My Desultory Blog

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

Posted By RichC on August 18, 2020

We are really enjoying the time we have to stay around home this summer amidst Coronavirus concerns … although Brenda has never stopped going to work … she works in an “essential business” – pharmacy.

We certainly enjoyed having Katelyn, Drew, Annalyn and Ellerie to our house for a mini-vacation for several days earlier this month and to celebrate Brenda’s birthday … and have enjoyed the regular weekend visits from Taylor and Megan all summer (since they are apartment bound, they appreciate our pool and grill).

Last weekend the two of them were over on  Saturday to celebrate Brenda’s birthday (photo left and link is 2019 post) and then again on Sunday to drop off some wood that Taylor wants to make into a couple of personal wedding gifts (he has three wedding coming up in the next couple of months). Of course I’m looking forward into lending a hand.

Their timing on Sunday afternoon after a trip to IKEA couldn’t have been better since I was pretty much stuck after trying to take down an old basketball pole in our driveway by myself. Taylor’s extra hands and strong back (which is why I didn’t ask Brenda) was just want I needed to complete the task. I could not believe just how seized and rusted the pivot point were – bent one of the heavy arms just trying to loose it after Liquid Wrench and heat.

The TV image in the photo above also reminded me that I has archived a Jimmy Buffett video “stay at home” COVID19 song for Megan – she is a big fan – as is her dad (and who knew she was such a big fans of these too?) 😉 I might as well include the album “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean” side B’s final song call “Death of an Unpopular Poet” (lyrics below) rather than save it for a Music Monday post. The song as JB comments was about the American poet and novelist Kenneth Patchen (12/13/1911-1/8/1972).

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Category: Archive, Entertainment, Human Interest, Music, Personal, Photos, Video | No Comments »
Tags: basketball, birthday, brenda, coronavirus, covid19, death of an unpopular poet, family, ikea, jimmy buffett, kenneth patchen, mp4, Music, music monday, musicmonday, summer, video

Posted By RichC on August 17, 2020

This content is restricted.

Category: Friends, Memories, Music | No Comments »
Tags: album, brothers, mark jones, mp3, mp4, Music, music monday, musicmonday, one for the road, righteous, vinyl

Posted By RichC on August 16, 2020

After doing a little research on different kinds of Clematis, I thought I had the perfect pick for the rear corner of the pool house garage where I often work outside the back door. Something that stayed green a bit longer in the year like Evergreen Clematis sounded perfect … but the “Plant Hardiness Zone Guide” had something different to say – we’re too cold.

The idea was to gain a little more privacy during the spring and fall after the tree line loses its leaves .. and as a way to not bother my neighbors with what to them looks like car clutter (those who work on cars, etc know what I mean about pieces and parts while working on projects). Since the Evergreen Clematis likely won’t work in our climate, I’m still looking for something that I can grow or at least add to a trellis-style fence in order to screen the back door and driveway a bit. Thoughts?

EDIT: Look Annalyn … the grass seed you planted and watered last week is growing!

Category: Environment, Hobby, Ideas, Misc, Personal, Photos, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: clematis, evergreen, fence, garage, ideas, plants, poolhouse, projects, screen, shade, vine

Posted By RichC on August 15, 2020

Since I’ve highlighted a couple other “functional” versions of the Mercedes Benz W123, here’s another owner conversion. (see ONE, TWO … and THREE just for the humor).

I do find myself constantly needing (well “wanting” really) a pickup truck, but can usually put things in my Honda Odyssey “work vehicle” or hitch up the utility trailer to the BMW X5 35d … but still find myself entertaining a pickup truck someday or doing a conversion (love to have a full size Ford, Chevy, GMC, Toyota or Dodge “work truck” for hauling and towing).

Considering the work I’ve put in on my current MB 300D Turbodiesel, it would be difficult for me to do a conversion, but perhaps another one AFTER I get the Packard and MGB out of the garage? Since there is need for a photo or two, I’ll included one from 2014 with my dad in Sidney just for the memory (he loved the fact that it was my daily driver for a a year or so) … an one illustrating that I don’t baby it either.

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Category: Archive, Automotive, Diesel, Ideas, Mercedes, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: 300d, conversion, dadc, El Camino, hauling, lapickup, mercedes benz, Ranchero, trailer, turbodiesel

Posted By RichC on August 14, 2020

Friday afternoon was a day of server housekeeping, along with the week’s usual billing and accounting. It was also time to update this blog’s WordPress plugins and to the current version called “Eckstine” 5.5.

In WordPress 5.5, your site gets new power in three major areas: speed, search, and security.

Thankfully after the move to the new server hardware in May 2020, everything has been running so much better than before (knock on wood).
 

What’s the meaning of the phrase ‘Knock on wood’?

This phrase is used by people who rap their knuckles on a piece of wood hoping to stave off bad luck. In the UK, the phrase ‘touch wood‘ is used – often jokingly by tapping one’s head. The phrases are sometimes spoken when a person is already experiencing some good fortune and hope that it will continue – for example "I’ve been winning on every race – touch wood".

What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Knock on wood’?

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Category: Blogs, Idioms, Software, Technology, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: blog, eckstine, housekeeping, idiom, knock on wood, server, update, wordpress

Posted By RichC on August 14, 2020

Wouldn’t you know, just as I was contemplating how to get rid of our annoying pair of Mourning Doves (pretty much pigeons in my book), they go and have at least one baby. Now I can’t in good conscious shoo them away.

The little guy must have jumped or fallen out of the nest and wandered his way into the stones under a bush next to the door of the detached poolhouse garage (they also love to take selfies in the Canary cam)? He or she can’t fly yet but has nice feathers and bright eyes .. also camouflaged nicely for the surroundings. The mom and dad are hanging around as they always do (sit on the peak of our house every evening), but also stand with the little fledgling bird until I approach. I wonder just how long before flight? Let’s look it up!

Dove babies grow exceedingly fast. By 12 days old they’re big enough to leave their nest and venture into the big wide world.

If they’re over-cautious about leaving their nest then they’ll find themselves hungry, as their parents stop coming to the nest to feed them after this time.

They don’t abandon them completely though, instead, they keep an eye on them from a nearby branch and watch as they eventually leave the nest.

At first, they won’t be able to fly. Instead, they become fledgling birds and will spend the next four days stuck on the ground before they grasp the art of flying.

LINK

Category: Blogs, Environment, Nature, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: baby, bird, birds, doves, mourning, nest, pigeon