RichC | October 28, 2010
Brenda and I are spending just a few days away from Ohio and work as we’ve often done in October and are enjoying time together in Florida. Besides relaxing on the beach, Brenda has succumbed my desire to look at a couple sailboats (we missed our annual trip to the Annapolis boatshow). The weather has […]
RichC | October 25, 2010
Since I ran out of time for blogging today, here’s a great photo from a photo contest by the Herald Sun in Australia with the subject being “Reefs.”
RichC | October 18, 2010
My friend Jeff is a very fortunate amateur photographer since he is one of the few who own a fantastic Canon 5d Mark II. Although I only had a few minutes to play with it over lunch the other day, I enjoyed tinkering with the buttons and menus (there’s a big learning curve). He has […]
RichC | October 17, 2010
Farm “art” in Trenton Ohio Brenda and I spent the weekend around home doing fall chores, watching a little football and driving over to Oxford, Ohio to visit Taylor at Miami. Our “to-do” list included shuffling a few of our pieces of art in order to make room for a couple new prints that have […]
RichC | October 15, 2010
Last year about this time I reposted a series of photos highlighting what a fantastic engineering project was underway in the United States. A bridge to bypass the Hoover Dam looks to be one of the civil engineering marvels of this decade. The 1900 foot span crosses the Colorado River and connects Arizona and Nevada […]
RichC | October 12, 2010
The 33 miners trapped in the San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile are expected to be pulled the 2000+ feet to the surface tonight. The rescue attempt uses a ‘capsule’ lower through a 24 inch pipe & shaft recently bored into the mine. This amazing story of human ingenuity and spirit reminds me of Apollo […]
RichC | October 11, 2010
My “greatest generation” father-in-law (Brenda’s dad) has been struggling medically for the past month and a half suffering with pain from his back and a fractured hip. After a valiant attempt at rehab and without significant success using drug and therapy, he opted for back surgery in hope to eliminating pain and to regaining functional […]
RichC | October 7, 2010
I don’t recall recall if the Apple iPhone advertisement appeared during the Philly’s no-hitter 4-0 win against the Reds or not, but the ad was intriguing in that the Twitter and Twitpic information had me checking the links. The marketing establish @gagebock account (currently 60-some friends) and Twitpic photo (700+ views) that was used in […]
RichC | October 3, 2010
Major League Baseball has announced its schedule for the first four days of division series. The Reds will play the Phillies for game one late on October 6th (5:07 PM EST) – it’s going to be a challenging match-up. Game two will be early on Friday evening – 6:07 PM EST. Sunday afternoon for me […]
RichC | October 2, 2010
Brenda and I enjoyed visiting our son on Saturday for Family Weekend at Miami University. Although we didn’t spend the entire day with all the planned activities, we did enjoy a brunch with his professors and department head. It was nice to be in a small group talking with them about internships and future options […]
RichC | September 28, 2010
So far I’m not convinced drivers are big fans of the new complex intersections being constructed on many of today roads and highways – referred to as Superstreets. The handful of completed projects that I’ve traveled on recently seem overly complex and tailored to create accidents. A couple of examples that come to mind would […]
RichC | September 26, 2010
After digging into the dry rot that has plagued our garage utility door for a number of years, it was determined that although the steel door was still good (as was much of the surrounding frame), that repairing the frame was out of the question. So I as my demolition ergs took over … I […]
RichC | September 19, 2010
The last weekend of summer was a little muscle taxing as Brenda and I worked around the house on a few overdue yard and home projects. Along with the yard work, we also pick up a few new perennial plants that were marked down as well as a new tree. This year’s tree is a […]
RichC | September 17, 2010
We are all getting older and inevitably our human bodies give way to age. Some are blessed with good health for 70 or 80 years, but eventually become dependent on others. Learning to adjust is not something most are quick to accept. The days of our years are three score years and ten; and if […]
RichC | September 10, 2010
A couple sailing friends currently spending time cruising northwestern Madagascar are enjoying the area around Nosy Be. While doing a little map checking on the area, I ran across a couple interesting photos with someone doing some maintenance on a different kind of tourist oriented watercraft (click for larger image). Having just returned from Bermuda, […]
RichC | September 6, 2010
A blogging friend from New Zealand shared a photo that helped me visualize what impact of Saturday’s earthquake had on the island country. He mentioned that some of his neighbors had the walls of their ‘newly constructed’ cement slab homes crumble and that another has “a pool of water 6 inches deep around their house […]
RichC | August 23, 2010
I’m wrapping up a final post from a fantastic family summer vacation. The trip to Bermuda and back has me wondering where the week went? The time was both relaxing and exciting … and especially nice considering the four of us enjoyed it together – I probably should “thank” Brenda for pushing the trip even […]
RichC | August 22, 2010
Being an atoll, Bermuda is surrounded and protected by an outer barrier reef system which would be more appropriately named a “great barrier reef” since it rings the entire chain of islands. The distance to the outer reef varieties from 1 to 9 miles offshore. Today we “sailed” (powered due to light wind) several miles […]
RichC | August 20, 2010
No we’re not the next Tucker family (Teddy Tucker) of Bermuda and even though we were looking at one of the 200+ shipwrecks around the “Devil’s Islands,” we did not find gold. Another day of water sports and fun in the sun, today was spent kayaking over the coral colonies, looking at fish and an […]
RichC | August 19, 2010
Day 2 of our family vacation was spent on a southeast leisurely passage at about 8 knots cruising toward Bermuda from New York City aboard the NCL Dawn. We enjoyed a sunny day at sea relaxing on one of the aft decks … a surprisingly private spot. Although the sun was tropical, the breeze over […]
RichC | August 18, 2010
On Sunday we arrived at NYC and boarded the NCL Dawn for Bermuda. Sprint 3G bandwidth is nearly non-existent with MyTether on the Palm Pre at the docks. 🙁 On the other hand, not much to say about our Delta flight from Cincinnati to NYC and traffic heavy but quick transfer through the city. […]
RichC | August 4, 2010
There are times that a photo doesn’t do the brilliance and vibrant color of the sky justice; Wednesday afternoon was one of those days. While we experienced some overly hot weather that saw the “heat index” rise to 112 degrees (below), the clouds, after a cleansing rain, created a beautiful view.
RichC | August 3, 2010
While driving north and south on I-65 through Indiana the past couple of days I was amazed to see the change in landscape … wind turbines everywhere. We (my daughter) took a few photos while we were driving by and figured I would try posting them on Posterous and see how they display when forwarded […]
RichC | August 1, 2010
My daughter Katelyn and I are checked in at the Marriott in Chicago for her USMLE Step 2 testing on Monday and enjoyed an evening together. We took advantage of the 35 minute pizza baking time for the award winning stuffed pizza at Giordano’s Restaurant inorder to practice a bit more. I’m the acting patient […]
RichC | July 18, 2010
Although the Cincinnati Reds came up short in Sunday’s Ohio Northern University alumni baseball outing against the Colorado Rockies (final 0-1), I enjoyed spending the day at the Great American Ballpark with my my son and my close friend Jeff from ONU dorm days. Jeff Pitts is someone who has been there through thick and […]
RichC | July 18, 2010
It is another hot summer weekend here in Cincinnati as my son and I tackled a few minor automotive maintenance chores on our cars before a planned Sunday baseball game (we are enjoying them this year). Oil and filter changes and basic inspections were the Saturday duties, as was cleaning out the garage. Of course […]
RichC | July 17, 2010
My daughter was home with her little diesel from NEOUCOM for a few days and I took the opportunity to replace her Dunlop Sport A2 tires with a set of Goodyear’s (Eagle LS-2 – $408.00) hoping to get a little more even wear as she’ll be spending more time on the road interviewing for her […]
RichC | July 11, 2010
EAA Chapter 284 hosted Popular Rotorcraft Association Chapter 34 at Red Stewart Airfield (40I) in Waynesville Ohio on Sunday. I was a beautiful and warm day for grilling burgers and hotdogs at our EAA chapter hanger. The turnout was excellent and everyone enjoyed the comradely focused on promoting and enjoying recreational aviation. Besides a close […]
RichC | July 5, 2010
America’s Independence Day marks the day our family (well … me really) puts up a new flag. Usually the old flag makes it about a year, although a few of the cheaper ones have deteriorated much quicker. I’ve pretty much decided that the stitched and embroidered nylon flags hold up the best. The pile of […]
RichC | July 3, 2010
I’m finish up a few backyard chores and am thinking about my daughter coming home for the weekend; she reminded my that her pet “rabbit” would be in tow. In thinking about this, I realized just how many rodents we have breeding in our yard this year. I don’t think we’ve ever had so many […]
RichC | June 27, 2010
Thank you Taylor for taking me to the Great American Ball Park where we baked on a hot summer Sunday afternoon with excellent right field seats. The Ohio Cup is a favorite game of mine, pitting my old American League Cleveland Indians (lived there 13 years) against my hometown team the Cincinnati Reds. It really […]
RichC | June 21, 2010
We are enjoying the changing weather as a thunderstorm rolls through over my lunchtime break here in Cincinnati. Since I’m at the house today, I had a chance to snap a few “first day of summer” photos. It is awe inspiring to see and hear storms arrive from the west and feel the cooling rain […]
RichC | June 13, 2010
We took my son Taylor out to celebrated his 21st birthday at Joe’s Crab Shack on the river in Cincinnati on Saturday, a couple days after his actual birthday (June 10th) – remembering my daughter’s with her friends 3 years ago. 🙂 His friends celebrated with him on “the day” going to Oxford Ohio (Miami […]
RichC | June 12, 2010
I’ve been putting a few more miles on the Honda Pilot than usual, for both work and personal travel, which has me thinking about diesel cars and the soon to expire tax incentives on a few models. It would be nice to have a new Volkswagen Jetta TDI or Sportwagen TDI, but with the slowdown […]
RichC | June 6, 2010
I’ll call this a lazy but productive weekend since I spent most of Saturday working in the yard … or more appropriately on the pool and patio. Most of the heavy pollen from the pine trees seems to have left it mark and looks to be finally finished coating everything for the season, it was […]
RichC | June 4, 2010
While heading home the distant lightning lit night and the sky making for an interesting photo … so stuck the camera out the window for a 2 second exposure just as the bolt brighten the surroundings.
RichC | June 1, 2010
Two of my nephews celebrated milestones in their lives this past weekend … and of course the special events happened 7 hours apart, one in Ohio and the other in New York. My brother’s son graduated from high school and although we missed the Saturday event at Bethel High School, we timed the Sunday afternoon […]
RichC | May 28, 2010
Read an article about the 2010 Ford Fusion winning the honors of being the Edmonds.com Consumers’ Top Rated award (as well as Motortrend Car of the Year) and had to chuckle noticing the dash storage compartment. Perhaps it’s just my lame sense of humor … anyway the items in the dash storage box did make […]
RichC | May 24, 2010
Veterans from Shelby County Ohio at the World War II Memorial Saturday, May 22, 2010 I intended to blog this past weekend (May 21-23) while volunteering with the WWII and Korea veterans honor trip to Washington DC … but my hands were full from dawn until dusk … and then some! That’s not to say […]
RichC | May 20, 2010
As headlines announce that oil is arriving to the shore of Louisiana in headlines of the paper today, the leaking BP drill site continues to gush oil at unknown rates. On the low side, NOAA has estimated 210,000 gallons per day, but after looking at the Enterprise ROV camera video I’m guessing it closer to […]
RichC | May 16, 2010
I enjoyed the day working in the yard and found myself appreciating Brenda’s gardening talents. As the landscaping around our yard continues to mature and the varieties of different flowers bloom one after another all spring, all the hard work to plan, plant and tend is beginning to pay off. Today’s overweight Peony blooms were […]
RichC | May 9, 2010
My wife’s aging 1998 Toyota Rav4 has been a great car for 215,000 miles. We’ve had minimal maintenance over the years and although it is showing signs (and has been) of heavy use, it’s still running strong. The Rav4 has offered both my kids a good platform to “learn to drive” and has seen its […]
RichC | May 5, 2010
The ping.fm app failed to post a photo from my Palm Pre to the blog last night … so I’ll ‘tweak it’ and manually add it today. It could have been my fault, but with so many posting options I’m not sure I’ll spend all that much time using it. It was a beautiful evening.
RichC | April 29, 2010
It has become challenging to fly commercial airlines in recent year, especially since 9/11. Not only has the process of going through most airports become time consuming with all the additional security precautions, but the airlines themselves have made changes which most agree have become irritating to down right miserable for passengers, I’m thinking about […]
RichC | April 25, 2010
A friend forwarded me an email from an airbrush artist who paints murals on the walls of buildings. I’ve seen a few beautiful photos painted on walls before, but John Pugh’s mastery of creating depth and confusing the mind is impressive. Below are a few examples from the email. John Pugh’s – Personal Artist […]
RichC | April 24, 2010
If I saw this rodent hopping in our backyard, I’m sure I would smack myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. Since my daughter has a pet rabbit, Pumpy Umpy, a friend of my wife shared a photo of a giant rabbit called Darius … he’s one big bunny!
RichC | April 20, 2010
It was a pleasant spring evening on the back porch after opening the pool on Monday. We are a bit late this year in getting the cover off and I expected to see some pretty grungy water … but was pleasantly surprised; I think it’s the best it has ever looked after pulling the cover […]
RichC | April 18, 2010
After noticing the color saturation and sharpness in photos coming from my Palm Pre smartphone were not the same as the first photos I took, I realized that just a cursory wipe of the lens wasn’t good enough. So let this post serve as a reminder to clean the lint, oils, dust, etc. out of […]
RichC | April 12, 2010
As a morning routine, I’m a coffee and anti-oxidant grape juice drinking kind of guy, but since we had a few extra oranges left over I’ve been fresh squeezing them for a morning citrus treat. Mmm … sunshine and fresh squeezed OJ … breakfast doesn’t get much better than this! Speaking of ‘the day’ – […]
RichC | April 5, 2010
We had a nice gathering and Easter Dinner at our house with my side of the family on Sunday. A good time of animated talk was enjoyed by all. My dad brought along an album never seen by most of us from his time in Korea during the war — interesting commentary by him from […]
RichC | April 1, 2010
Time Warner notified me that they needed to upgrade the existing cable cards in my Series 3 Tivo box with a multi-stream card AND install another piece of hardware in order to continue receiving their content (some sort of 2-way frequency sharing box or something). After they added some new wires and stacked the odd […]
RichC | March 30, 2010
My sister-in-law Lynda sent a photo and announcement from Minneapolis … a beautiful girl. Congratulations Justin and Keity on the birth of their first child: Madelyn Joy Howard born at 6:14 CST on March 30, 2010, 6 lbs 12 oz. 19.5 inches. Now the real work begins … marriage was the easy part!
RichC | March 28, 2010
I’ve been tinkering in the workshop this afternoon and hopefully my wife will be pleased that I finally finished recovering a couple chairs. They’re not antiques or anything special, but the 1952 classic petite dinning room outfit will look a bit nicer when and if my daughter or son need them for their first home. […]
RichC | March 18, 2010
Check out the great photo of a Russian space craft returning to earth this morning (click for larger). The two returning, one American and one Russian, have spent 5 months at the International space station and used the Soyuz TMA-16 capsule for their return ride; they landed in Kazakhstan as planned and coordinated by Russian […]
RichC | March 12, 2010
Since the weather has been wet and windy here in Florida, we decided to take a road trip north from Delray Beach towards Fort Pierce. Our plan was to putter along and check on a couple sailboats. We opted to drive the A-1-A route along the shore and stopped at several of the pull-offs along […]
RichC | March 10, 2010
Murphy’s Law enacted itself today while I was enjoying continued R & R; a work related issue came up requiring me to access information with my computer. Unfortunately this was information that I didn’t properly back up during my recently Windows 7 reformat and updated notebook computer. I of course have a backup, but it […]
RichC | March 9, 2010
While I do enjoy a routine that includes focusing what’s going on in the world, it’s nice to escape and check out for a few days. After a perfect ‘beach Monday,’ our day Tuesday was cloudy and smattered with sprinkles, although temps were in the 70’s. We spent the morning hiding from the rain, but […]
RichC | March 8, 2010
We’re enjoying a relaxing spring day listening to the wind and waves in the Florida sunshine. It is a welcome change from the 2009 – 2010 winter that seemed to have lasted long enough, at least in our corner of Ohio. Hopefully we will return in a couple days feeling regenerated … I’m sensing my batteries […]
RichC | March 3, 2010
A large rogue wave, actually three “abnormal” waves, hit a Greek cruise ship with 1350 passengers and 580 crew in the Mediterranean north of Barcelona, Spain killing two passengers and injuring fourteen. The Louis Cruise Line ship, Louis Majesty, has 14 decks and is over two football fields long. It hit the three 26 foot […]
RichC | February 27, 2010
The older I get, the less embarrassed I seem to be about publicly posting an old photo or two … or even sharing juvenile nicknames. So for posterity, figured I would archive a couple items … and leave the door open to teasing from my kids. Moi, Charlie (Kamakaze), Rob (Oxford) and Greg (Wheels) in […]