Photos to keep us up-to-date with our growing granddaughters
Posted By RichC on April 19, 2020
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What is so appealing about the P-51 Mustang? #aviation
Posted By RichC on April 18, 2020
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is one of the most celebrated Allied fighter planes of WW II. It continues to have wide-spread aviation enthusiasm to this day … and one look (and listen – volume up!) will have you understanding why it is so admired.
Plugging yet another tire and “smelling the roses” #video
Posted By RichC on April 18, 2020
Another nail or something in the tire, this time in Brenda’s Acura RDX. Thankfully it was in the tread and small, so an easy plug … but plugging two tires within 30 days? (the animated gif above is just a little soap water sprayed on the tire for leak detection)
As for a video that brought a smile to my face (shared by Katelyn) … if a moose can stop to smell the roses, so can you. Reflect on the positives and make it a good day!
https://youtu.be/gNIdZ5WqrNE
Having fun with a “left brain – right brain” teaser photo
Posted By RichC on April 17, 2020
We all must be looking for things to share or to occupy our thoughts after about a month stuck at home (like the Engine Parts word search post early this week)?
Perhaps we are not alone since my brother Ron sent one of those viral images that makes its way around the Internet last year. I usually ignore them when they are on Facebook or email, but he called me for some help on his website, then asked if I looked at the message he sent. Quickly I stumbled to recall a message, but after he hinted “what color was the shoe,” I quickly looked it up and said: “grey and teal.”
He laughed and agreed telling me that in his family nearly everyone saw it as ”pink and white” except his granddaughter and him. So after we hung up the phone I sent the image to my family and we all enjoyed a “left brain – right brain” discussion … Taylor and Megan even started to tally left vs right on a spreadsheet! Give it a try if you haven’t opined on this image yet.
The creators say if you right-brain is dominant, you will see combination of pink and white color and if your left-brain is dominant, you will see it in grey and green color.
Engine Parts word search from ConsumerGuide Automotive
Posted By RichC on April 16, 2020
For those automotive enthusiasts who are spending A LOT more time at home due to the Coronavirus stay-at-home orders and interested in ways to entertain our minds, try the ConsumerGuide.com Automotive blog’s Engine Parts word search. Tom Appel and crew always find something interesting for their blog (and car stuff podcast).
Click image larger or this link to download the PDF printable version
Sanding – my favorite part of woodworking #sarcasm
Posted By RichC on April 15, 2020
Instead of spending time this past Easter weekend dressing,going to church and getting together with family, I spent a few more hours sanding … 
and sanding … and sanding. My goal is to get this old exterior black walnut door (super thick veneer over oak – see above photo) ready to take a traditional oil finish and pivot-hang as a visual divider in our updated library/music room where I added the new bookshelves.
The old door has personal memories for Brenda as it was from her father’s dental office when he first remodeled it. Decades ago I helped clear out some of the old items stored in the attic, basement and garage with him and a couple of the old doors were just too impressive to throw away. One of them was varnished too many times to count and the other one I still have is fully painted 
(I’m not sure what the wood is on it as I haven’t scraped or stripped it to see).
Now the property is just residential, but the 17 Lakeview Ave dental office and apartments holds memories.
They just don’t make them like they once did, but who really can hang an old wood door with single pane beveled and lead-glass individual windows on their house nowadays and have it do the job of fitting without swelling or leaking air … let alone insulating as well as a new pre-hung door?
We’ve come a long way from “Reach Out and Touch Someone”
Posted By RichC on April 14, 2020
Once upon a time, families who only snail-mailed cards and letters would on special occasions, like Easter, dial their corded rotary phones and pay for an expensive long distance call in order to “Reach Out and Touch Someone” as the marketing jingle would advertise (a 1970s commercial below the break). I remembered many phone 
calls growing up and talking with our family, especially when my dad would take us to his office to use the WATS line (Wide Area Telephone Service).
Then our turn to be the parents and connect Katelyn and Taylor with their grandparents or family … we started with a pigtailed corded landline phone and a Long Distance phone card to keep the cost down and advanced quickly to a portable “landline” phone and occasional high-cost cellphone. I can clearly remember my first permanently mounted CellularOne carphone (then portable version) in Akron, Ohio with very limited cell tower coverage and an expensive 90 minutes per month plan – it was not uncommon to call to get a credit for dropped calls … oh, and those “roaming fees!”
This year for Easter, due to the COVID19 Coronavirus social-distancing orders, our family connected using a group video chat (assume we were not alone). We often use Apple’s FaceTime with Katelyn, Drew, Annalyn and Ellerie … and sometime with Taylor and Megan, but not in a group call mode. A lot of companies have been holding meetings with their employees and customers, as are schools, etc and as someone who works with customers for sales, it does have me wondering if this “virtual connection” will become the norm even when things return to normal? I’ve used Zoom, Google and Skype for a few conference calls and tried out House Party with family in Alpharetta, GA … but this was our first Apple FaceTime try. Besides a couple initial glitches (how we store contact info) and dropping a person’s feed a couple times, it wasn’t bad (screen shot above). I think Apple may still have a few bugs to work out … it was not quite as good as Zoom …and as I’m sure my late mother would say, “it’s not as good as being together in person.”
Music Monday: Pandora streaming on the Brave Browser ad-free?
Posted By RichC on April 13, 2020
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The Good News – “He is not here; for He is risen..”
Posted By RichC on April 12, 2020
Although Brenda and I have been regularly listening to pastors share audio messages on their podcasts or watching church services online during these trying Coronavirus days, we like many 
Christians, 
are finding it challenging to be thinking and planning for Easter? Nevertheless, the calendar indicates it is Easter Sunday 2020, so a proper “He is risen” and a social-distanced, “He has risen indeed” is going to have to suffice. Let not lose “hope” for a better tomorrow and FAR better eternity … thank you Jesus.
“He is not here; for He is risen …”
— Matthew 28:6.
While talking with my friend Jeff earlier in the week about an early Pandora music blog post, I stumbled across a photo of my daughter’s OLD rabbit who is shockingly “still living.” Unfortunately Pumpy Umpy is not doing well. In a post back in 2012 with my mom and dad, I included an Easter egg and Pumpy Umpy photo and will use it again this year … 8 years later! At the time I “thought” he was a pretty old rabbit. Oh how I was wrong; I think Katelyn’s rabbit may be closing in on a record old age!
Bookshelves artwork display area update and spring flowers
Posted By RichC on April 11, 2020
The bookshelves have been on-again, off-again as the laborious painting and improved spring weather dictates my indoor verses outdoor activities. I did get a chance to finish the “art display area” in the center bookshelf section … and so far, so good.
My plan was to create a little depth perception by bring the art piece about 4-1/4” off the wall, thereby giving the framed (or unframed) artwork a shadow depth effect. It works , but the LED lighting has been challenging since it is either too bright – when the room is dark – or too dim if the room is bright. I could add a dimmer (and still might) but that would mean constantly adjusting the lighting which I doubt after the first few times will be worth it. Perhaps we will live with it as-is for a while and get some feedback our family and friends? Currently I’ve added it to the smarthome automation using the Amazon Alexa “sunset” and “goodnight” routines to switch it automatically. So far Brenda is very happy with the idea of rotating and accenting some of of the art we have collected. Each piece holds a special memory from at trip or time in our lives.
Since I pulled out the Lumix GX8 DSLR for the above photo, I decide to snap a couple spring flower snapshots as I seem to do every year. Below are the lilacs and phlox … after a 5-years-ago post (different camera) reminded me that those of us who enjoy photography should be taking photos with better cameras rather than our smartphones … at least once in a while!
(click photos for larger higher quality versions)
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.