A happy Taylor after updating his apartment’s kitchen #TBT

Posted By on July 9, 2020

TaylorKitchenTable200707TaylorAptKitchen200707While smiling and thinking about my “now domesticated son ” (HA!) after seeing a couple photos Taylor proudly sent me after updated his kitchen apartment, I realized he is now closer to middle age than living in “just out of college” bachelor pad. The pre-COVID19 days of “always going out” have adjusted to “being comfortable at home.” It is enjoyable seeing him take pleasure in creating an attractive space to live – and keeping it clean too. And like he said, I spend most of my time sitting in the kitchen now.

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So to make this a true Throwback Thursday #TBT post, I’m adding a photo from his Williston, North Dakota apartment in 2013 (above) and another one from 5 years ago in 2015 (shocker!) when he took a new job as Clermont County’s Planner and moved back to Cincinnati (below). wpid-Photo-20150520225928738

The longest serving US military rifle – the Coconut Rifle

Posted By on July 8, 2020

The “Coconut Rifle” … known to most as the Colt ArmaLite AR-15 (SN 000106) … the original for what is now the longest primary service weapon in our country’s military history. The originals firearms (20 of them) were manufactured by Colt in 1959. One of them #106 was involved in a July 4th 1960 “Watermelon Demonstration” for some ‘pentagon brass” at the sales and marketing company, Cooper Macdonald Corp’s annual yearly cookout at gathering at the farm. As they say, the rest is history when it impressed Gen. Curtiss LeMay enough for the U.S. Air Force to order 8,500. That started infamous “Black Rifle’s” rise to popularity. In war, the M16 start service in 1964 in Vietnam and has become the backbone rifle for US Armed Forces ever since (and the semi-automatic AR-15 variants in private use).

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When it came time in the day to shoot this new rifle some watermelons were placed at approximately 50, 75 and 100 yards. General LeMay fired at and destroyed two of the watermelons. The General was very impressed with the results and noted there was one target remaining. When he was asked if he wanted to shoot the last watermelon or just go down and eat it, General LeMay sighted in on the lone melon and replied, "Let’s eat the son of a bitch!" It was in the middle of a field, eating watermelon where the discussion arose about an 8,500-unit order for the Air Force. It was at that point that Colt ArmaLite #106 became the rifle that made the M16 weapon system happen. [LINK]

As for the “Coconut Rifle” nickname, the sales demos travelled around the world and spent a little time being demonstrated in tropical places (like South Vietnam) where “coconuts” were used as targets as a way to show the lethality of the rifle.

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A well traveled rumor also has Lifetime NRA member President John F Kennedy firing the same rifle “from the deck of his grandfather’s yacht, the Honey Fitz.” Never really documented undisputably but written about in gun publications regularly.

The US M16 family is the longest serving rifle in American history, and its civilian semi-automatic-only variant is the top-selling rifle in America today. It all started with watermelons and coconuts.

Serial number 106 sold to a private collector at a James Julia auction in October 2011 for more than $100,000. (Image courtesy of James D. Julia) [LINK]

Well so much for a smooth reopening in Ohio #COVID19

Posted By on July 7, 2020


 
See a few more details leading up to this from Gov Mike Dewine on this post.

Archive: Just a couple family photos from the 4th of July

Posted By on July 7, 2020

FireplacePorch200704Archiving a few leftover 4th of July weekend family photos, but really, my phone/camera was not all that handy since I spent most of the weekend in swim trunks. Still we had a great couple of days relaxing with Taylor and Meganand Brenda did not have to work!

Katelyn, Drew, Annalyn and Ellerie stayed at home in Perrysburg and entertained cousin Justin, Katie and their two kids as a semi-halfway stop from Western New to Minneapolis. We enjoyed a FaceTime call with all of them on Sunday; they had a great time together (and always do). Annalyn was so sad when they left that she was in tears.  It looks like the second-cousin bond with Evan and Madelyn has been solidified!

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Music Monday: “Superstar” made popular by the Carpenters, but ..

Posted By on July 6, 2020

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Carpenter bee traps, a box joint finger jig and birdhouse ideas

Posted By on July 5, 2020

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Winning freedom is one thing, maintaining it is yet another

Posted By on July 4, 2020

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As we celebrate our country’s freedom from oppression and an independence won from Great Britain this July 4th, it is hard to imagine any US citizen wanting to give up their liberty? Yet once again, it is looking more and more as if a vocal and radical segment in the most successful democracy on the planet, would rather throw it all away … and at the same time the law abiding, hard-working Americans decide to keeps their heads down and opinions to themselves; they pander to the mob in fear or retribution and just stay “silent.”

Too many Americans are compliantly letting radicals with progressive ideas who thirst for power over others have their way. This leftist group has relatively quietly taken over education, twisted our history and pitted one interest group against another. Like clockwork, this election year those behind the scene power-elites have incited and fanned the flames of discontent. They embrace the angry protestor and excuse the looting, rioting and burning. No doubt their ultimate goal is to keep the unrest going in hope it will force President Donald Trump and the Republicans out of office. If they are not carefully in their thirst for power, they may just trigger an all out civil war … one where innocent Americans get hurt. Not all are willing or able to defend themselves (or their property) against the anarchy we are seeing take place in cities across the country … but eventually the angry mob currently facing little resistance will trigger a response. Still most living in America will probably keep their heads down and stay “silent” …believing law enforcement and their elected leaders will eventually step in before the mob comes for them. I hope they are right … but their “silence” sure empowers those on the radical left willing to intimidate and destroy.

BLM_ViolenceCA_aniI read an excellent article in the American Thinker by Fletch Daniels this past week and it got me thinking about peaceful debate on political philosophy and ideas. Currently, the leftist movements afoot do not want to debate, discuss or negotiate with citizens who hold opposing views (those who are politically right or hold traditional American values). The “silencing of conservatives” has so far been successful in academia, the mainstream media, entertainment, sports and even in government (where Democrats no longer debate and compromise with Republicans to peacefully govern the country). At least when you are talking, there is an exchange and an acceptance that our country operates as a representative democracy held in check by an agreed upon United States Constitution. When people are no longer permitted to have a different point of view, things can break down pretty fast.

Lurking beneath the surface of virtue signaling leftists are tyrants seeking to exert their will over those they despise.  The defining leftist culture enables them to ruthlessly use all the power at their disposal, both real and imagined, to enforce a single acceptable viewpoint on society. 

My thought this week was: “As every negotiator knows, when talk and verbal debate (civil or otherwise) is no longer happening … the likelihood of violence increases.”

Let’s pray that we can hold things together and that cooler head prevail before much more physical violence takes over … it is not looking good. 

The problem is that the silence enables the leftists to continue to drive the narrative and normalize ideas and behaviors that would have been considered unfathomable just a few short years ago while winning more converts, which shrinks that sane majority.  It is their toxic ideas that are being force fed to every young person in America and we are paying a heavy price for that.

Tech Friday: Amazon’s AI notifications needs improvement

Posted By on July 3, 2020

As often as I gripe about ordering from Amazon or more to the point, complain about their delivery and updating, one would AmazonPrimeLogo2019think I would opt for another online ecommerce portal? Unfortunately there aren’t better options or more dependable deliveries.

This past week a small order came a day early, yet the app notification that should update the shipping information doesn’t seem to be in-sync with the artificial intelligence bot on the Amazon Echo. One would think once the shipping database is updated that the website, iPhone app, Echo and Chat-Bot would all pull that same data and information? How is a consumer expected to trust the information? Just as with telling me for several days that a shipment is running late… when in reality it will never be coming. How are we to know when to believe the notifications?

In this week’s case, which one was correct … the phone app, the website or Alexa on Amazon’s proprietary Echo? (Answer– the app was correct, this time)

With June 2020 behind us, how is Ohio handling COVID19?

Posted By on July 2, 2020

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It sure would be nice to report all is well in Ohio, but unfortunately our returning to semi-normal routines  and statewide reopening has hit a snag … at least according to those elected and paid to monitor our health. See coronavirus.ohio.gov.

ALERT LEVELS: (all include “Follow all current health orders”)

  1. Active exposure and spread.
  2. Increased exposure and spread. Exercise high degree of caution.
  3. Very high exposure and spread. Limit activities as much as possible.
  4. Severe exposure and spread. Only leave home for supplies and services.

GovMikeDeWineTwitterOhio’s Gov Mike DeWine sent our a series of tweets today and the map above reads like a school grade card  – a few counties are not getting an acceptable grade, including ours. I’m sure there will be those for a variety of reasons who will debate the numbers (more testing, younger people infected, protests, etc) and fear the data is not being interpreted correctly. Reading the data is above my pay grade, as it has been for most of the so-called experts  … so I’ll continue to do my part to limit my trips and public interaction, wear a face mask when going to the stores and social distance. Numbers aside, I doubt Ohioans or the nation will tolerate another lockdown.

INDICATORS USED FOR ABOVE MAP: (7)

  1. New Cases per Capita (When the data show that a county has had an average of 50 cases per 100,000 people over a 2-week period, that triggers a flag for an increasing case rate. Using this data means we are taking into account population of a county when monitoring case increases)
  2. Sustained Increase in New Cases (If the number of new cases in a county continually increases, that’s another indicator of virus spread. A county will be flagged for meeting this indicator if the data show at least a five-day period of sustained new case growth.)
  3. Proportion of Cases Not Congregate Cases (Data showing more than 50% of new cases originating from non-congregate settings during at least one of the past three weeks will trigger a flag on this indicator.)
  4. Sustained Increase in Emergency Room Visits (ER data will show us the trend in the number of people who visit an emergency department with COVID19 symptoms or a COVID diagnosis as a result of the visit. A county is flagged when there is an increase in such ER visits over a five-day period.)
  5. Sustained Increase in Outpatient Visits (This data set looks at the number of people visiting outpatient settings, including telehealth appointments, with suspected or confirmed COVID19 symptoms. A county is flagged when there is an increase over a five-day period.)
  6. Sustained Increase in Hew COVID-19 Hospital Admissions (When the numbers show at least a five-day period of sustained growth in the number of county residents with COVID-19 who are admitted to a hospital, the county will be flagged for meeting this indicator.)
  7. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Bed Occupancy (A county is flagged for this indicator when the regional ICU occupancy goes above 80% for at least three of the last seven days.)

Idea: Using eggshells as planters to grow seedlings

Posted By on July 2, 2020

EggshellPlanters

Every once in a while an idea triggers me into thinking … “I’m going to try this!”

Last week I stumbled across a Lifehacker post that was worth archiving. Using biodegradable eggshells to start seedlings … and after losing half the $60 in flower flats we purchased this year, I may give this one a try for next year.

  1. Save a few eggshells and cartons
  2. Wash out the eggshells (I’m not sure how critical that is?)
  3. Add a little potting mix to each shell
  4. Premoisten a seed and top off with a little more potting mix
  5. Water and sit in a warm sunny window in early spring
  6. Plant the entire shell in a bed or garden after frost threat
  7. Crush shell as you plant and firm up soil around the new seedling

(more…)

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
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