The 3 monkeys have added a 4th. A sign of our times #filler
Posted By RichC on January 12, 2023
Viral Social Media image
Will American soon be without their gas stoves?
Posted By RichC on January 11, 2023
According to a NYPost article, millions of Americans may soon be entering “not stove season.”
The Biden administration is considering a nationwide ban on gas stoves — citing the harmful pollutants released by the appliances, according to a report.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is mulling the action after recent studies showed emissions from the devices can cause health and respiratory problems, Bloomberg reported Monday.
“This is a hidden hazard,” CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. told the outlet. “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.” The association that represents gas stove makers like Whirlpool contends that cooking on any type of stove produces harmful emissions.
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The association that represents gas stove makers like Whirlpool contends that cooking on any type of stove produces harmful emissions.
“Ventilation is really where this discussion should be, rather than banning one particular type of technology,” said Jill Notini, a vice president with the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
“Banning one type of a cooking appliance is not going to address the concerns about overall indoor air quality,” she added. “We may need some behavior change, we may need [people] to turn on their hoods when cooking.”
Solar panels aren’t the solution for every home and climate
Posted By RichC on January 10, 2023
As I commented on Twitter … “until nuclear fusion arrives in bulk, there are limits to living without fossil fuels.” 
We need political leaders, climate activists and business leaders restricting capital through ESG measures who can exercise a little bit more commonsense when it comes to restricting and going to war with US domestic energy producers. Natural gas in particular is a pretty clean option … and renewable biofuels are carbon neutral if that’s the big concern.
And for one final year end photo … how big is a bald eagle’s nest?
Music Monday: Roger Miller singing “King of the Road”
Posted By RichC on January 9, 2023
Perhaps the first song that I can remember hearing on the radio and remembering I liked was Roger Miller‘s “King of the Road.” I was probably too young to remember it clearly, but my mom and dad commented that I definitely liked it when I was just 4 or 5.
I do know that … for no other categorized music genre … the “honky-tonk” influence was appealing to me. Even throughout school I was secretly partial to country music, especially when it had a little popular flair – later I really enjoyed southern rock. In previously Music Monday posts, I mentioned Glen Campbell and Roger Miller in this post.
Recently Glenn Anderson posted the photo above on Twitter and it reminded me of Roger Miller and his big hit … so here’s an old black and white TV segment.
Sound advice for 2023, but am I disciplined enough to follow?
Posted By RichC on January 8, 2023
For the past few years, I’ve enjoyed reading the often contrarian thoughts from Forbes contributor, Brett Owens. He writes and contributes investment advice in several publications, newsletters and columns. He co-authored an excellent book too!
2023 Rule #1: Don’t fight the Fed. Print this rule out and tape it next to your computer. Or the backside of your phone. Or whatever device you use to make trades.
As long as the Federal Reserve is tightening, the obvious path for all stock and bond prices is down.
“Don’t Fight the Fed” was chapter four in investing wizard Martin Zweig’s legendary Winning on Wall Street. He devoted 40 thoughtful pages to teaching readers why they should “go with the flow” with respect to the Fed’s trend.
Questionable digital magazine subscription tactics online
Posted By RichC on January 7, 2023
The saying that “if something sounds to good to be true, it probably is” came to mind as I re-subscribed to a WSJ.com and Barronsonline.com for a FIVE-year subscription? Part of me wants to believe magazine resellers are legitimately selling the digital versions for less than going directly to Dow Jones, but the other part of me wonders what happens when the subscription expires and the seller is no longer around – see below (I have used Apple and Amazon to subscribe before so who knows)?
I still question the 5-year offer but since I absolutely HATE the way Dow Jones markets their newspaper subscriptions, I’ll give it a go. They use low intro prices and VERY high automatic renewals. The last couple go-arounds I’ve had to claw back my subscription and charges after an automatic renewal … and then having my ID not eligible for special renewal rates until I’ve been unsubscribed for a while is a real pain.
So we’ll give it a go with an expiring virtual credit card number and then try dispute the charge with my credit card company if something doesn’t go as expected or seem quite right (already my call to Dow Jones has me questioning the sale since they do not sell any 5-year subscription plans … no matter the price).
Tech Friday: Installed Wyze Doorbell and temp probe grilling
Posted By RichC on January 6, 2023
It is hard to resist loving gadget gifts and this past year for Christmas I was excited to receive a Wyze Doorbell from Drew (and Katelyn – Thx!) Although the previous year in 2021, I will admit that I was intimidated … and still am … by the fancy double temperature Bluetooth and WiFi Weber cooking probes. Thankfully with Drew’s help last month, I was able to VERY successfully use it to grill our larger and thicker steaks. I’m just hope it wasn’t beginners luck (see Tweet embed at bottom).
Speaking of temperature gadgets … I still use the Father’s Day Ember coffee mug twice a 
day as it is an expensive but superb way to keep coffee at the right temperature. If there were one fault, it is that the battery used to maintain temperature doesn’t last long enough … and perhaps if I were driving regularly, it is not intended to be a travel mug. I get about an hour after lowering the temperature to 133F degrees.
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Recipe reminiscing, the lost art of handwriting and longer days
Posted By RichC on January 5, 2023
A little bit of recipe reminiscing for Throwback Thursday #TBT this week. Over New Year’s Day, I enjoyed a “Bean Soup” recipe conversation with my daughter Katelyn. We discussed using the ham bone and pieces of ham from our Christmas dinner. I opted for a delicious Ham and Potato soup and froze a couple smaller containers for later. Shockingly even Brenda liked it!
Katelyn commented over Christmas that she would find my mom’s (her Grandma C’s) recipe for the bean soup and sent a flurry of photos with her new Pixel 7 phone, with it’s impressive camera. She also stumbled on a plastic bag of her Great Grandmother Bluhm’s recipes and notes and I enjoyed seeing the “From the Desk of Dick Bluhm” and my grandmother’s handwriting – a disappearing skill and dying art. It was fun to remember them and have fond memories triggered.
What a difference 90-days can make when #homebuilding
Posted By RichC on January 4, 2023
It has been about a month-and-a-half of steady construction on Katelyn and Drew’s #homebuilding project (the hashtag is how I’ve tagged their home construction on MDB).
Since the Oostras were together on January 1st, they enjoyed a drive out to their Whitehouse, Ohio property as a family to check on the progress. It was shocking that there were roofers working on New Year’s Day (see roof in photo). Glad to see there are some go-getters still willing to work (the question is, are they all legal Americans???)
Of course it wasn’t all just about their construction project as they were together for the Oostra family Christmas and the cute “heavy sprinkling” cookie maker was busy baking too (twice this year there have been some “well” decorated cookies!)
LSSU’s 2023 list of Banished Words is spot on again
Posted By RichC on January 3, 2023
The Lake Superior State University list of banished words from 2022 for 2023 is out!
It has been fun to regularly include their words and a link on MyDesultoryBlog … it has become a January tradition! Check out their full archive by year from when it started in 1976.
This year, nominations came from most major U.S. cities and many U.S. states, plus Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Portugal, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, India, China, Namibia, South Africa, Nigeria, American Samoa, Malaysia, the British Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and throughout Canada.
Here are the list of the banished words and terms for 2023 and the reasons for their banishment:
1. GOAT
The acronym for Greatest of All Time gets the goat of petitioners and judges for overuse, misuse, and uselessness. “Applied to everyone and everything from athletes to chicken wings,” an objector declared. “How can anyone or anything be the GOAT, anyway?” Records fall; time continues. Some sprinkle GOAT like table salt on “anyone who’s really good.” Another wordsmith: ironically, “goat” once suggested something unsuccessful; now, GOAT is an indiscriminate flaunt.
2. Inflection point
Mathematical term that entered everyday parlance and lost its original meaning. This year’s version of “pivot,” banished in 2021. “Chronic throat-clearing from historians, journalists, scientists, or politicians. Its ubiquity has driven me to an inflection point of throwing soft objects about whenever I hear it,” a quipster recounted. “Inflection point has reached its saturation point and point of departure,” proclaimed another. “Pretentious way to say turning point.” Overuse and misuse.
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.