April 1 is no joke this year, yet I am counting our many blessings
Posted By RichC on April 1, 2020
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How big is the largest volcano? On Mars it is as big as France!
Posted By RichC on March 31, 2020
Olympus Mons is the tallest mountain and largest volcano on any planet in the solar system. It is about the size of France (or the U.S. state of Arizona) and is a shield volcano 624 km (374 mi) in diameter, 25 km (16 mi) high, and is rimmed by a 6 km (4 mi) high scarp. A caldera 80 km (50 mi) wide is located at the summit of Olympus Mons. To compare, the largest volcano on Earth is Mauna Loa. Mauna Loa is a shield volcano 10 km (6.3 mi) high and 120 km (75 mi) across. The volume of Olympus Mons is about 100 times larger than that of Mauna Loa. In fact, the entire chain of Hawaiian islands (from Kauai to Hawaii) would fit inside Olympus Mons!
Olympus Mons is the youngest of the large volcanoes on Mars. It and was likely formed during the Hesperian Period which lasted between 3,700 million years ago and 2,000 million years ago and has been known to astronomers since the late 19th century.
It’s a shield volcano (similar to the volcanoes than make up the Hawaiian Islands). Olympus Mons covers an area 300,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi), roughly the same size as Italy.
Looking for something positive amidst the #COVID19 Pandemic
Posted By RichC on March 31, 2020
Although few of us really want to be tracking the exponential explosion of the COVID19 spread, a friend asked me if there was a preferred site to go to for updated information. I responded with CDC.gov or Department of Health here in Ohio as trusted sources, but then suggested that if he was like me, the information wasn’t necessarily as up to date.
So for something closer to real-time, I’ve been 
using Reuters.com’s pages and the Reuter maps and graphics which have been pretty accurately reporting on the Coronavirus. Unfortunately the news does not look positive no matter how it is presented.
In looking for something positive in the numbers, I found a “Daily cases” chart that seems to indicate that the number of “Cases outside Mainland China” daily reported “globally” has ticked slightly downward. Who knows if we are at a turning point –let’s hope we are.
It also looks as if we are making inroads as to treatment protocols that will hopefully lessen the need for ventilators/respirators in the hospitals (although still a shortage as hospitalizations rise) and that Johnson and Johnson is gearing up to produce 1 billion doses of a vaccine once we have one available and tested. It can’t come soon enough for world health and our economy.
I’m gong to end this depressing post with a something positive shared with me by my daughter Katelyn. She is currently home on maternity leave from her pediatrician role with Promedica at Bay Park Hospital in Oregon, Ohio, but stays in touch with her co-workers. One of them sent her a photo today of people lining up in their cars to pray. The thought gave me chills and renewed my faith in Americans who have come together in times of crisis for generations. As a Christian who believes in the power of pray, I was so encouraged to see the community rally around their health care providers and praying for those impacted by this terrible virus.
Music Monday: Neil Diamond #COVID19 contribution
Posted By RichC on March 30, 2020
Neil Diamond sings “Sweet Caroline” with updated lyric for safety during Covid-19 pandemic. Stay safe out there!
Woodworking crosscut sled discussion and bookshelves update
Posted By RichC on March 29, 2020
This is a two-purpose post: A woodworking (sort of) bookshelves project archive update and shared information on a jig I made.
First, the bookshelves and music room/ library painting coming along slowly. I’m bogged down with putty, sanding and painting after adding a strip light shield (wood to hide the LEDs that I’m planning to add that will highlight artwork).
I am working on final priming and have all but the center section moldings in place … so there is progress, but I’m not rushing anything.
Second, a discussion arose after Jon Peters shared his thoughts on his "massive" table saw crosscut sled and with some back and forth with a few guys, I told them that I was pretty satisfied with my slightly smaller but deeper cut (28") sled. Also I mentioned that I thought using a leading edge piece of aluminum angle (photos right) makes the jig easier to horse around. At this point in my woodworking, I wouldn’t change my design one bit … and so they wanted to see better photos (below).
Tech Friday: When will 5G be coming to Apple’s iPhone?
Posted By RichC on March 27, 2020
If Daniel Ives of Wedbush is right, the new 5G capable Apple iPhone release seems "extremely unlikely" for the normal September or October release this year. Most iPhone iOS users have been anticipating or even holding off on an upgrade thinking they might want the new 5G promise data. Personally, I’m relatively satisfied with my iPhone 7-plus, but will likely be interested in the 5G model once carriers have fully rolled out and "appropriately" priced their 5G upgraded service.
Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives says it’s "extremely unlikely" that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will launch the 5G iPhones in September or October.
Ives sets a 10-15% probability for an iPhone launch in that window.
The analyst cites continuing supply chain issues and the fact that key iPhone engineers are locked down in California and unable to travel to China.
Wedbush maintains a Buy rating and $335 target, continuing to see 5G as a long-term tailwind.
More at Seeking Alpha
The LTE model pretty much covers most of what we need, but after just battling with our home ISP and fiber delivered television, I can’t wait to have options.
Cincinnati Bell Fioptics has been excellent from the speed and service standpoint, but their "normal telephone and cable" promo-expiring and jacking up contract pricing leaves must to be desired. Frankly all the cable and ISP services I’ve used in the past have operated the same way and the only way to deal with them is be willing to switch. I grow so tired of playing that game.
Will we ever see modest interest rates again? #TBT
Posted By RichC on March 26, 2020
When I was growing up, I had a passbook savings account that was a teaching tool used by my parents to instill responsible money management. I deposited a small amount in it every few months or so when my mom would go to the bank and got my passbook stamped with an update as to what was in the account. I the early years, the update generally reflected my birthday money from my aunt, uncle and grandparents … plus interest compounded each month … almost always it seemed at a steady 5% rate. As I grew older, I began to earn money as a young entrepreneur who mowed lawns and collected/buried dead fish for a commercial fishery. The passbook savings account grew and I loved seeing the interest added each year … still 5%/year.
There were the few occasions that I dipped into my savings to make a major purchase (also part of the lesson), I never recall using all the money that was in the account. The two big purchases that I can recall:
1) a ten-speed bike and
2) a 3.5 HP Eska outboard motor for my dinghy.
Both provided me years of service and I kept the dinghy and used it on our first boat Brenich!
The point of this ThrowBack Thursday #TBT post, including a 1992 bank letter to Brenda and me regarding a “change” in interest rates on our savings, is that the only return on savings today comes with risk. Sure there was risk associated with bank savings accounts in the past, but it was that inflation could deflate the value of your savings plus interest (meaning inflation would need to exceed 5%/year). That seemed like a tolerable risk in the 1960s, but then came the late 1970s and 1980s (something we were well aware of when saving for and buying our first house in 1982 – we assumed a 12% interest mortgage when new mortgages were at 18%).
Then in the 1990s as a young business owner and father, saving again became critical as college costs and retirement savings became important to think about. I recall purchasing my first U.S. Treasury Bond and contemplating that “if I could ladder enough of these 9.75% bonds together over my lifetime that we could retire comfortable on the interest?” It was not to be for conservative returns (as can be seen with ALL pension plans). As rates continued to plummet, there was no way to generate a nest egg or save for college using any of the “safe” methods of saving money. The only returns possible was with a risk in the stock market or the variety of funds “spreading the risk” instead of investing in individual companies. Interest rate products were out as the few meager percent (if that) were almost a guaranteed way to lose buying power. I can’t imagine being in Europe where savers pay banks to hold their savings!
Where are we going? Well … with the latest 2.5 Trillion dollar infusion of money by the U.S. government to fight the Coronavirus caused economic crash, who knows? We are in uncharted territory, unless you can remember the 1930s. Perhaps the lesson to learn is that when we humans think we have things figured out, we likely don’t.
Prediction: An advancement in superconductivity is coming
Posted By RichC on March 25, 2020
It may not come from space in the form of meteorites as mentioned in the story below, but I think the biggest advancement in this decade will be in superconductivity.
Physicists have made fantastic advancements in reducing electrical resistance ever since Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes experimented with ferromagnetism in 1911, but getting superconductivity state of near zero resistance without a material supercooled to absolute zero degrees has been the challenge. One can only imagine the efficiency gains once superconductivity is do-able and affordable.
#/media/File:Mundrabilla_meteorite,_Western_Australia_Museum.jpg)
Scientists Find a Superconductor in Bits of Meteorite
Scientists have detected trace amounts of superconducting material inside one of the world’s largest meteorites, according to a new study.
Superconductors are materials that can conduct electrical current without resistance, and they’re coveted by researchers who study quantum computers and companies hoping to transfer energy more efficiently. The superconductor inside the Australian meteorite is a known material, but the discovery itself comes as a shock.
“The big takeaway is that there is superconductivity in the sky, naturally occurring,” Ivan Schuller, one of the study’s lead authors from the University of California, San Diego, told Gizmodo.
Monitoring the COVID19 while working on bookshelf project
Posted By RichC on March 24, 2020
It has been good to be distracted with a painting and bookshelf project while "staying at home" these last few days. Unfortunately the COVID19 Coronavirus doesn’t look to be disappearing or dissipating as quickly as we were all hoping … so it looks as if we’ll be struggling to figure out how to not only occupy ourselves without a daily "out of the house" work routine, but will likely trying to figure out how to pay the bills — both personally and as a country. 
So far (as of this writing on Monday afternoon), Congress cannot come to an agreement that will assist citizens with immediate needs and business so that people have jobs to go back to when this is over. I’m not sure if it is all political wrangling (DEMs vs Republicans) … or if philosophically each side sees the crisis differently? I don’t know what could be more commonsense than assisting those sufferings a paycheck loss and no money to pay for food and bills as well as keeping our countries businesses alive due to mandated shutdowns. Unlike the 2008 financial mess, the current situation was not easily foreseen or something we created. Both individuals and businesses need some kind of assistance to prevent a dire situation that could send the U.S. into something resembling a depression. The moves government makes or doesn’t make this week will likely determine our inevitable direction … and this is an opinion coming from a small government conservative.
Senate Democrats on Monday blocked a cloture vote that would have allowed a $1.8 trillion coronavirus stimulus package to advance for a full vote in the upper chamber.
The vote to end debate on the massive package failed because 60 votes were needed and just one Democrat, Alabama’s Doug Jones, voted aye, with the final tally 49 to 46.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell needed 60 votes to end debate on the bill and allow it to go to a full vote in the Senate, which means at least 12 Democrats would have to have joined all Republicans in voting in favor.
The sweeping bill, meant to offset the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, was blocked Sunday night by Democrats who said the package did not do enough to protect American workers and was essentially a slush fund for the GOP’s spending.
McConnell immediately slammed the vote and said it could delay the “Phase 3” portion of the federal aid package for days.
“This has got to stop and today is the day it has to stop,” an exasperated Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the Senate floor. “The country is out of time.
“As a result of this procedural obstruction, let me explain where we are. By refusal to allow to take this first step, which would have still given them plenty of time to negotiate, we have put the senate in the following position,” the Kentucky Republican said.
More – New York Post 3/23/2020 4PM
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.