My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on January 16, 2022

It has been a little over a year since the syndicated Truth For Life page was added to my blog … and although I’ve not been “daily-diligent” in reading the Spurgeon Devotionals … I’m hoping having Alistair Begg’s devotionals in place of them might help? The new Truth For Life feed has recently been approved for members’ websites, so I am updating the small “Devotional” link on my “old-school”  text-based menu bar on My Desultory Blog.

… we’re excited to share this new syndicated content feature: You can now also display our new Alistair Begg Devotional on your web site!

Here’s an unstyled example of that new syndicated devotional content from Alistair Begg. You’ll find that it adapts well to the styling of your particular web site, as does all the syndicated content from Truth For Life.

Category: Blogs, Faith | No Comments »
Tags: alistair begg, blog, christianity, devotional, Faith, truth for life

Posted By RichC on January 15, 2022

The post this morning was of the “friends and family” variety … and is not viewable unless you’re logged in. So for those visiting My Desultory Blog this Saturday afternoon, here’s a François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, politically oriented quote as an afternoon blog filler and to encourage registering.

“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”

Perhaps you are a regular reader and are okay with occasional personal “friends and family” content … if so, here’s some encouragement to register and log in.

Category: Politics, Privacy, Quotes | No Comments »
Tags: criticize, french, friends and family, government, login, Politics, privacy, quote, register, ronald reagan, sign-in, voltaire

Posted By RichC on January 15, 2022

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Category: Archive, Memories, Personal, Photos, Video | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, Art, bompa, crafts, ellerie, family, grandchildren, granddaughter, granddaughters, katelyn, mp4, smile

Posted By RichC on January 14, 2022

This past Christmas, my daughter Katelyn gave Drew a new Wyze Watch and, as always with all Wyze products, I was  impressed with their reasonably low price for excellent products (although I’m still super happy with my Fitbit Versa – thank you K and D).

The Wyze gift reminder had me revisit one of their security cam products that I’m on the waitlist for … and that I mentioned at this weeks HOA meeting. Rather than spend hundreds of dollars for other cameras and services to monitor things, the new Wyze Cam Floodlight might be enough to monitor … or at least act as a vandalism deterrent around the neighborhood? The LED floods with a WyzeCam3 can be set to trigger (lights on) and record an event when it detects motion. With a subscription (and WiFi connection) the events could also be archived on the cloud. Since I’m on the waitlist anyway, I’d like to replace the quirky lights (suspect moisture problem) on the back of the poolhouse detached garage with this and see if it works. Come on Wyze, hurry up. HA!

Category: Gadget, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: drew, floodlight, hoa, katelyn, neighborhood, security, tech friday, techfriday, vandalism, waitlist, watch, wyze, wyzecam3

Posted By RichC on January 13, 2022

“Eye” do it every year (a very Dumb Dad Joke #DDJ) … I make my eye appointment to get my updated prescription from my optometrist (OD) and contemplate ordering contact lenses from them or a less expensive retailer … just as I’ve been doing since the days of the “cooker” (only those of a certain age will understand that). Each time debate just how picky to be when negotiating a lower price and if it is worth even paying for our VSP insurance each month (that discount vs paying a “cash price” based on who is “in-network” or out-of-network). Once I think I have it figured out, it comes back to bite me with a surprise charge, higher price or rejected rebate form “for not ordering from the eye doctor writing the prescription.”

But … it is usually worth a $100 or more dollars each year to purchase separately even with a vision plan that negotiates rates with the “in-network” provider. This year it required way too much time, a rejected, then approved after complaining, rebate and filling out the out-of-network reimbursement forms.

What I can report is that my eye exam was in September and my final out-of-network check just arrived in January 2022 … 4 months and after 3 phone calls and 2 USPS form submissions (they only do postal mail) … and I’m still waiting on my once rejected then approved Bausch & Lomb VISA rebate card to arrive. Ugh.

Category: Health, Medical, Misc, Personal, Shopping | No Comments »
Tags: bausch, contacts, ddj, eye doctor, insurance, lens, lenses, lomb, optician, optometrist, prescription, rebates, vision

Posted By RichC on January 12, 2022

Truly a “desultory” post today … as I reflect on the demise of my favorite insulated plastic 16 oz cup. The screw-on lid has long ago disappeared, but I have continued to use this plastic cup to keep my ice cubes and Diet Mountain Dew cold (my favorite soft drink for 40 years). 

I bought a couple of these cups to use in the car for coffee, but found out that they don’t sweat when holding cold drinks and decided they were better for pop or soda …  if you prefer (depends on where you live). These Copco Acadia Travel Mugs seem to wash up in the dishwasher if you don’t used them for coffee … that is, until it cracked. They have been my go-to cups for the past decade.

So it is goodbye to one of my well worn out favorites. Tear!

Category: Memories, Personal, Photos, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: copco, cracked, cup, desulotry, desultorytidbits, mountain dew, soft drinks

Posted By RichC on January 11, 2022

The past weekend projects consisted mostly of trim painting and then roller painting the long and drawn out office update project. Part of it is due to other things getting prioritized … like Christmas and family … and some of it out of my dislike for painting. BUT, I finally “cut” or trim painted all the edges on Saturday and then rolled the walls on Sunday afternoon … but did take  a couple breaks for the final season games of football. The other more enjoyable mini-project was a kitchen backsplash filler board for Katelyn and Drew’s kitchen. Since they can’t match the missing counter backsplash material, I’ve cut and planned an exact size piece of wood, then puttied, sealed with sanding sealer (photo) and primed for them. They will then try to match-color paint and spot-glue in place. It will definitely look better than the missing section and fill the gap behind the countertop.

Also I used my Christmas present from my son-in-law Drew … a bright rechargeable LED worklight! Nice! The photos above also show the area of wall where the new Samsung QLED TV screen will hang (thank you Brenda – her present to me).  The taped up brackets towards the top were made to hang a small Yamaha SR-C20A sound bar … slightly tilted. It has a “voice-enhancing” feature … since I primarily listen to business news. My purpose in tilting was to keep the lower space in front free and all the wires either behind the screen or fitted through the wall plate/pipe and into the closet space (with power) for a clean of an install as possible. We’ll see how it goes?

Category: Misc, Personal, Photos, To-Do, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: brackets, office, painting, project, qled, samsung, soundbar, television, update, worklight, yamaha

Posted By RichC on January 10, 2022

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Category: Music | No Comments »
Tags: 1970s, its raining again, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, roger hodgson, supertramp, vevo, youtube

Posted By RichC on January 9, 2022

It might not be a current movie (it’s 2011), but it was one neither Brenda or I watched over this past decade, but it was an excellent comedy. “The Big Year,” with Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black (several others), was exactly what the “doctors” (Katelyn and Drew) ordered over our family Christmas. They mentioned that the movie was available for streaming online and thought we would like it; we did and so … I‘ll recommend it too.

Unfortunately when it came to finding it to stream, neither our Amazon or Netflix subscriptions had it available so I said we would just wait.

Of course waiting is not something Brenda is good at doing … she mandated that we just buy it or rent it. To rescue my “frugalness,” (can’t admit that it is really “cheapness”), Katelyn said, “just watch it on our Disney+” … she may have done Disney a marketing favor and may convince me to switch Netflix for Disney+??? Anyway again … it was a very enjoyable movie and recommended, especially to my Audubon birding friends.

On second topic, here are a couple of the family Christmas over New Year’s “Spin Art” items my granddaughters left behind for us (a Christmas gift). The girls do enjoy working on artwork, crafty things and all kinds of projects in Bompa’s workshop.

Category: Art, Entertainment, Humor, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: artwork, audubon, comedy, disney, drew, granddaughers, jack black, katelyn, movie, owen wilson, recommended, spin art, steve martin, streaming, the big year

Posted By RichC on January 8, 2022

It feels like we are obliviously sailing on the Titanic and ignoring a financial storm on the horizon. We know that there is a debt iceberg ahead and yet have convinced ourselves that the United States is unsinkable … and so … continue our TRILLION dollar money printing and our unsustainable spending ways.

Congress spends in bill after bill, presidents keep approving … and American voters ignorantly elect the same irresponsible bureaucrats again and again. If history is any indication, we’ll only attempt to change when our ship begins to sink and our economy is in full collapse … but unlike the Titanic, I suspect the politicians in Washington DC, who sailed us here, will jump in the lifeboats first.

Category: Blogs, Business, History, Politics | No Comments »
Tags: ani gif, anigif, congress, debt, deficit, economy, Financial, government, irresponsible, president, spending, storm, titanic, Washington DC