My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on August 21, 2019

We have always shuffled our “fleet” (as my son-in-law calls it) and strive to keep the loss through depreciation on vehicles to a tolerable level … while still driving reliable vehicles. Thankfully our current and recent vehicles have served us well and regularly hit the quarter million mile mark before we retire them. In my opinion, that is an impressive number of miles without major mechanical work, especially compared to the cars that we learned to drive on or owned when we were first married.

This month we replaced our 2006 Honda Pilot with a well maintained 2010 Acura RDX (photo of me tinkering on Drew’s car in 2017). Since we bought it from family and know the history, purchasing a car with 124K was an easy decision … and actually one that Brenda made since it will be her daily driver (usually car buying is “my call”). She loves the fact that it is a smaller SUV with sporty handling and performance — the exact blend most car buyers seem to be looking for nowadays; hopefully, the RDX will remain as reliable for her as it was for Drew and give her several years of dependable driving.

As for the Honda Pilot, there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. Oh, it has a torn front leather driver’s seat,  a little rust on the wheel wells and 250,000+ miles, but it is currently running perfectly. The new owner will be one of the painters we had working on the house and should serve him well as reliable transportation and a great work vehicle (still keep the 2002 Honda Odyssey around just  because of that!)

Category: Acura, Automotive, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: acura, brenda, cars, drew, honda, odyssey, pilot, replace, SUV, vehicles

Posted By RichC on August 20, 2019

This content is restricted.

Category: Archive, Personal, Photos, Video | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, aquarium, babysitting, birthday, brenda, cincinnati, drew, family, katelyn, megan, mp4, newport, richc, summer, taylor, video

Posted By RichC on August 19, 2019

Since there hasn’t been time to put together a summary post for our week with my little helper Annalyn, I’ll update the latest of many poison ivy encounters Brenda and I have had over the years. Brenda usually tangles with poison “something” yearly and I do my best to just avoid the evil plants until cooler weather (long sleeves and long pants). Unfortunately, I needed to clear the fence line in the woods to keep my fence painter going last week and thought I was handling it with care — I obviously was not being careful enough.

Although we never seem to avoid poison ivy entirely, we have learned how to best mitigate the rash and reduce the itching.  Here are our steps in avoiding and “doctoring” a poison ivy irritation:

1. Cover all skin areas when you are working around poison ivy if you can’t avoid it
2. Wash immediately with Dawn Dishwashing Soap (or other oil and grease-cutting soaps)
3. If a small or moderate skin rash/itch appears, use Ivy-Dry for the itch and helping it to dry  (we like it better than other – FYI, Brenda is a pharmacist)
4. If severe, or on your face, or any internal area, see a doctor and ask about oral corticosteroid, such as prednisone.

Category: Advice, Environment, Health, Nature | No Comments »
Tags: clothing, dawn, dish soap, dry, ivy, ivy-dry, poison ivy, rash, washing, weeds, woods

Posted By RichC on August 18, 2019

Taylor’s new 2019 Volkswagen Alltrack – 8/15/2019

After a fantastic week with Annalyn here in Cincinnati, Brenda and I are in recovery mode.  I’ll need to spend a little time getting back to my emails and piled up work but I plan on archiving a few photos from the week (in a day or so). So for closing the weekend after Katelyn and Drew left for home, I’ll just include a photo of Taylor’s new Volkswagen Alltrack. Very nice and glad to see that both Taylor and Katelyn are back to driving VWs again. Hm, perhaps I’ll have to take a serious look at the Atlas?

Taylor VW next to Katelyn’s 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan

Category: Archive, Automotive, Photos, Volkswagen | No Comments »
Tags: alltrack, automotive, cars, family, katelyn, summer, taylor, tiguan, volkswagen, vw

Posted By RichC on August 16, 2019

Hope you are enjoying the rest of the summer at the beach, perhaps at Cape Cod?
 

Category: Nature, Video | No Comments »
Tags: filler, great white shark, sharks, video

Posted By RichC on August 15, 2019

Has it really been over 15 years since I was commuting back and forth from NE Ohio in my 2003 Volkswagen TDI (and filling up with biodiesel or seeing my car image on other peoples’ blogs?) Yes it has been awhile.

After posting about a friend’s new Volkswagen Atlas (Tim Hunter sent me a new updated photo – right) and “again” admiring Katelyn’s Tiguan when meeting her with Annalyn this past weekend, I couldn’t help, but think about our Volkswagen Jetta TDIs (and Taylor’s GTI). We all loved our VWs … and I enjoyed being part of CinciTDI and the TDIClub.

So when glancing at my old BIODZL vanity license plates hanging above my workbench, I figured why not a Throwback Thursday #TBT post that includes a couple photos of our little efficient diesel cars?

Category: Archive, Automotive, Biodiesel, Diesel, Personal, Photos, TBT, Volkswagen | No Comments »
Tags: automotive, biodiesel, biodzl, cars, diesel, jetta, TBT, tdi, volkswagen

Posted By RichC on August 14, 2019

Our current NetGear Nighthawk R7000 router has been exceptionally stable considering the issues I’ve had with cheaper routers and networked devices in the past. I’m pretty happy with it, but in order to get solid coverage, had to add a WiFi Range Extender to cover the detached garage and poolhouse (and yet still have weak spots). So, since I have ongoing issues in keeping the older and inexpensive router at the Florida Condo up and running, it made sense to upgrade to a Mesh System at home and move the NetGear Nighthawk to the condo before our winter renters arrive.

I looked at the Google Mesh set-up Drew and Katelyn have, but it is a bit overpriced and I tend to resist being part of the data collection business marketing model used by many of the technology giants; the whole “what are they doing with my data” thing  concerns me. Of course with our new less expensive MeshForce equipment and MyMesh app … and modem hardware supplied by our ISP, Cincinnati Bell Fioptics, who knows what is being collected or being sent overseas? Besides totally unplugging from wire and wireless devices … or using VPNs, blockers, spoofing, cookie blocks/cleaners and making life ridiculously painful … I’m not sure how much privacy we really have anymore? 

Category: Cellphone, Computer, Innovation, Personal, Shopping, Tablet, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: cincinnatibell, condo1718, fioptics, google, home, internet, isp, mesh, meshforce, mymesh, netgear, nighthawk, router, wifi

Posted By RichC on August 13, 2019

Great energy use tip for those of use who heavily rely on ceiling fans:

The direction a ceiling fan should turn can be confusing. Modern fans have a switch that enables them to blow the air either up or down. During the summer you want the fan to blow air straight down, so your ceiling fan needs to run in a counter clockwise direction as you look up at it so you can feel the breeze. But remember, fans consume energy, so the only way a fan will actually help lower your bill is to set your thermostat a degree or two higher when using ceiling fans. The breeze from the fan makes you feel cooler at a higher temperature. Just be sure to turn fans off after you leave the room since they do not actually lower the room temperature.

Don’t choose a higher speed than necessary to feel comfortable. The higher the fan speed, the more energy it uses. A typical modern ceiling fan uses about 30 Watts on low speed, 55 Watts on medium speed and 95 Watts on high speed.

Do you still have any of these heavy-duty ceiling fans from decades ago? You know the ones; they seem to last forever. Did you know they can use up to 500 Watts on high speed? If you use that fan several hours a day, you should seriously consider replacing it with a modern fan to cut your energy costs up to 80 percent.

LINK

Category: Advice, Blogs, Energy, Financial, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: blog, ceiling fan, cooling, energy, fpl, heating, tips

Posted By RichC on August 12, 2019

As hinted at last week, today is the day I want to wish my wonderful wife Brenda a Happy Birthday. We are looking forward to our slowly closing the chapter of “career” (no hurry yet) … and are starting to plan the new chapter called “retirement.
Anxious? Who me?

Although we may have changed a bit on the outside since our senior year of college in 1980 where we met in an “upstairs/downstairs house turned college apartments” by Mr. Temple (still remember the landlords name), on Turner Avenue in Ada, Ohio (photos from the spring of 1981 “off-campus” at Ohio Northern University), I could not imagine my life without Brenda. I love you! 

Girls lived upstairs, guys downstairs – Google Streetview photo from 2014

Category: Archive, Memories, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: ada ohio, birthday, brenda, college, family, love, memories, onu, Photos, planning, retirement, richc

Posted By RichC on August 11, 2019

As the cost of education, health care, cars, etc. goes up, it should be no surprise our financing habits change in order to pay for priorities like higher education … or luxuries like newer and more reliable cars. Paying for semi-essentials is significantly more expensive than in the past and we now extend paying for them far longer than before.

Taking on a mortgage to buy a house that could appreciate, or borrowing for a college degree that should boost earning power, can be wise decisions. Borrowing for everyday consumption or for assets such as cars that lose value makes it harder to save and invest in stocks and real estate that tend to create wealth. So the rise in consumer borrowing exacerbates the wealth gap.

This is a huge concerned for those directly impacted by debt and by those currently digging their holes. Sociologist and economist are concerned as well as the changing future of family formation and homeownership is at risk (and without a next generation, it will be impossible to keep Medicare and Social Security solvent). 

The American dream of owning a home for my generation traditionally followed a bit of debt for school and car, which as those costs  ballooned, now puts the tradition mortgage for a first home out of reach for many. As rents rise, paying off existing debt and saving for a home becomes even that much more difficult. Add to that the high cost of health care (quote at bottom) … and the propensity to purchase with a credit card, desire to travel and eat out, one wonders if renting forever is the new normal for the American middle class family?

Graph and Chart from a WSJ.com article 

Unadjusted for inflation, home prices rose 188% from 1987 to 2017, average tuition at public four-year colleges rose 549% and health-care expenditures rose 276% from 1990 to 2017.

Meanwhile, household income from 1987 to 2017, not adjusted for inflation, rose 135%. (Aug. 2, 2019)

Category: Education, Financial, Health, Human Interest, News, Politics | No Comments »
Tags: cards, credit, economy, Education, families, graph, graphic, homes, housing, middle class, mortgages, school, sociology, wsj