RichC | May 3, 2022
My dad was known for saying he was planning to live to 160 years old and I’m following in his ridiculous longevity theories and his questionable medical advice (he died at 86 in 2015). Years ago I jokingly theorized that when Jesus told us that “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are numbered” (Luke […]
RichC | April 28, 2022
In keeping with personal home project updating, our hardwood flooring has been moving along this week. The guys are making a mess sanding … but doing their best to contain dust. We are hoping for a stain-match to our existing oak floors, but in any case, the guest bedroom and office are taking shape. Unfortunately […]
RichC | April 27, 2022
Earlier this year after an HOA meeting, I added myself to the waitlist for a new Wyze Cam product called the Wyze Cam Floodlight. The neighborhood has been looking for a better way to monitor the pool without the high cost of a commercial security camera. I mentioned this economical motion floodlight with cam and […]
RichC | April 25, 2022
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RichC | April 21, 2022
As the slow progress on finishing my home office continues, I’ve set up a temporary office in the basement (below). It is surprisingly comfortable, but I do miss the daylight and looking out the windows. I can’t help but reminisce to make this a Throwback Thursday #TBT post after finally removing the painters tape from […]
RichC | April 19, 2022
After filling up the 2010 BMW X5 35d with diesel … ouch … I drove to the least painful Ohio DMV location in my area according to the online wait times. Thankfully I came prepared with my passport, address verification and requested ID information. After $56.40 … I came out in less than 30 minutes […]
RichC | April 16, 2022
First, I mentioned pool repairs were underway earlier in the week. The tiles that I’ve been repairing are now long past due for a full replacement. So the water has been pumped out and a pool tile crew is beginning the demolition prior to making repairs and installing new waterline tile. Brenda’s comment made me […]