My Desultory Blog

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?

Category: Archive, Memories, Personal, Photos, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: black walnut, brenda, dadh, decor, dental, dentist, door, easter, family, jamestown, lakeview, new york, office, sanding, veneer, woodworking

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.”
 

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Category: Archive, Cellphone, Gadget, Human Interest, Memories, Personal, Photos, Tablet, Technology, Video | No Comments »
Tags: advertising, Cellphone, corded, easter, facetime, family, group, jingle, long distance, mp4, phones, roaming, wats, wireless

Posted By RichC on April 13, 2020

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Category: Alexa, Apple, Computer, Friends, Music, Raspberry Pi, Software, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: ads, advertising, Alexa, brave, browser, commecials, covid19, echo, gregg allman, imac, input, jackson browne, jeffp, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, pandora, premium, streaming, subscription, these days

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!

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Category: Archive, Faith, Holiday, Memories, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: age, dadc, easter, egg, family, jesus, katelyn, Memory, momc, pet, photo, pumpy umpy, Rabbit, sunday

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)

Category: Archive, Art, Nature, Personal, Photography, Photos, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: artwork, bookshelves, dslr, flowers, lighting, lilac, lumix, phlox, photography, project, spring

Posted By RichC on April 10, 2020

Last week my son Taylor and friend Jeff both sent me their “homemade” stand-up or propped up (with books) notebook computers while working from home. I suspect they aren’t the only COVID19 “stay-at-home” workers trying to come up with comfortable ways to do their jobs?

I know Jeff once had a stand-up desk at work with a prior company, but thought to myself, “I wonder if there might be a woodworking project (or fabricated aluminum) in this idea?”

Of course after he saw this … he now wants the “add-on” below the video!
  😊

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Category: Computer, Gadget, Ideas, Photos, Productivity, Video, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: aluminum, coronavirus, covid19, desk, idea, mp4, notebook, project, stand-up, tech friday, techfriday, woodworking, work

Posted By RichC on April 9, 2020

Last week while continuing to s-l-o-w-l-y work on the bookshelves and painting project, in-between outdoor yard cleanup and cutting the lawn for the first time in 2020, I also used the frame cutting miter jib previously mentioned. It is amazing just how much more accurate this set-up for my table saw crosscut sled is over my Hitachi sliding miter saw! I’ll still used the miter saw for “construction grade” projects and moldings, but when it comes to frames or the rails and stiles of a cabinet door or picture frame, this jig cuts them perfect. Here’s the YouTube clip where I picked up the information on how to use geometry to be sure the jig is perfect.

As for Throw Back Thursday #TBT, I need to work on my table saw hold down methods. I’ve used the “pinched wedge” method to hold down guides jigs or feather boards on my table saw for years. In fact, the “temporary” feather board (left) has been used in my shop for 35 years! It still works but is overdue for an upgrade.

Category: Misc, Personal, Photos, TBT, Tools, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: bookshelves, cabinetmaking, doors, featherboard, frames, hold down, jigs, paintings, panel, rails, stiles, table saw, tablesaw, tools, woodworking, workshop

Posted By RichC on April 8, 2020

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Category: Archive, Personal, Photos, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, drew, ellerie, family, grandchildren, katelyn, oostra, Photos, Travel, trips, vacation

Posted By RichC on April 7, 2020

Likely I’m not the only one needing to de-stress or at least fall back on a few techniques to “Keep Calm and Relax.”

Here’s a Navy Seal technique to beat stress. With a little practice, you can learn “box breathing” or four-square breathing as a way to reduce anxiety.

Here’s how it works:

1. Breathe in for four seconds.
2. Hold air in your lungs for four seconds.
3. Exhale for four seconds.
4. Hold your breath, lungs emptied, for four seconds.

Category: Advice, Health, Millitary, Video | No Comments »
Tags: anxiety, box breathing, breathing, navy, navy seal, seals, stress

Posted By RichC on April 6, 2020

Thought I would add a late day animated GIF to the blog … partially because these Canary alerts have become a normal annoyance by sending text message alerts and partially this cardinal is cute. Hopefully he will grow tired of “looking at himself” and find a female cardinal who he can impress!

Also while sending this to Twitter, I ran across an interesting piece of artwork or woodworking project idea. If Taylor ever has a need for a table in his apartment, this would be a great idea in using the city of Cincinnati’s skyline.

Category: Art, Ideas, Misc, Nature, Personal, Photos, Social Media, Technology, Woodworking | No Comments »
Tags: ani gif, animated, apartment, artwork, Cam, canary, cardinal, gif, idea, ideas, project, security, table