My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on December 31, 2020

I had lunch “out” this week with my good friend Jeff, although this routine has become very infrequent compared to previous years. Still, we had a chance to catch up, talk about politics (Ugh), the old-days backpacking in North Carolina (an old scanned photo for Throwback Thursday #TBT) … and I opened his cool gift to me that works with my Trangia backpacking stove. Nice (see small Solo Stove below the break).  He filled me in on his time in Orlando with family (aging father) and I filled him in about our Christmas with the kids.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

— Jeremiah 29:11

There is no better way to end the sour 2020 year than reflecting on the many blessings in my life… including good friends and family, I am so thankful we are all here and still healthy, considering how the Coronavirus has impacted others (although Brenda is still struggling with her compression fracture and osteoporosis … but she has a plan and is slowly mending). Hopefully, we will continue to remain COVID19 free and disciplined until the vaccine helps curtail the spread.

On remaining COVID19-free, Katelyn received her vaccine on Tuesday and Drew on Wednesday. Since they both work with patients and are in hospital settings, they are frontline workers and as I mentioned on Twitter, “One less worry for dad.”

As for winding down 2020 and preparing for 2021, I’m semi-busy closing out my books, getting the last of my “window-dressing” done on the stock trading (tax planning) and figuring out how to set up a new scaled-back accounting set-up for the future. Years ago I started the business with MYOB and moved to Quickbooks for the last 15 years. Now, I can really go back to something simpler and spreadsheet-based … I know, I’m going backward. HA!

For now, here’s wishing everyone a safe New Year’s Eve and a healthy and happy New Year.

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Category: Faith, Friends, Health, Memories, Personal, Photos, TBT | No Comments »
Tags: backpacking, blessings, camping, coronavirus, covid19, family, friends, hiking, jeff pitts, jeffp, katelyn, memories, Memory, reflection, solo, stove, TBT, thankful, vaccination, vaccine

Posted By RichC on December 30, 2020

When it comes to being the first to read a book, I’m not the guy to turn to, but eventually I do get around to some of them. I’m particularly fond of the history oriented books from the last century and “I Marched With Patton” by Frank Sisson fits that criteria. 

This World War II story starts with the downtrodden setting for the economy and the hardships of the Great Depression. Frank had to become the breadwinner for his family at a young age after the death of his father and knew he would soon be called to war when he turned 18. From a small Oklahoma town, his honesty in acknowledging his worldly knowledge was limited as he relates this to readers in situations such as meeting a US Jewish soldier from Philadelphia who explained the oppression of Jews by the Nazis … as well as other times in history. The naïveté of Frank likely wasn’t unique for the time when a lot of US soldiers came from smaller isolated town with schools barely able to teach the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic.

I’m listening to the audio version and find the narration by Robert L. Wise excellent. He helps bring the story to life just as a good actor does in a movie. I’m about half finished but early in the story, Frank’s connection to General George Patton was while directing traffic in France and saluting Patton’s Jeep as he passed by – “He looked me in the eye as if to approve of the way I was directing traffic.”

If you enjoy military history and World War II accounts, then you’ll enjoy “I Marched With Patton.” A worthwhile read.

Category: Audio, Books, Millitary | No Comments »
Tags: audio, Books, frank sisson, glose, History, patton, reading, ww2

Posted By RichC on December 29, 2020

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Category: Archive, Holiday, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, brenda, christmas, corbett, coronavirus, covid19, coyote, drew, ellerie, family, katelyn, lumix, megan, oostra, Photos, richc, taylor, toolkit, truth for life

Posted By RichC on December 28, 2020

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Category: Memories, Music | No Comments »
Tags: 1970s, coconut, harry nillssen, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, novelty, song

Posted By RichC on December 27, 2020

There was an interesting article in Prevention Magazine that explains what the COVID19 or generically the Coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna do … AND what their ingredients are. It also details the differences between the two from the standpoint of how cold storage temperatures need to be. Check out the article for the ingredients or the snippet as to what they do below:

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. While these vaccines are the first of their kind, mRNA has been studied for more than 10 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was developed years ago to try to combat other illnesses, but never made it past early-stage clinical trials until it was refined and re-targeted for COVID-19.

The coronavirus mRNA vaccines do not contain live or inactivated virus, but rather work by encoding a piece of the spike protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, per the CDC. (This is the part of the virus that gives it that unique crown-like shape.)

The vaccines use the piece of the encoded SARs-CoV-2 protein to trigger an immune response in your body. How? The mRNA gives your cells instructions to produce a protein that’s similar to the coronavirus’ spike protein, tricking your system into thinking it has an infection to fight. (Remember: It’s just a part of the protein, and does your body no harm.)

Your system mounts a response against the new proteins, because they’re seen as foreign invaders, developing antibodies that are specific to SARs-CoV-2 in the process. These infection fighters stick around to help your body fight a future case of COVID-19, but it’s not yet understood for how long. Your body will do its thing and eventually get rid of the proteins and mRNA on its own.

Link to article

Category: Health, Innovation, News, Science, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: coronavirus, covid19, disease, Health, ingredients, medical, moderna, pandemic, pfizer, prevention, science, vaccine

Posted By RichC on December 26, 2020

Category: Environment, Misc, Nature, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: aerodynamics, attack, birds, diving, eagle, filler, photo

Posted By RichC on December 25, 2020

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Category: Archive, Blogs, Holiday, Personal, Photos, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: animal, annalyn, christmas, dessert, ellerie, family, pi, pie box, presents, projects, stool, woodworking

Posted By RichC on December 24, 2020

Since I expect to be busy with our family on Christmas Eve Day, I’ll prepare a post for Throwback Thursday #TBT with a few old handsaws from my families past and asked the rhetorical question to myself: “Why do you keep old handsaws that you never use?”

Actually I don’t recall really needing to use a handsaw for quite a few years … besides the bow saw (not pictured) that I’ve used to trim a tree or two. Are these relics worth saving for history sake? A couple were mine and a couple were DadC’s and DadH’s (probably their fathers?). Speaking of saws, one of the best purchases I’ve made in hand tools has been the Japanese dovetail saw. It is razor sharp and cuts a thin kerf – so much better than my miter or backsaws.

On an entirely different topic, I was distracted from reorganizing our basement storage room when restacking the empty Christmas decoration boxes in seeing the excessive amount of rust appearing on the bottom plate of the basement Jack Post where it is against the cement floor. I doubt it will ever be a structure weakness in my lifetime, but couldn’t help but add a coat of Rustoleum paint before burying it behind boxes.

Thinking about junk we have kept from family and don’t use or need, I tossed an old deck of playing cards belonging  to my Grandma and Grandpa Bluhm, but not before checking on their history … or at least the company Brown and Bigelow who made them. An interesting history … and use of Cassius Marcellus Coolidge “Dogs Playing Poker” artwork, which made me want to keep them (but I didn’t!)

The company was founded in 1896 by Herbert Huse Bigelow and Hiram Brown.

On June 24, 1924, Bigelow was convicted for tax evasion, fined ten thousand dollars, and sentenced to three years in Leavenworth Penitentiary. He was released after eight months. While incarcerated, he befriended infamous safe-cracker Morris Rudensky.

On April 13, 1928, President Calvin Coolidge pardoned Bigelow. Following Bigelow’s release, the company became notable for developing prototype convict rehabilitation programs through the hiring of hundreds of ex-convicts.

MORE

Category: Art, History, Human Interest, Personal, Photos, TBT, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: antique, basement, bluhm, dadc, dadh, distraction, family, handsaw, jack post, painting, playing cards, rustoleum, storage, TBT

Posted By RichC on December 23, 2020

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Category: Archive, Health, Holiday, Misc, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, blog, christmas, coronavirus, ellerie, family, gilkey, granddaughters, great room, house, improvments covid19, updates, windows

Posted By RichC on December 22, 2020

With only a handful of meals out during this COVID19 year with my buddy Jeff this past year, I’ve learned to appreciate them even more than usual. We’ve been having lunch together each month or so as a way to stay connected for decades and for me adjusting to just emails and text messages is not the same.

I’ve probably taken his friendship for granted in the past, but we have always assisted each other and have been available to lend each other a hand. I’ve appreciated having a non-judgmental person to bounce ideas off of. Sometimes its just a way to clarity thoughts, other times it’s applying the two-heads are better than one brainstorming principle. This past week it was contemplating life after working and what our country holds from the perspective of our exponentially increasing debt and deficits. What I appreciate about Jeff is that once he gets thinking about something, he dives into it intellectually. I enjoy reading a bit, but nothing like him.

Our recent topic was on MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) and if that was the direction the United States was going. I suspected this for a while now, but recently it seems to be gaining a following from politicians and economists who disagree with being overly concern with our deficit, let alone our growing debt. Neither of us are MMTers, or believe government can continue to print and spent money without the traditional economic schoolo of thought that inflation will skyrocket (perhaps that is because we’ve experienced inflation or have seen what can happen with hyperinflation for other countries)?

Point being, is what should we be doing about it or how should we be investing for our retirement years IF this becomes a possibility? Both of us had our own untested ideas and I admitted that each time I thought we in the U.S. faced ballooning deficits and debt … it passed without catastrophe result – we slumped, picked up the pieces and continued to repeat digging the same behavior. It continues to be justified by pointing to the debt-to-GDP ratio and that we in the US are better at managing our economy than some other countries.

Still … I’m very uncomfortable living with trillion dollar deficits and an exponentially growing debt. Diversifying was about the only conclusion we could come up with that made any sense when it comes to saving and investing.

2/2/2022: I’m not sure about the clock above, but just noticed that in Feb 2022 our U.S. National Debt surpassed $30 TRILLION. One has to wonder if Congress and President Biden declares “spending fully paid for” why we continue to advance our debt at this rapid rate?

But the real reason to add something to this post was to include a humorous photo that I sent to my buddy Jeff (a hot sauce and salsa lover) a photo that I thought he might appreciate. 😊

Category: Financial, Friends, Personal, Politics | No Comments »
Tags: brainstorming, coron, covid19, debt, deficit, economics, el rancho, friends, idiom, idioms, investing, jeffp, lunch, mmt, Restaurant