This past week our family on my wife’s side was fortunate to be able to almost ALL get together for a summer family reunion here in Ohio at Hocking Hills State Park. It was a semi-centrally located so that those from Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and a few locations in Ohio could drive to with their families. By my count we had 38 of us under one LARGE roof (a lodge with enough beds and amenities).
There were few if any complaints and everyone had a really good time with pleasant summer weather for a canoe trip, hiking and most men golfing while the rest of us were hiking.
The dinner meals were split up between primary families and were excellent — nobody went hungry. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bigger pile snacks. Perhaps the only items we ran low on were bottled water and cans of soda/pop?
The kids were of all ages and did great on hikes and even getting to bed on time which helped with the next day’s activities — having great parents helps. Katelyn and Drew brought their waterslide and Aaron and Lauren brought karaoke too … which were both big hits.
For me just a few days after my robotic inguinal hernia repair surgery left me pretty sore as there were just a few more complications than expected. Nevertheless, I still was able to enjoy canoeing and hiking … but no golf (thanks to the the little ones who kept our hikes short — whew!). And it was great to have Sarah too (photo with Taylor above).
Apple’s upcoming iPhone 18 Pro lineup is already generating serious buzz. While the exterior might look familiar at a glance, early leaks point to some major upgrades under the hood. Here is a quick breakdown of the top five rumored features and what to expect.
A Staggered Release Schedule In an unusual move to maximize revenue, Apple may split the launch. The flagship iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, and a brand-new foldable iPhone are expected to debut in September, while the base iPhone 18, iPhone Air 2, and iPhone 18e might not arrive until Spring 2027.
Smaller Dynamic Island By moving select Face ID components beneath the display glass, Apple is reportedly shrinking the Dynamic Island. This means less obstruction and more usable screen space for gaming, videos, and reading.
Variable Aperture Camera Moving past fixed-aperture lenses, the new main camera may feature a physical opening that widens or narrows based on lighting conditions, offering superior control over light intake and depth of field.
Next-Gen 2nm “A20 Pro” Chip Built on a cutting-edge 2-nanometer process, the new A20 Pro chip promises massive performance and efficiency gains. Rumors also point to TSMC’s WMCM technology, which integrates RAM directly onto the same wafer as the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine.
Bigger Battery & “Dark Cherry” Color To power these upgrades, Apple is expected to slightly thicken the device to fit a larger battery. On the design front, alongside Black, Silver, and Light Blue, a stylish new Dark Cherry finish is tipped to be the standout viral color this generation.
Expected Pricing & Release With component costs rising, leaks suggest a price hike for this year’s lineup:
iPhone 18 Pro: Rumored to start at $1,299 iPhone 18 Pro Max: Expected to start at $1,399
Some of my fondest memories as newlyweds come from looking at these photos from 1982. The little red brick farmhouse was our first starter home in Aurora, Ohio ($54,900). It was unique in more ways that one:
A one-lung pump (clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk) and heavy iron well-water that turned Brenda hair red (eventually we replace with city water and sewer).
We also had a Maytag wringer washer that came with the house do our laundry.
The old oil furnace was replaced in our second year … partially with a homemade woodstove and an eventual a $700 gas line and a new natural gas furnace.
Built a 10 x 12 ft deck off the rear so we could entertain outside.
Steps to the basement from in the garage … which was something we carried over into our new house.
The garage became a workshop and a place I started printing.
All in all, we were fortunate to be able to acquired the existing mortgage at 12% when others were paying 18%. We lived here for 5 years, had baby Katelyn in 1986 and eventually moved one town over to Hudson, Ohio.
*** Also, being a car guy, Brenda drove 1978 Chevy Monza wagon ($3800 new and when she bought it new — very functional) … and I drove an economical 1977 Honda Civic (a rebuildable).
What’s a person to do with old OBD reader that no longer does what I need it to do?
I have a Carly for BMW WiFi Adapter that was great for diagnosing, resetting codes, modifying options and replacing batteries. Unfortunately it is no longer supported and the scanner is subscription based and a bit more that I would like to spend just to keep my older 2010 BMW X5 35d updated and running (I’ll likely still do it someday).
BUT … what to do with an old Generation 2 device? Are there still ways to use it … perhaps open source???
Back row: Chris, Dad H, Mom H, Ann, Jerry, Middle row: Mark, Brenda, Lynda, Aaron, Front row: Ben, Justin, David and Rich (1985??? click for larger)
Brenda and I are anxiously awaiting getting together with our extended Howard family after a long stretch of not really seeing everybody. There was a time we were together twice a year EVERY year (and special occasions), but as all family do, our children grow up and start their own families — all great! Still, I do miss the old days of getting together and realize just how fortunate I have been to have married into a great family and having had MomH and DadH as in-laws.
Family reunion aside (I suspect more will be posted), I did try again to scout out charging location in my wife’s hometown “IF” we take her 2019 Tesla Model 3 on a road trip to Western NY. I really don’t think it is going to happen … but I’m entertaining the thought of checking with Turo if we were to rent a newer Model Y for the extended range test? How crazy would that be???
The 20th-ish annual ‘Howard Bowl’ football game – no injuries this year!
As promised last week, here’s another unusual pick for Music Monday: 3EB’s “Never Let You Go” from the year 2000 (non-music listening years for me — hint: Menieres). Also, Third Eye Blind isn’t a band I would generally pay much attention to … but accidentally flipping to the PopRocks channel over the 4th of July had me commenting to myself that it was nice to hear something different.
This year’s midterm November’s election will slate candidates about as diametrically opposed as we have ever seen in the United States. If the news is to be believed, Democrats have candidates that aren’t just flirting with Marxism, Socialism and Communism … they are advocating for it!
It has been a raucous week to say the least. First, it was a week of an up and down recovery for me after Monday’s robotic inguinal hernia repair surgery. Second, the energy/oil and financial markets that we all watch were in turmoil due to the events in the Strait of Hormuz(Friday’s Dow and Nasdaq close below).
The most important thing, the surgery went smoothly … even if it was a little more complicated than expected according to the surgeon (2-1/2 hours). Thankfully I have only a few “punched holes” and soreness to show for it … and it didn’t require cutting me open — that’s the good news.
The latter being continued unrest in the Middle East and impacting markets and our nation’s economic and political mood. Iran continued its resistance to seeking a peaceful way to resolve demands from the U.S. not to pursue a nuclear weapon or dictating the flow of trade (primarily oil) in and out of the Persian Gulf. Unfortunately they escalated again this past week and fired more missiles and drones hitting U.S. bases and killing 4 more Americans(and also striking neighboring countries and ships). The likelihood President Trump will continue to strike back is 99.9 percent … and now the Yemen Houthis are getting involved.
Interestingly, I haven’t really given all that much thought until pondering the wave of new socialist politicians making inroads in today’s Democratic Party. There is a clause in the U.S. Constitution (Article II, Section 1, Clause 5) that states
“No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President…”
Well that brings to mind our early U.S. Presidents and who was the first to actually be born after the founding of our republic? That would be our country’s 8th president,President Martin Van Buren of Kinderhook, New York.
Tidbit: “He is the only president to have spoken English as a second language and was the co-founder of the Democratic Party.” – LINK
The clause ALSO created a grandfather exception for those who were already U.S. citizens when the Constitution was adopted (which included the first seven presidents, all born as British subjects before independence).
Martin Van Buren was born in 1782 after the Declaration of Independence and therefore was the first president born as a U.S. citizen and thus the first to qualify under the “natural born” requirement without relying on the grandfather clause.
All presidents since Van Buren have been born as U.S. citizens.
After putting things off for awhile now, it was good to finally get a robotic inguinal hernia repair on Monday . I have been laying low since the procedure and can’t say I’m feeling like doing much. Which is a good things since I’m not suppose to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk.
I think all went well and hopefully it will give me some relief and ability to do a few more things. Let’s heal fast.
So for now, I’ll leave you with this “POSITIVE POST.” 😊
Katelyn and Drew brought their waterslide and Aaron and Lauren brought karaoke too … 
which were both big hits.
rent a 
