My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on February 6, 2022

For those of us who have gone hiking or backpacking in bear country before, we have been taught that avoiding trails shortly after bears have been encountered is the smartest approach to avoiding danger.
 

Of course this doesn’t guarantee not running into a bear on the trail. Having never carried bear spray in the past, I’m rethinking and reading a little more about carrying bear spray the next time we are in grizzly bear country.

Bear Spray Guide – Does Bear Spray for Hiking Work?

Jan 24, 2022 by Christos Vasilopoulos

Seeing a bear from afar when hiking is an awe-inspiring experience. Bears are impressive animals, but you have to be careful with them. Our bear spray for hiking guide will help you understand how to best deal with bear encounters and all about bear spray.

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Category: Blogs, Environment, Nature, Recreation, Video | No Comments »
Tags: backpacking, bears, grizzly bear, hiking, mp4, outdoors, spray, vacations

Posted By RichC on February 5, 2022

No longer am I driving 2000 miles a month back and forth to NE Ohio for work or traveling to and from western New York to check on Brenda’s parents, but I do still enjoy driving and owning a diesel vehicle. The Volkswagen Jetta TDI fuel economy isn’t a big deal anymore either, but I did want to “mark time” by highlighting the 190,000 mile odometer reading on my 2010 BMW X5 35d. Now that it is 12+ years old, it is starting to show signs of wear, but it’s still enjoyable to drive.

With the current chip shortages for new cars and shockingly high prices on new cars, I’m glad to still have a vehicle that I’m happy owning.

February 2, 2022

Record high new and used car prices continue in 2022

   The last time we reported the average new car price in the middle of 2021, it had reached a record high. By the end of 2021, it had risen 10% more, according to a J.D. Power and LMC Automotive report published last week. Constrained supply, unmet demand, and high dealer markups continue to result in the unusual condition of record high new car prices, record high used car prices, and record high dealer margins fueled by truck and SUV sales.

Car shoppers can expect more of the same at least through the early part of 2022. “Despite optimism towards the end of 2021 that diminishing supply chain disruption would result in more vehicles being delivered to dealerships, the new-vehicle supply situation has shown no meaningful improvement,” Thomas King, president of data and analytics at J.D. Power, said in a statement. “The volume of new vehicles being delivered to dealerships in January has been insufficient to meet strong consumer demand, resulting in a significantly diminished sales pace.”

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Category: Automotive, BMW, Travel, Volkswagen | No Comments »
Tags: BMW, car prices, cars, chip shortage, diesel, driving, odometer, turntoday.com, x5 35d

Posted By RichC on February 4, 2022

Let me start off with the positives. I really like my original Fitbit Versa watch. I wear it everyday and it offers me nearly everything I want in a fitness tracking smart watch.

That said, I have always been hard on watches … to the point I stopped wearing watches for years – for decades really! The Fitbit Versa was no exception, I am hard on it. A quick glance at the face and bezel shows a lot of wear and after 2 to 3 years of everyday wear … and now the battery is no longer holding a charge either. The 4-5 day original time between recharging is now “about” a day … sometimes it is dead by the end of the day.

So I put a call into the company’s excellent tech support to ask about replacing the battery. Nope, they do not offer that option or recommend the “hack” on the Internet that do it. BUT … their customer service “so far” has been superb and passed my issue, after looking at the charging data (kind of invasive seeing my data), to their warranty department, although I doubt there will be any warranty coverage?

Since I’m comfortable with the Versa, it’s limited features and the data is tracks and provides, I really wouldn’t mind a discounted “older” version of the Versa .. the same that I have or maybe a Versa 2 with the “always on mode and faster processor” (they are a couple generations beyond the original Versa and now up to the Versa 3 and higher end Sense.) We’ll see what happens.

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Category: Gadget, Misc, Personal, Shopping, Technology, Video | No Comments »
Tags: battery, customer service, fitbit, smartwatch, teardown, tech friday, techfriday, warranty, watch, youtube

Posted By RichC on February 3, 2022

We rarely think about that which we cannot see … but saw a photo of the earth without water or the normal colors associated with having an atmosphere on social media and thought it was intriguing.

Another comment that was made was that “IF” you were to stand on Mauna Kea in Hawaii without water, "it would be the “tallest mountain in the world, from its undersea base” (and as an excuse to make this a Throwback Thursday #TBT post, we did see it: 1, 2, 3, 4). I think I want to go back to visit again.

Category: Social Media, TBT, Tidbits, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: atmosphere, earth, globe, hawaii, mauna kea, mountain, TBT

Posted By RichC on February 2, 2022

We were late to trying the HelloFresh.com fresh meal kit plans and put off cooking the first two fresh meals a week. When we finally did get around to fixing them, they were still reasonable fresh and the excellent recipes and produce shocked us at just how tasty the first meal was. I had already cancelled our discounted “promo” membership since I was afraid we would not get around to cooking them in a timely manor … and regretted the decision.

After rethinking our rash cancellation, I took up the email offer to reinstate our account and began selecting our next two meals.

Unfortunately once an account is cancelled, the discounted promo offer disappears and everything is priced at the full price plus shipping ($60 for 2 “normal” meals – a steep price in my opinion). So, I chatted with a agent just to see if they could reinstate the promo, but they will not … so after the first two meals (that Balsamic Tomato and Herb Chicken was excellent) … we will give up on the weekly “meal kit” plan. Bummer.

Category: Food, Misc, Recipe, Shopping | No Comments »
Tags: cooking, dinner, eating, food, hellofresh.com, meal kit, meal plan, recipes, subscription

Posted By RichC on February 1, 2022

For a soon to tackle project in the woodworking workshop, I tinkered with my older plug cutter in order to hide the heads of a few drywall screws. For a test, I used contrasting wood just to see how much gap there was going to be – it looks as if it will work.

To cut end grain on frame rails or miscellaneous pieces on my 40-year old handmade laminate router table, I usually used the table saw miter gauge in a slot on the router table, but have always admired and planned to make a router coping sled. Whenever I’ve needed one there has never been time to make one, and since I had an $80 debit card from a rebate burning a hole in my pocket (and closing in on the expiration date) … I decided to take advantage of a sale at Rockler and buy their Rockler Rail Coping Sled SKU: 52149 with the free shipping. A personally handmade one would have been nice, but this one is just right too.

Category: Photos, Shopping, Tools, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: coping sled, fixtures, jigs, plugs, rebate, rockler, router, router table, sale, tinkering, tools, woodworking, workshop

Posted By RichC on January 31, 2022

If there was ever a time to live in Cincinnati, Ohio … this year would be it! It has been a long time coming from hardcore Bengals fans, but the “youngsters” playing in the competitive field of NFL superstars on this particular team believe in themselves, their coach and their teammates. There isn’t much doubt the Sportsbook folks aren’t taking in account the unique talent that the Bengals have on their team in making the Rams a 4-point favorite … as when they get it together, this “playing with heart” group of players are almost unbeatable.

Obviously the Bengals have a talented franchise quarterback in Ohio’s own Joe Burrow, but also have a BUNCH of players who have risen to each challenge and contributed to bringing Cincinnati to the promise land: SUPERBOWL LVI.

It could not have been more apparent than in the 2nd half of the AFC game against Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. They were silenced by the underrated Cincinnati defense in the second half. The Bengals, who were 18 point behind, rallied to win in overtime 27-24 yesterday (like nearly all of this seasons’ playoff games) creating an earthquake of excitement in nearly all of Ohio … including NW Ohio (photo below: my granddaughters). I even heard from my Steelers buddy Mark, who is retired in Georgia,  “admitting” he was cheering for the Bengals (that likely hasn’t ever happened in my lifetime! HA!) We are looking forward … “nervously” … to Sunday, February 13th; this could be OUR YEAR … or as the confident young Bengals would say, “it is our year.”

 Who Dey!

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Category: Friends, News, Personal, Photos, Sports | No Comments »
Tags: bengals, cincinnati, granddaughers, joe burrow, LA Rams, LVI, mark jones, nfl, photo, playoffs, superbowl, who dey

Posted By RichC on January 30, 2022

Since we will be focused on watching football and especially the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend, I’m pre-posting something that frustrates me when going to the grocery or drugstore.

I know the inexpensive “brand” of shampoo that I like, but Suave for Men makes so many different blends, bottle sizes and labels that I can never remember or find  my favorite. So, I’m archiving the empty bottle to see if I can find it at the store. Walgreens has recently failed me (bought the wrong one) and I have way too much of the “3-in-1” with the conditioner from a previous purchase … but could not find the Suave 2-in-1 “Hair and Body Wash” that I bought the last time. Have they discontinued it?

It is very frustrating.

Category: Archive, Marketing, Personal, Shopping, Sports | No Comments »
Tags: bengals, cincinnati, football, nfl, playoffs, rant, shampoo, Shopping, suave

Posted By RichC on January 29, 2022

Although I don’t place all that much faith in forecasting weather, I don’t mind seeing the Farmer’s Almanac predict a relatively mild February 2022 prediction. Sunny and turning mild is something to look forward to next month … even these GIFFY rabbits are “looking up” with interest. HA! Ah, memories of Pumpy Umpy. 

Front yard and gazebo AM and PM view on January 28, 2022

Category: Memories, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: ani gif, farmers almanac, february 2022, forecast, pumpy umpy, rabbits, weather, winter

Posted By RichC on January 28, 2022

In an attempt to start 2022 off right, I’ve updated MyDesultoryBlog.com‘s WordPress to the current 5.9 … along with the interface that I’ve never learned to use or appreciate. Someday perhaps?

Since this was a pretty short Tech Friday blog entry, I’ll include a JAMA guest link from my daughter that reminded her (and me) of MomC’s final days … and I thought about DadC too. Thanks Katelyn.

January 25, 2022
Poppy’s Final Lesson — Nickolas Fouladpour, MD

As a specialist in pulmonary and critical care medicine, I spent most of 2020 and half of 2021 treating patients with severe COVID-19. I managed ventilators and communication with their loved ones in a maelstrom of fear, grief, and exhaustion. The late spring provided a brief, but welcome, reprieve in the number of COVID-19 admissions. I received a call about a gentleman in his 80s, experiencing chronic pain and dementia. For the last 4 months, he resided in a long-term care facility requiring assistance to move between his bed and wheelchair. He had presented with sepsis and a myocardial infarction, but medical management had stalled over the past week and he remained hospitalized with persistent hypotension and worsening kidney function. His family had decided against heroic measures and wanted my opinion on what to do next.

This hospital was new to me, and I clumsily waded through the COVID-19 screening protocol, making my way into his room with unfamiliar trepidation. Upon entering, I saw a frail man writhing in pain as his nurse and daughter looked at me expectantly. He appeared delirious and I worried he wouldn’t recognize me. I grasped his hand and looked into the piercing blue eyes of my grandfather, “Poppy.” He looked up moaning and pleaded, “Son, please do not let them hurt me anymore than they already have.” I closed my eyes, sighed deeply, and looked back at his nurse and across to my mother and slowly nodded my head in resignation. In just over a month, I would begin a “midcareer” fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine.

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Category: Blogs, Health, Software | No Comments »
Tags: blog, dadc, dying, jama, katelyn, momc, tech friday, techfriday, update, wordpress