My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on November 19, 2020

If the active record-breaking hurricane season wasn’t enough to have you questioning the idea of moving to Florida, how about a 2000 pound great white shark off Miami, alligators that are straight out of the Jurassic Period on a Naples, FL golf course or constrictor snakes slithering out of the Everglades large enough to compete with these alligators?

If those are too far-fetched to concern you, then for good measure, check out this well-fed “poisonous” diamondback rattlesnake leisurely crossing the road on the west coast of Florida (they make our friendly Delray Beach iguanas and water snakes look like innocuous neighbors)?

Category: Misc, Nature, Photos, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: alligator, constrictor, everglades, florida, great white shark, iquanas, pythons, rattlesnake, snakes

Posted By RichC on November 18, 2020

Every once in awhile, an interesting and creative, but questionable, idea crossing my eyeballs. Here’s a pretty good one when it comes to the age-old tape, thread or strand of hair method of securing a door (below). Obviously the broken, and likely telltale orange Cheetos powder, would be a sure sign of an unauthorized entry.

Talking about “something crossing my eyeballs,” my son Taylor forwarded me this Cincinnati Christmas tree as we begin to close out 2020. I suspect most will agree, 2021 and a Coronavirus vaccine, won’t be here fast enough (The good news is that both Pfizer and Moderna are close to FDA emergency authorization).

Category: Humor, Innovation, Misc | No Comments »
Tags: 2020, cheetos, christmas tree, cincinnati, coronavirus, covid19, moderna, pfizer, security, taylor, vaccine

Posted By RichC on November 17, 2020

This should have been one of the first things I did when assembling our six metal stools back when we remodeled our kitchen in 2017. I bought slides for the condo stools after remodeling since there were only two and on tile, but cheaped out with stick felts at home. They were never worth the effort.

So, with a rebate check from Bausch and Lomb, I decided now was the time to buy the 1/4” screw-on types was now.

Category: Advice, Personal, Photos, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: chair, felt, glides, kitchen, slides, stool, upgrade, wood floors

Posted By RichC on November 16, 2020

This content is restricted.

Category: Music | No Comments »
Tags: a1a, escapism, hurricane, jimmy buffett, live, mp3, Music, music monday, musicmonday, parrotheads, tropical storm, weather

Posted By RichC on November 15, 2020

On one of my sailing groups, a Sailrite Ultrafeed LSZ-1 user complained that the speed controller pedal was hard to regulate. I’ve found that to be true as well. Another person made the comment that they used a piece of flexible tubing/hose that gives the pedal a little more tactile feel … so I tried it. Nothing to write about as the problem has more to do with the starting of the motor under sewing machine load than the pedal … at least that’s my opinion.

Since I had the sewing machine out and was  tinkering with this hack last weekend, I decided to use a piece of cheap leftover tarp (used when I covered hatch openings) and made a cover for my new DeWalt Planer. It works better than drop cloth or packing blanket I’ve been using.

(more…)

Category: Hobby, How-To, Ideas, Personal, Photos, Sailing, Tidbits, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: control, cover, dewalt, hacks, hatch, holder, lsz-1, pedal, planer, sailing, sailrite, sewing machine, speed, tinkering, ultrafeed

Posted By RichC on November 14, 2020

This content is restricted.

Category: Apple, Archive, Computer, Personal, Photos, Technology, Video | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, apple, babysitting, big sur, ellerie, event, family, granddaughters, mac, macintosh, mp4, perrysburg, video

Posted By RichC on November 13, 2020

Recently I have been having problems with the Magic Mouse on my aging Apple iMac. The Bluetooth mouse once steadily held it’s connection until the AA batteries were getting weaker. I’ve cleaned the contacts with electrical cleaner and a Scotch-Brite pad but continue to have issue. A quick check on the Internet indicated that I’m not alone.

So it is time to try a new “wedge” approach to tightening up the distance and wiggle room of the battery in the mouse. See Lifewire tip:

Fix First-Generation Magic Mouse Bluetooth Disconnects

There can be several reasons for a Magic Mouse to drop the Bluetooth connection, but the most common reason is a loose battery terminal contact inside the Magic Mouse.

Lifewire / Tim Liedtke

The Magic Mouse’s battery compartment has what appears to be a weak design for the battery contacts. It’s possible for a small jolt, such as lifting the mouse to reposition it, to momentarily cause a disconnect between the battery and battery terminal in the Magic Mouse, thus breaking the electrical connection. No power means no Bluetooth connectivity.

The disconnect may be the result of a weak spring in the contacts or a poor contact design. Either way, this low-tech fix can help:

1. Turn off the mouse, push down the battery cover tab and pull the cover off the mouse. Remove the batteries from the Magic Mouse.

2. Cut two small pieces of aluminum foil about a half-inch square in size.

3. Wrap one aluminum square around the negative terminal (the flat end) of each battery.

4. Reinsert the batteries into the Magic Mouse and replace the cover.

The extra thickness of the aluminum foil produces additional force wedged between the battery and the contact. This makes the battery less likely to be jarred away from the contact when you move the Magic Mouse around.

This may be enough to fix most Bluetooth disconnect problems, but if your Magic Mouse still experiences an occasional disconnect, there’s one more modification you can try.

1. Turn off the Magic Mouse and remove the battery cover.

2. Cut a piece of paper into a rectangle about 1 inch by 1.5 inches.

3. Place the paper on top of the batteries, roughly centered. Tuck any excess paper around the edge of the batteries.

4. Replace the Magic Mouse battery cover.

The extra paper acts as a wedge between the batteries and the battery cover to help hold the batteries in place.

Category: Advice, Apple, Computer, Technology, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: batteries, battery, bluetooth, Computer, lifewire, magic mouse, mouse, tech friday, techfriday, tip

Posted By RichC on November 12, 2020

This content is restricted.

Category: Archive, Automotive, Packard, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, archived, bikes, drew, electical, ellerie, famiy, hawk, indian summer, katelyn, packard, problems, relay, schematic, wiring

Posted By RichC on November 11, 2020

This golf shot has been making its way around the “Interweb”and news/sports TV channels and highlight rolls this week. As of today, Twitter alone has over 20 million views. I’ll add it here for a few more. Impressive!

Category: Sports, Video | No Comments »
Tags: etymology, golf, impressive, mp4, video

Posted By RichC on November 11, 2020

Tweak by tweak I’m staring to enjoy working on my dad’s Packard Hawk. For the past five years I’ve been unmotivated or shy about calling the car that was my dad’s and before that his uncle’s, mine, … but as the list of non-working repairs and fixes grows, I’m seeing a path to making it mine.

After sending the car out to have the transmission fixed, I started listing the things I’ll need to do in order to make a car older than me safe to drive … either for me or for someone else’s classic car garage. Some of the items are going to be bigger than others, but after replacing the battery, I realized just how “janky” my dad’s battery clamps were… so reworked it (they were obviously not original). I’m pleased with the new turnbuckle set-up and steel hold down strap painted and wrapped with heat shrink electrical tubing. (I was paranoid that the metal strap would touch both the negative and positive terminals, besides it looks appropriate)

Also, after watching the sparks after starting it up last week, I ordered new plugs and Studebaker ignition wires. They should be here this weekend.

Category: Automotive, Packard, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: batter, clamps, dadc, hawk, hold down, ignition, packard, repair, spark plugs, wires