Keeping up with Taylor, Megan, Annalyn, Katelyn and Drew
Posted By RichC on April 3, 2019
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A rainy March day in Florida beats a rainy March day in Ohio
Posted By RichC on April 2, 2019
After a weekend trip to Encore in Florida, one would think that I would be totally rejuvenated? Unfortunately I’m feel further behind and less rested than when I left?
Perhaps it is age or maybe just the long drive, but I’m tired and worn out. On the bright side, it was at least good to get a breath of salty ocean air and feel the warm rays of the sun. Hopefully those rays will soon be returning to Cincinnati and give me a change to clean up the yard and patios after winter (ugh, yearly spring chores).
Thankfully the cold weather for the most part has been left behind and each day of spring going forward is likely to bring new growth and something green. I’m guessing that I’m not alone in looking forward to the warmer spring weather?
Music Monday: Just a guy playing the piano in a hardware store
Posted By RichC on April 1, 2019
This is a repost from Facebook and a blog post from 5 years ago … but after someone sent me a message last week about not being able to view the embedded FB video, I decided to repost and archive the impressive piano playing of Jacob Tolliver on an “unfinished piano in a Portsmouth Ohio hardware store.”
Why is the yield curve inversion so important?
Posted By RichC on March 31, 2019
Great "Quicktake" explaination on Bloomberg.
The Yield Curve Is Inverted! Remind Me Why I Care
If you’re wondering what a yield curve is and why there’s so much fretting in the U.S. over it flattening — and parts of it even inverting — you’re not alone. Late last year, Google searches for “yield curve inversion” shot up to their highest level ever. Here’s what the fuss is about.
1. What’s a yield curve?
West System epoxy repair to one of our many porch columns
Posted By RichC on March 30, 2019
While working on the “bird away boxes” last weekend, the spring weather warmed improved enough at least for a day in order to start a fiberglass column repair (needed for curing). The wind blew enough a few weeks ago to toss items around enough that a crack and a chunk of plastic was broken out of the column.
This really wasn’t that big of a deal since we seriously need to updated the trim painting on both the house and detached poolhouse – garage. I used the material that I had, West System Epoxy and fiberglass matting, in order to patch and will add some putty soon. Hopefully with a little sanding on the next nice day I’ll be ready for paint later this summer? Unfortunately these were never primed and the paint has peeled terribly. Now I have a lot of prep work to get things ready for paint.
Tech Friday: The business practices of telecommunication, cable and Internet providers are ripe for disruptive innovation
Posted By RichC on March 29, 2019
It has been a year since I’ve checked my Internet speed since we have not had any problems, but I doubted we were getting the advertised 500Mbps speeds , but then that my internal network problem.
Speed aside, there hasn’t been any reason to question Cincinnati Bell’s service (our TV and internet service provider). They have been excellent.
Unfortunately, they play the same game with promotions and surprise price increases as their competitors (ours price bump was a $100 increase per monthly as of February due to expiring promotions). My irritation with this practice is probably magnified ten-fold by those who set up automatic payments and forget about their promos ending until they catch it months later (“Auto Bill-Pay is a terrible practice, but something every monthly service biller loves to do).
The only way I’ve found to address the issue is to set a calendar reminder and call just before it expires. Getting an acceptable deal usually requires a “threat to leave” and escalating the call to a supervisor in order to find out “what’s 
new and being offered” in order to “play the game.” At one time this haggling was reserved for buying a car!
As for our speed, 162 Mbps down, 123 Mbps up without unplugging network devices likely slowing things down, are acceptable, but nowhere near what is promised. If it is anything like last year, I could unplug everything (including all those “Internet of Things” plugs, switches and smart devices, and likely gain a few Mbps).
For now, I’ll just live with the above speeds and keep everything the same for another year. After wasting time on the phone with Cincinnati Bells customer service, I was able to get them to lower the bill for another year … but not refund the half month of full priced service (I missed my reminder). I’m sure this “game” is their business model and it enables them to squeeze a little bit more out of every customer … we tolerable it over returning equipment, knowing it is exactly the same hassle with another ISP/cable company all over again. Industry disruptors are seriously needed in this industry.
My small town, old friends and Springsteen’s “Glory Days” #TBT
Posted By RichC on March 28, 2019
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Medscape article on the treatment of Meniere disease #archive
Posted By RichC on March 27, 2019
A couple of decades ago I suffered from Ménière disease (Ménière’s disease) and struggled to find treatment and relief from the miserably vertigo episodes. One does not understand how debilitating and miserable that this be, so much so that any potential treatment, regardless of the risk, seemed worth it at the time. In my case, I opted for the endolymphatic sac decompression or shunt
placement surgical treatment since it was what my ENT who specialized in Ménières was doing here in Cincinnati … and I was a good candidate (young/healthy). I had already had all the tests, scans, etc and worked for over a year with sodium diet control, OTC products, diuretics and diazepam with little to show for it. Thankfully for me (although knowing what is known now is questionable) the surgery was successful and within a month or so it improved my life immensely (fewer and lessening in intensity). The hearing in my right ear was gone, but I have retained hearing and balance for the most part from my left ear. Except for the tinnitus and an odd relapse that was treated at the Cleveland Clinic a decade later with a tympanic steroid injection I’ve been vertigo free … but the “drop attacks” disappeared. Thank God!
The surgery I had after after little success from diet and medications is the same that astronaut Alan Shepard had in the 1960s. 
His success and return to flight status (eventually flying an Apollo space capsule on top of a Saturn V rocket to the moon!) was of great inspiration to me as at the time I was actively involved in flying and building experimental airplanes. Knowing what is now available, I’m sure I would have gone the ranstympanic medication perfusion route before ever moving forward with the destructive and far riskier surgery (Van Gogh’s Starry Night art above – previous post).
The point of this post is to archive a great write-up/update of the Surgical Treatment of Ménière Disease by John C Li, MD published in Medscape (a great resource) and if I ever need to find this information again for anyone else who may be suffering. This is by far the best information I’ve ever read – and believe me, I’ve read a lot on the subject.
Surgical Treatment of Meniere Disease
Overview
Background
The term endolymphatic hydrops refers to a condition of increased hydraulic pressure within the inner ear endolymphatic system. It is often used synonymously with the terms Ménière disease and Ménière syndrome. [1] However, Ménière disease is more correctly understood as endolymphatic hydrops without a determined etiology—that is, idiopathic endolymphatic hydrops—whereas Ménière syndrome can occur secondary to various processes interfering with normal production or resorption of endolymph.Excess pressure accumulation in the endolymph can cause a tetrad of symptoms: (1) fluctuating hearing loss, (2) occasional episodic vertigo (usually a spinning sensation, sometimes violent), (3) tinnitus or ringing in the ears (usually low-tone roaring), and (4) aural fullness (eg, pressure, discomfort, fullness sensation in the ears).
Although the disease itself is not lethal, significant morbidity can arise from various manifestations of the disease. Vertigo can cause devastating accidents and falls. Hearing loss is often progressive over time. Many patients are unable to work and are forced to claim disability.
Surgical management of Ménière disease is reserved for cases in which medical treatment fails. The future of Ménière treatment lies in the use of methods that are less invasive and less destructive than current ones to control vertigo. The concept of transtympanic delivery of medications is appealing. As new medications and delivery systems are discovered, more refined approaches to a cure may evolve.
Making boxes instead of my plastic coffee cans to keep bird away
Posted By RichC on March 26, 2019
After mentioning a distraction in working on my weekend projects last week, here was the project that was first on the list … something to deter the robins. My “keep the birds away” boxes to replace my yearly plastic coffee cans … and two of them with funky wires (photo left – I’ll have to see if they work?)
We have a ridiculous number of columns on our Georgian Colonial home (18 columns total on our house and poolhouse/garage). Each one present a high and dry location for the robins to build their nests each year. Besides flying in dry grasses for their nest, they also pack it with mud and eventually have a brood of messy baby birds to feed. So this year I’m using my new miter saw to make small boxes that can be placed either temporarily on each column in the spring like the coffee cans … or perhaps mounted them permanently once I repair the capital and repaint.
Music Monday: R.Dean Taylor – Indiana Wants Me (1970)
Posted By RichC on March 25, 2019
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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.