My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on December 26, 2021

Before the year 2021 disappears, it is worth highlighting Time magazine’s pick for Person of the Year  – although I generally just roll my eyes.

This time in picking Elon Musk, it is hard to disagree. The pick of Musk, the richest man on Earth, is a good one as he is not only an “influencer” … but an industry titan who’s disruptive drive in business is only surpassed by his innovative genius and visionary ambition.

His Tesla company has changed the way we look at electric vehicles and his SpaceX company has move space exploration into the private sector. He continues to be a force worth watching since he is only 50, has amassed $300 billion dollars and someone to pay attention to whether he making an eccentric tweet on cryptocurrency or someone building a humanoid robot. In any case, Elon Musk was definitely an excellent pick for Person of The Year in 2021.

Category: Automotive, Business, Financial, Human Interest, Social Media, Space, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: $TSLA, cbs, cover, elon musk, person of the year, spacex, tesla, time magazine

Posted By RichC on December 26, 2021

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Category: Archive, Holiday, Memories, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, boxing day, brenda, christmas, christmas eve, drew, ellerie, family, katelyn, megan, oostras, Photos, richc, taylor

Posted By RichC on December 25, 2021

Wishing all who read My Desultory Blog a very Merry Christmas, good health and a very Happy New Year.

Category: Holiday, Humor, Video | No Comments »
Tags: christmas, Humor, mp4, new year, reindeer, santa

Posted By RichC on December 24, 2021

It is not easy to follow Christ, but His teachings, AND gift of salvation, are what we sinners need.

Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 

– Matthew 4:19

While mailing out our Christmas cards, decorating our Christmas tree and reflecting on this past year, I listened to a message shared by Christian follower/friend Steve Martin on Twitter (see … there are some positive uses for social media). It was from 2012 (I think) by whom I assumed was his church pastor based on a reference in the audio — Mark Anderson <- his book link. I thought it was still timely in setting my mind and focus on the birth of Jesus this Christmas season … and who knows, someone else might agree?
  

Category: Audio, Blogs, Faith, Holiday, Social Media | No Comments »
Tags: christ, christmas, christmas eve, cross, jesus, mark anderson, message, mp3, twitter

Posted By RichC on December 23, 2021

While posting to the blog yesterday, I noticed a “Year(s) Ago On This Day” post archiving the stamped concrete was being pour/stamped for our backporch – 14 years ago). And even more shocking is that we were building our house back in the winter and spring of 1996! (click on house photo below of Katelyn, Brenda and Taylor)

The comment I made on the post regarding “the only thing slower is the airplane project” made me chuckle … to which all these years later I can say that the MGB project is even slower!

Reminiscing aside, I’m thankful to have had all these years to enjoy our home with our kids growing up, but I am still shocked at just how rapidly the time has gone. How time flies!

Category: Idioms, Memories, Personal, Photos, TBT | No Comments »
Tags: backporch, brenda, construction, home, house, idiom, idioms, katelyn, memories, project, taylor, TBT, throwback, thursday, time flies

Posted By RichC on December 22, 2021

It has taken me a long time to cut into the outfeed table that I added to my Delta table saw in 2019, but I’ve finally added “the notch.”

The spacing between the often used Shopsmith band saw and my lumber rack has always been tight … so tight that I’ve found myself angling it to give me a little more standing access. For the last year or so, I’ve gone back and forth with the idea of moving the 7 foot long semi-portable tool all together and adding a much better chip and dusk collector to this space. Instead, I added an office storage cabinet (will eventually move), a dust collection box and moved the small, but loud DC3300 dust collector to under the lumber rack. This keeps the hoses out of the normal pathway near the door.

To gain standing space, I cut out a 3-3/4 inch notch for the head of the Shopsmith, which I often chuck with a deburring wheel or sanding drum … and keep the bandsaw permanently in place.

I previously added a dedicated 220 volt drop for the table saw and separated duel 110 volt outlet for the bandsaw. The added bonus is that the base of the Shopsmith (the lathe tool holder and tailstock, etc) hide underneath the outfeed table AND it holds the hinged “leaf” up and in place sturdily. The extra few inches is precisely what I need to stand comfortable between the lumber storage and the bandsaw … but still, “the notch” is as unsightly on the outfeed table as it is on an Apple iPhone.

Category: Archive, Personal, Photos, Productivity, Tidbits, Tools, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: dust collector, notch, outfeed, table, tools, vacuum, woodworking, workshop

Posted By RichC on December 21, 2021

The planetary astronomer and science guru, Dr. James O’Donoghue, that I follow on Twitter posted a great video illustration that explains today, December 21st … or more appropriately a couple of days that occur as the seasons change.

Today is the winter solstice and it marks the shortest day in the northern hemisphere. On December 21st (or 22nd), the earth receives the least amount of sunlight and the short illustration below best explains the tilt of the Earth and how it effects our seasons and why it happens (the tilt is the relative position to the earths north pole pointing as it points towards the star called Polaris). This tilted position, while making an elliptical path around the sun, brings us the winter solstice and the opposite happening, usually June 21st or 22nd, called the summer solstice or the longest day of the year (these dates depend on the shift of the calendar). Check it out.

Category: Education, Science, Social Media, Space, Tidbits, Video | No Comments »
Tags: astronomy, dr. james o'donoghue, earth, mp4, science, seasons, solstice, summer, sun, twitter, winter

Posted By RichC on December 20, 2021

Perhaps the days of our yearly-update annual Corbett Christmas Letter stuffed into a Christmas card are in the past? We have succumb to the popular printed photo card and figured that those who might want to know more about our year might just read my blog (a shameless plug).

This year we decided not to include photos of our children (but can’t resist including our two granddaughters), but … as an update … all is well in our extended family. The adults are all fully vaccinated and they have been working and pretty much living and loving life. Taylor has taken enough trips this year that I can’t keep up with him and … yes … he is still dating Megan. We don’t ask about the future and are just glad that they are happy “loving the now” … and with that thought, how about a non-holiday Jimmy Buffett Music Monday song!
 

As for Drew and Katelyn, they have a full life as well. They have taken a few trips here and there, are in the house building planning stages, are busy with activities galore with the kiddos and prioritize getting together with the family (much appreciated … spoken like grandparents).

So as we wind down 2021, Brenda and I wish all who read this a Very Merry Christmas and a Safe, Happy and Healthy New Year.

Category: Archive, Holiday, Memories, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: 2021, archive, christmas, christmas card, Corbett Christmas Letter, family, musicmonday, postcard

Posted By RichC on December 19, 2021

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Category: Alexa, Archive, Audio, Cellphone, Memories, Personal, Photos, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: Alexa, annalyn, crazy-face, drew, echo, ellerie, family, granddaughers, katelyn, mp3, speaking

Posted By RichC on December 18, 2021

Our Omaha Steak special New Year’s spiral cut ham arrived this week and after finding room in our freezer for 10 pounds of ham, I moved the foam cooler out to the garage. After giving some thought to how nice and cold the contents were, I decided to see if the dry ice was keeping the contents frozen (we had a problem once before).

So, I stuck a room temperature bottle of water into the cooler and wouldn’t you know, by morning that small chunk of dry ice froze the water bottle solid. Impressive –  I guess I’m just a curious kind of guy?

I know Omaha Steaks are expensive, but it is really hard to beat one of their small bacon wrapped fillet minions on the Weber Grill … even in the winter!

Category: Food, Human Interest, Misc, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: curiosity, curious, dry ice, frozen, grill, ham, omaha steaks, steaks