My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on November 18, 2025

It is looking as if Taylor is caught in a challenging spot professionally — WCPO story. The voters who elected the trustees for his Batavia Township obviously do not want more developments with small lots and more tightly packed homes and the traffic that comes with it. Yet those who want to build developments are pushing forward anyway.

From my perspective, Batavia Township either moves ahead with the “planned developments” (maybe slowing it down???) or they face expensive lawsuits from the developers who are already invested and moving forward. I sounds to me as if they received the “go ahead” and now the voters want it to stop? It’s a tough spot to keep everyone happy for those hired to responsibly grow the community. 

Category: Archive, Local, News, Social Media | No Comments »
Tags: batavia township, development, News, ohio, planning, taylor, wcpo

Posted By RichC on November 18, 2025

This content is restricted.

Category: Archive, Music, Personal, Photos, Video | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, family, granddaughter, ohio, performing, piano, recital, robert bell studio, toledo

Posted By RichC on November 17, 2025

Last week a song segment from “Take Me Home” came on the TV between one of the NFL games and it triggered “good emotions.” Likely that was because 1985-86 were great years for both Brenda and me; we were enjoying sailing on Brenich, fixing up our first house and getting it ready to sell and expecting our first child which changed our plans and lives completely. Those were great years … but where did the time go?

The song was written and performed by English musician Phil Collins, who by the way is one of three recording artists, that include only Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, who have sold over 100 million records both as solo artists and separately as principal members of a band.

(more…)

Category: Memories, Music | No Comments »
Tags: music monday, musicmonday, phil collins, take me home, wikipedia

Posted By RichC on November 16, 2025

While several people sent in Northern Lights photos to the Cincinnati Local 12 meteorologist John Gumm, I didn’t spot anything either with the naked eye or the somewhat enhanced photos taken by today’s smartphones. Here’s my quick look up at the northwest sky last week … is there a hint of pink and green? 

Most smartphones effectively enhance photos of the Northern Lights. They do so at the expense of authenticity, yielding images that are more visually appealing but might not reflect the actual sight experienced with the naked eye. 

Category: Photography, Photos, Space, Technology, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: john gumm, local 12, northern lights, photo, skywatching

Posted By RichC on November 15, 2025

You know that you are getting older when “your kids” send you slang “their kids” are using. Yikes!

Well last week, Katelyn asked if I’ve ever heard the slang term “67” … just “six-seven” …  not sixty-seven. It must be a “thing” since according to Dictionary.com it is their “Word of the year” for 2025. Who knew? Obviously I’m out of it. 

In that same vein of thinking … I concluded that I must be a “clanker” … which sounds appropriate for someone my age, BUT it is actually another slang term which has little to to with my normal “cranky” nature. 😉 

Category: Human Interest, Idioms, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: 67, clanker, dictionary.com, katelyn, slang, word of the year

Posted By RichC on November 14, 2025

If you’re like me and thousands of frustrated smart home users, you’ve probably hit the wall with Sengled bulbs, their Hub and Alexa. For the past six months (and officially since Amazon axed the integration on August 1, 2025), the Sengled Home app error codes with NSURLErrorDomain -1202 — thanks to a flaky SSL certificate on their cloud server (portal.cloud.sengled.com). There was no more voice control, no app linking and crickets from Sengled support — no response to emails.

BUT .. the Zigbee based bulbs are still there and work fine by manually controlling or using the Sengled iPhone app (worthless). Hm … these are basically Zigbee bulbs and they are supported by my newer Echo Hubs and by the Eero Router. Maybe they will work and we can bypass the Sengled app and hub?

Let’s try and perhaps, we don’t need Sengled’s hub, app or cloud account anymore? With a little help from GrokAI, I paired the bulbs …and it worked flawlessly.

So if you have a compatible Echo (4th gen or later, like the Echo Dot 4/5, Echo 4th gen, or Echo Show 3rd gen+), this is the ticket to get back to using those lights again. In my case the over the sink “dimmable” ceiling lights are back working: “Alexa; turn the kitchen lights on and set them to 40%.” 😉

Category: AI, Alexa, Gadget, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: Alexa, fixed income, hub, lights, sengled, smarthome, tech friday, techfriday, zigbee

Posted By RichC on November 13, 2025

After meeting my buddy Jeff for lunch last week, we decided to start a new book to discuss. This has been something we’ve done over the years, although I admit, he is much better in staying on task when it comes to reading than me.

The book, “God, the Science, the Evidence, the Dawn of a Revolution” is an international best seller … although not a brand new release like “1929” (my current read — excellent by the way). I picked up the Bollore and Bonnassies book as a Kindle read (Jeff does Apple iPad for the improved quality and color), and since it is not a short couple of weeks library borrow, we will have more time to work our way through it — an excuse for lunch again, as if we need one.

For now, here’s the Amazon summary:

After four years of research in partnership with over twenty scientists and esteemed experts, this book explores one of the most significant questions we face: the existence or non-existence of a creator God.

For more than four centuries, the scientific discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo, Darwin, and Freud created the impression that we could explain the workings of the Universe without the idea of a creator–God. By the beginning of the twentieth century, materialism had become the dominant theory of the time. And yet, with unexpected and astonishing force, the pendulum of science has swung back in the other direction, owing to a rapid succession of discoveries: the theory of relativity; quantum mechanics; the Big Bang; the theories of expansion, heat death, and fine-tuning of the universe. This newly acquired knowledge has upended the certainties of the twentieth century collective consciousness. Once the only acceptable theory, materialism is increasingly considered an irrational belief.

(more…)

Category: Books, Personal, Photos, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: book, god the science the evidence, jeffp, reading, weather, winter

Posted By RichC on November 12, 2025

Today’s earlier post had to do with Tesla (“Musk’s $1 Trillion Is Not Guaranteed” – so I wanted to archive it since it was also posted on TheHustings). Also, the weather has vastly improved and it seemed like a good time to add another Wyze Cam driveway video highlighting the disappearing autumn colors.

Besides, I’m starting to admire Brenda’s 2019 Tesla Model 3 … maybe a little too much?
   

Category: Archive, Gadget, Technology, Tesla, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: $TSLA, brenda, elon musk, model 3, tesla, weather, wyze, wyzecam3

Posted By RichC on November 12, 2025

Elon Musk‘s new Tesla pay package isn’t a guaranteed $1 TRILLION payout, it’s a stretch-goal incentive structure requiring him to achieve extraordinarily ambitious milestones: deploying 1 million robotaxis, selling 10 million FSD subscriptions, scaling to 1 million Optimus robots, and growing Tesla’s market cap 6x to $8.5T (surpassing Nvidia’s peak).

Tesla also laid out a series of earnings milestones for Musk, beginning with $50 billion in annual adjusted profit and moving up to $400 billion. In the third quarter, Tesla reported adjusted EBITDA of $4.2 billion. – CNBC

These aren’t “easy” bonuses—they demand transforming transportation, labor, and society at a scale no company has ever achieved. Hitting even a fraction would create immense shareholder value and advance humanity.

Shareholders approved it 75-25 because they recognize: visionaries who swing for the fences and connect should be rewarded massively when they deliver. Musk has done it before; tying his compensation to these moonshots aligns incentives perfectly. Ambitious targets deserve ambitious upside. (more…)

Category: Archive, Financial, News | No Comments »
Tags: $1Trillion, $TSLA, cnbc, commentary, elon musk, grokipedia, pay package, tesla

Posted By RichC on November 11, 2025

Each year on November 11th, our nation pauses to honor the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Veterans Day traces its roots back to Armistice Day, first observed in 1919 to commemorate the end of World War I — the “war to end all wars.” The armistice between the Allied nations and Germany took effect on the <strong”>eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, marking the end of one of history’s most devastating conflicts.

In 1954, following World War II and the Korean War, Congress amended the commemoration to include veterans of all wars, officially renaming it Veterans Day. Since then, it has become a solemn reminder of the courage, sacrifice, and service of those who have defended our freedoms across generations.

While parades and ceremonies take place around the country, Veterans Day is also a time for quiet reflection — to thank those who served, to remember those who never came home, and to consider the cost of liberty. Many of us have friends or family who wore the uniform, and it’s worth taking a few minutes to reach out and simply say, “thank you.”

As we enjoy the blessings of everyday life — our families, our work, our freedom to worship and speak — may we remember that these are privileges secured and preserved by others’ service and sacrifice. Gratitude, after all, is best expressed not just in words, but in how we live as citizens worthy of their commitment.

Category: Holiday, Millitary | No Comments »
Tags: freedom, gratitude, Holiday, liberty, military, thankful, veterans day, wikipedia