A great idea: Who hasn’t lost a part when working over water?

| June 23, 2018

I think I’ll archive that idea as a reminder since I always have an umbrella in the back of my Van, 300D or BMW X5 35d … one of those cars is generally at the marina with me! This might be the perfect post to archive my Father’s Day gifts from my kids! A new […]

A new Hunter outdoor ceiling fan after 20 years from the other

| June 21, 2018

Last weekend I notice one of the ceiling fans was no longer working … we could have used it with temperatures in the 90s – hey, it’s summer weather and to be expected in Cincinnati. Anyway, after taking apart the old Hunter fan, I could tell the inside was “growly” which indicated some corrosion. I […]

Failed asteroid gazing leads to staring at Saturn and Jupiter

| June 20, 2018

Here are a couple dots from an evening of star-gazing; the photo on the left is Saturn and the one on the right is Jupiter — wouldn’t it be nice to have a telescope (hint – to my spacecamp daughter!)   Actually I was attempting to get a glimpse of the asteroid 4 Vesta, which is […]

A great Father’s Day weekend at our house

| June 17, 2018

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Just in case Kim Jong Un is misleading us again

| June 13, 2018

Just an impressive photo for North Korea to sleep on (and me to include on my blog) … and just in case Kim Jong Un is having second thoughts regarding his historic handshake and agreement with President Trump at the Singapore Summit. Let’s hope we are all on the same page and that hardliners in […]

Weekend chores rewarded with granddaughter fun at the zoo

| June 11, 2018

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Happy Birthday Taylor – What a difference 4 years can make

| June 10, 2018

It is hard to believe that my son Taylor is 29 years old today!?!?!? It doesn’t seem possible that he has been pretty much living on his own now for third of his life? He has certainly made us proud at the way he has grown up and handled a difficult decade that faced him […]

Archive: Project idea to replace rusting in-wall medicine chest

| June 8, 2018

We have a disliked old style medicine chest in the Florida condo and after the kitchen project is finished, Brenda and I wouldn’t mind updating the bathroom. We have picked out some floor tile (while looking at kitchen backsplash tiles) and intend to us a credit with IKEA for the new sink and cabinet. (BTW […]

Basic maintenance on the Kubota ZD326s and John Deere 330

| June 7, 2018

Several of the parts for our now 10 year old Kubota ZD326s have arrived so I started the process of cleaning, greasing and replacing the "broken and beat-up parts." I’m still waiting for the air filters to arrive from China, but have the Kubota branded oil filter and Chevron Delo 400 SDE 15W040 diesel oil […]

Happy Anniversary Brenda … has it already been 36 years?

| June 5, 2018

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Coyotes still hang around in our Liberty Twp, Ohio backyard

| June 4, 2018

It continues to surprise me how coyotes can continue to live in and around relatively populated areas like Liberty Township, Ohio … but as mentioned several times in the past, we continues to see them boldly hunting rabbits and other small animals (keep an eye on your small dogs and cats!). While mowing the lawn, […]

Retirement lunch for my brother after a career at WPAFB

| June 3, 2018

Brenda and I enjoyed a retirement luncheon celebration on Saturday for my brother Ron (again) after his career working "mostly" at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. We had a great time with some of his co-workers, friends and family (his granddaughter Teagan with Keira and Ben above) at the 571 Grill in New […]

Archive: Last day of condo kitchen photos for a while, I promise

| May 31, 2018

Since the Quartz countertops were finished early and I was still available for the install, it was time to move on it now. Better to have them installed than stored somewhere until my next trip to Florida (a few more photos for the Condo1718 archive below).

Added a Nest thermostat and a ceiling fan to the condo kitchen

| May 30, 2018

Adding a few more gadgets to the condo update this weekend as we are one step closer to getting it looking as if we’ll have a kitchen again … or at least a livable abode for the winter renters (or next owner). Hopefully the few extra upgrades I have opted to add will not go […]

Archive: Kitchen range delivered and a few other condo updates

| May 29, 2018

Spent a little more time working on the condo kitchen over a stretched Memorial Day weekend since a replacement range needed to be received (gas version was shipped by mistake on first order). Thankfully was also able to get the templates made for the countertops after adding the stub wall support and some final cabinet […]

Saw this and thought of our never ending battle with raccoons

| May 26, 2018

Can’t say we are overly sad when seeing one more raccoon critter not trying to get into our house! RIP, buddy.

Pine pollen – it is that time of the year again #photography

| May 23, 2018

What a mess on everything outside. The yellow, dirty pine pollen covers everything each May … but thankfully Pine pollen doesn’t trigger allergies for me. Brenda on the other hand, either has allergies at the moment or a summer cold? (used the iPhone 7 plus portrait mode for the above photo – note selective focus […]

Wishing my brother Ron a Happy Birthday and great retirement

| May 21, 2018

It is hard to believe that my YOUNGER brother Ron is retiring at 56 years old?!? Shocking, but I’m sure welcomed after a long career with the US Air Force working first in Ogden, Utah and the last 30 years at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. We were very close brothers when […]

Archiving a few shared photos from mid-May 2018

| May 20, 2018

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Archive: A few more photos from our days with KDA

| May 15, 2018

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Archiving photos and getting together with my brother’s family

| May 13, 2018

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Spoiling our granddaughter by taking her to The Cone!

| May 12, 2018

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Weekend project: A few more staircase safety items for Annalyn

| May 7, 2018

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Archive: A couple more photos from the condo kitchen update

| May 5, 2018

Just a couple more panarama catch-up photos for the archive from the updates to the condo kitchen. Brenda has been a great help and we both "enjoyed" working together.

Archive: A couple new updated condo kitchen photos

| May 2, 2018

The new Hitachi miter saw put to use on the condo kitchen crown molding … and a little paint finally being applied by Brenda. Wanted to get these couple new Ikea kitchen photos archived before they are lost.

New 12-inch Hitachi miter saw. An early birthday present to me.

| May 1, 2018

New tools are my jewelry when it comes to presents … and Brenda agreed to buy me a new 12" Hitachi sliding compound miter saw so I could more easily work on a couple of projects (after promising to do them this year). Hm, what have I gotten myself into??? The first project is to […]

Semi unifying photo after the passing of First Lady Barbara Bush

| April 25, 2018

We live in a highly partisan time, where our differences seem to matter more than our similarities … they shouldn’t. So as can happen after the passing of the highly respected First Lady Barbara Bush, age 92 last week, people and leaders come together to show their respect for her and her family. It is […]

Annalyn was dedicated at Waterville Community Church

| April 24, 2018

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Be bold and change the world

| April 23, 2018

It is impressive what can be accomplished with a little boldness …

Congratulations to Taylor’s friend Alicia and Laureano

| April 18, 2018

I have teased my “good humored” son far too long about his “girlfriend” from Wayzata Minnesota a few years ago (click here for old photo). So with that “old joke” aside, I think it is about time to officially include his friend Megan on the blog and mention we are excited to see them spending a […]

Returning to nautical flavored child safety gates for the stairs

| April 15, 2018

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Remotes, remodeling and a day leftover for Encore

| April 14, 2018

This past week has been a busy one for me. I was off to Florida for a few days to check on the condo in Delray Beach after our winter renter and to start the demolition of the kitchen. It is a project that is way past due and I’m not sure I know exactly […]

iPhone photography and seeing signs of spring

| April 3, 2018

The other day I mentioned “selective focus” as a photography technique to my son … so I took advantage of the low light and ugly rainy weather to use the “longer x2 lens”on the iPhone7plus to hide the ugliness. The telephoto lens on any camera, especially in closer up photography), is that it is easy […]

Congratulations to my niece Madison and husband Nathan

| March 29, 2018

It is exciting to share the happy moment of a birth … especially when it is a member of our family who really has wanted a baby. Brenda and I are SO very happy for Madison and Nathan … as well as grandma and grandpa Skinner (Brenda’s sister Chris/Jerry). Riley Howard Kling did not arrive […]

Found a great #TBT photo when deleting emails for space

| March 29, 2018

After noticing once again my business email box pushing the limit on storage, I did the normal "sort by size" in order to delete old and unneeded larger emails with hefty attachments. This is a common practice for me as several times each month my servers automatically back-up databases and email a .ZIP archive and […]

One of our narcissistic doves seems to like taking a #selfie

| March 28, 2018

We have a couple of Canary cams in our home and they constantly trigger for one thing or the other. I’m still having problems with one of them sending “Person spotted in Away mode” which usually means my iPhone has not been detected as being “home.” I’ve tweaked the setting, played with masks, double and triple […]

A baby shower and babysitting fun for Bompa with Annalyn

| March 26, 2018

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What a difference in a few hours – weather and a Spring Snow

| March 21, 2018

Pulled up Tuesday 3/20/2018 afternoon’s Raspberry Pi Cam photo of the backyard and Wednesday 3/21/2018 morning’s images (click for larger) — what a different a few hours makes.

Katelyn, Drew and Annalyn are home, but I doubt rested?

| March 18, 2018

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When it comes to kiddos, ours were the cutest … until now!

| March 10, 2018

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Fantastic sperm whale and diver photo … if it is real?

| March 9, 2018

One never knows anymore if photos are real or Photoshopped .. . but this filler post photo of a sperm whale and snorkeling photographer is amazing.

The crystal pendant lights, china and big knobs are growing on me

| March 3, 2018

The new kitchen décor favored by Brenda is growing on me. Initially I fought the oversized glass crystal cabinet knobs (more expensive) and three rather than two crystal oriented pendant lights (I had already wired for two and had to add a third – $$$), as well as the excessive number of cut glass drinking […]

Archiving a famous portrait (cough, cough) and #TBT photo

| March 1, 2018

I’m chuckling at the “famous portrait” subject line, but then again, how many people actually have a portrait of themselves painted by an artist? (might as well make this a ThrowBack Thursday #TBT post) My grandmother, Ruth Walker Bluhm, was an artist and painted a portrait of her first grandson in the 1960s. She was […]

Archiving a couple Red River Gorge photos from Taylor

| February 27, 2018

  As mentioned before, it is great to see my son Taylor enjoying a couple of my interests or hobbies like hiking and photography when I was younger (actually I still enjoy them). Ignoring the lousy weather (we had a lot of rain and flooding), he ended up hiking with "a friend" (?) at a […]

When you smile, be sure to show some teeth. #sharks

| February 22, 2018

Can’t go wrong with a Great White Shark blog filler photo … although it looks a bit modified (who knows anymore)?

Not much interest in watching the 2018 Winter Olympics?

| February 20, 2018

We really haven’t paid much attention to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, but we did watch a bit of the figure skating the other night (amazing quads) and do enjoy some of the great photos showing up online. Check out this one of Akwasi Frimpong’s Skeleton Debut! Source: Ghana’s Skeleton Hero – The Atlantic

A mellow Music Monday: Some David Gates and a marina sunrise

| February 19, 2018

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What do you get when you add an outboard motor to your SUP?

| February 16, 2018

This might be one of the greatest SUP, Longboard, Kayak, Dinghy "mashup" ideas around … I could see myself working on this kind of project! (thanks Dane)

Happy Valentine’s Day to my three special Valentines

| February 14, 2018

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Finished assembling seating for our home theater – almost done

| February 11, 2018

iPhone panoramic of home theater from the rear Finally the correct seat came in and I was able to assemble the last of our eight home theater seats for the home archive. The sizing and spacing is near perfect and even without the riser that I am planning to add to the rear row, the […]

Trash collectors have a tough job in more ways than one

| February 6, 2018

There is good money in collecting garbage, but I don’t see many high school guidance departments "guiding" students into choosing it as a career aspiration. Perhaps owning or managing the company isn’t too bad, but the hours and pitfalls facing those doing the grunt work isn’t all that appealing. Monday morning our trash collector cut […]

Hospitality of good friends and a Bundt Cake Breakfast #recipe

| February 1, 2018

It sure is nice to have friends like Mark and Dar to impose on when traveling … although I KNOW they would say I was invited and was not an imposition (the mark of true friends!) They put me up at what I now refer to as the "Jones B&B" as they always feed me […]

An impressive final Supermoon of the trilogy (see previous post)

| January 31, 2018

I haven’t been wielding my camera around much lately as it is so much easier to whip out the iPhone and take a photo or some video … but occasionally there’s a subject that can’t be photographed easily with a smartphone or even with a DSLR. Here was my quick attempt last night with the […]

Playing games on a smartphone while attending SOTU2018

| January 31, 2018

What was your representative doing during last night’s State Of The Union address … hopefully not playing Candy Crush on a smartphone like Michigan’s Democratic Representative Brenda Lawrence? [adinserter name=”Block 1″]

If laughter is good medicine, we are pretty drugged up :-)

| January 27, 2018

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Who is this revered and famous American President? #TBT

| January 25, 2018

Throwback Thursday #TBT photos usually have to do with oneself or at least something from our own lifetime. I’m archiving a unique photo of this great American leader (the first known of him in 1840), as I wanted to save it to my blog. Most of us study our US Presidents in school, but usually […]

Watching the weather map while watching our little bebopper

| January 22, 2018

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A beautiful sunset looking west towards downtown Cincinnati

| January 17, 2018

Taylor continues to impress me with his enjoying photography. Above is a recent photo (click for larger) he sent me overlooking Cincinnati along the Ohio River – another beautiful sunset photo. I told him that I was going to start encoding them with a digital watermark they are so nice. I’d like to think of […]

Our granddaughter Annalyn is now 10 months old!

| January 7, 2018

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It may be winter in Cincinnati, but better here than in Savannah

| January 4, 2018

The new year has certainly started out cold in Cincinnati. We’ve been below zero every night this week and now that the frozen pipe is behind me (I hope), I was able to get back to some sense of a normal routine since I put off meetings and a pile of work until after the […]

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