Music Monday: Ruby Tuesday – Rolling Stones 1967
Posted By RichC on September 30, 2019
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Ever hear a Florida alligator bellow? #video
Posted By RichC on September 29, 2019
This must be what it was like to live in the Jurassic era … or camping in the Everglades as mating season begins for the gators in Florida? (been there, done that!)
A post on Facebook from the Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens in Naples, Florida shows three alligators bobbing in the water, making loud growling or roaring sounds.
A person nearby can be heard comparing the sound to dinosaurs.
“It sounds like something out of Jurassic Park,” the person is overheard saying.
According to the zoo’s caption on the video, alligators bellow all year, but they do it more often during mating season.
So much fun babysitting Annalyn in NW Ohio this past week
Posted By RichC on September 28, 2019
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Tech Friday: Girl brain vs boy brain and video games
Posted By RichC on September 27, 2019
An interesting article this past week’s Wall Street Journal detailed the "distraction" and "attraction" boys seem to have with video games in comparison to girls. Vice versa, girls are far more attracted to social networking (big surprise) on their devices, but are better at juggling their time. I suspect this is just a new twist on an old problem?
Girls vs. Boys: Brain Differences Might Explain Tech Behaviors
In this column I’ve chronicled the aggression some boys exhibit when they have to shut off videogames and transition to other activities, as well as the problems some young men face when they go to college and have to juggle game time and school work without mom and dad’s help.
That led some readers to question why girls don’t appear to be having these problems. Of course, girls have issues of their own, such as smuggling “burner” phones to keep up with forbidden social media accounts. It’s just that when it comes to videogames, most girls seem to have a better handle on when to stop.
According to a 2017 survey conducted by Pew Research Center, 41% of teenage boys said they spend too much time playing videogames while only 11% of girls said they do.
Personal week full of project posts – Condo upholstery photos
Posted By RichC on September 26, 2019
For those who follow or check on MyDesultoryBlog.com regularly, you know my daily musings are split between posts on a variety of newsy and topical interest items … and personal goings-on and project updates. This week has been pretty much all personal with a recent trip to check on Encore and work on Condo1718 updates.
Besides the mounting of mirrors (before Brenda works on her mosaic tile), I pressed on with the cutting new cushions and working the new upholstery for our wicker couch and loveseat. It was a substantial amount of work, and dollar investment, and would have been less expensive (when calculating my hours) to have purchased new furniture. Besides the pride of "doing" this project, upholstery is probably one of those jobs that should be outsourced to experienced professionals. I’m not sure what they charge nowadays, but they are probably worth whatever they charge!
That said, I’m pleased with the new upholstery … even though I still am planning to add a layer of 1 inch low density foam under the batting on the seat cushions to fill out a few wrinkles and give a little more poof to the cushions.
Final note, I added a heavy cotton duck wrap to the plywood base that I added years ago when the webbing degraded and failed. Hopefully the smoother fabric to fabric surface will give longer wearablility to the Olifin fiber upholstery fabric that we picked out.
Notes on a few more master bathroom and upholstery updates
Posted By RichC on September 25, 2019
Following up on my weekend post and a few of the projects that I’m trying to complete (or get started) during my few days in Florida is the “somewhat new to me” upholstery project. 
It has bogged down my to-do list schedule, but I was able to get the master bathroom corner mirrors and glass shelves 
between the vanities finished up (well I’ll take the mirrors down when Brenda adds her mosaic tile frame). “I love it when a plan comes together,” as actor George Peppard on the A-Team would say.
🙂
Besides having an excellent drive down, the weather has been tropical … a few quirky clouds or contrails, some nice sunsets and less we forget, it is still hurricane season with occasional wind and rain (video below).
Quiet no more – Katelyn and Drew are having a second baby
Posted By RichC on September 24, 2019
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Finally … a first baby shower for Lauren and Aaron Howard
Posted By RichC on September 23, 2019
Carolyn (Aaron’s forever babysitter and family friend), Brenda, Delores (DadH‘s office manager) and my sister-in-law Chris.
Hm … the word "finally" is a sensitive one for those wanting a baby verses those delaying having a family? Thankfully for my nephew Aaron (loyal Music Monday blog commenter) and his wife Lauren, the wait is over, as they had a baby shower back in their hometown of Bemus Point, NY. Several in our extended family drove or flew to be there including Aaron’s niece Madelyn (Justin and Katie), Chris, Madison and Jerry (thanks for the photos) and my wife Brenda. It would have been nice to have driven up with Brenda … but I already had previous plans and also am starting to feel like a dinosaur remembering when baby showers didn’t include men. Oh well, I’m super happy for them just the same and was glad Brenda could be there.
Enjoying a nice drive, good weather and undeserved friendship
Posted By RichC on September 22, 2019
Made my favorite “good weather” drive this past week on I-40 through Tennessee and North Carolina (photo above) and visited my 
undeserved friends Mark and Dar Jones who recently moved to a new townhouse outside of Savannah, Georgia. What a comfortable place for both of them … offering “walk-ability” for Dar with her limited eyesight and still giving Mark a large east facing (no afternoon sun) 1-1/2 car garage for his woodworking shop. Their hospitality to me is, as always, second to none; Dar made me my favorite roast beef, potatoes, veggies for dinner (with Apple Pie and ice cream!). They have been great friends from their years living aboard Zola and the kind of people who represent the best in Americans … doing most anything for someone in need … or their country (true American patriots – Dar, US Navy and Mark, lifetime USMC).
Of course the eventual destination for my drive was Encore to check on her condition after Hurricane Dorian devastated the northern Bahamas and brushed the Florida east coast (all good). She is looking sad and neglected after the heat of the hot southern summer. I’m losing ambition to keep up with her maintenance knowing that I now have an electrical issue (alternator, batteries) on top of an overheating diesel. I did clean her up a bit and added the new verdigris painted cabin lights that Brenda has been working on. They look nautical to me and much better than the tarnished brass plated originals.
How-To: A workshop tidbit for accurately drilling shelf pins
Posted By RichC on September 21, 2019
While talking with my good friend Mark Jones about accurately drilling pin holes to mount a few glass shelves in a tight space, he gave me a great idea to use a piece of peg board to align all the holes accurately. Thanks Mark, a great tip!
But in my case, I didn’t have a scrap piece of peg board (or was too lazy to buy one) and also wondered if the 1/4" holes would align the 5mm pins … so I instead drilled a template board with a stop to accurately align each of the holes precisely on the four points for each of the levels these little shelve pins would fit.
One of the better investments, back when building airplanes, was a "tight fit right angle drill" which really helps when a normal or EVEN small drill with a chuck will not fix (photo above).
Note to self:
Next time remember to also pack the charger for the Ridgid tools! DUH!
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.