Friday Filler: Even crabs hate getting sand in their eyes
Posted By RichC on September 9, 2022
Who likes getting sand blown in their eyes at the beach … not even crabs.
Marking history and longevity: Queen Elizabeth II dies peacefully
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.
Book: “Team America: The Age of Generals” – Robert L. O’Connell
Posted By RichC on September 8, 2022
The WSJ book reviews are a great place to find new and interesting military history books and biographies. The recent download for me is a book by Robert L. Connell highlighting several bigger than life U.S. military generals.
“Team America: The Age of Generals,” looks at often written about World War A-list leaders: Gens. Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall, George S. Patton and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Their extraordinary leadership and strategy led the United States to success during World War I and World War II … debatably contributing to preserving the nation and freedom we have today.
Having just started to read it, I’m not the right person to give full review, but so far it looks to be a very readable and interesting for those who enjoy non-fiction, biographical military history.
Apple Event introduces products including iPhone14 Pro
Posted By RichC on September 7, 2022
Considering our current iPhones are seven generations behind (iPhone 7), today’s Apple Event was watched with interest, as usual. The new iPhone14 Pro is particularly interesting and carries a higher price point … although well worth the money considering what I once spent on new computers.
Still, the pre-order date of 9/9/2022 will not likely see me in line or ordering (9/16 delivery) until reading a few reviews and compare carriers trade-up options. I sense that both Brenda and I will wait until 2023 before we upgrade … and will likely renew with Mint Mobile and buy our phones outright. Who needs a perfectly functional iPhone7 or iPhone7-plus – message me!
Space Filler: Impressive super high resolution look at Mars
Posted By RichC on September 7, 2022
Be sure to click on the photo or download to see the larger version
Salvaged office closet shelves project and polished headlights
Posted By RichC on September 6, 2022
Having a few extra “rainy” hours over the Labor Day weekend, I decided to tackle an office closet project that I’ve been pondering. The plan was to either build in a few permanent shelves with holes for wiring to primarily hold the electronic equipment feeding the TV or add a small shelf to replace the cardboard box everything is sitting on right now. It would also be a handy place for office supplies and to stack envelope boxes as well as reams of paper for the printer — I like to keep them out of sight but still not clutter up the closet as I’ve done in the past.
The recent plan was to use the cherry-finished shelves that I salvaged from one of the bookshelves we no longer need … and perhaps paint them? I really hated the idea of slapping some latex paint on them and having heavy items stick and peel off the new paint (been there, done that) and I really didn’t want to go buy new oil or epoxy paint for “unseen” closet shelves. So instead I decided to make a rail frame out of some scrap pine and dado and keep the shelves as they are. The open sides will permit the wires to dangle through for the equipment and besides being two-toned, should do the job. I’m hoping all my calculations will be correct and that I’ll have a simple shelf unit with zero dollars (and a lot of time) invested.
Also, the headlights on my 2010 BMW X5 35d have been bugging me, so used a little light-duty rubbing compound to take off the yellowed fog. Definitely could have used something a bit more aggressive (or replaced), but they look a little better than before.
Leftover Labor Day weekend photos from the Oostras
Posted By RichC on September 6, 2022
This content is restricted.
Checking out Taylor’s place and Labor Day weekend chores
Posted By RichC on September 5, 2022
Labor Day weekend was relatively busy with chores and stay-at-home chores. We have also noticed a coyote regularly making his round again (photos above).
On Friday night we stopped to see Taylor’s new condominium in Walnut Hills (Cincinnati) and then had dinner at O’Bryon’s Bar and Grill. We ate outside up on the roof as it 
was a nice evening (pre-rain), but for me, going to an Irish pub that is out of Fish and Chips was disappointing.
My projects started fine as I was “hoping” to work on getting my office back together with the closet shelves … but the bearing in the pool pump failed again and this distracted me and required taking it apart.
I ordered the same Century pool pump motor as last time from Amazon (the price is up considerably, but the promise of 
Wednesday delivery won me over) and will hope to get a little longer life out of it. They only warranty for 1-years … depressing. I’d like to take the old one to a motor rebuild shop to see if they can put new bearing in it as I’ve done before with printing equipment and our first A.O. Smith pool pump motor (now Chinese built Century brand), but assume labor cost to rebuild is going to be high too? Maybe I should try to rebuild myself???
While flipping off the pool pump breaker, I also noticed on or my French drain yard pumps was shorting out. After a diagnosis, it looks as if the Zoeller pump has failed and so I pulled out my new backup (2021) and replaced it. Don’t think I can rebuild this as the motor has completely frozen up … not just the float switch problem that I’m familiar with. Oh well … it is all part of home ownership.
Books: “The Day the Markets Roared” by Henry Kaufman
Posted By RichC on September 4, 2022
Having recently read an article about Dr. Doom and “his pinnacle of influence” on August 17th, 1982, I’m adding Henry Kaufman’s book “The Day the Markets Roared” to my Amazon Kindle “want to read” list. Obviously since it is a look back on financial market history, it is not all that crucial that I read it immediately … but on the other hand, we are for the first time in a long time discussing run away inflation and the likelihood of a recession or two (back to back as in the 1980s).
All it all, it looks interesting and is a look back at what conditions were like when we got married, struggled to buy our first house and faced a lot of uncertainly with employment. Fond memories now … but not so fond when figuring out what to do day to day back then. Thankfully I knew very little about finance, markets, investing or economics in those day or would have panicked even more!
Orcas attacking Great White Sharks for their liver and heart
Posted By RichC on September 3, 2022
Over the past several years, I’ve been reading stories about how pods of Orcasattack Great White Sharks. A Daily Mail article with photos and a short drone video segment this summer was particularly interesting. Would an 👉 orca eat a swimmer‘s 👈 liver or heart? 😨
At least seven great white shark carcasses have washed ashore in False Bay since 2017, with telltale teeth marks indicating they were savaged by orcas. Researchers say Great Whites that encounter killer whales will immediately abandon their usual hunting ground for up to a year
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.