Happy Mother’s Day to a couple of “young” moms (2017 photo)
Posted By RichC on May 12, 2019
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Simple SunrisePro kitchen knife sharpener mini review
Posted By RichC on May 11, 2019
Although I regularly sharpen our "home" kitchen knives in my workshop and maintain the edge with a "steel" (love to try ceramic rod) … but that was not possible last week in Florida. I noticed when cleaning up the condo and starting the master bathroom update after the winter lease ended, that the new kitchen knives were extremely dull. Hm … our renters either used them a lot or are much rougher on knives that we are?
Anyway, I did not have any sharpening equipment or even a kitchen steel handy, so decided to order a highly rated countertop sharpener sold on Amazon by SunrisePro. It has a solid feel, good build quality, sticks securely with a suction cup to the counter or any smooth surface and within 4 or 5 strokes return an edge to every knife. Even if I won’t be shaving with them, the edge is perfect for 90% of all kitchen cutting tasks. It is almost too simple. If I rate it on Amazon, I’ll be giving it 5-stars as the value for the dollar and speed in returning an edge to knives was dead simple. I’ll be anxious to see if it continues to work over time.
Another year, another project … and another bathroom update
Posted By RichC on May 10, 2019
Last year’s Condo1718 update to the kitchen and guest bathroom was a bit more ambitious than this year, but so far it doesn’t seem like it. Mentally I had my timetable worked out and figured the demolition wouldn’t take all that much. Well really it didn’t, but after finding a few things not where I wanted them inside the wall cavity, I had to changed my plans — and Brenda did not want to hear that I was modifying her already approved plans.
Besides removing the old cabinets and toilet, I realized that the old tiles could not be chipped off the floor easily. After pondering new bigger tools, I opted to level the floor and put the new tile on top of the old (besides it will eliminate a raised threshold). I used, new to me, a self-leveling concrete material and it turned out great.
Since we are going from a single sink vanity to two separate free standing sinks and vanities, I also needed to plumb in additional hot/cold copper and raise the old ones to the proper height. Next was to "T" in a drain for both sinks … again higher than the original vanity so extra plumbing.
The change to my original plans was having to give up on the "in the wall" shelves spaced between the two sinks as a way to maximize 
the space in a small bathroom. We will have to address this storage update later.
Eventually Brenda an I will also start our condo sewing projects and recovering the dining room chair seats are first on the list. So I double-checked to see how the seat come apart and are made. Something to think about (photo right).
The final debate is fitting a mirror. I would like small "no frame" corner mirrors (with small medicine cabinets) above each corner vanity so it is easy to shave, etc. Brenda has her heart set on some kind of mosaic tile framed mirror. Hm … which way should we go?
On a side note, while I was in Florida, I also installed a new center hatch that was repaired by Select Plastics aboard Encore and was able to check out the new pool at the marina that I posted on a few months ago. (oh … and the Love Bugs are out)
The Love Bugs are back and bugging Florida residents (and me)
Posted By RichC on May 9, 2019
Although the Love Bugs didn’t seem quite a bad driving through Florida this past week as they were a few years ago (added old photo for ThrowBack Thursday #TBT), they still managed to annoy me aboard Encore and messed up the Honda Odyssey. Thankfully there were also several heavy thunderstorms when driving and since I just buffed and waxed, the splattered bugs came off easily.
My Honda Pilot (photo right) from 2011 was pretty bad …
Dreaded lovebugs are back, swarming cars.
What you should know about the invasive speciesMELBOURNE, Fla. — No, they aren’t some genetic experiment gone wrong, just the usual swarm that splatters its way through the Space Coast twice a year.
They don’t belong. But, they aren’t going away.
Lovebugs live just three or four days, packing plenty of annoyance into short lifespans. They madden motorists as they splatter their guts on windshields and hoods.
They gross out joggers and cyclists as they land in their mouths. And they stress out the chronically clean as they speckle otherwise immaculate white walls of beachside resorts and condos almost completely black. Someone’s got to clean them up.
Very funny – Annalyn thinks Taylor looks like Rutledge Wood
Posted By RichC on May 8, 2019
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Is there a best time to become a first time home buyer?
Posted By RichC on May 7, 2019
In a discussion with my son Taylor last week, the subject of homeownership came up. He is single and currently rents, but like many millennials, hasn’t been in a big hurry to "put down roots" as have previous generations. 
On the other hand, being that his career is in "planning" and "economic development," regularly talks housing and homes. Now that he is approaching 30 years old, the idea of home ownership vs renting is weighing heavy on his mind.
I’ll admit, I am biased toward homeownership … but then I like owning, working on and managing real estate as a long term "investment" (BTW, that’s probably a bad term when talking home ownership). So I put my "bias" aside and tried to look at his situation, his interests and how much he really wants to be tied down with the expenses and work to take care of his own house … even though 
I’d like to eventually see him in his own home someday (although something I think would be better to "share" with a partner). Katelyn and Drew are homeowners and are dealing with remodeling updates in their own home. It’s a challenge even when you are living there to know if updates are a smart move or just an expense – interesting link.
After we had the discussion, I started to read a few more articles looking at the pluses and minus of buying real estate to live in. I quoted him the "live there for 7 years" number that I remembered (which is now stated at 5-6 years … likely because of more efficiency in writing mortgages — no points, lower costs) and then started to thing about economic ups and downs. The later is something Brenda and I never considered when we bought our first house in 1982. Back then, I just assumed inflation and real estate would just continue to rise steadily over time; it has for us, just not "steadily."
The chart from Case-Schiller gives pause to pondering when to buy if you do not necessarily "love" being a homeowner or need to move from a rental place. Of course trying to pick the lows and highs of any market is a Fool’s Errand. Still, the long bull markets for almost all investments gives one pause to if this is the best time to buy real estate unless you know you are going to live in the same place for a long time.
Are we in another housing bubble?
Shiller warned the world about the two big bubbles that devastated our economy over the last 20 years: the dotcom crash in the late 1990s and housing crisis from 2007 to 2009. That — and the fact that he’s a Nobel Prize-winning economist at Yale — means when he talks, people listen.
A few months ago, Shiller warned the world again about a potential housing bubble. As the graph shows, since 2012, we’ve been seeing the third biggest housing boom in modern U.S. history.
Food for thought … LINK.
Music Monday: The NPR Morning Edition theme is changing
Posted By RichC on May 6, 2019
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What makes the Mississippi River important and so big?
Posted By RichC on May 5, 2019
Every student learns just how big and important the Mississippi River is in our country. From transporting materials from the America’s breadbasket to markets throughout the country and beyond … to draining the snowmelt and rainfall off the land so it can be cultivated (was reminded of this with all the flooding this spring). It is an amazing river that has hundreds of tributaries coming from both the east and the west. As a lover of maps, I was reminded just how many linear and square miles of the United States feeds this massive river (click map for larger view).
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. Its source is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and it flows generally south for 2,320 miles to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi’s watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi, of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the fourth-longest and fifteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana
Archiving a list to have some fun with our Amazon Echo
Posted By RichC on May 4, 2019
We added yet another Echo Dot and so it only makes sense to ask Alexa a few more questions. Here’s list that has been floating around the Internet and so just wanted to archive it on My Desultory Blog.
100 Funny Alexa Tricks for the Entire Family
For music lovers:
- “Rap for me!”
- “Sing me a song.”
- “Beatbox for me.”
- “What is the loneliest number?”
- “How many roads must a man walk down?”
- “Do you know the muffin man?”
- “Who let the dogs out?”
- “What is war good for?”
- “I shot a man in Reno.”
- “Hello. It’s me.”
- “What’s your favorite style of music?”
- “Who is your favorite Marvel character?”
- “Who put the bop in the bop-she-bop-she-bop?”
- “Happy birthday!”
- “Play that funky music white boy.”
- “Who killed the radio star?”
- “Why do birds suddenly appear?”
- “Have you ever seen the rain?”
- “Twinkle twinkle little star.”
- “Never gonna give you up.”
- “What is love?”
For movie & television lovers: (more…)
Even news savvy Americans struggle to grasp Mueller report
Posted By RichC on May 3, 2019
You are not alone in wanting the Trump-Russia collusion story and investigation to end. Americans in both parties are tired of this investigation and "thought" that 
after finally getting the summary from the US Attorney General William Barr (right), and the release of the full $30 million Mueller investigation report (with security redactions), that it was done? Nope … it seems the political hype is just beginning.
As we recall, the initial investigation was started to see if the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the results of the election — to that end (after 2 years), the investigation turned up that it did not (if anything, it discovered that the Democrats running the Hillary Clinton campaign paid a UK spy to create a dossier that was used by the FBI to secretly wiretap their Republican adversary). 
Since the wheels of the investigation didn’t stop at "collusion," Robert Mueller also looked into the charge of "obstruction of justice" after President Trump took office. In other words, there was nothing on the original "collusion" charge, but perhaps there wass an attempt by POTUS to prevent further investigating that "might" turn up something?
The full report was not complementary for Donald Trump … but neither Mueller or Barr saw evidence of the original "collusion charge," nor did they believe the "obstruction" could be successfully prosecuted. So Why are Democrats in congress continuing to pursue charges against William Barr or wanting to impeach President Trump? Answer: Politics.
President Donald Trump – National Day of Prayer 2019
With a strong economy and reasonable success in handling political leaders on a world stage, President Trump has a good track record heading into the 2020 election. The GOP tax reform and cuts have stimulated jobs, hiring and strengthened American businesses while the rest of the world struggles. Hopefully even Democrats will even recognize that having strong US companies, low employment and rising wages is a good thing for our country. About the only complaints that come from both parties about the president are his thin-skinned tweets and abrasive personality. His success in the face of this investigation, left wing media bombardment and Democrat resistance at every possible turn is amazing. Imagine how great America would be if we "could" work together?
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.