RichC | July 8, 2024
Today’s Music Monday is a redux of a previous post regarding the popular 1973 song “Kodachrome” by Paul Simon song (of Simon and Garfunkel and solo fame). The song came up in a conversation on Sunday afternoon with Megan and Taylor as they were showing a “slides” wall display of hundreds of old transparencies all mounted […]
RichC | July 7, 2024
Although we don’t eat out very much these days, having a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and hash browns is still a favorite of mine — OJ is an extra treat. Back when I would make more appointments with customers, meeting at Bob Evans or even picking up a “foam box breakfast” at the Silver […]
RichC | July 2, 2024
Where have the years gone? My college friend and all 4 years roommate (the absolute best) from Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio were back from Idaho Falls, Idaho to visit with family … and this trip they decided to drive down to see us (the last time was in 1986 when we were living […]
RichC | June 30, 2024
Every once in a while my cousin Diane calls or text messages me to catch-up on our lives. She is a few of years older than me, but once you hit a certain age, those “few years” aren’t the same as when she was in high school or college and I was still in junior […]
RichC | June 29, 2024
This past week, I had the intention of blogging in a bit more detail on the first Biden – Trump Presidential Debate … but it almost feels wrong to be critical of President Biden in his current rapidly deteriorating condition. I’m not sure he will make a second debate no matter how accommodating it is […]
RichC | June 27, 2024
Storm Clouds mid-June over Mankato MN After our enjoyable and busy week with our granddaughters, I wanted to archive a few photos that have been piling up in the “maybe” for the blog folder. Above are some of the storm clouds in Minnesota that caused flooding in the midwest in mid-June — ominous! For us, […]
RichC | June 25, 2024
This content is restricted.
RichC | June 15, 2024
While clearing a few photos off my iPhone 7 Plus due to limited storage space this week, I decided it might be nice to archive a few photos … so “leftovers” from the week sounded like a good idea for this post. First, Brenda wanted a few new hooks for mops and things in the […]
RichC | June 9, 2024
Taylor and Megan for Birthday golfing at Beckett Ridge (he worked there when he was in college) The weather was cooler than normal for a June birthday get-together for a few of our 35 year old sons’ friends, their spouses and now young families. It wasn’t a formal party per se, but it was a […]
RichC | June 8, 2024
As rural turns to even more suburban, the bolder some of our wildlife is getting. Last week a slender fox appeared on our security Wyze Cam and instead of just passing by as usual, opted to lounge for a few moments ‘midday’ in the front yard. Very strange behavior for the coyotes and foxes that […]
RichC | June 6, 2024
My Grandpa Bluhm made this workbench and gave it to me for Christmas back in 1966. His influence early-on likely influenced my interest in tinkering and woodworking (car restoration and rebuilding was probably mostly influenced by DadC). This past weekend I cleaned it up a bit and added a homemade light strip with a roll of […]
RichC | June 5, 2024
This content is restricted.
RichC | June 4, 2024
With the weather still moderate, I’ve been driving my 1982 Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel a bit more. It really needs to be cleaned up and waxed, but I’ve been sidetracked with power washing the pool decking and cleaning up the porch furniture for summer (a lot of tending to the fast growing lawn too). Still […]
RichC | June 2, 2024
This chainsaw has been on my tool wishlist for a while and when I mentioned to Brenda that it was $50 off over Memorial Day, she told me, you should get it. This small 12 inch Ridgid Chainsaw is not the “do everything” tool or even as robust as the bigger twin battery Makita, BUT […]
RichC | May 29, 2024
Last weekend Drew and Katelyn discussed their plans to bury pipes with yard pop-up that lead from their homes’ gutters and downspouts. I mentioned that I thought having downspout traps was essential when living on a property with trees, especially with underground drainage tiles. I think they agreed and will be adding them while finished […]
RichC | May 28, 2024
My son-in-law Drew sent a photo (below) of the Oostra family after spotting a Tesla Cyber Truck in Toledo, Ohio over the weekend … and knowing his consistant interest, I won’t be surprise to see one in their garage someday! He has been “ogling” them since Elon Musk first announced the new truck in 2019 […]
RichC | May 23, 2024
Upstairs in the Western NY Farmhouse Barn’s workshop in 2013 In keeping with the occasional ThrowBack Thursday #TBT, the above was a pano photo of DadH’s workshop after he passed away. I mentioned to Brenda that I wondered how he was able to climb the stairs of the barn and work on such a large […]
RichC | May 22, 2024
This content is restricted.
RichC | May 21, 2024
See below … 😉 While we were under a Tornado warning earlier this month, I was outside in the backyard watching the storms to the north of our house (over the roof). There was A LOT of lightning, but surprisingly not all that much thunder? AND since today is my brother’s birthday, Happy Birthday […]
RichC | May 16, 2024
I don’t recall how the subject came up, but Brenda and I were talking about our first and then second house in NE Ohio … the one I have some of my fondest memories in — the kids were about our grandchildren’s age. It was located on “Ground Hog Hill” in Hudson Township when we […]
RichC | May 15, 2024
This archiving of leftover weekend photos is becoming a trend on My Desultory Blog and since it is a space for me to mark events and save photos, I suppose it will continue? Last weekend while celebrating Mother’s Day (along with my birthday) … I started pool opening process. I’m not sure how many more […]
RichC | May 14, 2024
This content is restricted.
RichC | May 12, 2024
While picking out a card for “the mother of my grown children” this year, I couldn’t help notice how inflation has impacted the price of greeting cards. Perhaps when I was in the business of putting ink on paper, the price per sheet as it were, I wasn’t really given too much thought to each […]
RichC | May 11, 2024
On Friday May 10, 2024, I started noticing the beautiful northern lights (aurora borealis) photos showing up on my X.com social media feed. They were so impressive that I told Brenda that we would need to go outside in the evening. While glancing at my skywatching info, I also notice that the International Space Station […]
RichC | May 8, 2024
Late spring yard work and continued Kubota diagnosis and repairs continued over the weekend, but on the 7th, another year for me is in the books; can’t say I’m feeling all that different? But THANK YOU to my family and friends for wishing me a Happy Birthday … and some doing the traditional Howard family […]
RichC | May 7, 2024
The sunsets across rural Ohio never really get old. I’ve driven home to Cincinnati this time of evening more times than I care to remember while coming home from NE Ohio … but those days are now behind me. This time it was returning from a spring vacation in April and I realized that there […]
RichC | May 5, 2024
With the lawn growing like crazy, this is definitely not the time for a mower to need service. The local Kubota dealer is backed up 2 weeks for service and I’m struggling to diagnose the exact problem. So far I’ve only taken things apart, broken a “fuel return pipe” and ordered parts. Nothing like breaking […]
RichC | May 2, 2024
Every once in a while there is a doppelgänger photo, person, sculpture or something that reminds me of someone else (software isn’t always accurate). 😉 Also a few years back, there was a person who reminded me of my brother Ron, so I posted about it. Back October 2011 at my nephew’s wedding, there was […]
RichC | April 30, 2024
While uploading a late April 2024 peaceful looking Delray Beach scene from my “aging” iPhone 7 Plus, the distorted panorama photo has me wondering just when it will be time to upgrade? Since my 7 year old smartphone will no longer update a few of the apps due to an old iOS … I do […]
RichC | April 28, 2024
This content is restricted.
RichC | April 27, 2024
Towards the end of last year, I added a post titled “Semi-Depressing reminiscing about my childhood home” for Throwback Thursday #TBT in December 2023. A Zillow For Sale listing had me remembering good times AND a not so good photo that did not make me smile (see link). My childhood home on Lake Erie in […]
RichC | April 26, 2024
Making changes to the Apple MacOS, or my current MacBook Air M2 computer workstation setup, is something I hesitate to do when everything is working smoothly. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few things that I wouldn’t mind Apple addressing that “might” make my life easier. First my tiny gripe … is that there […]
RichC | April 18, 2024
This content is restricted.
RichC | April 14, 2024
Photo from working in yard in Spring 2017 Our old John Deere 330 16HP diesel tractor, that we use for all kinds of yard chores, required another battery this spring. It seemed like just yesterday that I replaced it, but then I realized it was replaced back in 2012! Amazing longevity for a Walmart Ever […]
RichC | April 11, 2024
Brenda has been bugging me to remove a couple of pine trees (one 30 yo Blue Spruce that was nearly dead) from in front of the house (photo – house without the drooping pine). They were on the “to-do” list last year, but I’ve procrastinated until this year … and in my mind, I was […]
RichC | April 9, 2024
Click images for larger images Our backyard may not have been the absolute best location to view a perfectly covered sun for the solar eclipse, but it was very impressive. Taylor took an afternoon off of work and came up with Gigi in the afternoon (we are north of Cincinnati), and I suspect he […]
RichC | April 4, 2024
Katelyn’s 100K text message (above left) from her 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan reminded me of the one she sent 17 years ago (above right) … back when she was driving her 2001 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. Where have all the years and miles gone (hence #TBT)? I’m so glad we have the technology to sporadically send messages […]
RichC | March 30, 2024
Seeing Mallard Ducks show up in the spring “like clockwork” had me wondering just how long this particular pair has been showing up at our pool (still covered) and landscape pond … and how long they live (see below)? For years ducks show up in the spring, have been chased by our dog Tootsie (for […]
RichC | March 26, 2024
As has become a routine, I’m archiving a couple family weekend photos. First, last week was Gigi’s rescue day (Taylor and Megan’s dog). It was in 2023 that they found her and after attempting to find the owner by posting signs etc … although they suspected she was abandoned after having puppies … adopted her […]
RichC | March 24, 2024
Today, Sunday March 24, 2024 is Palm Sunday … the Sunday before Easter. For Christians around the world, it commemorates the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. On this day, a cheering crowd greeted Jesus along the road, spreading their garments and palm branches before Him. For us today, it is time to get our […]
RichC | March 21, 2024
I started reorganizing the south wall of my basement workshop on Sunday afternoon, first, so that I could store a bit more lumber on my storage rack (the extra Oosta lumber!) … and second, so that I could clean up my old children’s workbench for my granddaughters to use when they come this summer. After […]
RichC | March 19, 2024
Brenda commented with a photo that another White Pine Tree near our property line with one of our neighbors came down in the last windstorm. I missed it, but then generally am not all that observant to what is behind the trees (can’t really see it from our house). Since the trees are on the […]
RichC | March 19, 2024
This content is restricted.
RichC | March 13, 2024
My daughter Katelyn’s driving habits are reminiscent of both her mom and dad — long commutes and a lot of driving. With those longer than normal commutes comes higher than normal miles on cars … and attention to maintenance. Being a smart owner of her 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan, she sees to it that her VW […]
RichC | March 10, 2024
I wish I could say that our winter Florida vacation was long enough, but to be honest, it flew by way too fast. Nevertheless, being “snowbirds” … as our son Taylor called us … suited us just fine. We thought our daily walks on the beach (10,000+ steps each day) and eating less were surely […]
RichC | March 6, 2024
This content is restricted.
RichC | March 3, 2024
This content is restricted.
RichC | March 1, 2024
While I really wanted to take the time and archive the great time we had in February with Katelyn, Drew and our granddaughters in Florida, I’ll start with a less time intensive post. Last week Taylor and Megan made me jealous by going to a Mac McAnally concert in Cincinnati. It definitely looks like they […]
RichC | February 25, 2024
Just a filler photo of a Lucid Air from Massachusetts that I was admiring while driving in Delray Beach, Florida last week.
RichC | February 15, 2024
This content is restricted.
RichC | February 10, 2024
Ok … so the title of this post is questionable. The twisting of the “Where’s Waldo” picture game with the Orwellian like doublespeak obviously shows that I was too tired in preparing to add this photo to the blog. My plan in putting this “snail shell” in a palm tree was to See if it […]
RichC | February 4, 2024
Years ago while regularly making my weekly drive to and from NE Ohio and through Akron, I often saw Goodyear blimps like the “Spirit of Akron” hanging over the interstate and city. Most of us know the blimp either for their aerial coverage of sporting events or watching them leisurely pass along beachfronts — often […]
RichC | February 3, 2024
While Brenda and I apprecated the warmer weather while in Florida last month, we really focused on walking more each day after working half days from the condo. Our steady daily beach walks and healthier eating will hopefully pay-off with the shedding of a few pounds and improving our long term health (Brenda’s hip replacement […]
RichC | February 1, 2024
Contemplating classic cars after seeing a good looking late 1960’s Pontiac Firebird 400 while filling up at Costco. I posted a comment on X.com and it gave me a ThrowBack Thursday #TBT excuse to repost a couple old black and while of photos of my first junkyard rebuildable … my 1974 Capri (it was pea […]
RichC | January 31, 2024
This content is restricted.
RichC | January 27, 2024
Brenda and I have been enjoying the NFL playoffs in late January from Florida this year and are looking forward to watching the final two games before Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, 2024. This weekend America will be watching the Detriot Lions vs the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC and the Kansas City […]
RichC | January 26, 2024
This will probably excite my geeky readers on a Tech Friday … but am trying to decide if old 3-1/2” disks should be trashed or used at “disposable” drink coasters. BTW, who remembers Apple Computer’s Hypercard? EDIT: Thought … perhaps making thin wooden bases and inlay a disk to make a more creative coaster.
RichC | January 25, 2024
A post from over a decade ago highlighted a beach find that was rather unique for the east coast of Florida … a BIG eye … so figure for this ThrowBack Thursday #TBT it would be a way to then comment on a Portuguese Man O’ War spawn this week along Delray Beach. Although there […]
RichC | January 24, 2024
Although the time difference makes instant text communication a little more challenging than usual in staying in touch with my buddy Jeff, I’m still enjoying the interesting business travel he is starting early in 2024. I lost track of the number of countries will be in while making cybersecurity audits of client plants, but it […]