Irresistible! “Hi Bompa … I see you” from my granddaughter

| January 19, 2019

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BMW water injection and how it works to make +50 hp

| January 17, 2019

One of my favorite YouTube channels is Engineering Explained and in this video car guru and mechanical engineer Jason Fenske explains just how BMW used water injection to increase power at full throttle and high manifold pressures. Great stuff. And if this kind of "automotive engineering stuff" interests you and you like aviation like me, […]

Music Monday: And for something totally different from Annalyn

| January 14, 2019

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Learning about the Packard Twelve leaves me curious #TBT

| January 10, 2019

While reading a few interesting older blog posts at Consumer Guide, my Twitter friend Tom Appel (@Car_Guy_Tom) post got me thinking about the strange company that seemed to be trying to revitalize the Packard car brand. The company built a prototype some years ago and by attending a few shows, generated some attention with the […]

Our Annalyn is amazing, altho I’m not surprised #video

| January 3, 2019

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You too can restore a cast iron skillet like Jon Peters

| December 27, 2018

When Brenda and I were first married, we started off cooking with a cast iron skillet. It was “old school” even 36 years ago to be using our old Wagner cast iron (were made in Sidney, Ohio), but there was something great about using those big heavy “somewhat” greasy skillets in our little two bedroom […]

Christmas Morning 2018 Time-lapse

| December 25, 2018

Every tech-loving guy needs a subject for a new gizmo … my son-in-law Drew is no exception. He set up his new GoPro-like camera (gift from Katelyn) to time-lapse our Christmas morning. His effort was a little bit too fast for me to watch … so I stretched out the MP4 clip to last almost […]

Music Monday: Merry Christmas from the Family

| December 17, 2018

How about a classic … Merry Christmas from the Family … first recorded by the “alternative country music” artist Robert Earl Keene in 1994 (below is a live version from 2006 still on YouTube). It still makes me smile even if in today’s world it is probably not PC … nor was it appropriate to […]

Music Monday: Jam In The Van a few years ago with Nicki Bluhm

| November 19, 2018

Music Monday posts are usually a reflection of what I’m listening to at the moment; this week it is not. The older music video below was trigger after seeing Nicki Bluhm‘s name on a concert listing when Brenda and I were at the Taft Theater in Cincinnati. I’ve mention Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers several […]

Sidetracked into playing with my Stirling Engine model

| November 17, 2018

Last week while clearing off our bookshelves I came across a ticket to The Music Man from 18 years ago when my nephew Ben played the lead in his high school musical. It occurred to me that his birthday was this month and that I should post it to his Facebook page while sending him […]

Heavy ice in the morning and snow tonight …

| November 15, 2018

Winter is here as the ice came in the morning bringing down branches and knocking out power all around Cincinnati … and just when I thought it was over, the Dark Sky app indicates the heavy snow is beginning in Liberty Township. Ugh! (I’m also playing a little bit with the slow-motion settings on the […]

Music Monday: A Rumours of Fleetwood Mac recap

| November 12, 2018

After posting on last weekend Rumours of Fleetwood Mac concert on Friday night for Saturday’s post, I realized the music related post would have made a great Music Monday post. Since part of being a VIP attendee was a bunch of swag including a promo video, so below a little bit of what the concert […]

If you enjoy music, Rumours of Fleetwood Mac is a great concert

| November 10, 2018

It has been 41 years since Fleetwood Mac released their ginormous selling album called Rumours which was a must have by college students like me in the late 1970s (45 million copies of Rumours has been sold). Brenda and I attended a Rumours of Fleetwood Mac concert marking the 40 years milestone this past week […]

A lesson in effort, persistence and perseverance #video

| November 6, 2018

“IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED, TRY, TRY AGAIN” Don’t give up too easily; persistence pays off in the end. The proverb has been traced back to ‘Teacher’s Manual’ by American educator Thomas H. Palmer and ‘The Children of the New Forest’ by English novelist Frederick Maryat (1792-1848). Originally a maxim used to encourage American […]

Autumn chores and dinner for our Red Tailed Hawk

| November 5, 2018

It seems later in the season that usual to be just starting to rake leaves and get in a final mow before winter, but the weather was dry after a long stretch of rain, so chores for me it was. My back is now sore and contemplating taking an Advil as the muscle tighten. There […]

Music Monday: Getting in the mood for a Fleetwood Mac concert

| October 29, 2018

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Enjoyed a great week in Florida with Katelyn, Drew and Annalyn

| October 27, 2018

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Fuel prices higher this year and Hurricane Michael nears

| October 10, 2018

EDIT: Updated 14:00-14:30 ET – Landfall Mexico Beach, FL with maximum sustained winds clocked at 145 mph Previous 11:28 a.m. ET update Hurricane Michael has been upgraded to a “potentially catastrophic” Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, the National Hurricane Center says. Data collected by NOAA and U.S. Air Force Hurricane […]

What kind of rodent and varmint traps do you prefer?

| October 7, 2018

Each year about this time, rodents and varmints are looking at our garage and house as a place to call home when the weather cools. So I’m usually trying to stay ahead of them by sealing up and keeping the garage doors closed more often (challenging when the weather is so nice). The bigger varmints […]

Annalyn visiting with her Oma and Bompa – part two

| September 30, 2018

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Happily busy with our granddaughter Annalyn these past few days

| September 29, 2018

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The Perfect Wave to make a mental escape

| September 19, 2018

Just escaping for a moment in my mind and eyes … Beautiful Ocean The Perfect Wave #Surfing #Surf #Travel #TuesdayThoughts #Australia pic.twitter.com/W0mhqB44p6 — Tom Hall ☘ (@TomHall) September 18, 2018

Occasionally an exchange on Twitter can surprise people

| September 9, 2018

Social networks like Twitter"can" be interesting places for people who have opposing views to debate and exchange views … or they can be just a bunch of haters. BUT … because I participate in the former, I do enjoy the back and forth with people who have good or better thoughts than me … or […]

Obit: Actor, director and “Bandit” Burt Reynolds dead at 82

| September 7, 2018

Of course my reference by including "The Bandit" in a tribute post to the passing of Burt Reynolds has a lot to do with how I remember him; he died after a heart attack on Thursday 9/6/2018 at age 82. The highpoint for me in remembering him was the making of the Smokey and the […]

Music Monday with The Band from 1969 – Happy Labor Day!

| September 3, 2018

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Do you understand what PBM’s in health care are?

| August 25, 2018

Here’s a great explanation of the history and current role of Pharmacy Benefit, Managers (PBMs) as it relates to health care, drug cost and insurance plans. LINK to Marketplace story

Music Monday Obit: Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul

| August 20, 2018

Last week we lost the singer and pianist Aretha Franklin at age 76 who’s trailblazing career began in the turbulent 1960s when America was being torn apart (sounds eerily familiar). I was in grade school when her R and B records were popping on the charts and being played on AM radio; I didn’t really […]

Any recommendations for video interviewing?

| August 19, 2018

In preparation for an upcoming work related project, I need to record a video for a client’s website and include both their voice and that of someone asking questions. I was hoping to keep it as professional as possible and will be using my Lumix GX8 DSLR.f I am using my external Rode shotgun microphone […]

We all surprised Brenda to celebrate her 60th birthday

| August 13, 2018

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Distracted driving and a step closer to finishing the condo update

| August 11, 2018

Likely I’m not the best driver when it comes to not glancing at my phone in the car, but I am improving and in recent years am trying not to "read" or "text anything." Unfortunately we still have drivers who are "comfortable" (leg up???) with multi-tasking while driving. Ugh. I spent a few more days […]

It would be nice if ElioMotors communicated like Magfast

| August 2, 2018

I have, and do, support a few crowd funded projects — I’ve placied preorders taking on risk and see it as taking a small scale venture capital risk (without much reward). A couple bigger investments have been Elio and MagFast. The latter posts weekly, and relatively personal updates via YouTube video, on how the process […]

Music Monday: “Angel Of The Morning” – Interesting Tidbits

| July 30, 2018

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Music Monday: Sunshine (go away today) by Jonathan Edwards

| July 23, 2018

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Music Monday: Dancing Queen by ABBA from 1976

| July 16, 2018

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Stretched out another weekend to work on the condo kitchen

| July 5, 2018

Well finishing the kitchen upgrade at the condo was my goal, but since Brenda was with me, more than the condo kitchen was worked on! The guest bathroom’s minor vanity update grew into a MUCH larger project. One thing lead to another and before I knew it, my wife had me doing more tile than […]

Music Monday: The song “I Can Only Imagine” and recent movie

| July 2, 2018

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Tech Friday: What is going to be new in Apple iOS12

| June 22, 2018

It has been a while since posting on “what’s new” with Apple. As we approach the convergence of mobile operation systems and desktop, the maturing lightweight phone OS on all platforms is growing in power, size and use. The writing is on the wall. Microsoft has announced Windows 10 will be the last Windows operating […]

A great Father’s Day weekend at our house

| June 17, 2018

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Treaty makes prosecution possible for the downing of #MH17

| June 12, 2018

Archiving a video segment (Dutch but Jerry’s comments are in English) from my brother-in-law Jerry Skinner talking about Malaysia Airlines MH17 and Russia (previous posts). The case is still moving forward and Tuesday the Dutch MPs approve Ukraine treaty on MH17 trial. The “treaty sets in stone that the prosecution of suspects will take place […]

Weekend chores rewarded with granddaughter fun at the zoo

| June 11, 2018

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Happy Birthday Taylor – What a difference 4 years can make

| June 10, 2018

It is hard to believe that my son Taylor is 29 years old today!?!?!? It doesn’t seem possible that he has been pretty much living on his own now for third of his life? He has certainly made us proud at the way he has grown up and handled a difficult decade that faced him […]

Music Monday: David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney

| May 14, 2018

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Spoiling our granddaughter by taking her to The Cone!

| May 12, 2018

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Law, court and a little bit about the role of the Grand Jury

| May 10, 2018

Brenda was subpoenaed to be a witness in a "drug diversion" case and appeared before a Grand Jury in our today. For someone not all that familiar with law and legal proceeding this just sounded ominous. Since I’ve been summoned to jury duty this summer, I figured it was a good time to tag along […]

Weekend project: A few more staircase safety items for Annalyn

| May 7, 2018

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Tech Friday: Chrome desktop browser welcomed change

| April 20, 2018

Google today launched Chrome 66 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. The desktop release includes autoplaying content muted by default, security improvements, and new developer features. You can update to the latest version now using the browser’s built-in updater or download it directly from google.com/chrome.With over 1 billion users, Chrome is both a browser […]

Dreams are possible when you devote your life to them

| April 19, 2018

Throwback Thursday #TBT: A lot of my free time in high school and college was spent dreaming about sailing living on a sailboat.  I read and reread stories, the monthly magazines and bookshelves of accumulated nautical books about cruising, seamanship and maintaining a sailboat — I was focused on “would be possible for me to […]

Wishing Katelyn and Drew a very Happy 5th Anniversary

| April 13, 2018

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Why are so many millennials anti-capitalists?

| April 11, 2018

With freedom desired by nearly everyone on earth and history clear as to choice and “the market” lifting our standard of living, why do so many young people embrace socialism and big government?

Music Monday: Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair

| April 9, 2018

(click for larger) I read an interesting article about music in Wired this past weekend and in particular a World Song Map image that instead of a "place name" there is a "song name." It may not be the best song selection for the place, but it did trigger an old song from 1967 by […]

Two things to look for when buying an old Mercedes Benz diesel

| April 4, 2018

Having owned Mercedes Benzes for years now (first was our 87 MB 560 SEL –  reminder that I need a photo) and using several resources for buying and maintaining, some of the best advice for for the, W123 which I’m particularly fond of, (my current 1982 Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel) comes from Kent Bergsma, of […]

Avoid fly by night services, plugins and linking when blogging

| March 23, 2018

Here’s some advice from someone who as blogged daily since 2005 — AVOID using data, photos, video, etc archived on other services. Over the years, I have been frustrated by “what seemed great at the time” using services offered by companies who specialize in hosting data for users. A little history: It started for me […]

Some have skill and talent, others the fortitude to try #humor

| March 20, 2018

Although the .mp4 video clip does remind me of some good times down at Delray Beach Florida with our family!

Impressive Crescent Moon so toyed with the Lumix GX8 #video

| March 12, 2018

It was a crisp and cold night for March in Cincinnati and with a pitch black sky at 6 AM (after the Daylight Savings time change), the Waning Crescent Moon (see Lunar Phase) gave me a chance to see if my Lumix GX8 and 100-300mm lens was up to the task. I’ve tried still photos […]

What is Crony Capitalism?

| March 10, 2018

A simple explanation of crony capitalism in this Prageru video, but a challenging to stop corruption that exists with politicians running governments.

A tribute to Billy Graham – “I can only imagine”

| March 5, 2018

https://youtu.be/Rlu-a1lgeTo William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) Adding a story that is fitting after reflecting on Billy Graham. I read it during my brief morning (usually evening) devotional and had me smiling as I remembered pre-NIV King James Bible reading as a teenager. This morning, I want to tell you a […]

Happy Birthday Annalyn – my granddaughter is ONE already!

| March 4, 2018

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Finished covering the risers while watching the Daytona 500

| February 18, 2018

Sunday was the perfect day to finish up “covering” the lifts for the rear row of our new home theater seats. Now all 8 seats have a great view … even in recline mode. After building the “boxes” a week or so ago, I picked up some closeout brown polyester outdoor furniture upholstery material at […]

Music Monday: Wagon Wheel – I enjoy that country music sound

| February 12, 2018

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What is this GOP Memo thing all about in 4 minutes

| February 10, 2018

Here is the short take from the guys who wrote #thememo. No matter which political party is using the FBI, Department of Justice … or for that matter IRS or other agency … in order to stack the deck to achieve their favored political outcome, it has to stop. Those abusing power need to be […]

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