RichC | January 28, 2013
Butler County Ohio’s high profile local Sheriff Richard Jones is addressing the recent hot button topic school security with a “two for one” idea by putting trained retired police officers in school buildings as substitute teachers. Many of our local schools once had resource officers in the schools, but budget constraints due to the slow […]
RichC | January 24, 2013
It may be 15 degrees outside, but that doesn’t keep my firebug wife from heading out to burn landscape grasses and who knows what else. She asked if I had a larger fire blanket (I gave her a small one for Christmas this year), and since I didn’t, she settled for a 5 gallon bucket […]
RichC | January 11, 2013
Here’s a helpful “Tech Friday” post that is really just some smart advice – it has nothing to do with the photo of Tootsie above except that it was taken with the iPhone 5. Anyway, a client of mine regularly upgrades his high end phone (and now his iPad) every 2 years as permitted by […]
RichC | December 30, 2012
It has been a busy end of the year, but spending the last couple of days with just the family was a great way to wind down 2012. We enjoyed talking, eating (too much), opening presents and watching a movie together – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer. (expand photo slideshow below). Taylor has been home from […]
RichC | December 26, 2012
We drove up to Columbus and enjoyed “catering” a Christmas dinner at Katelyn’s fiancé Drew’s house. The two of them (both in their residency) were working the night rotations … Katelyn just off a 24 hour stint at Nationwide and Drew his week of 13 hour nights at OSU. We have postponed our family gift […]
RichC | December 25, 2012
Our rapidly desquamating Christmas tree (photo) is barely holding on to its needles in hope of “A visit from St. Nicholas” on Christmas eve –although even bringing up the poem now known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” is an invitation of literary debate. No thanks, I’m tired of debates after 2012! The well known […]
RichC | December 21, 2012
It has been a quick couple of days for my dad, brother and me in finalizing the desires of my mom for her funeral. She was organized and detailed right to the end and it was probably a good thing because she was leaving this planning behind to three “men.” We did our best mom […]
RichC | December 16, 2012
I’ve been spending most of my time by my mother’s bedside (previous post), but wanted to share a little cheer as well. My daughter Katelyn had a wonderful bridal shower hosted by the friends of her future mother-in-law (Barb Oostra) in Toledo on Saturday. They enjoyed brunch and presents at the Inverness Club and […]
RichC | December 2, 2012
I finally finished planting all the new bulbs Brenda purchase a few weeks ago as the weather on Saturday was in the high 50s and dry. I also decided to mark the locations using a few photos then marking it up on my iPad using Notablity … an excellent PDF app, by the way. Marking […]
RichC | November 23, 2012
It is hard to believe that I didn’t take any family photos over Thanksgiving this year … except for one disturbing photo at the dinner table. No wonder I didn’t take any more? It does have me question the sanity of the family I belong too?
RichC | November 21, 2012
While surfing for family news and goings-on for Thanksgiving, I saw a photo on my son’s Facebook page with a couple of his high school friends. I recall that they recently visited with him at Miami University and remembered Taylor told me that they were still pursuing their music dream. Of course after seeing […]
RichC | November 21, 2012
There was a large truck and trailer sitting in front of our house at the crack of dawn this morning and curiosity got the best of me so I went outside to investigate. Brenda mentioned that I might want to get the license plate number considering this is the Thanksgiving holiday week and neighbors might […]
RichC | November 20, 2012
My Ram Mount iPad car mount has a weak point and I am wondering if I’m alone or if this is a design problem? From what I can tell, the weak point is where the latch makes a 90-degree turn (see photo). Initially it was very tight to snap the roller-latch mechanism to hold the […]
RichC | November 18, 2012
My wife is a dolphin lover … NOT the Mahi-mahi fish type, but the intelligent and always smiling marine mammals. Me on the other hand, I like both … and enjoy blackened or grilled Mahi-mahi almost as much as “viewing” a pod of dolphins swimming along side a wind-driven sailboat. Nevertheless, I knew Brenda would […]
RichC | November 15, 2012
In keeping with the last couple days of family and personal posts, my daughter and future son-in-law shared their engagement photo proof pages (slide show) from their recent photo session with Shuey Mill Photography. The weather on Sunday afternoon was perfect for the shoot and it helps that the two of them are photogenic. Katelyn […]
RichC | November 14, 2012
I tuned out for a couple days since wifi is scarce at my in-laws farmhouse in western New York. Brenda and I made our annual pilgrimage to pack up her mom and dad and are bringing them to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving and then on their way to Florida for winter. They take the a slow […]
RichC | November 13, 2012
Adding at least one day worth of make-up postings with this past weekend photo of Taylor as we visited with his Grandma … very possible it could be his last? That said, my mom is handling the heavy antibiotics for her pneumonia pretty well and is much more comfortable than earlier in the week. She […]
RichC | November 6, 2012
Our resident Great Blue Heron has decided to take up a new perch which irritates our dog Tootsie to no end. I’m not particularly happy with the dropping on the roof either, but having a large bird like this sitting on one’s roof does make for an impressive sight when driving up the driveway (unlike […]
RichC | November 5, 2012
Politics and the recovery from Superstorm Sandy in the northeast have moved down a notch on my radar this past weekend as my mom is having difficulty breathing (let alone eating or drinking). She is struggling to overcome heavy congestion and fluids which are building up in her lungs. Yes, the fear of pneumonia is […]
RichC | October 30, 2012
RichC | October 29, 2012
It sure has been nice to see my daughter on weekends the last couple of months as her residency schedule has been somewhat gentler. Unfortunately she knows it will not last and the rotations will eventually be more challenging and stressful in a couple more weeks. She went to a wedding show near Kings Island […]
RichC | October 27, 2012
It was a cool and rainy morning as I waited to meet with a businessman from China interested in talking with me about homebuilt airplanes, and so I experimented with the new iPhone5’s panorama feature to kill some time … this time trying a close up panorama. I was more curious to see how it […]
RichC | October 27, 2012
This past week offered up the last of Indian summer unless something in the forecast changes and Brenda and I have appreciated the warmer weather, beautiful sunsets (driving by VOA park above) and evenings to work on projects. Besides finishing the downspout and sump pump drain lines, I’ve also replaced and grouted the broken […]
RichC | October 26, 2012
Since the Little Red Riding Hood classic has been modified a few times through history, my “what big teeth you have” alteration of the tale is hardly a stretch for those near the water rather than a wolf in the woods for living on boats or an island. These impressive photos are from Australian […]
RichC | October 22, 2012
I planned visiting my mom and home projects (and football watching) perfectly around the weather this past weekend. Saturday was a bit gloomy with a few sprinkles for my nursing home visit with my mom. She is doing pretty well considering she is being turned every couple hours and bedridden. Her mind is sharp and […]
RichC | October 21, 2012
Too good to pass up … sharing from a Facebook post. Posted via email from RichC’s posterous
RichC | October 20, 2012
Why is it that I question installing and using software some pretty impressing “debluring software” from a guy named Vladimir Yuzhikov? Am I being overly paranoid or worse … prejudice. Anyway take a look at SmartDeblur and what Gizmodo has to say about this windows only (for now) software … although with smartphones getting some […]
RichC | October 19, 2012
… but please close your mouth. 🙂
RichC | October 18, 2012
Projects are getting done one at a time before winter arrives, but seems as soon as I can check one off the list, two more need to be done. I’ve been repairing the tiles on the pool before closing for the season and on Wednesday evening sealed the new front porch pavers since I’m in […]
RichC | October 7, 2012
It has been a positive weekend for our extended family as my nephew Justin Howard and his wife Keity (Katie Vogel) had their second child … a boy, Evan Mark Howard. I’d offer up the normal details – size, weight, deliver issues – but figure linking to Keity’s blog would be more appropriate – LINK. […]
RichC | October 7, 2012
Vintage Converse All-Stars from 1977 – note the untied shoelace before it became the style! I was a “geek” before there were “geeks” … if being a photographer for my hometown newspaper and for my high school yearbook counts? Friday nights were spent shooting games and then zipping to the darkroom to “soup” the film […]
RichC | October 6, 2012
RichC | October 5, 2012
RichC | October 4, 2012
I started a post on the Presidential Debate last night, but figured if I’m tired of tweeting, reading and hearing about it, others may be too … so will pass on opining. I will say that Mitt Romney looked well prepared and was able to comfortably manhandle President Obama on the subject of the economy, […]
RichC | October 3, 2012
Large-scale wet plate photography video (below). SILVER & LIGHT from Ian Ruhter / Alchemist on Vimeo.
RichC | October 2, 2012
Maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to play with the panorama feature on my new iPhone 5, but decided to take a photo before digging to find the lid of the septic tank. The photo above is current October 2012 and the photo below was as we built the house in 1995 and put […]
RichC | September 30, 2012
My weekend was filled with more wedding stuff and with three of the most important women in my life. On Saturday I chauffeured Brenda and Katelyn to and from a few more wedding planning functions as well as participated in more cake tasting. This time the final cake arrangements were made. My wife and daughter […]
RichC | September 22, 2012
The Apple iPhone 5 camera makes for a substantial improvement over my previous smartphone’s camera and so I was anxious to experiment with image quality and play with a few of the hyped features. Since I’m upgrading from the nearly “extinct” Palm Pre, running a rooted webOS install, any modern smartphone camera would have been an […]
RichC | September 17, 2012
I didn’t access the computer much this weekend since Katelyn and Drew were home to “cake taste” and to handle some wedding planning details … thankfully my involvement is minimal. We did have a nice time together … talking, playing cards, reading some of my mom’s “legacy box” and watching the movie “Hunger Games.” It […]
RichC | September 10, 2012
Awww … even a Mr. Manatee baby can be cute. After being too busy to post something for today, I lazily pulled a couple photos from the weekend and figured at least one of the photos was cute enough to put on the blog (ok, both of them). The second photo (below) is of Katelyn […]
RichC | September 5, 2012
I’m on the road today day and adding this as a filler post for Wednesday … but I wanted to archive a few recent photos (maybe the last few with my Palm Pre?). First, the drought across the country has had a serious impact on corn as well as other crops. Here in Ohio the […]
RichC | August 28, 2012
Facebook comes through again and offered a connection to the past (1, 2, 3). Recently I received an invite indicating my “XX” year Sidney High School reunion was being planned (35th if you must know). A Facebook URL was given so I dutifully plugged in my lightly used FB account and ended up adding a […]
RichC | August 23, 2012
I’m still amazed at the notable improvements in cellphone cameras since my Palm Pre was release a few years ago. Here’s an attempt (after a slight crop) to see how images look when a close up was taken with my wife’s new Samsung Galaxy S II Epic. I can see Brenda and I are not […]
RichC | August 17, 2012
RichC | August 10, 2012
I’m not sure every enviro-type defines having large snapping turtles as problem, but we’ve lost more ducklings to turtles than I can count. In fact, of the 10+ years of ducklings that have hatched and were spotted swimming around their mother, I don’t think one has made it into the air? Each day the ducks […]
RichC | August 5, 2012
With all of the hot summer days this year, the pool is getting plenty of use. I sort of thought that older “kids” wouldn’t really want to be caught dead at mom and dad’s anymore, but Taylor and his friends seem to be just fine swimming, playing basketball and baseball in the backyard; maybe they […]
RichC | July 31, 2012
With the slow economy and the associated weak income/high expenses related issues … combined with my lack of aviation motivation in recent years, it only makes sense to show my Sonex project to interested builders. After cleaning up the shop a little bit, I picked up a potential buyer, Dennis, and his friend Tom […]
RichC | July 17, 2012
I enjoyed a little back and forth reminiscing this morning on Twitter with a friend of mine who shared a photo of his dad on his old 1951 Ford 8N. It brought back a few memories of my Ford 800 (searching for an old pre-digital photo) when we lived in Hudson, Ohio … and before […]
RichC | June 26, 2012
Let’s start with the good news … Encore is safely out of the water, block and safely in the boatyard. Her bottom ablative bottom paint sort of did its job, but was completely used up. A strong power washing took care of the slime and some of the growth and left a few barnacles glued […]
RichC | June 20, 2012
I may have started a trend the last couple days in posting the shark and ocean photos … so here are a couple more from a link forwarded by a friend. Hmm, how fast can you swim … or below a meeting between a not so friendly Bull Shark and a diver doing her best […]
RichC | June 18, 2012
I’m either too busy or too lazy to add a post for Monday … as both Sunday night and Monday morning have disappeared. Instead, I’ll reshare a couple interesting oceans of the world photos. (Sharks with schools of fish and a large “Batoidea” migration.)
RichC | June 16, 2012
A friend posted this on his Facebook page after the tank collapsed and since today is a busy chore day followed by a graduation party I’ll still to just a photo.
RichC | June 10, 2012
Celebrating Taylor’s Birthday down in Newport KY on the Ohio River- Happy 23rd Birthday.
RichC | June 5, 2012
I’m “archiving” a few old photos and want to thank my wife Brenda for 30 wonderful years (our 30th anniversary is today June 5); I’m looking forward to another 30 years with her and watching our children build their lives and memories. As many family and friends will agree, 30 years goes by pretty fast […]
RichC | May 25, 2012
A stray image found on my phone … where was I?
RichC | May 13, 2012
As with older boats (and newer), parts age and eventually fail. I have 4 sets of duel Spinlock line clutches that are used all the time and the levers are breaking. One was broken when I bought the boat and one broke yesterday. I’m now down to deciding which lines I want clutched or […]
RichC | May 5, 2012
A late in the evening couple of photos to mark Cinco de Mayo. First, the warm winter and spring … and late opening of the pool for us … gave a bit more growth to the pool water than what I find inviting. Yuck. But it has already improved with a little cleaning, pumping […]
RichC | May 4, 2012
I received a needed lesson in blessings and being thankful today. My sailing friends Mark and Judy Handley have been sharing their daily lives online for many years while cruising around the world. Their circumnavigation ended over a year ago, but Judy continues to document their return to a “somewhat” more normal life. Unfortunately this […]
RichC | April 24, 2012
I finished wire brushing, sanding and painting the black iron railing last night and greeted the masons over lunch to see how the progress of the thin pavers is coming along. Sort of glad I hired them and am not tackling this project myself. (I was actually was up on the roof yesterday – birds […]
RichC | April 21, 2012
I was planning to tackle our decaying concrete front porch myself, but after purchasing the thin pavers and contemplating the preparation masonry work, I opted instead to hire a skilled mason to at least repair the brick trim. Of course after getting into it I’m finding badly rusting iron railings and more than just weakened […]