Music Monday: Be Prepared but be sure to enjoy your life now
Posted By RichC on February 17, 2020
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Woodworking: Jon Peters on biscuit jointers and a great tip
Posted By RichC on February 16, 2020
Although one could spend all day or night watching YouTube advice videos from expert woodworkers, I’ve limited my viewing to a few guys. 
I’m fond of Jon Peters for both the quality of his videos and for the short “focused” tips. In a recent YouTube video, he points out how often he finds himself using his biscuit jointer and gave me an idea for attaching table and bench seat tops that I would not have considered (photos).
We gave my dad a German made Elu Biscuit Jointer (purchase by Dewalt in 1994) shortly after he retired in 1992, as he started to add a few tools to his workshop after retiring. I inherited his biscuit jointer and have used it only a few times since DadC’s passing, but I think of him every time use it.
In 1994, DeWalt took over the German wood working power tool producer ELU. DeWalt increased their line of tools using ELU’s technology. As of 2001, DeWalt manufactures and sells more than 200 different power hand tools and 800 accessories. (Wikipedia)
The most common use for the biscuit jointer is to align edge to edge boards instead of using dowels, which is all I’ve ever used it for… but there are a variety of other joints that can be made. An interesting use that Peters demonstrates is using a biscuit slot as a way to attach a table top or bench seat (video below). Hm?
The other great tip he offered up was rather than centering the biscuit, leave a little more space between the biscuit and the surface or top of project so that the slot and biscuit doesn’t telegraph on the finished surface. I would not have thought of that!
When is it time to say goodbye to family pets? #PumpyUmpy
Posted By RichC on February 15, 2020
While emailing my daughter this week about taking her “long living” bunny, Pumpy Umpy to the vet (injury and can’t move his leg), I mentioned that I eventually had to take Tootsie to the Butler County Humane Society as a 
way to prep for her eventual decision. I ended up seeing this “Keep in touch” image when scrolling down on the front page.
Who knows what the right call is for Katelyn’s rabbit, but for me and after several trips to the vet for Tootsie, I decided that being a dog who is deaf (she was a long time – known issue for Australian Cattle Dogs) and being 17 years old and almost blind (hard to find the edge of pool and falls in) was not a happy life. The final failure was that she was no longer able to hold her bowels and likely had colon cancer.
Deafness: Australian Cattle Dogs have been known to suffer from congenital hereditary sensorineural deafness (CHSD), or rather deafness that is inherited rather than acquired through illness. CHSD occurs shortly after birth before the ear canal opens. The exact cause is unknown, but it is believed that an inadequate blood flow to the cochlea results in death of the sensory nervous cells, resulting in total deafness. As the name suggests, CHSD is an inherited disease. Researchers are not yet sure whether the gene carrying CHSD is recessive or dominant, so when looking to adopt an Australian Cattle Dog inquire with the breeder whether deafness runs on either side of their line.
Valentine’s Day is also Single Awareness Day #humor
Posted By RichC on February 14, 2020
Nope … I’m not going to forget Happy Valentine’s Day and have remembered to get something “sweet” for Brenda … although it is a good thing she reminded me earlier in the week with a “be sure to pick up a couple gift cards for the kids” comment. Whew!
I was also reminded by my “single” friend Jeff that Valentine’s Day, February 14th, was on a Friday this year and that we might want to switch out our normal “ever-other-Friday” scheduled lunch (we did). At that moment, I also realized that for all without a significant other, it is Single Awareness Day. 😐
A personal family photo (and video) from 30 years ago #TBT
Posted By RichC on February 13, 2020
Last week, a Jasper, Alberta family photo near a glacier for a ThrowBack Thursday #TBT post, had me sharing a few of my thoughts on climate change. I should have included another photo that had a few more from our family (especially since my sister-in-law, Lynda, just returned home from the Cleveland Clinic). The trip was actually a 40th anniversary present to MomH and DadH (Brenda’s parents) … but the adult kids volunteered to go along too. 😛 So for this week’s TBT, I’ll add that photo … and archive 50-minute long low-quality video pulled from a VHS tape before it is completely degraded.
Lynda, Mark, Ann, Gary, MomH, DadH, Brenda & Rich near Athabasca Glacier
We flew in from Ohio and New York to Calgary, Alberta and headed west to the Canadian Rockies … I can still hear my late brother-in-law Mark singing “climb every mountain” and “the hills are alive, with the sound of music.”
We had a good time hiking and celebrating in Baniff (just as Taylor, Jeff and I did in 2005) and stayed at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise – it was nice (personal video for the blog’s digital archive below).
High CalendarAgent CPU use on Apple MacOS Catalina 10.15.3
Posted By RichC on February 12, 2020
Here’s a tech tidbit for those noticing a high CalendarAgent CPU demand on your Apple Macintosh computer. For me, the process cranked 
up the CPU to 60-70% trigging high fan speeds and this process continued without finishing. I noticed slightly sluggish behavior AFTER a recent MacOS software update, although might have happened prior to that? I’m currently running Catalina, but from my digging, this excessive database processing can happened in several earlier versions too. 
The solution for me was to kill the process and then rebuild the Calendar database. I actually stopped both the Google Calendar and Apple Calendar before rebuilding – perhaps doing both was unnecessary?
Here is what I found in Apple StackExchange:
If you need a little more clarification, see below:
Filling space with LTE speed test and humorous automotive GIF
Posted By RichC on February 11, 2020
A month ago Virgin Mobile sent this happy customer (great service) an update indicating that due to the Sprint T-Mobile combination that the Virgin partnership would be spun off to Sprint’s Boost Mobile prepaid group.
They promised an equal or better “deal” which has yet to be noticed … but then it has only been a day or so (I have my doubts).
Anyway, my account transfer has taken place and the new iPhone app is now working. So far, so good as there has not been a change to my phone or service but I am still unsure as to the details such as pricing and “add-ons” to my account. Time will tell. For now, the hotspot still works, calls are coming in and an LTE speed test from my home indicates decent speed and ping times. Stay tuned as my phone still displays Virgin Mobile and probably will until they push a carrier update out.
Just a little embedded Twitter automotive humor …
Good thing this driver sprung for AWD! #automotive #humor pic.twitter.com/zSUhSMsa7S
— Rich Corbett (@RichC) February 10, 2020
Music Monday: The Mamas and The Papas – Monday Monday
Posted By RichC on February 10, 2020
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Replaced my iPad Air with iPad 7th Gen and Brydge Keyboard
Posted By RichC on February 9, 2020
It has been a struggle to make a decision on updating my favorite tech gadget, but after the first generation Brydge Keyboard finally would not charge, I had to do something.
I thought about going all out and moving to the iPad Pro series, but realized that all the functions that I appreciate are already on the basic iPad. I personally prefer the thumbprint-homebutton log-in rather than the camera, can live with the bezel being a little wider; I really don’t have a problem with the performance of the aging processor, which is still rated at 10 hours and gives me a full day of battery use. I did however upgrade the storage to 128GB which was a no-brainer considering I have plenty of files, but will just stick with wi-fi and tether to my iPhone hot-spot rather than pay for an extra wireless plan as I did initially with the iPad Air.
As far as I could find, the Best Buy — $100 off purchase for the 128GB model $329.99 … plus I added 2-year $69 Apple Care — seemed like a fair price for a great Apple product. I’m especially pleased with the ever-so-slightly larger and sharper Retina display and snappier operation (my Air was getting old in the tooth).
The favorite add-on is the Brydge Keyboard which matches the iPad and allows it to function as my travel notebook computer (for the most part). I probably should have looked at the Apple keyboard, but having had a couple other brands before the Brydge … it just wasn’t worth the bother. This bluetooth connected keyboard make it so much easier to type (posting this with the new iPad and Brydge Keyboard) AND the high quality leather case is a must have … but pricey (it should protect both if they are dropped and they offered me a 20% discount due to the fact my old one would no longer charge). After day one … all is functioning as it should and I only hope they give me the same long and dependable service that the last combination did.
Winter weather, driving and fun babysitting Annalyn
Posted By RichC on February 8, 2020
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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.