My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on December 18, 2019

Although my boating life isn’t quite this bad (thanks for the photo Fatty Goodlander), it is frustrating to be dealing with what I thought was an already “fixed” problems aboard Encore. Besides not using the boat often enough, the re-fixing of problems a second time is frustrating, time consuming and costly.

Back in 2013 (has it really been that long?) I replaced both the failing batteries and inverter/charging system with upgraded 105 amp hour DieHard batteries (got a deal)and a 2000 watts inverter, charging and monitor set-up. All seemed to be working well for the past several years, but recently noticed that the batteries were not holding a charge. A couple weeks ago while patching the bimini with new wear strips (photos below) and cleaning up the condo for our winter renters, the batteries were completely flat. Hm?

The old (left) wear strips and the new replacement strip with some reinforcement (right)

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Category: Sailing, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: 12v, batteries, battery, bimini, boating, deep cycle, diehard, electricity, encore, marine, patch, power, reinforce, repair, sailing

Posted By RichC on December 17, 2019

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Category: Archive, Holiday, Personal, Quotes | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, archive, brenda, christmas, churchill, Corbett Christmas Letter, drew, family, hillsdale, katelyn, megan, pdf, quote, rich, richc, taylor

Posted By RichC on December 16, 2019

December is here … and the snow arrived last night (snow 9 years ago), although it isn’t anything drastic, just peaceful and quiet. Actually the heavy snow surprised me considering Sunday afternoon was relatively pleasant and I was in the home theater watching Sunday Night Football (Bill beat the Steelers). When the game was over, I realize I had forgotten to take out the trash. So headed outside to about 4 inches of wet snow! When walking back up the driveway, I realized the house looked pretty nice (although Brenda complained that I didn’t wait for her to finished the window candles and wreathes –  it is half done).

On another note, I’ve become increasingly frustrated when working with my cheaper chisels made with junk steel (left) and SO PREFER using the couple 100 year old Swedish chisels that belonged to Brenda’s grandfather (right), He was a furniture maker in Jamestown NY and obviously knew which steel held a sharp edge. If I had a few more, I throw away all my junk tools.

Category: Personal, Photos, Sports, Tools, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: chisels, cincinnati, house, legacy, photo, snf, snow, tools, weather

Posted By RichC on December 16, 2019

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Category: Holiday, Memories, Music | No Comments »
Tags: christmas, fire and rain, Holiday, james taylor, Memory, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, remastered, winter wonderland

Posted By RichC on December 15, 2019

I’ve often questioned just how much data is being collected by Facebook, Google, Amazon, etc … but considering I’m a relatively light user of FB … getting push timely advertising is a bit creepy.

I called my insurance company last week for a windshield repair/replacement for our 2010 BMW X5 35d and handled the entire transaction on the phone … yet somehow, Facebook connected me to an advertisement from Safelite – notice the timestamps.

As for the new windshield … it sure is nice not to have a bunch of tiny chips, a blurred area where a larger chip was once repaired and of course the most recent cold-weather induced crack right in front of my face.

EDIT: 
     Come to think about my online activity, I did post to my blog on the topic yesterday?

Category: Automotive, Blogs, BMW, Diesel, Marketing, Personal, Photos, Social Media, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: advertising, BMW, chip, crack, facebook, information, insurance, internet, privacy, safelite, windshield, x5 35d

Posted By RichC on December 14, 2019

Don’t you just hate this! Earlier this week I was driving home through construction and traffic as I headed south from Columbus to Cincinnati on I-71 (road construction is not done yet!) and I heard a rock hit the windshield. It sounded pretty nasty, but after looking around carefully from the inside, all was fine … or so I thought.

After seeing the split a couple days later, I realized that the stone much have struck right next to the pillar and behind the black edge of my 2010 BMW X5 35d windshield (no doubt an expensive one). The car is old enough that I would not have minded just an epoxy patch repair, but obviously I did not catch it in time. Bummer.

Currently, I’m in debate mode as to filing an insurance glass repair claim or paying out of pocket –especially after the surprise in 2014. I’m now far more mindful when debating on submitting a claim or shopping around and paying for semi-minor repairs on my own.

Category: Automotive, BMW, Personal, Photos, Travel, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: automotive, BMW, chip, claim, crack, driving, insurance, liberty mutual, repair, split, windshield, x5 35d

Posted By RichC on December 13, 2019

When you see something like this, you realize how suddenly life can end. Thankfully, in this situation, all survived … but it is a good reminder to thank God for each day and be sure to tell those in your life how much you love them.
 

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life?
— James 4:14

Category: Faith, Video | No Comments »
Tags: bible, Faith, friday filler, mp4, verse, video

Posted By RichC on December 12, 2019

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Category: Archive, Memories, Personal, Photos, TBT | No Comments »
Tags: ani gif, annalyn, birthday, drew, family, katelyn, medical, neomed, neoucom, school, skydiving

Posted By RichC on December 12, 2019

My nephew Aaron and long time blog reader/commenter and his wife Lauren had a baby on December 8th and all are healthy (shower in September). Brenda and I are so happy for them, and although he nameless at birth, we were excited in finally hearing his name and couple family “names” too … both last and middle. I’m unsure where the first name came from, but Emory is very dignified.

Welcome to the world, Emory Allen Howard and congratulations Aaron and Lauren.

Category: Archive, Personal | No Comments »
Tags: aaron, aaron howard, archive, baby, birth, born, emory, family, lauren

Posted By RichC on December 11, 2019

Pocketknives have been part of my life since I was a 5 year old … yes, you heard that right, FIVE YEARS OLD. My grandfather gave me my first 1-inch semi-toy pocketknife when my family was still living on Spencer Street in Toledo – which means I was likely still only 4 (it was a key chain version that once said “Florida” on it).  I’ve carried slightly larger ones ever since and eventually settled on a Swiss Army version from either Victorinox or Wenger (now the same company since 2005).

During high school and college it was always a larger Swiss Army Knife version, but as my pocket filled with a lot more keys, a cellphone and thicker wallet, I switched to my current Victorinox #53973 MiniChamp knife in the early 2000s. There was never a time one had to worry about where we could or couldn’t carry a jack or penknife (another terms for the small folding knives). Eventually I even opted to carry a SwissTool SpiritX on my messenger bag! I always had them in school and years ago they weren’t even a problem on airplanes. After 911, things change and I understood the new TSA rules after terrorist used boxcutters. But now with air marshals and locking security doors to the cockpit, I thought maybe nail clippers or a small bladed pen knife would be acceptable?

Nope, they are still perceived as weapons! Unfortunately for me, it’s just another thing to remember to take out of my pocket before heading to the airport.

Category: Aviation, Memories, Personal, Photos, Tools, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: air travel, army, jackknife, knife, minichamp, penknife, pocket, pocketknife, spiritx, swiss, swiss army knife, swisstool, tsa, victorinox, wenger