Posted By RichC on October 31, 2022
It doesn’t get any odder than seeing a “very low” fly-by photo from a fellow aviation enthusiast Ron Eisele on Twitter and having it trigger a
“how low can you go”
McDonalds commercial from way back when???
It’s probably not an appropriate Music Monday, but the music well is dry today … 
so I’m using this video.
Posted By RichC on October 30, 2022
Although the meme floating around social networks (the one at the bottom of this post) is probably not correct, I enjoyed it enough to do a little digging. Personally I’ve always thought that “the whole (or full) nine (six) yards” had to do with the innings in a baseball game (old article below), so I never really gave it much thought to it … although having in interest in sailing, I did like the nautical explanation:
One proposed origin involves the world of full-rigged sailing ships, in which yard is used not as a measure of length or size, but as the name of each horizontal spar on which a sail is hung. All square-rigged sails unfurled, with 3 yards on each of 3 masts, could then be described as the whole nine yards …
The sailing theory aside, the most likely meaning to the phrase has to do with sewing and tailoring as fabric is measured in yards which is sold from “bolts.” The problem is that a bolt of fabric contains between 30 to 100 yards of fabric .. so 
obviously it would not mean the entire bolt?
The Oxford English Dictionary places the earliest published non-idiomatic use of the phrase in the New Albany Daily Ledger (New Albany, Indiana, January 30, 1855) in an article called "The Judge’s Big Shirt." "What a silly, stupid woman! I told her to get just enough to make three shirts; instead of making three, she has put the whole nine yards into one shirt!"
According to Wikipedia, “there is still no consensus on the origin.” So we can still believe what we want to believe … and the military aviation explanation is pretty interesting.
World War II (1939–1945) aircraft machine gun belts were nine yards long. There are many versions of this explanation with variations regarding type of plane, nationality of gunner and geographic area. An alternative weapon is the ammunition belt for the British Vickers machine gun, invented and adopted by the British Army before World War I (1914–1918). The standard belt for this gun held 250 rounds of ammunition and was approximately twenty feet (6⅔ yards) in length. However, the Vickers gun as fitted to aircraft during the First World War usually had ammunition containers capable of accommodating linked belts of 350-400 rounds, the average length of such a belt being about nine yards, and it was thought that this may be the origin of the phrase.
Posted By RichC on October 29, 2022
My friend Jeff and I enjoy discussing and debating nearly every topic under the sun, but few subjects have held our attention over the decades like the impact of technology on society, 
geopolitics and how changing governments handle or don’t handle the demographics shifts.
I tend to look at it from the perspective of an investor and “pretend” economist; Jeff often looks at it from the bigger “doom and gloom” economic collapse of society picture (and often how it relates to Biblical revelation).
The latest book we are reading together is the 2022 book by Peter Zeihan, “The End Of The World Is Just The Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization.” Neither of us bought the book, but instead borrowed it digitally from the library. I prefer using the Libby app (for libraries using Overdrive) since I can often read it on my Kindle, but this time the only copy that was available was on Hoopla which only let’s me read it on the iPad, but also had an audio copy available – sometimes nice too (here’s the PDF from Harper Collins and a “Future of Agriculture” map).
Posted By RichC on October 28, 2022
For those using Apple products and subscription services, the monthly cost is going up. The company announced new version of their iPad lineup this week followed by the news that they are hiking fees for Apple Music and Apple TV+ subscription services this week for the very first time.
In the U.S., the cost of Apple TV+ for new and existing subscribers will increase to $6.99 per month. That’s a 40% increase form the original $4.99 per month, the price point it originally launched at in November 2019.
Apple Music is increasing from $9.99 to $10.99 per month for the individual plan, while the family plan (which provides up to six accounts) will increase $2, from $14.99 to $16.99 per month. It’s the first price hike for the service since it first bowed in June 2015.
In addition, the price of the Apple One bundle — which includes Apple Music and Apple TV+ — will increase starting Monday (Oct. 24), rising $2 from $14.95 to $16.95 per month for the individual plan. Apple One also includes Apple Arcade, iCloud+, Apple News+ and Apple Fitness+.
As a $AAPL shareholder, seeing “subscription services” revenue increase as content improves (and inflation rises) is a good thing. With a steadily growing (and hooked) subscription user base, Services now accounts for 23.6% of Apple’s sales.
Services Growth to Slow Down in Q4
Apple expects Services revenue growth to be lower than the June-end quarter due to challenging macroeconomic conditions and unfavorable forex. In the fiscal third quarter, Services revenues grew 12.1% from the year-ago quarter to $19.60 billion and accounted for 23.6% of sales.
The question in my mind is that with a slowing economy either currently in, or heading into a recession, will consumers continue to pay for more and more streaming services from the growing number of providers? At what price point will even Apple devotees jump ship?
Posted By RichC on October 27, 2022
Favorite actors pitching products has been a staple in the advertising business for a long time … probably because it works!
Shortly after this Gigi and James Garner commercial came out for Mazda 323 in 1986, we bought a “new” 1988 Mazda 626 turbo that replaced a Volkswagen Golf (MK2 Wolfsburg edition). To this day the 626 Turbo remains Brenda’s favorite car … even with the crazy “strangling” automatic seatbelts!
Posted By RichC on October 26, 2022
Last Saturday’s project was some overdue maintenance on what was a very nice day her in SW Ohio. The temps were warm at 77 degrees and the sky clear. I took the opportunity to 
start draining the oil in the BMW X5 35d with 195K miles in the morning, then drove the Mercedes 300d Turbodiesel to meet my buddy Jeff for brunch … which turned into lunch instead (the wait was 45 minutes at Bob Evans) and even check on the new Costco going in just off Liberty Way here in Liberty Township. Who knows … Brenda and I may even eventually get a membership?
As mentioned earlier, the Ravenol oil that I’ve used previously was getting way too expensive … just as is was the previous change. In 2020, I switched to Rowe brand 5W-30 full synthetic. This go around I opted for a Eurol 5W-30 full synthetic kit (actually 2 of them) from Blauparts and don’t expect to notice anything difference; it is still a premium European spec oil designed for the BMW diesels.
I’m sticking with the Mann Filters for both oil and air, although gave thought to just cleaning the air filter out with the vacuum cleaner since it still looked pretty good (probably not a good idea … so I put the new air filter in too). The X5 should be good until 210,000 miles as besides noticing cosmetic wear, mechanically it is sound.
Posted By RichC on October 25, 2022
This content is restricted.
Posted By RichC on October 24, 2022
Music Monday triggers can come from anywhere. Today’s was from segment music on a morning Fox Business program and triggered a“disco” flavored song from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in 1977.
“More Than a Woman” was a Bee Gees song and was paired with a serene Minnesota early morning lake photo (new TV on office wall). This late 1970s music memory were enough to capture my attention … even if I wasn’t a disco music listener … although I did own a m”odest” leisure suit in high school.
Since including this song from YouTube (concert in 1997), I’ll also attach this “The Very, Very Beginning of the Bee Gees” article by Juliet Bennett Rylah (and outdated post, but still an interesting read).
Posted By RichC on October 23, 2022
The Federal tax brackets are adjusted each year by the IRS based on inflation numbers in an attempt to stop “bracket creep.” This prices have soared as in September 2022 consumer prices were up 8.2% compared to 2021. It is likely most Americans have not seen that kind of wage increase which means their buying power is reduced and quality of life diminished. An interview with a politician commented that “if you’re living on the same income as last year, with inflation running at 8+%, it is as if you are working one month for free.”
According to an Axios article, the good news (cough, cough) is that …
Worth noting: The jump could have been higher if not for a tax overhaul signed by former President Trump in 2017, the New York Times reports.
- Republicans at the time tied the adjustments to the chained Consumer Price Index, which tends to rise at a slower pace than the standard CPI.
- In September, chained CPI grew 0.2 percentage points slower than the standard CPI compared to 2021.
Hm, I don’t hearing many taxpayers cheering with excitement? #sarcasm
Posted By RichC on October 22, 2022
The answer from NOAA is that it depends on where you live.
The general prediction is for a bit dryer in the south and a bit wetter in the northwestern US and Great Lakes .. but perhaps we should check with the authority? 🙂
