Posted By RichC on September 17, 2022
Having initially enjoyed the weekly meal offering from Hello Fresh, the menu started to get a little stale as new items began to resemble previous meals. 
With inflation at the grocery store (and the fuel and time cost), the price was somewhat less of a gripe, but both of us started to notice fewer and a cheapening of the included ingredients; also less freshness of the produce. I am hoping that this is just a shipping issue or summer heat related???
After several enticements to come back after we canceled in August, we accepted a recent subscription discount to rejoin again. Unfortunately the last couple of meals were still repetitive. Top that off with last nights wilted cilantro used to garnish the top the “One-Pan Sweet & Spicy Cashew Pork Tacos” … and I continued to be a bit disappointed (but the meal was still tasty).
We will give the subscription a little longer, but they need to show some improvement if we are continue in the face of tightening our budget in the face of a recession. BTW, send me a message if you want a discount code for a free meal.
Category: Business, Financial, Food, Personal, Shopping |
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Tags: eating, enticement, food, hellofresh.com, meals, online, plans, subscription, tacos
Posted By RichC on September 16, 2022
Besides noticing that a new school bus driver has decided to use our driveway as a turn around spot (should not be “the norm”) … I took apart the old 2017 pool pump motor. Last week I replaced the old motor with a new one (again) suspecting the shortened life (in my opinion) is due to a leaking pump.
But before rebuilding the pump with new gaskets, etc, I was curious if I could save the $250 electric motor rebuild cost by tackling myself.
First was trying to figure out how to get the Century Centurian Chinese version of the AO Smith motor properly disassembled; I still do not know the face bearing setup? The corrosion is substantial on the failed bearing and so I’ll probably need a few of the washer and parts to fit/pack the bearing into the housing. Thankfully the electric motor parts (rotor and stator) looks ok.
Also … I added this week’s “Owl hoots” to my August post about Great Horned Owls.
Category: How-To, Misc, Photos, To-Do |
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Tags: bearings, Cam, corrosion, electric, motor, pool, pump, rebuild, repair, repairs, school bus, security, wyze
Posted By RichC on September 15, 2022
As we face another recession (some believe we are already in one – see February 2022 part 1 and part 2), I couldn’t help but notice a post from about this time of the year in 2008 (see chart at left) when 
we faced a previous self-inflicted recession (banking crisis).
The 2007-2008 Financial Crisis was the most serious since the Great Depression in 1929 … and was due to a perfect storm of lending to low-income Americans, zero down loans, excessive overall risk-taking by banks, poorly valued mortgage back securities and derivatives and finally the predictable bursting of the United States housing bubble. In hindsight, we could all see it coming, yet just as with cryptocurrency and the current excessive government spending, along with the ballooning debt and deficits these days, we still do little to fix our personal or national financial health.
Dow and Nasdaq chart from Tuesday 9/13/2022
Who really wants this kind of Throwback Thursday #TBT post or to acknowledge that politicians, and those of us who elect them, continue to run our nation down such self-destructive paths?
Category: Business, Financial, History, Politics, TBT |
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Tags: banking, deficit, financial markets, great depression, great recession, inflation, national debt, recession, stock market, TBT
Posted By RichC on September 14, 2022
Read an interesting Washington Post article (PDF ReaderView archive) this past week discussing Southwest Airlines “open seating policy” and challenges in landing 
preferred seating without paying a premium – although, “the only way to guarantee an early boarding position is to pay,” wrote James Bikales.
Still some of us make a game of trying to land the A and B groupings without paying the premium ticket price (yes, that would be me). Recently though, I had a conversation with a Rapid Rewards customer service representative suggesting that I try to use the Chase Business Rapid Rewards credit card to upgrade my position at the gate. She suggested that the credit card should reimburse me the EarlyBird fee “IF” there is a better seat available even when at the gate. The documentation doesn’t state this … nor could I get confirmation from the author or a couple of the quoted travel experts if this works.
The only thing the documentation says (below) is that RR Business members will be reimbursed for two EarlyBird upgrades per year (Personal Priority credit card holders are permitted 4 per year) and that Chase will reimburse those fees. I suspected the reimbursement was “only for booking online” and requesting preferred boarding positions ”before the 24-hour check-in?” The Customer Service person seemed convinced that it could also be done in person at the gate … so as long as there were positions available (and most of the time there are A1-15 slots vacant). Since I’m usually at the gate early, it might be a way to kill time and see if it works? Stay tuned.
Back to the article, another tip was to have only one member of a party pay the EarlyBird fee and “save seats” … if you really like doing that kind of thing … I don’t.
Category: Advice, Aviation, Travel |
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Tags: air travel, airlines, booking, flights, open seating, southwest, southwestair, washington post
Posted By RichC on September 13, 2022
If you believe the number 13 makes for an unlucky day, you’ll probably point to that as an omen … but the deep, nearly 1300 points, drop in the Dow came as investors and economists were expecting an easing pace of inflation … not continued high inflation.
The CPI report indicated a 8.3% rate compared with July’s 8.5% and June’s 9.1% rates … which means we are still at four-decade inflation high. It is reminiscent of living with inflation in my early 20’s. Thankfully back then I new little about how the economy worked and owned very little, except my junkyard car and the clothes on my back. We did buy a first house, but own very little of it and assumed a 12% mortgage … which was better than the going 18% rate. It is hard to imagine financing anything at those rates?
(more…)
Category: Financial, News, Politics |
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Tags: economy, energy, government, inflation, money printing, recession, stock market
Posted By RichC on September 13, 2022
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Category: Archive, Friends, Personal, Photos, Sports, Video |
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Tags: annalyn, baseball, building, drew, ellerie, family, house, katelyn, mud hens, ohio, oostras, toledo, whitehouse
Posted By RichC on September 12, 2022
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Category: Music, Video |
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Tags: album, barrons, dan seals, john coley, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, nights are forever, pool, summer, yardwork, youtube
Posted By RichC on September 10, 2022
We did another one of our “now regular” dinner and classic movie nights … which shockingly we are both enjoying. This one was another Cary Grant movie from 1939 called “Gunga Din,” to which I had to look up the Rudyard Kipling poem, partially read (remembering 40+ years ago in school) and emailed to Brenda.
Gunga Din by RUDYARD KIPLING
You may talk o’ gin and beer
When you’re quartered safe out ’ere,
An’ you’re sent to penny-fights an’ Aldershot it;
But when it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An’ you’ll lick the bloomin’ boots of ’im that’s got it.
Now in Injia’s sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time
A-servin’ of ’Er Majesty the Queen,
Of all them blackfaced crew
The finest man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din,
He was ‘Din! Din! Din!
‘You limpin’ lump o’ brick-dust, Gunga Din!
(more…)
Category: Books, History, Memories, Movies |
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Tags: classic, gunga din, movie, poetry, rudyard kipling, school
Posted By RichC on September 9, 2022
Who likes getting sand blown in their eyes at the beach … not even crabs.
Category: Nature, Video |
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Tags: beach, crab, friday filler, mp4, sand
Posted By RichC on September 8, 2022
The Queen of England passed away today after becoming Queen at the age of 25 in 1952. Most living under her reign have never known another ruling monarch. So now after a historic 70-year reign, her son, the former Prince of Wales, Charles III becomes Britain’s new King.
According to the UK’s DailyMail:
The Queen’s death will see Britain and her Commonwealth realms enter into a ten-day period of mourning as millions of her subjects in the UK and abroad come to terms with her passing. Her coffin will be moved to London on the royal train via Edinburgh before she lies in state in Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament for four days. Hundreds of thousands of people will be able to pay their respects.
The state funeral is expected take place at Westminster Abbey in central London on Monday, September 19, which will be attended by her bereft family as well as 2,000 heads of state, prime ministers and presidents, European royals and key figures from public life around the globe.
MORE
Category: History, News, Obituary |
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Tags: britain, charles, death, elizabeth, england, king, monarchy, queen
With inflation at the grocery store (and the fuel and time cost), the price was somewhat less of a gripe, but both of us started to notice fewer and a cheapening of the included ingredients; also less freshness of the produce. I am hoping that this is just a shipping issue or summer heat related???
