Thrifty souls unite – a snap fix for a broken zipper

| January 2, 2018

Ok … so this nautical fix has not been endorsed by my wife, in fact, she will not be seen with me from wearing these pants in public ever again … although like most women,  I’m not sure she is fond of cargo pants anyway? My Eddie Bauer flannel lined winter cargo pants are a […]

Keeping knobs on cabinet doors/drawers. Out comes the epoxy!

| December 31, 2017

Let’s end 2017 with a kitchen cabinets knob repair. One of the changes to our new kitchen were the crystal looking knobs … Brenda felt they were too small. So we added larger ones, but the adhesive they used is not as solid as it should be, so out comes the epoxy and clamped in […]

The Howards and more playtime for Gma/Gpa with Annalyn

| December 30, 2017

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Archive: Corbetts and Oostras had a wonderful family Christmas

| December 27, 2017

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A great photo that gives meaning to whales being gentle giants

| December 26, 2017

California Gray Whale watching is on most ocean lovers "want to do list" but few have up close and personal opportunities like this. Part of me wants whales to "fear" humans and keep their distance (for their own protections and survival), where another part of me loves seeing the bond between mammals and knowing the […]

Do we show enough appreciation for a well decorated home?

| December 24, 2017

My wife Brenda shows a lot of attention to decorating with memories and detail to our house each December (and my mother did too). I wish I would be more thankful, but am usually a bit Grinchy when ask to do just a few things that seem to much such a waste of time … […]

Stopping to take a house photo on my way up the driveway

| December 23, 2017

Just a beautiful sky (photos doesn’t do it justice) as the new LED Christmas spots and candle lights pop on as I head up the driveway. Good for the blog archive. After a cold start, having sunny but cool weather right before Christmas is welcomed … but should be thinking about getting the blower put […]

Another memory with friends of our 1st Christmas together #TBT

| December 21, 2017

Although my memory is a little bit foggy, Brenda and I probably saw each other a couple of Christmas’s prior our first Christmas? We were dating in 1980 and engaged in 1981 and likely celebrated with each other close to the day, but were home with our families for Christmas Day. Anyway, when scanning the […]

Tech Friday: Testing Apple Live Photo to downsized looping GIF

| December 15, 2017

We’ve had a colder than usual early December here in Cincinnati … and has much of the country. The freezing temperatures will likely show up in higher heating bills but I’m hoping the new LED Christmas lighting will offset that cost? We’ll see. I’ve been wanting to test the Live Photo editing feature on the […]

Our first Christmas as husband and wife #TBT

| December 14, 2017

Wow … is this really the 35th Christmas? With boxes all over the basement in search for Brenda’s "special ornaments," I ran across the old photo albums of our first year of marriage and our first Christmas. We both remember it fondly since it was a relatively minimalist Christmas. The tree came from Brenda’s dad’s […]

A snowy winter day, a warm fire and distractions

| December 10, 2017

The first cold snowy winter day was the perfect time to fire up the woodstove in the poolhouse garage … unfortunately the distraction of a warm fire lead to other distractions and  keeping me from the day’s list of projects. Instead of finishing the Corbett Christmas letter, updating the mailing list, decorating and working on […]

Remembering the Pearl Harbor attack and the 2403 killed

| December 7, 2017

We remember December 7th, 1941 to honor those who perished and as a reminder of what lead up to Japan’s 1920’s ambition to dominate the Pacific Basin believing it was their manifest destiny (see series Pearl Harbor – Then and Now on the Defense Media Network). The unprovoked surprise attack on Hawaii in the early […]

Christmas decorating and closing the pool in the same weekend

| December 4, 2017

It is hard to believe, but I finally winterized the pool and in the same weekend brought home a Christmas tree, put the wreathes up and modified the lighting we use on the house in December. The first years we used 150 watt incandescent floods (also had halogens at some point), then I switched to […]

Beautiful Supermoon this weekend – the largest of 2017

| December 3, 2017

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Archive: Thanksgiving 2017 with the Corbett Family

| November 26, 2017

Better late than never in posting a few photos from our Thanksgiving day dinner and family time over this extended weekend. My brother Ron and his family were all able to get together at our house this year with our two new additions: Annalyn (Katelyn and Drew) and Teagan (Keira and Ben). Thankfully all of […]

Answering an email from a reader on chainsaw sharpening

| November 25, 2017

A reader wrote me a long email last week after noticing my chainsaw post and had a couple questions regarding how I sharpen the chain/blade on my chainsaws. I really had not giving it that much though since my sharpening technique is probably not expert or appropriate advice. So reader be warned. Over the years […]

Happy Thanksgiving. It is a tough day for Turkeys!

| November 23, 2017

If God created turkeys this ugly as protection from predators … it didn’t work … because 46 MILLION TURKEYS still ended up on some “thankful” American’s plate. Happy Thanksgiving. With all the “food fixing” going on, how about a little humor …

After repairing my old Marlin 1894, it is time for upgrades

| November 21, 2017

One of my first rifles is still one of my favorites, so after repairing my Marlin 1894 last month I thought it might be time to upgrade a couple small parts. This .357 chambered lever action rifle is now 40 or so years old and after a fair number of rounds, suffered the bent extractor […]

Granddaughter Annalyn and I enjoyed another day together

| November 18, 2017

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Painting and sharpening and changing chainsaw chains

| November 16, 2017

A few of the late fall repairs to go along with splitting wood for winter is to keep my “collection” of old chainsaws running. Although I gave away my small old tiny McCulloch trimming saw from the 1980s, I still reluctantly use my bigger (translate = heavier) 20″ McCulloch Pro Mac 610 (PDF manual) with […]

Remembering and archiving an old photo of Gaskill Hall

| November 9, 2017

So this looks like a nondescript photo of an older brick building (click for larger photo)… which it WAS, before being turned into Armstrong Student Center. Back in 1981-82, I was a replacement instructor at Miami University in the college town of Oxford, Ohio for a professor on sabbatical. I moved into his office in […]

A smart aleck Apple Siri and a break for a fungus photo

| November 5, 2017

Like others, I’ve used my iPhone as a kitchen timer for a while now and noticed Siri has recently adopted a little more attitude. After my simple 11 minute request, her "I see you shiver with anticipation" wise crack surprised me! Also, after last weeks iOS 11.1 update, battery life has returned to both my […]

Together with family – Time flies when you are having fun #TBT

| November 2, 2017

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Finally repaired my out of production Marlin lever action rifle

| October 31, 2017

Although I don’t think the Marlin company makes my .357 magnum Model 1894 lever action rifle anymore, I was finally able to scrounge the parts to repair it. I’ve had this beautiful short barreled saddle rifle since high school as it matched the caliber of my short barreled revolver. I have enjoyed it through most […]

It has been a great year for Honeysuckles and their berries

| October 30, 2017

One plant I can cultivate well is the Lonicera maackii … the invasive honeysuckle. They take no care and can withstand heavy pruning and replants themselves EVERYWHERE. This year they are even more heavily berried than usual. Unfortunately they are both messy (very soft) and mildly poisonous! Still, they provide a decent hedgerow along our property […]

Picking a cold, damp and breezy day to clean the gutters

| October 29, 2017

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Racking my brain to remember names from elementary school

| October 25, 2017

My daughter Katelyn and I exchanged a few messages over the past couple of days that had me reminiscing and trying to remember names of a few kids when I was in grade school. It started visiting in Perrysburg last week watching Annalyn when Katelyn mentioned that a co-worker of hers and father went to […]

Weekend fence repair, wood splitting and chores update

| October 24, 2017

A couple days late in posting, but the weather was ideal for jumping on a few chores before the weather turns sour. Since the lawn was still in pretty good shape, I was able to use those weekend hours to repair some of the nearly 2000 feet of 4-board fence that borders our backyard — […]

Love seeing my son enjoying photography

| October 22, 2017

Taylor went camping and hiking down at Red River Gorge this weekend and continues to impress me with enjoying photography, which was a hobby of mine since 7th grade. So much has changed since “souping” film and spending hours in the darkroom fretting over exhausted chemicals and  expired paper … but the capturing of something […]

Driving the shoreline of Lake Erie on my way to see Annalyn

| October 21, 2017

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Hidden photos of my kids in a frame that sits on my desk #TBT

| October 19, 2017

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A photo and another video snippet after my time with Annalyn

| October 12, 2017

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Sadly our local ice cream shop The Cone is closing this weekend

| September 30, 2017

This is the final weekend of summer for The Cone ice cream stop which use to be a regular treat when the kids were home. It is hard to believe but we have not even been there this summer so it didn’t take much for my buddy Jeff to entice me to go before it […]

Weekend catch-up post: Annalyn, chores and chalkpaint

| September 28, 2017

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Getting life in perspective by focusing on the positives

| September 27, 2017

Brenda’s dad lectured her sister Ann a decade or so ago about constantly having a “woe is me” moment. To be fair, she has a needier personality than Brenda that has a tendency to share one negative thing after another. I remember listening to him on the phone in frustration asking, “Do you have your […]

iRobot Verro has been the longest lasting automatic pool robot

| September 23, 2017

About the only replacement parts I’ve had to purchase for our iRobot Verro pool sweeper/ cleaner were the filter bags that go inside the housing. It has been the best of the pool cleaners we have had. Originally we started our pool ownership with a hopping Kreepy Krauly gizmo for our first pool back in […]

Foto Friday – What car lover doesn’t appreciate this photo?

| September 22, 2017

There is something about this classic muscle car photo that spoke to me. Maybe it the tone or just the classic American steel? At any rate, I’ll use it as the first “Foto Friday” post and see who else see this as art? Probably the only thing better would have been to include a GM […]

Brenda takes a turn at babysitting our granddaughter

| September 20, 2017

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New Avin Android based Nav PLUS display for BMW X5 35d

| September 19, 2017

A successful install after receiving the Andrew Rodriguez “group buy” iDrive Android Avin replacement for my BMW X5 35d on Saturday. It was a bit intimidating seeing the bundles of wires and 4″x4″ instruction sheet. But after disassembling the dash, most of the plug n play was very smooth. If there would have been a […]

Once upon a time I drove a couple 1980s Chevrolet Celebrities

| September 17, 2017

One of these days I’m planning to archive a post that summarizes all the cars I’ve owned. One that I had forgotten was a favorite "company supplied car" when I worked in purchasing and sales at Knight-Ridder/Portage Newspaper Supply out of Akron, Ohio in the early to mid-1980s. The first car was a white Chevrolet […]

Enjoyed babysitting Annalyn in Perrysburg for a couple days

| September 16, 2017

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TechFriday: What is new with the Apple iPhone X (ten)?

| September 15, 2017

So you want the new iPhoneX? Wouldn’t that be nice, but can you handle the new features? A BIG sharp OLED screen = 5.8 inch. Glass front and back. Stainless steel. Wireless charging. Home-button-less swipe gestures. Animoji expressions. iMessage ApplyPay Four-core CPU 70% faster than the A10 A11 capable of 600B operations/sec. Three-core GPU that […]

Fishing and hauling big things with a small pickup in Australia

| September 6, 2017

Everybody knows that "down under" things are a little bit different … even snakes have learned to creatively fish different than most I have observed in the U.S. How many "large" dangerous looking snakes have you seen plucking a large catfish out of the water by hanging from a branch??? Snakes aren’t the only creatures […]

Remembering Summer and my childhood on Lake Erie #TBT

| August 31, 2017

As I reflect on this past weekend with family and as summer comes to a close, a Throwback Thursday #TBT mental image and old photo reminds me of just how idyllic my own childhood was. Brenda and I hope we replicated that for our own children and are now doing our best to be the […]

Family weekend, a new Volkswagen and the prodigal son returns

| August 29, 2017

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Those cute chameleons are not as cute when they are lizards!

| August 26, 2017

A month or so ago I blogged that the small little chameleons that ran around the condo in Delray Beach, Florida have grown up and "moved next door" … BUT thankfully they are not the ones this homeowner in Australia deals with! Yikes! Photo (above) from July 2017 at the Delray Beach, Florida condo — new […]

TechFriday: Testing the portrait-mode on the iPhone 7 Plus

| August 25, 2017

While listening to the early comments from the technology pages and news programs regarding Samsung (Galaxy Note 8) and Apple (iPhone 8 – ???)releasing their new smartphone models, I realized there are features I haven’t used much. One of the camera upgrades coming to the new Samsung Note 8 phone is a portrait mode like […]

Making a Maple High Chair to match our New Maple Kitchen

| August 24, 2017

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Can Sharks Read? #surfing

| August 23, 2017

Quick time-lapse attempt to photograph Solar Eclipse 2017

| August 22, 2017

For the good photos check in with NASA (above) or a professional photographer who travels to the optimal locations and spends more than 5 minutes taping a welding filter to his camera … for a less than perfect “time-lapse” solar eclipse attempt, check my photos below. It was at least fun to mark the occasion; […]

Chastised for not updating on grandparenthood

| August 20, 2017

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Racing in Daytona Beach – my dad’s photo from 1950

| August 16, 2017

Another photo (above) from my an envelope containing a few of my dad’s trips before meeting my mom … interesting to think about the history of stock car racing in Daytona Beach Florida. Back in the early 1950s the beach and A-1-A were used at the straightaways and a grandstand at the corner. What I […]

Found a Camp Breckinridge boot camp poem – Korean War 1950s

| August 15, 2017

A couple of days ago I mentioned the passing of my father two short years ago. A day later my brother reminded me that it had been two years and sense it surprised him too. The thought of my dad had me move a pile of papers I’ve had in my office; we cleared them […]

A little more endless summer please

| August 13, 2017

What a beautiful weekend in Cincinnati “for August.” Warm days, reasonable humidity and cool evenings. What’s not to like?

Happy Birthday to my wife Brenda (hard to resist this cute turtle)

| August 12, 2017

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Thinking about my dad. Has it been two years?

| August 11, 2017

Tomorrow will be two years since my dad passed away, where does the time go?  His interest in cars was handed down to me and although we both approached it from different angles, we BOTH held a respect for how each enjoyed automobiles. I did not have had the same "spit and polish" love for […]

Family Fun Weekend with Annalyn in Cincinnati – part 2

| August 9, 2017

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Family Fun Weekend with Annalyn in Cincinnati – part 1

| August 8, 2017

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Start one project and sidetracked to another

| August 6, 2017

While drilling a couple of precision holes, I notice the relatively new larger drill press table extension wiggled out of position if it was bumped. The problem was that it was designed to clamp to the small steel table that comes with most tabletop and floor stand drill presses. To correct I added a scrap […]

Pre-posted before our family weekend in Cincinnati

| August 5, 2017

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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