My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on August 27, 2020

Love this photo, although Katelyn and Taylor do look the same to me … well, add 10 years.

I saw this photo from our Bermuda cruise in 2010 and thought, “I’m so glad we took as many trips as we did each year as a family!” The early years of traveling may have been on a bit tighter budget, but we made memories. The later years we splurged a bit more and did some cruising; thankfully no Coronavirus worries back then either.

Since I’m adding a Throwback Thursday memory with the kids and mentioned our earlier “tighter budget” hiking and camping, here’s one that sits on my desk 4009 feet on top of Hawksbill Mountain in North Carolina. Another favorite. (also just received a text message from my buddy Jeff who is heading back there later this month). 

Category: Archive, Memories, Personal, Photos, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: bermuda, coronavirus, covid19, family, hawksbill, jeffp, katelyn, mountian, taylor, TBT, throwback, thursday, Travel, trips, vacation

Posted By RichC on August 27, 2020

As the Gulf of Mexico coast of Louisiana and Texas prepare for Hurricane Laura (as well as areas well inland), we got a taste of the kind of rain that might also be headed our way as this tropical weather works its way north. A strong thunderstorm swept through our area on Wednesday night this week and was the first real wind and rain test for my shade sails. I really should have taken them down, but by the time I realized the storm was coming, the lightning was striking and sheets of rain were blasting pretty fierce. I did capture a bit of video from under the poolhouse garage porch which demonstrated that our new larger gutters and downspouts were no match for the heavy rain.

On a somewhat related note, this is the year we either have to re-caulk and repair OR replace our south facing Great Room windows that after 25 years of weather aren’t keeping the pelting rain from leaking into the walls or dripping on the sills. I’m partial to replace with fixed windows, but with this size opening, it is not an inexpensive decision.

Here’s a 30 second video clip of Wednesday nights thunderstorm and heavy rain.

Category: Personal, To-Do, Video, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: great room, hurricane, laura, leak, mp4, rain, repair, replace, shade sail, thunderstorm, tropical storm, video, weaather, windows

Posted By RichC on August 26, 2020

Just a filler video that I found eye-opening since my wife Brenda is a openwater, correction … shoreline swimmer. 😮

Category: Human Interest, Nature, Recreation, Video | No Comments »
Tags: mp4, ocean, orca, pod, swimming, video

Posted By RichC on August 25, 2020

To sum up the nomination process for the November 3rd 2020 presidential election in a short paragraph is foolhardy, but that doesn’t prevent me from opining on the week long telethons. I expected both parties to come out with their vision for America and to at least give the leader-to-be’s vision, plans and goals?

Unfortunately besides the, elect former-VP Joe Biden because he’s a nice guy … and because he is not Donald Trump, I’m not sure exactly what the Democrats have planned for the next 4-years? We hear non-stop about Climate Change, the Green New Deal, eliminating fossil fuels, more spending for infrastructure, police brutality, more dollars for education and some free stuff like college and healthcare … and of course amnesty for illegals and loan forgiveness for students with college debt … but I’m still not sure that has come from the nominee himself or even his VP pick Kamala Harris? On one day I hear Joe Biden say he wants money to be redirected from police, yet on another he claims he does not want to defund law enforcement? Hm?  Besides eliminating the Trump trade negotiation, disagreeing with the international successes, stricter border enforcement and enforcing current immigration laws, he as also talked about adding back regulations and rolling back the tax cuts  … how exactly would a Biden/Harris administration improve the US economy, unemployment and create jobs?

On the other hand, the majority of the Democratic National Convention was spent on bereding President Trump; personally I thought the nastiness coming from President Obama and the former first lady was unbecoming … especially commenting “He’s shown no interest in putting in the work.” Huh? I’ve never seen a President work so hard.

Prior to Monday night (8/24), I thought Gov Mike Huckabee summed it up …

… but then after night one of the Republican National Convention and listening to the positive unity from most of the speakers, I felt much more positive. From the impressive “Cotton to Congress” comments of South Carolina’s Sen Tim Scott to the emotional reflection from a Cuban refugee about the “greatness of America” … and reminder from Donald Trump Jr as to the accomplishments of his dad’s administration in an very toxic environment. A couple well received comments regarding the left’s stereotype of President Donald Trump as “racist” came from football great Hershel Walker:

It hurt my soul to hear the terrible names that people call President Trump. The worst one is racist. I take it as a personal insult that people think I would have a 37-year friendship with a racist.

People who think that don’t know what they’re talking about. Growing up in the Deep South I’ve seen racism up close. I know what it is, and it isn’t Donald Trump.

What hit home for me though was Army Ranger veteran Sean Parnell, a congressional candidate for PA’s 17th district. It struck a cord with me and it may for you as well – this is my America. I’m ready for night two.

Category: Audio, News, Politics, Video | No Comments »
Tags: biden, campaign, convention, democrats, election, mp3, mp4, presidential, Republicans, speeches, trump, voting

Posted By RichC on August 24, 2020

Oh how the simplest humor can trigger a music flashback, at least for me!

I’m not sure everyone’s brain operates like this, but the song Under Pressure from 1981/82 by Queen, and the late great David Bowie, is the first thing that came to mind when seeing the above image.

Feeling Under Pressure? Perhaps you are in a Hot Space this summer (did you see what I did with that link?) … like Death Valley which just hit 130 degrees. If so, perhaps you can relate to this week’s Music Monday song?

Category: Humor, Music, Video, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: david bowie, death valley, hot, Humor, joke, music monday, musicmonday, pressure, queen, record, temperature, under, youtube

Posted By RichC on August 23, 2020

Even though we have a few of those ultrasonic devices plugged into the walls, mice seem to find their way into the detached and attached garage then figure out how to squeeze there way into the house. I’d like to think I’m able to trap them before they find the kitchen, but who knows … although the absence of dropping is a good sign.

The purchase a Rat Zapper in 2015 as well as upgrades has made a difference. I move it between the basement and pool house garage so we have been able to keep these rodents to a minimum. I suspect our Red Tailed and Red Shouldered Hawks help keep the numbers down too. So far this year I’ve only fished a couple out of the pool skimmer baskets.

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Category: Advice, Gadget, Innovation, Misc, Nature, Tidbits, Tools | No Comments »
Tags: dremel, hawks, mice, modify, mouse, mousetrap, rat zapper, red shouldered, red tailed, repair

Posted By RichC on August 22, 2020

This is probably something I should have expected after bringing my “boat-only” non-skid Sperry SeaRacer Sneakers home from the boat in June – excessive wear.

I’ve been wearing these light-weight synthetic upper Sperry shoes for the better part of the last two months and they are quickly breaking down. Perhaps I’m so accustom to the durable stitched leather uppers that wearing out the soles has been my biggest concern? Unfortunately, I’m not sure my epoxy fixes will be able to add life to these?

Category: Personal, Photos, Sailing, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: boatshoes, epoxy, favorite, lightweight, searacer, shoes, sneakers, sperry, topsider, wear

Posted By RichC on August 21, 2020

My dad’s 1958 Packard Hawk, mine for the last 5 years, has hardly been touched since it was flatbed delivered from Sidney, Ohio. I moved it once … and then covered it up with a battery tender after I noticed a pool of transmission fluid all over the floor.

So on the 5th anniversary of my dad’s death (it is hard to believe) … and more appropriately to the day, my dad’s memorial service, I decided it was time to either make dad’s car .. “my car”  or sell it and be satisfied with working on the old Mercedes, BMW X5 35d (and MGB, if Taylor decides not to buy house and take on the project – that was the plan .. even though I’ve tinkered on and off with it over the years).

So today I sent it off to the transmission shop to see what it is going to take to get it shifting again. Of course I’ll need to install a new master brake cylinder and do a full brake service before getting it back on the road (I’ve never tackled transmissions). Who knows what else I’ll find that needs some attention since the car has been sitting 7 years or so … since my Dad and I went to the Sidney Applefest in 2013 (below – Sidney OH Courthouse Square panoramic photo below. Good father and son memories!)

Category: Automotive, Packard, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: applefest, automotive, classic cars, collector, dadc, family, flatbed, hawk, packard, repair, sidney ohio, transmission

Posted By RichC on August 20, 2020

Let me get this out before someone tells me I’ve lost my mind: I love our current house and property in SW Ohio … as well as the community we live in just north of Cincinnati. Brenda and I could not be more blessed with our lives, our family and all that we have worked on together for almost 40 years …

…  B U T  …

… I catch myself reminiscing about our younger years and how satisfied I was living in NE Ohio and business in Cuyahoga Falls.

A week or so ago I grumbled to Katelyn and Drew about a few high cost maintenance expenses we were looking at in our future (pool refinishing, patio, concrete driveway … not to mention high utilities and property taxes) and thought about living in and taking care of slightly smaller home, but still have the woods and acreage that we did in Hudson. That got me thinking about the improvements we made and wondered if we had any photos from back then … we did so why not archive them on the blog for posterity? Hm, winter was a bit more harsh than I remember, but we were younger!

When Brenda and I moved from an old, tiny 2-bedroom brick farmhouse in Aurora, Ohio to a “needs a lot of work” house in Hudson a few miles away, I thought it was a dream come true. Brenda (and especially her mom) were not equally enthused.

Over the years, I was able to remodel nearly every room. We upgraded everything and by the early 1990s (photos), we had the house nearly the way we wanted it. A new pool, patio, natural gas, paved driveway, heated garage/workshop, woods, acreage, barn (still needed updating). The great room was even big enough to have Katelyn’s piano recital and with the new pool it started the birthday-pool party trend … which continued for the next 25 years! (interesting aside: if you click the “piano recital” photo, look at the old-school video camera I mounted to the top right of the photo – so geeky!) This was an excellent ThrowBack Thursday #TBT post, at least for me!

Category: Archive, Memories, Personal, Photos, TBT | No Comments »
Tags: cpp, cuyahoga falls, house, hudson, memories, northeast, ohio, piano, pool, reminiscing, remodeling

Posted By RichC on August 19, 2020

Since I spent most of the weekend outside again doing chores and projects as the weather has been great … I spotted a couple of insects enjoying summer as well. The normal bugs don’t grab my attention, but the brightly colored and unusual ones are worthy of photos (still impressed with the camera on my aging iPhone 7plus).

Since I didn’t recognize the spider and had a nasty spider “kiss” back in 2009, I did a little reading to decide if this one was friend or foe. I think he/she is a relatively friendly Orchard Spider since the green was almost Iridescent in the sunshine.

Orchid Spiders like most spiders are venomous. The venom is not considered dangerous to human. In the unlikely event that a person is bitten, we would say that chances are very high that a bite would result in not much more than local swelling, redness and itchiness.

The other bug, a Kadydid, he/she was just cooling off in the pool with me while I was reading the latest issue from Barron’s after finishing my yard chores on Saturday.

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Category: Cellphone, Nature, Personal, Photography, Photos, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: barrons, iphone7plus, kadydid, orchard, pool, reading, spider, summer, swimming, tweet, twitter