RichC | July 24, 2009
It seems like a long time ago, but as I write this post it has only been about a week since we were in Spain. Our last port of call was the city of Vigo, Spain. The west coast city and metro area is home to a half a million people with historic Kingdom of […]
RichC | July 23, 2009
Lisboa or Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and the wealthiest of the country. It has remained the capital city since its conquest from the Moors in 1147. The architectural style is a combination of old and new, European and Middle Eastern … especially in historic areas and in the Sintra region – both a […]
RichC | July 22, 2009
We spent day eleven visiting the Rock of Gibraltar and I particularly liked learning about the history of this fortress. The huge fortified hunk of rock guarding the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean has seen it share of conquest and struggle. Over the years, a series of 32 kilometers of tunnels […]
RichC | July 21, 2009
Today, we mark our return sail back toward the west steaming east in the Mediterranean on this near perfect day. The sky is blue, the water bluer and there is just enough breeze for a lone sailboat to make way well out in the clear horizon (digitally enlarged 300mm telephoto above). It’s now day 10 […]
RichC | July 20, 2009
We debarked in Chivitavecchia, Italy on Monday and headed by bus to the ancient city of Rome (Roma) and a visit to the Vatican. The thoughts that I had prior to visiting Rome were of just another old and somewhat dirty city, but the impression I left with was one of awe … and a […]
RichC | July 19, 2009
What a wonderful day in Italy! We enjoyed a near perfect day in the Tuscany region of Italy heading from the port city of Livorno to Pisa in order to visit the famed Leaning Tower of Pisa, cathedral and baptistery. The crowds were relatively heavy, but flowed easily in and out of the key stops […]
RichC | July 18, 2009
It is hard to believe that I can actually lose track of time while less than a week into a vacation, but knowing I’m posting a day or two behind has me looking at the calendar for perspective. We are having a great time and enjoying our vacation … both the rest and relaxation of […]
RichC | July 18, 2009
After our day in Barcelona, we sailed for Cannes in France. The evening started to get interesting when deck chairs began flying off the deck and doors were quickly battened down. Most passengers realized that we were rolling a bit more than usual, but the seas were not all that much larger than we have […]
RichC | July 17, 2009
As usual, I’m behind in jotting down a few notes in which to archive our trip and thoughts after a couple of days in Spain. We toured the old part of the city of Barcelona (only wide enough streets to walk) and thankfully had our English speaking guide in which to mention several relevant spots […]
RichC | July 16, 2009
After a long day in Malaga, Spain we set sail at 6PM on Wednesday evening. We were all tired out from our day and turned in with a movie on our cabin (Benjamin Button) after a celebration Japanese dinner. Celebration since the scores for my daughter’s Step One medical boards were passing (taken after year […]
RichC | June 28, 2009
Spent the weekend outside and probably got too much sun, but it was a beautiful weekend here in Cincinnati and didn’t want to be inside. I continued the reforestation project (just kidding) and added another row of Colorado Blue Spruce trees to our backyard (Palm Pre photo above – click photo for larger). Spending time […]
RichC | June 20, 2009
Belated post. It’s an interesting photo included for my Audubon ‘birding’ friends. Yes it is a tweaked photo. 😆 I’m dating it as a Saturday entry which I missed this week.
RichC | June 17, 2009
This was suppose to have posted from the Palm Pre to my blog … obviously my test and photo didn’t post. (I’ll have to look into it) Anyway … after a long rain delay early in the game, the Red were able to finish on top with solid pitching and hitting fromLaynce Nix. See Story
RichC | June 15, 2009
While I’m in the “picture taking” mode, here are a couple spider webs taken while leaving the house this morning. The fog was heavy through the night after the thunderstorms on Sunday afternoon. Click photos for larger versions or here for largerst. Photo with Canon XTi & Tamron AF17-50mm.
RichC | June 11, 2009
Yesterday was a busy day of business calls and traveling so I missed the chance to blog about my son’s birthday. Nevertheless, I’ll include a Palm Pre photo from my son’s birthday dinner — Happy Birthday Taylor. The evening was nice as we enjoyed watching the Benihana chef cook the food in front of us […]
RichC | May 28, 2009
A rainbow was a welcome sight on the way to the hotel Wednesday night as the T-storms rubbled through northeast Ohio. The rain was heavy and traffic slow as I inched my way through Akron on I-76.
RichC | May 22, 2009
I was able to get some of the vegetable garden planted this past week and fenced in order to protect the tender plants from the ravenous bunnies we have around our house. One would think that Tootsie, our Australian Blue Heeler could defend the property, but the rabbits seem to populate despite her efforts to […]
RichC | May 21, 2009
Next best thing to waking up next to my beautiful wife … 😆 … is waking up to a beautiful sunrise. Today’s sunrise over Akron, Ohio was no exception and I did my best to capture it out my hotel room window on my ‘long in the tooth’ Palm Treo 700p smartphone (the Palm Pre […]
RichC | May 21, 2009
I’m taking advantage of the ‘hopefully’ short window between my son’s return from college and summer employment. I’ve put him to work edging a few landscape mounds and spreading our mulch. Hmm … what else needs to be done? 😀 Oh … and although he doesn’t read this … Happy Birthday to my brother Ron.
RichC | May 7, 2009
While out of town this week at one of my regular hotels, I noticed a speedy brown spider about the size of a nickel in my room at night, perhaps the Brown Recluse –Loxosceles reclusa (photo right). I tried to catch him, but he was evasive and when behind one of the screwed down pictures […]
RichC | May 6, 2009
I know that I’ve posted one too many photos of the gazebo progress, but one more picture taken while the sun sets won’t hurt. This one was taken on Tuesday night just after the construction workers installed the railings and before the rain came today, Wednesday 5/6/2009. I’ll also use this to mention that I’ve […]
RichC | May 4, 2009
I’ve noticed that the neighborhood gazebo project is coming along nicely while checking in with the live ustream.tv feed over lunch. We now have the cupola and the railings are starting to appear. (and the water level in the lake is rising too!)
RichC | May 3, 2009
My wife has dubbed the morning gathering of male only Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos), “the men’s club,” as at least six males gather in front of our house. They don’t seem to be doing anything more than “hanging out” on the lawn only a few feet from the front door — I suspect the females […]
RichC | April 26, 2009
The weather being as nice as it has been this weekend had me toting around my camera. One of the items showing change as been the gazebo which is now sporting a new roof. The progress has been slow (in my opinion), but I’m glad to see it coming along. Strong 70+ mph winds do […]
RichC | April 24, 2009
While checking on our neighborhood gazebo project live webcam, I ran across a neat time lapse video by by Eirik Solheim — One year in 40 seconds. He has another one that covers a year in 2 minutes in his backyard in Norway, which I enjoyed as well. His 2009 should be of even higher […]
RichC | April 16, 2009
Quick post while stopping to check my email and drink a cup of coffee. While spending the day on the road and traveling today, I thought I would post a couple photos from the beautiful sunrise while driving east in rural Ohio this Thursday morning.
RichC | April 9, 2009
Finally … we are moving ahead with the repairs/replacement of our homeowner association’s damaged gazebo. The lake was pumped down yesterday and the contractor is hoping for a few rain-less days in order to get the piling in place so construction can start. The original gazebo stood for 15 years and was blown over by […]
RichC | February 25, 2009
RichC | February 19, 2009
Posting a Palm Treo 700p photo from the road … heading south from Cleveland on I-71 Thursday afternoon. Enough is enough with winter and snow; I’m ready for spring. Here’s a morning photos after the “lake effect” snows blanketed NE Ohio.
RichC | February 16, 2009
Looks like I’ll need to do a bit more clean up sometime this week as the wind has knocked down one of our dying pine trees. I can’t say that I don’t expect to loose a few more, but its always depressing to loose a little more property line privacy.
RichC | February 5, 2009
Sunset on I-71 between Cleveland and Columbus (click for larger)
RichC | February 3, 2009
Here’s hoping that everyone who lives in my neck of the woods, from Dayton to Cincinnati Ohio, made it home safely? The roadways on Tuesday afternoon were about as slick as they can get without being sheets of ice. That was evident by the very slow going and significant number of vehicle either in the […]
RichC | January 28, 2009
A winter storm has moved through the Ohio Valley Tuesday January 27th and left several inches of snow followed by ice and sleeting rain. By evening there was a substantial glaze on top of the snow making for a bright and reflective photo (click for larger). While out driving during the afternoon the roadways were […]
RichC | January 27, 2009
I’m following up my post about Scanr.com yesterday, both because I received an email from their customer service (posted it as a comment to yesterday’s post) and because I received a Twitter message suggesting that I check out Jotnot.com. I appreciated the email explaining that Scanr made changes on January 7th to their services and […]
RichC | January 14, 2009
My company’s original office in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio – Photo Jan. 14, 2009 I’m well season in driving to from one corner of Ohio to the other, but today was one of the more uptight trips I’ve made. In fact, I even checked into the Radisson at 4PM since I no longer wanted to stomp […]
RichC | January 4, 2009
One of the interesting Christmas gifts this year was a new SD memory card to use in my Canon EOS Rebel XSi — a 4GB Anniversary edition Eye-Fi card. What makes this SD card unique is that it has built in WiFi. The card operates just like a 4GB memory card but utilized the camera’s […]
RichC | December 28, 2008
Once again my Treo smart phone ’email to blog’ didn’t post correctly while visiting family in New York state. A couple posts were missed, but I’ll quickly upload at least this one family photo for posterity sake. It is from the Howard Bowl 2008 and shows the well trampled field (my father-in-laws lawn) after our […]
RichC | October 31, 2008
While traveling in the northern part of Ohio this week I snapped a photo of some leftover October snow. It seems a bit early to be seeing the white stuff in my part of the world, but significantly better than having to drive through it. Actually the weather was crisp and clear … clear enough […]
RichC | October 17, 2008
Although the polls and news are not positive for McCain/Palin in many parts of the country, in the area north of Cincinnati Ohio, they are a very popular pair. So when Gov. Sarah Palin stopped in West Chester Ohio across from the local Lakota West High School, she had a great crowd — about 15,000. […]
RichC | October 15, 2008
Long term investors and all who are saving for college or retirement through stocks or mutual funds are suffering yet again as the financial markets continue to slide. After a huge move up Monday, the trading on Wall Street headed down again, this time on gloomy economic warning from the U.S. Federal Reserve. After a […]
RichC | October 10, 2008
After reflecting on the doom and gloom of our economy and state of most investors, I thought I would go back a few days to a nice autumn weekend in western New York. We enjoyed pleasant weather and time with my mother and father-in-law at Letchworth State Park. If you’re looking for a great weekend […]
RichC | October 9, 2008
Dow 8,579.19 -678.91 (-7.33%) | Nasdaq 1,645.12 -95.21 (-5.47%) | S&P 500 909.92 -75.02 (-7.62%) No buyers on Wall Street — the collapse continues to drive stock prices lower and cut even deeper into ordinary Joe and Jane’s retirement and college savings. Not only has today’s drop put the DJIA to extremely low levels, it […]
RichC | October 7, 2008
I headed home to check on the arrival of the shingles for the south side of my roof in order to repair the damage left by Hurricane Ike … yes I’m in Ohio. 😀
RichC | August 26, 2008
I’ve used this photo for the last couple years but knew it was from a birthday celebration at my parents house in August of 2008 … so since I’ve updated the “ABOUT” page on 6/2011, I’m archiving the older photo in the year it was taken. I still like it …
RichC | August 20, 2008
My son had an end of summer cookout and bonfire (sorry for the lack of focus above) this week for he and his good friends head off to college this fall; most will be parting ways and heading in different directions. As a parent, its been great to know my sons core group of friends, […]
RichC | June 30, 2008
Too lazy to post from in the house tonight as the cool quiet evening out on the backporch is far more desirable. I did get a second primer coat of paint o new repair, but that was about the extent of the evening. It has been an exceeding nice couple of days temperature wise for […]
RichC | June 16, 2008
Enjoying some R & R and a semi 19th birthday trip with Taylor … although any downtime is spent by my son Taylor in getting comfortable with his new notebook Macintosh computer. One would think it would be easy to pull him from the computer to go to the beach, but pretty focused on updating […]
RichC | June 1, 2008
It has been a busy few days getting ready for a well attended open house, family for the weekend and my son’s high school graduation ceremonies. (baccalaureate and graduation) The good weather held and everything went very well, thanks to my wife’s planning … and we even have some left over food! Since I’m traveling […]
RichC | May 11, 2008
This might seem odd, but a new Royal Star Magnolia (Stellata Magnolia) is a gift that made my wife happy on Mother’s Day — photo and post from Palm Treo. (EDIT: tweaked post Sunday afternoon) Happy Mother’s Day Brenda … and to all mothers reading this. (in fact I think I’ll give ‘my’ mother a […]
RichC | May 4, 2008
Its been a busy weekend as my son Taylor’s Lakota East High School prom was Saturday night at the Cincinnati Convention Center, followed by early morning after prom back at the high school. (I’m tired and I didn’t even chaperon!) During an early morning conversation with the gang, who departed from our house by a […]
RichC | April 28, 2008
My back is sore and my muscles ach as this past weekend was spent working in the yard … well really in just part of the yard. I’ve been reworking the landscaping as the ‘new porch’ is slowly coming together — this past weekend was the small pond and opening up the pool. (too many […]
RichC | March 27, 2008
This is an older photo that was published in African Geographic in December 2006, but I saw it framed on an office wall and thought it was pretty cool. Can you imagine Kayaking and being tailed by an interested Great White Shark? (by the way … its real — click photo for larger scan or […]
RichC | December 22, 2007
Our backporch project is S-L-O-W-L-Y progressing; about the only thing slower is the airplane project! 😀 The slightly warmer weather this week permitted our contractor a window to pour and stamp concrete although we are in for a change come tonight. Nevertheless, I’m glad to at least get the concrete poured! Click photos for larger […]
RichC | December 14, 2007
I’ve spend the last several years on and ‘more’ off building parts for my ‘scratch’ built Sonex experimental airplane. (note masthead) Recently a retired friend is lending a hand and is encouraging me to move a bit more aggressively on my project. (thanks John) His experience has been really appreciated, as has the influx of […]
RichC | November 30, 2007
It is sort of a tradition in our family to add a few odds and ends to the Christmas tree — this year we’ll add some ‘cotton’ I picked up on my way back through Alabama on this past week’s trip. I’ll also include two quick photos as I spent a morning in Destin and […]
RichC | November 17, 2007
The stone masons (stone artists) continue to make slow progress on our new back porch fireplace. I’m finally giving up on having an evening fire before winter.
RichC | November 4, 2007
Our back porch project continues to slowly progress as the fireplace begins to take shape. I’m hoping the stone masons will show up this week and that the weather continues to remain dry.
RichC | October 30, 2007
(New Palm Centro smartphone photo test – click photo for larger) The weather is starting to turn a bit nippy and our back porch project is still without an outdoor fireplace, not that you’ll catch me sitting out there at 32 degrees. (temperature this morning) According to the the builders, waiting on the stone masons […]
RichC | October 12, 2007
The framing crew has been moving along quickly as the back porch project starts to take shape. Like most building projects, framing is an exciting part as one get a feel for the size and feel of the space. I’m looking forward to getting the stone in place and the artist/stone layer working on the […]
RichC | October 6, 2007
I didn’t get a chance to post a comment, but my son has a great group of high school friends. A bunch of them got together for photos on Saturday before they senior year Homecoming dance. Have such great kids sure makes being parents of teens less stressful; we are very fortunate. Thinking back, I […]