RichC | February 5, 2025
While sitting down after our long beach walk with a warm breeze on a sunny day while in Delray Beach, Florida, I commented to Brenda that we were living “The Life of Riley.” I assumed she would be familiar with the reference and meaning that we were living a comfortable and carefree life. She surprised […]
RichC | January 27, 2025
“Reelin’ In the Years,” a song by American rock band Steely Dan was written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The song features Fagen on vocals and is an early example of their easily recognized sound. I found it interesting to read that Fagen thought it “dumb but effective,” and Becker said it was “no […]
RichC | January 25, 2025
The shoreline of the “Gulf of America” isn’t the only area impacted by cold weather this past week, as Brenda and I are feeling the cold a bit further south in Florida too. We’ve been walking daily in the cool north winds on Delray Beach and still enjoying it, despite the numb fingers and cold […]
RichC | January 23, 2025
Spotted in the Florida Panhandle above and airboat video in Louisiana below 😊 Saw the photo below on social media as a Polar Vortex powered Arctic Blast pushes across the country … and I thought, “climate change” (so long as it is warmer weather) … isn’t coming fast enough!
RichC | January 22, 2025
We saw way too many family photos being exchanged over the long MLK Jr. weekend, but I’m including a couple for the blog archive. First I’ll start with an interesting and as Katelyn called it, “blogworthy” techie kind of space selfie project photo. Both Katelyn and Drew are on top of today’s technology oriented projects. […]
RichC | January 19, 2025
At least the Wall Street Journal’s year in review summary didn’t add up the total amount of time I likely wasted reading WSJ online … BUT obviously reading 507 articles in 2024 took a little bit of my time … and I definitely posted plenty of references on MDB. I’m not sure knowing which days […]
RichC | January 15, 2025
After updating on the Apple Watch Series 10 Complications yesterday, the new Peak Design iPhone case arrived in the mail. The Oostras gave me three items by PD for Christmas this year: iPhone case, three or so card wallet and a mini fold-up tripod. The case was the wrong size so Katelyn returned it and […]
RichC | January 12, 2025
Depending on which generation you were born often factors into how you remember inflation. Those born in the 1930 thru1970s likely saw decades of relatively high inflation; they lived through years of 5-6% and higher inflation. Until recently, those born later … 1980 to today … saw a more moderate annual inflation number to begin […]
RichC | January 6, 2025
Winter has arrived in much of the heartland to the east coast for January 2025 … and here in Cincinnati too. It is a storm that is impacting travel on roads, by air and even the power lines since there was ice and freezing rain included with a significant snow. Taylor was out with Megan […]
RichC | January 5, 2025
Before I add the humor (video below), I wanted to include a photo of the girls ice skating on their last day of Christmas break. It was so nice to have the extra time with “Mommy Katelyn” on Friday and doing something special (great smile and photo)! Spotted this on X.com and it made me […]
RichC | January 1, 2025
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RichC | December 27, 2024
It will likely be busy in our household this weekend (as we’re having a belated family Christmas) … but saw this Friday Filler photo on social media and thought it was interesting enough to share (I’m not sure it is real or AI — click for larger)?
RichC | December 17, 2024
It is that time of year … time for Christmas photos … with children and pets? Well a “dog” in the case of Megan and Taylor, but our granddaughters in the case of Katelyn and Drew. In both cases these 2024 photos belong on in the My Desultory Blog archive. Here’s one of Gigi with […]
RichC | December 15, 2024
Click image of landscape pond from back in 2008 when we asphalted the rear driveway. Both have aged. ☹️ My mistake this past month was when it came to scrubbing some of the waterfall area off and using Dawn dishwashing soap … whoops! Not a big deal, but it still has creating an offseason soapy […]
RichC | December 12, 2024
Today’s archive post will be quite the Throwback Thursday #TBT stretch … as the photos and Christmas tree subject matter are from last weekend … even though “The Longest Game” podcast forwarded by my daughter Katelyn is a baseball story from years ago (she knows I enjoy baseball). Let’s start with the baseball story from 1981 […]
RichC | December 11, 2024
After typing the title and looking at my photo below from Sunday afternoon, I realized that listing “smartphone” should also be added to the title/subject list … since it more than likely is read from the most these days? I personally have always been a luddite and preferred paper as the medium of choice when […]
RichC | December 8, 2024
Our 2002 Honda Odyssey van sits outside in Florida for a longer period than usual and a few times the battery didn’t start the car. At first I replaced the battery thinking it was just old. Then I started to disconnect the battery when leaving it covered in our condo parking lot … but it […]
RichC | December 6, 2024
The annual Corbett Christmas Letter has been reduced to the ubiquitous Christmas card printed by one of the many card producers (below). This year’s card was ordered before our Thanksgiving famly get-together and unique Google “Add Me” AI feature used in the photo above on Drew’s new Pixel 9. Very impressive — hey, Apple, get […]
RichC | December 5, 2024
It is the time of year to clean up my blog’s photo folder — a place where I save photos that I might want to archive on the blog. Usually there’s a reason they don’t get used, but before tossing them due to a new year, it is time to do some housecleaning. First up […]
RichC | December 3, 2024
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RichC | November 30, 2024
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RichC | November 29, 2024
Since the likelyhood of me getting a new Apple watch for Christmas is growing by the day (my wife Brenda has been inquiring), I’ve started my research as to what kind of watch face will give me ALL the information I would like to see. My goal is to replace the current Kamon watch face […]
RichC | November 26, 2024
Nothing earth shattering, but looked up to see Venus rising on Sunday evening as I was taking out the garbage. It was beautiful in the SSW sky and far more than the iPhone photo … but it was worth posting anyway. Megan, Taylor and Gigi were out for walks on Sunday and shared a couple […]
RichC | November 25, 2024
Not that my daughter appreciated that her 2018 VW Tiguan left her stranded on the “highway” … but sometimes automotive breakdowns are a part of “life.” So it seemed somewhat appropriate to feature the catchy Tom Cochrane‘s “Life is A Highway” as today’s Music Monday song. Sorry about the water pump failure Katelyn! Tom Cochrane originally […]
RichC | November 24, 2024
With all the expenses associated with owning a Florida condo these days (HOA monthly dues, large engineering related assessments, increases in insurance and real estate taxes, not to mention normal utilities and repairs) … I’m wondering if being an owner is worth it? Nevertheless, Brenda and I do enjoy the longer escapes these days as […]
RichC | November 21, 2024
The first autumn snow of the year marks the beginning of winter in my book, but since I still would like to rake up the rest of the leaves and get a final grass cutting, it would be nice to have one more warm-up and dry sunny day. For now though, here’s the dusting of […]
RichC | November 21, 2024
While Taylor was at his conference and staying with us the other week in Florida, we started talking about good friends … and “old friends” who are still good friends. My thoughts automatically go to my college friend Jeff and Taylor’s to his grade school friend Mike. One thing led to another and he pulled […]
RichC | November 17, 2024
On our recent trip to Florida, we saw stronger than usual winds on the beach most of the trip. Unfortunately the excellent BeachBub umbrella broke, although I’m unsure it was due to the stronger wind (but likely). I’ve written an email to the company just to see if there is a new “frame” part even […]
RichC | November 16, 2024
Officially this is a “replaced the garbage disposal project” from a week ago, but since I’m still mentally in “vacation-mode,” I’ll archive this post for condo improvements records and include a panaramic photo above from my new phone (I’m relaxed just looking at it). The old InSinkErator Badger brand disposal was replaced in 2012 (Brenda’s sister […]
RichC | November 14, 2024
After a great visit with Taylor in Florida last week for his planning conference, he’s right back into the hornet’s nest in trying to find the best way to navigate economic growth and housing development in his township. The battle lines are being drawn between fairly large housing developers and builders who are growth focused […]
RichC | November 12, 2024
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RichC | November 9, 2024
The “yellow tape” applied to the table saw sled has bothered me since adding it in 2019 (above left). I’ve never had a problem remembering to keep my hands away from pushing the sled with my hand in the wrong place, but realized not having a guard was foolish (added above right). So a little […]
RichC | November 5, 2024
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RichC | October 31, 2024
One of my regular Friday reads is the weekly technology update by Joanna Stern and her Wall Street Journal team called Tech Things. At the end of this weekly update, there is usually a “Throwback Thing.” I mentioned to them that my “still favorite” pocketable cellphone was the Samsung i500 SPH and that I posted […]
RichC | October 29, 2024
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RichC | October 26, 2024
One of the biggest changes and needs now that our family of iPhones takes larger photos and video … and are now 5G capable … is the need for more data. I’m no longer satisfied with our “pooled” 6GB USMobile plan. I sort of knew this would be a problem, but for most of the […]
RichC | October 24, 2024
It has been a long time since I remembered when stopping quick required a second foot on the brake pedal, but this photo from a 1964 (Camaro I think) reminded me of that wider pedal (think the 1973 Caddy had the two-foot pedal too?) Back when yours truly was learning to drive, our family 4-door […]
RichC | October 22, 2024
Brenda and I have been working hard to walk the beach while on our annual October vacation to Florida. This year the ocean weather has been windy, a bit rainy … but warm. We’ve found the longer than usual walk challenging as the waves and tide has shrunk the beach and churned the water. We’ve […]
RichC | October 18, 2024
Photo is from the internet — not mine. ☹️
RichC | October 17, 2024
It has been 15 years since we planted the Dawn Redwood tree in our backyard (tree to the right in above photo) and it is still growing strong. I’m starting to think we may have picked a spot a little to close to the pool, although it is still 40 feet away. A year later […]
RichC | October 10, 2024
All of the smartphones I’ve owned since the 2000s have held a soft spot in my heart and the same could be said after seeing a Palm Treo photo in a “Year(s) Ago On This Day” link this week. It sort of makes for a worthwhile Throwback Thursday #TBT kind of subject … along with […]
RichC | October 9, 2024
It has been quite the improvement when it comes to the camera, especially in switching from the iPhone 7 Plus (a great smartphone) to the new iPhone 16 Pro Max. I’ve really yet to learn how to best use the new features, but “out of the box” it just takes excellent photos (that link means […]
RichC | October 8, 2024
Once again, the second half of the hurricane season is brewing up what looks to be another monster storm in the Gulf of Mexico (post after Hurricane Helene). This one is named Hurricane Milton and has quickly spun up to a category 5 storm as it starts moving from west to east across the gulf. […]
RichC | October 1, 2024
Since it has been raining and because there was 1/2 cup of workbench top Zip Guard sealer left … and the Bame Utility Trailer was still in the garage … I decided to remove the cover in prep for raking leave and added the leftover sealer to the rail areas. After removing the cover, I […]
RichC | September 29, 2024
It isn’t as if I think about missing my mom everyday, but when her birthday approaches, I definitely do. In that way we are a lot alike — remembering her missing her mom. Brenda and I often comment, “oh how my mother would love this or that” … usually when talking about preparing the table […]
RichC | September 28, 2024
It has been a few years since the last raccoon has found a way to get into the house again, but it looks like one has made an entrance again. I’ve tacked up heavy galvanized screens, screwed aluminum panels and trapped and trapped and trapped them over the years, but the raccoons that live in […]
RichC | September 25, 2024
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RichC | September 24, 2024
Taylor and his newlywed longtime friend, Mike, were in Chicago for the weekend and they sent me a few photos of their time together … sort of a post-wedding bachelor get together. I’d did check the Chicago Cubs – Nationals score (they lost), but it did look beautiful at Wrigley Field. I spent the weekend […]
RichC | September 21, 2024
The new iPhone 16 Pro Max has arrived and the set-up process begins. Sorry for the distraction; I’m probably going to be “trying” to get the new phone up and running this weekend. 😊 EDIT Add 9/21/2024:
RichC | September 17, 2024
Most “guys” I know can get pretty anxious when waiting for a pre-ordered tech gadget to arrive (or perhaps even a new tool). I ordered a new iPhone Pro 16 Max last Friday, which was the first day it was available to order … and besides wondering about having buyers remorse, I am anxious for […]
RichC | September 17, 2024
It has been a couple years since we added new thin layer of asphalt on top of the existing base layer and it was starting to show signs of cracking at the edges … nothing major, but weed roots are never good. So while it is dry and before winter this year, I decided it […]
RichC | September 15, 2024
The summer growing season is over and I’m eating the last of the tomatoes that KDAE brought from NW Ohio. They were a real treat and “all for me” since I’m the only one in the family who loves and eats tomatoes. They were so much better than store bought. Also, I know I sort […]
RichC | September 9, 2024
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RichC | September 5, 2024
Katelyn, my now 38 year old adult daughter, read yesterday’s wedding ring and capsized Trinka dinghy sailing memory and mentioned that I should have included her 7th grade “Time In A Bottle” artwork. She reminded me that it was a “traumatic” incident in her young life (although personally, I did feel that I had everything […]
RichC | September 4, 2024
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RichC | September 3, 2024
Operation Crossroads Baker in 1946 Besides mowing the front lawn last Friday night (practically in the dark) and much of Saturday in the backyard, I did find time to replace the old cracked tires and rewire the “old” long ago broken lights on the Bame Utility trailer. On a book reading side note, I’m on […]
RichC | August 31, 2024
The folder labelled “MyCubby” on my Microsoft OneDrive is a place I collect images, links, photos, etc that might be worth looking at again … or perhaps used on the blog. Each month I try to start fresh with a relatively empty space … so to prepare for September 2024, I’ll archive a couple items […]
RichC | August 27, 2024
The “flowers photo” was not the purpose of this post, but because the tiny purple flowers looked so nice this past weekend, I took a photo (I should know the name or at least take the time to look it up … but I’m not). BUT the real reason was to archive the very messy […]
RichC | August 22, 2024
This past week the weather was cooler and clear … just right for evening and early morning skywatching. I didn’t bother to set up the Lumix GX8 camera on a tripod or use a different lens, but I did have the lightweight 14-140mm lens mounted and took a couple morning photos (above) and a photo […]
RichC | August 22, 2024
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