My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on August 13, 2025

Initially I blamed a “failing to charge“ problem on a recent iOS update from Apple (updated the previous night), but after a little trial and error testing, have concluded something isn’t working with my relatively new Peak Design wireless charging stand. Up to this point, it has been just fine and sits next to my MacBook Air M2 comfortably and it works with my Peak Design case … where the Magfast wireless charger did not.

The charging indicator pops on, but then turn off and back on again. If the phone is left on the charger, it continues to lose charge, just as if it were not on the charger — it actually seems even faster, if that was possible? I’ve switch USB-C power blocks, tried different cables and finally ended up plugging it. Over lunch I took off the Peak Design case and tried charging it on my old Magfast charger that Brenda is using and it worked fine — so long as the case was off.

An email was sent to tech support at Peak Design (a pain) and I’m still waiting to see if they have a solution. Bummer.
 

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Category: Apple, Gadget, Technology, Video | No Comments »
Tags: apple, charger, charging, iphone 16 pro max, peak design, update, warranty, wireless

Posted By RichC on August 12, 2025

If you are an investor or just someone wanted some good news as inflation held steady, the  market gained and had added hope noting the upcoming peace talks between President Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. You might even say, “America’s Future is Bright” … a reference to my TheHustings commentary today after my previous polite comment on immigration. 😉 

Part of the market rally was due to thinking the Federal Reserve might start a series of rate cuts in September. The hope is that reducing the cost of capital (borrowing) will make conditions even more attractive for businesses in America to expand and hire more workers.

In terms of consumer lending, the higher rates in recent years has made buying new car and in particular homes difficult for those starting families. Having lower rates should help move people who want to buy rather than rent into homeownership. Of course, unless supply increases, we could still see prices rise triggering higher inflation again.

I don’t envy the Fed Chair.

Category: Financial, News | No Comments »
Tags: cnbc, cnn, commentary, inflation, investing, putin, stock market, thehustings, trump, wikipedia

Posted By RichC on August 12, 2025

As the saying goes, “better to have a birthday then not to have one.” Yet most of us watching the years tick by wonder, why do the years seem to tick by so much faster the older we get? 

So, Happy Birthday, Brenda – here’s a George Meredith quote to ponder.

It has been a wonderful year and we both have been abundantly blessed. The medical issues that have been part of the last decade are mostly behind us and Brenda in particular has rehabbed AND then some since her ladder fall in 2015 (has it been that many years!) . Personally I think she is in better shape now than she has been in a long time even with a new shoulder and new hip — and has diligently been spending time improving on all aspects of her health (still watching those 2020 compression fractures in her back). Better health and no pain is something to celebrate on her birthday. 

Now the question is, as we prepare to go hiking with Brenda’s sister in Utah, can we keep up with her?  (Reminder to younger and middle-aged women in particular: Prioritize your bone health!) 

Lots of things can affect bone health. For example:

• The amount of calcium in your diet. A diet low in calcium may lead to low bone density, early bone loss and easily broken bones.
• Physical activity. Exercise makes bones stronger. People who aren’t physically active have a higher risk of osteoporosis than people who exercise regularly.

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Category: Archive, Health, Personal, Quotes | No Comments »
Tags: birthday, bones, brenda, family, george meredith, Health, mayo clinic, osteoporosis, quote

Posted By RichC on August 11, 2025

This content is restricted.

Category: Music | No Comments »
Tags: it don't come easy, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, ringo starr, siriusxm, the beatles, thebridge, wikipedia, youtube

Posted By RichC on August 10, 2025

Today’s post is part photo archive, a project idea and a little on “what I’m reading this summer” — but I do miss the World War II history books of previous years.

KDAE were off to Colorado on a family vacation this past week and were enjoying there time hiking and outdoors. They were with Drew’s family and I could see by the photos that they were enjoying themselves … after a rough start (a little sickness delayed their departure by a day … but ended well). I’ve been praying for them and will be glad when they are home save and sound. 

I’ve been reading a couple of different books this month, one a little dated on the “Coming Collapse of China” by Gordon G. Chang (“Plan Red,” an ebook is on hold at the library) … as is another that I”m first in line for called “On Power” by Mark Levin. Both sound interesting.

Finally … because I can’t figure out where else to save these couple of photos for a workshop welding project … here’s an idea for a grinder powered cut-off tool. There’s not much these handy 4 to 4-1/2” hand grinders aren’t being adapted to do. 😉 

Category: Archive, Books, Ideas, Personal, Photos, Tidbits, Tools | No Comments »
Tags: amazon.com, china, colorado, family, gordon chang, library, mark levin, plan red, power, reading, vacation, welding, wikipedia

Posted By RichC on August 9, 2025

Since someone commented to me online, knowing that I’ve been tinkering with AI chatbots, “How much should everyday non-business users be paying for artificial intelligence?”

I thought to myself and then decided to test the new ChatGPT4o … better known as ChatGPT5 … what “it” thought we should be paying (BTW, ChatGPT5 “really likes designing with the color purple). 😉 

You raise an important point — while AI tools are powerful, their cost-to-value ratio can vary significantly for non-business, personal users. Here’s a breakdown to help assess what’s worth paying for:

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Category: Advice, AI, Education, Financial, Human Interest, Technology, Tools, Video | No Comments »
Tags: artificial intelligence, chatgpt5, openai, sam altman, youtube

Posted By RichC on August 8, 2025

For years, Google-served ads have appeared in the headers and footers of My Desultory Blog. Each time removing them seems appealing, the realization hits that they generate enough income – though far less than in the early days — to cover server costs, so they remained.

Early this summer, tweaks were made to lessen their intrusiveness, but little changed. As August arrived, a near-decision to remove them rose to my thoughts again. However, recent changes at AdSense prompted a delay – a final decision is pending. 😉 

Dear Publisher,

As previously announced, Google will begin using machine learning to estimate the age of signed-in users in the United States. Over the next few weeks, we’ll begin to roll out this update to a small set of users in the U.S. to help us further protect young people as they use Google products. We’ll closely monitor this before we roll it out more widely.

For our publisher ad products, when our machine learning model flags a Google signed-in user as likely under 18, they will be provided additional ad safeguards. This includes:

• Disabling ads personalization

• Disallowing sensitive creative categories from serving

These changes will be applied to demand served through Google publisher products (Ad Manager, AdSense, and AdMob) when Google account information is used. There is no action needed at this time.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team 

Category: Blogs, Financial, Marketing, Privacy, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: adsense, advertising, blog, google, monetize, tech friday, techfriday

Posted By RichC on August 7, 2025

It is crazy to realize we are now in August already and soon kids across America will be going back to school (some actually start in July)! Anyway, for a #TBT triggering post, I spotted this video on social media that reminded me of the Ironing Board reenactment post of Brian Regan‘s comedy. Whoa … that was in 2008 … and is worth a click! 😊

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Category: Education, Humor, Nature, TBT, Video | No Comments »
Tags: #TBT Throwback Thursday, back to school, backporch, backyard, brian regan, comedy, edit add, hummingbird, ironing board

Posted By RichC on August 6, 2025

My favorite vehicle: 1994 Toyota 4Runner and first solo-drive: VW Karmann Ghia

A couple of automotive triggering discussions regarding “working on cars” came about over the weekend that triggered my thinking, “I should be working on cars in the garage again.” Maybe was the pleasant low-humidity weather or just seeing the Wyze cam videos of classic cars out for drives, or driving the Mercedes Benz 300d Turbodiesel on Saturday and Taylor chatting about working on the MGB (video from 2005) … but it did get me thinking about cars again. What’s next, getting fired up about  sailing again – but only if Brenda’s bones can take it? 

Mild weather weekends always bring out the classic cars rumbling slowly by. They give me the itch to get working on cars in my garage. #automotive pic.twitter.com/zzSyXT0ZTX

— Rich Corbett 🇺🇸 (@RichC)

August 4, 2025

Category: Automotive, Mercedes, MGB, Packard, Social Media, Volkswagen, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: 4runner, classic cars, garage, hawk, karmann ghia, mgb, packard, volkswagen, x.com

Posted By RichC on August 5, 2025

Since the previous post was  a recap of Monday’s market rebound after Friday’s stock market selloff, I’m using this post as an excuse to get a couple of saved items out of the folder where I collect ideas for MDB.

The first photo one is a bit nutty if you ask me, but because it is used behind the scenes by someone regularly interviewed on television, it is generally never seen. I suspect those who need conference setups are always look for ring-lights and tripods to hold their camera/screen devices, but I’ve never quite seen one like this: A wooden stand that holds a notebook computer’s camera at a height acceptable for video chats and TV interviews. Perhaps it beats cords dangling everywhere, but there must be a better solution?

This second “saved image” is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics FRED graphic that illustrates the employment of Foreign Born employment vs Native Born U.S. employment from about 2011 to 2025. Notice that the index numbers were closer back in 2011 (actually equal in 2007) and that significantly more Foreign Born workers were being employed in the U.S. vs Native Born citizens. Both suffered in 2020 (Covid-19) BUT when business recovered and  employment resumed after the pandemic (during the Biden administration), one group expanded much more rapidly that the other — can you guess when the border was opened and mass illegal immigration occurred? 

It will be interesting to see if things change after 2025; will Native Born U.S. citizens continue to gain employment and will the deportation of illegal aliens boost wages and employment for Native Born U.S. workers? Time will tell if the Trump administration’s policies can continue to grow the domestic economy and job prospects for those “legally” working in the U.S. 

Category: Archive, Ideas, Misc, Politics | No Comments »
Tags: fred, illegal alien, immigration, interview, jobs, laptop, video, workers