Posted By RichC on November 12, 2021
A few times before, I’ve highlighted unlikely … or maybe just surprising piano playing talent on My Desultory Blog … and this Friday Filler video is no different. The first was Jacob Toliver in an Ohio hardware store and that post still makes me smile.
Posted By RichC on November 11, 2021
Our driveway project is semi-wrapped up, but the landscaping company has yet to deliver our topsoil and river rock. The
Creech’s rep did update me with a tentative date later this month, so we shall see if the weather holds them back again?
I finally moved the construction cones a couple weeks ago and we started to use our front driveway again … but no sooner did vehicles drive on the new concrete again did a van drive off the edge. I was hoping that it didn’t crack the edge of the concrete (it did not) … considering that there isn’t any packed ground or at topsoil settled in to give the edge some extra support.
To make this a Throwback Thursday #TBT post, this time the delivery driver can’t blame it on snow or leave it perched precariously on our mailbox (Fedex). I didn’t even comment since the Amazon “girl” was super nice. I actually felt bad for her and wondered if she has trouble driving the van in far tighter driveways?
Posted By RichC on November 11, 2021
This content is restricted.
Posted By RichC on November 10, 2021
It may not be pretty, but hopefully the “fix” for the segment of driveway concrete that was poured when our driveway was replaced, without the proper pitch, will prevent puddling where the old and new concrete came together. We were not home to see the work, but after a cursory look (photos) on Wednesday morning, it looks pretty good.
We are still unhappy with the quality of work, the poor brushing and trying to beat the rain (damage to surface) and will likely have disagreement over our finally contracted payment amount. The company disappointed me several times in addition to the quality of workmanship and the cracking has already appeared:
Posted By RichC on November 9, 2021
After learning to tie a Monkey Fist knot this past year, I decided to make a couple Christmas ornaments for my granddaughters. I was planning to attach them to their presents in December, but Brenda suggested they should have them before Christmas so that they could hang them on their tree. Yikes, now I need to get the little “year” tag done sooner!
Of course, even with my long to-do list, I found time to sit back a few minutes over the weekend after working outside. The autumn weather has been crisp, but with sunshine and no wind, it was very pleasant sitting in front of the fire on the back porch.
Posted By RichC on November 8, 2021
Although I usually don’t purposely listen to jazz, I do appreciate hearing it when it is played and discussed. Last week when Fox Business host Charles Payne mentioned “We’re having a Miles Davis rally” in reference to the stock market – and the “be there or be square” 1950’s slogan. I tweeted about it and was shocked at the views and retweets.
So for Music Monday, this post wrote itself and I’m including a YouTube clip highlighting Miles Davis and his “So What” composition.
Posted By RichC on November 7, 2021
Maybe it is just me, but seeing this drone photo of a Blue Whale off the coast of Western Australia was impressive. Australia is one of those countries on my bucket list, but it is such a long and expensive flight … and Australia is a huge country to visit in a single trip, that a vacation there has never risen to the top of a short one of two weeks off travel list. Maybe someday? For now, I’ll archive the photo from the Australia Twitter feed and save the link the Margaret River Region of Western Australia to my blog.
Posted By RichC on November 6, 2021
The Ridgid brand of cordless tools have been my choice for the home workshop for a few years now and until this past week I have had a positive experience. Earlier this year Ridgid even replaced a couple failing batteries under the LSA (Lifetime Service Agreement) … 
BUT now this brand of choice is a little tarnished.
One of the tools, the subcompact driver, has been a go-to lightweight tools for screws and assembly chores. For the most part, I’m a light-duty tool user and don’t abuse cordless tools and take good care of the batteries. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that the battery rapidly drains whenever I attach one to “this tool.” All others seem fine.
So I called Ridgid customer service about it expecting they might just diagnose and replace by shipping a new one (and me shipping back the faulty one) or perhaps exchanging at the Home Depot. Nope … they required me to take it to a service center, leave the tool for them to diagnose and order parts or replace. This would require another trip back and time without the tool (no big deal for me, but a contractor/worker needing it on the job would find this frustrating). In my case, I’ve decided to just live with the minor issue (just remove the battery when I’m done using it for the day) or I will buy another one as an updated and improved model comes out (every few years). Realistically, they aren’t really that expensive. For me, the inconvenience isn’t worth driving back and forth to an inconvenient service center.
So … the Rigid tool LSA might not be exactly what it is cracked up to be. In other words, if you prefer the Milwaukee or DeWalt .. don’t pick a Ridgid cordless tools just because of the Lifetime Service Agreement that includes batteries purchased paired with a kit (which was my reasoning).
Posted By RichC on November 5, 2021
Although I’m not an all-in cryptocurrency buyer, trader or investor (pick your poison), I do own and am accumulating small amounts of different crypto. After a fair amount of reading this past year, my conclusion is to use a reputable cryptocurrency exchange like Coinbase Pro, Coinbase (disclosure: I own $COIN stock), Uphold or
Interactive Brokers to trade crypto … then move any large amounts or long term hold crypto (private keys – see below) to a hardware wallet. Think of an online wallet as a checking account for day to day transaction and having a separate savings account or even safety deposit box (offline) for fewer transactions (a hardware wallet). Perhaps some will pushback on that analogy, but nevertheless keeping “private keys” offline is safer and makes sense to me.
— When you own cryptocurrencies, what you really own is a private key. Your coins are associated with a set of “public/private key”.
—Your coins do not physically exist on any device — not even your hardware wallet.
— Hardware wallets store and safekeep your private keys, so that you can be the custodian of your own money.
It is interesting to see the impact this relatively new commodity or currency is having in society today and likely will in our future. I’m old enough to remember the day purchases were only made with cash or checks and when I used my first plastic credit card. It was a SOHIO gasoline card, then Sears store credit card that eventually became our Discover Card in 1986. Now I don’t even think twice about paying with “plastic” or even using credit. Thankfully both Brenda and I have always been advocates for paying our statements in full, rarely pay interest or take out loans and always use a “cash back” or “points” (grr) card rather than using 
cash, check or bank debit transactions. We’ve recently even started to “pay the convenience fee” on our utility bills since the 4% cash back saves more than the fee!
I assume sooner or later the US digital-dollar will make its way into normal everyday circulation and we’ll all be banking and transacting with a form of regulated and non-regulated “wild west” blockchain. For now, it is the learning curve and keeping whatever assets we own safe from hacking … for that, a reputable hardware wallet makes the most sense. After doing your research, click the image below for a 20% discount and order an “untampered with” hardware wallet like the Nano S or recommended Nano X directly from Ledger.
Let’s add a final word of caution and a reader survey from Investopedia:
[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin enables the citizens of a country to undermine government authority by circumventing capital controls imposed by it. It also facilitates nefarious activities by helping criminals evade detection. Finally, by removing intermediaries, Bitcoin can potentially throw a wrench in the existing financial infrastructure system and destabilize it.
Posted By RichC on November 4, 2021
Not to many years ago, the United States was on its way to becoming energy independent … until the American fossil fuel industry came under attack from within our own country. 
This time the reason is not due to our country’s inability to produce enough oil and natural gas for our needs, but an ideology … or political power?
Our independence form OPEC and freedom from their strangle on on our country reduced American dependence on overseas oil … and gave workers in the US oil and gas industry good jobs and an exportable product. To most Americans who grew up under the thumb of OPEC and the fear of peak oil when we were driving pre-emission control vehicles and filling with leaded and high-sulphur fuels, the innovations that make the internal combustion engines cleaner and more efficient were tremendous advancements. The new petroleum finds, and fracking for natural gas and new biofuel alternatives were decades in coming and finally made affordable energy available to all Americans. The tax that is “high energy costs” was finally under control at the end of the last decade … thanks to innovation and policies that no long held America hostage to the MiddleEast oil cartels … and our steady move toward renewables like solar, wind and electric vehicles. Unfortunately that progress wasn’t good enough for the rabid environmental crowd and politicians in search of an issue to give them more power over people.
Unfortunately as we all too often find out, elections have consequences … and by hook or by crook … the left came to power in 2020 and rained down havoc on US energy. From shutting down pipelines to regulating exploration and drilling, President Biden and the Democrats has turned back the clock on our energy independence. Not only is the cost for all the Americans 40+ percent higher (a regressive tax on every citizen) not to mention shipping of all our goods and services, but it has also driven up the price of natural gas and electricity. This winter we are on track to see our home heating bills 30% higher. Many will be harkened back to remembering shivering in the 1970’s and turning to coal and woodstoves (not CO2 friendly), propane and kerosene heaters for single room warming and wearing layers of clothing. What it sad, is that the Democrats currently in power are doing it to their own citizens and country – it is not OPEC this time; this “tax on the American people” is completely preventable.
US Retail Gas Price chart Oct 2021 (above) – How is your state doing?
So for Throwback Thursday #TBT this week, how about revisiting a post from 2006 and an adjusted for inflation chart when energy and gasoline was rising?
