Lightning made for a beautiful 11PM photo

| 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.

A busy wedding and graduation party weekend

| 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 […]

Chuckling at the Ford Fusion hybrid dash ‘Photoshopped’ photo

| 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 […]

Trip to Washington with Shelby Co Ohio WW2 & Korea Veterans

| 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 […]

Seeing oil leaking in to the Gulf of Mexico is sickening

| 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 […]

Appreciating the flowers that beautify our home

| 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 […]

Maintenance weekend on 1998 Toyota Rav4 and Taylor’s rant

| 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 […]

Sunsets in Ohio have been beautiful this Spring

| 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.

Less inclusive airline travel and fees for additional services

| 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 […]

Mural art taken to the extreme by artist John Pugh

| 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 […]

Four foot-three inches is one big bunny

| 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!

Time to open the pool and enjoy a fire on the back porch

| 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 […]

A reminder to clean the camera lens on your phone

| 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 […]

Fresh squeezed OJ – the best way to start a tax preparation day

| 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’ – […]

Busy Easter Sunday with family

| 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 […]

Time Warner cable upgrade and associated rat’s nest

| 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 […]

My nephew and is wife had a girl

| 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!

Enjoying a home project on Palm Sunday afternoon

| 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. […]

Soyuz space capsule bring two from ISS safely back to earth

| 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 […]

The weather just won’t cooperate so we took a roadtrip

| 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 […]

Murphy’s Law and Sprint Palm Pre tethering to NAS

| 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 […]

Escaping paying attention to real life for a few more days

| 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 […]

Great day to be at the beach

| 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 […]

Rogue waves kills 2 and injures 14 on a cruise ship in Med

| 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 […]

Archiving: Nicknames, the Fearsome Foursome and the Fiberpile

| 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 […]

Snow beautified picturesque Glendale Cemetery in Akron Ohio

| February 20, 2010

While traveling to NE Ohio this week, and waiting to meet with my daughter for lunch in Akron Ohio, I drove through the gates of snow crusted Glendale Cemetery founded as Akron Rural Cemetery in 1839.  While steering through the snow-covered drives in serene park-like setting, I took the opportunity to capture the snow surrounding […]

Cleaning out my closet, although I should do it again

| February 19, 2010

In a belated personal post, after reviewing a few photos from earlier in the week on my Palm Pre, I’m archiving a post of what was part of my Valentine’s Day gift to my wife. She has been threatening reminding me for the better part of a year to clean out my half of the […]

Stretching the focal length of the Palm Pre camera

| February 17, 2010

Palm Pre and Pixi webOS users have been patiently waiting for the soon to be released 1.4 software  OS update for their smartphones (it was expected Monday).  While waiting, I spent a few minutes fidgeting with the camera on my cellphone, wondering if there will be any tweaks beyond video. Rumor has it that we’ll […]

Slow work week due to snow although the economy doesn’t help

| February 10, 2010

I’m ‘enjoying’ (sort of) staying in town this week since most of Ohio has been receiving a good dose of snow. I’ve been out shoveling the walk (Palm Pre photo left – click for larger) and snowblowing the driveway more than once already – and no doubt will do it again before the last few […]

Continued Liberty Twp Ohio Coyote problems

| January 16, 2010

I received a phone call from my neighbor a few minutes ago concerning a wounded and limping coyote on her back porch (previous post). By the time I retrieved my voicemail it was too late to do anything as the county sheriff arrived and the critter headed off into the ravine. A brief search with […]

Fog continues to hang around

| January 16, 2010

I would have thought that the unusual mid-winter fog would have disappeared by 10:30 in the morning … I guess not? (test post ‘again’ using Palm Pre to richc.myarchive.us)

Porcupine vs. Pit bull … the photos tell it all

| January 15, 2010

A friend sent me this knowing how our dog reacts to ‘critters’ in the yard. A pit bull was in his backyard in southern California, minding his own business, when a porcupine invades his territory. The brave, but stupid pit bull immediately challenges the porcupine! Bad decision…the porcupine won this short contest. Follow up: A […]

Cold but beautiful sunny day in Ohio

| January 13, 2010

Playing with the Palm Pre and Posterous.com while posting the sun and ice covered trees in central Ohio. Posted via email from richc’s posterous

EAA284 meeting: Brian Cooper talking aerobatic aircraft design

| January 11, 2010

Who doesn’t enjoy a Palm Pre cellphone sunset photo? I’ll start with something simple that sooths my aching head … a beautiful winter sunset in Cincinnati Ohio (photo above) … and conclude with a very short comment regarding our Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter (EAA284) meeting on Sunday – one that had a subject over my […]

Moving back to school and a disappointing end for the Bengals

| January 10, 2010

No comment is necessary after watching the Cincinnati Bengals once again disappoint their fans in a tough post season loss to the New York Jets. About the only thing to say is that the better team won … at least on this particular Saturday evening. As for more positive thoughts, Brenda and I enjoyed moving […]

Winter weather has just arrived, but I’m ready for spring

| January 9, 2010

It is good to be in a warm home after a challenging week. The weather has been less than perfect for driving and most of Ohio has received a little snow. Click image for larger In our house, the family Christmas cheer has given way to winter doldrums; one of my two children is back […]

Spending the day with Mom and Dad

| January 3, 2010

Mom and Dad 01/02/10 — Palm Pre We’ve had a couple of nice family gatherings over Christmas and New Years this holiday season, so why not include two of the most important people in my life … Mom and Dad. It was a great to be together with them and enjoying time reminiscing — I […]

Spotted a Cruising World issue on season 3 NCIS episode

| December 31, 2009

I’ve mentioned my favorite sailing magazine (Cruising World) before on my blog, but a fraction of a second appearance of a December 2003 issue in one of my favorite CBS television programs, NCIS, made my night.   We’ve been working our way through the television series when during the ‘Untouchable’ episode in Season 3 of […]

Merry Christmas wishes from me to you — 2009

| December 18, 2009

The house is now decorated, the kids home (or almost home) from college, snow is in the forecast and Christmas is a mere week away. As we reflect on the scrabble to get everything right for the celebration this season, let’s not get so overly wrapped up in the preparation that we lose sight of […]

Interesting Tailgate Art in Ohio

| December 17, 2009

As another test post, I wanted to test the “to posterous” email posting – since deleted with the close of Posterous.com.

More Photosynth fun while visiting my daughter

| December 16, 2009

While traveling to northeastern Ohio this week I had a bit more fun playing with Photosynth (see previous post). This time I used my daughter’s apartment as a subject before taking her out for our father-daughter dinner — the highlight of my week. Unfortunately lighting and not spending too much time to take the series […]

Posterous to blog Palm Pre test

| December 16, 2009

While stopping for lunch and killing time before my next appointment, I wanted to test the Posterous to blog set-up using my Palm Pre. Included in this post is a photo from a page of the Wall Street Journal Personal section and an article on ‘The Surge in Electric Cars’ — I will try to […]

First take: Experimenting with Photosynth.net

| December 15, 2009

I tried my first “synth” with Microsoft’s online computer-generated panorama photo application called Photosynth.net. The app automatically stitches a series of photos together in a semi-panoramic combination and creates an image called a “synth.” From a users perspective, the process is fairly easy and takes less than an hour; all that is required is to […]

Gotta love landing a helicopter in your backyard

| November 22, 2009

Relatively new EFE Gazebo – replaced after Hurricane Ike in 2008 While enjoying a calm and warm November afternoon, I visited with my neighbors and envied watching the helicopter land and takeoff in their backyard. He mentioned (and chuckled) that since he saw the life-flight land and take off a few days ago that it […]

American Civil War era copies of the Philadelphia Inquirer

| November 13, 2009

I enjoyed lunch with a good friend of mine that just returned from the laborious task of going through his mother’s estate. He kept a few antique furniture items and uncomfortably stuffed them in his apartment while trying to figure out just what to do with the balance.  While we were standing by our cars, […]

The Hoover Dam bypass is a civil engineering marvel

| November 11, 2009

In a recent forwarded email there were a few excellent “under construction” photos of the bridge being build to bypass the Hoover Dam on U.S. Rt 93. The $160 million dollar project is 900 feet above the Colorado River and will more efficiently links the states of Nevada and Arizona. The two massive concrete arches […]

A teen car accident is one of a parent’s worse nightmares

| November 8, 2009

As I watched the paramedics and emergency workers waiting for the life-flight helicopter and cutting apart the car that a young man was driving on Bethany Road behind our house on Sunday morning, I couldn’t help but feel for the boys’ parents who stood looking on helplessly. From preliminary reports, he was heading home from […]

Living with a large coyote or coywolf in the neighborhood

| October 30, 2009

My apology for the lousy Palm Pre ‘enlarged’ photo of a large coyote who has been roaming our Liberty Township Ohio neighborhood.  It has been a source of concern for neighbors and pet owners  that we’ve had a few more coyotes than normal … and that this particular large male has decided to make his […]

Our burning bushes are on fire

| October 26, 2009

Color has indeed made it to the trees and leaves here in southwestern Ohio. The autumn sunshine and second Indian Summer has really brought out some spectacular color. I should be clicking away with my Canon Digital SLR, but a Palm Pre photo of the burning bush will have to suffice. Did you know: The […]

Another Blackberry accessory for my Palm Pre

| October 10, 2009

In a previous post I mentioned that the Blackberry slipcase protected the Palm Pre nicely when used as a pocket case. It has worked very well, well enough that I’ve given up on the screen protectors. Unfortunately the good eating on a cruise this summer has added a few ‘too many’ pounds and I’ve been […]

Planted a nice variety of native Ohio trees

| October 4, 2009

We are continuing to plant trees of variety in hopes one day a mature woods will be part of our way-backyard. Thankfully I have a brother who is particularly astute as to varieties that grow in our area and enjoys a hobby business of growing trees from seedling — his current catalog. His love of […]

Ohio State over Illinois 30-0, but Palm Centro loses to the rain

| September 27, 2009

The second part of the this post’s subject line makes very little sense unless you’ve been paying attention to the weather in much of Ohio in recent days. We’ve had so much dampness and rain that we might as well be living in Seattle … evidence by my daughter’s cellphone at the OSU/Illinois game on […]

A moist dewy morning yields a few photographs

| September 26, 2009

After a few days of autumn rain, the yard was heavy with moisture and air was think with a hazy fog this Saturday morning. I headed out to pick up the paper and decided to take the camera along. Fifteen minutes later I had a few photos (click any photo for larger images). Since we […]

Red Stewart Airshow & EAA Chapter 284 Tail Dragger Fly In

| September 7, 2009

The weekend was busy as usual with the annual Red Stewart Airshow and my Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter’s (EAA284) Tail Dragger Fly In and Pancake breakfast. Set up was smooth on Saturday afternoon and most of us enjoy relaxing for the evening on the field as the temperature cooled and the airshow started. I can […]

Balloon photo shoot above my house

| September 5, 2009

An interesting balloon photo shoot was happening for about 30 minutes above my house as the still air of the evening settled in. I spent a few hours in the yard into the evening and watched the full moon rising in the woods. The weather and evenings have been nice.

Evening clouds photo using Palm Pre camera

| August 22, 2009

While buzzing around Liberty Township, the evening sky was pretty dramatic so I poke my Palm Pre phone out the window on Butler-Warren County road and included it. (Panoramio Location)

Archives: A trip 2005 trip to Calgary with my son

| August 1, 2009

While updating my blog for yet another day from our recent vacation, I noticed that backdating vacation posts was more the norm than an exception. I glanced at the “Years ago on this date” right sidebar and re-enjoyed my blog archive about summer of 2005 trip to Calgary, Alberta, which was posted in August after […]

Finally … Vacation to Europe blog archive finished

| July 31, 2009

Whew! I’m finally up to date with our European vacation archive … and a bunch of photos didn’t make it into my14 days of blog posts. Oh well,  there are plenty to enjoy … except just this one loner photo and it will get its own post. It’s my daughter’s 23 year old “Big Bear” […]

Arrived safely home and looking at a busy Monday

| July 26, 2009

The final flight crosses the Ohio River and lands at CVG We arrived home safely after a long day of traveling. Up at 4:45 AM in Southampton UK (5 hrs ahead of home EST) and grabbed a quick breakfast on the NCL Jade before ‘debarking’ and recovering our luggage. The trip to London Heathrow was […]

Final night of vacation, but the time away felt about right

| July 25, 2009

Passing close enough to a container ship in the Atlantic to read containers The blog is missing a few days in posting due to a shortage of Internet minutes while on the cruise ship ($$$) and although there have been a few connections (very few public ‘free’) along the voyage, I’ve spent more time enjoying […]

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