My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on February 13, 2019

For those of us who grew up working on cars pre-Internet, the Haynes Manuals were one of the “go-to” sources on how to fix automobiles … or at least a particular brand and model of car. Last week  John Haynes, the founder of the publishing company, passed away at 80 years old.

Although I also have a few Bentley manuals and still have my original Chilton’s generic repair manual, the Haynes manuals were the ones that I remembered and relied on the most. I still have (and use) the one John is holding in this photo for my MGB … and a couple for my Mercedes 300D Turbodiesel too.

The online offerings and many free videos have mostly replaced the softback manuals that usually end up grease smudged and dogeared, but I still have a weak spot in my heart for those printed on paper … of course I also grew up working for newspapers and started a printing company!

25th March 1938 to 8th February 2019

 

John Haynes, the entrepreneur and creator of the Haynes Manual, founder of the Haynes Publishing Group PLC and the Haynes International Motor Museum passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on the evening of Friday 8th February, aged 80, after a short illness. John was a kind, generous, loving and devoted husband, brother, father and grandfather, who will be missed enormously.

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Category: Automotive, Education, Misc, Obituary | No Comments »
Tags: 300d, automotive, bentley, car, chiltons, john haynes, manual, mgb, obit, Obituary, publishing, repair

Posted By RichC on February 12, 2019

Having worked on my family tree with Ancestry.com back in 2010 and then ignored returning 9 years later, it has been interesting to look into it again now that DNA testing has grown in popularity. My results came back a few days ago and they were “as expected” (although the map a bit deceiving). From our family history, and the previous researched immigration documentation (ship logs), I was pretty sure most of my DNA would show Welsh and Germanic ancestry; it did and totaled 87%.

The centimorgans numbers worked out well too (unlike a recent WSJ horror story) and matched my DNA closest to my daughter Katelyn (Taylor’s results aren’t back yet) and my brother Ron. I knew both recently did their DNA tests, but seeing so many other matches from my uncle Sonny (my dad’s brother) and several cousins was interesting too. The other 2nd, 3rd and 4th DNA matches were much lower in the centimorgans amount but was still interesting to see a few names I knew, and many that I did not.

Predicted Relationship Chart from Ancestry.com

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Category: Archive, History, Misc, Science, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: ancestry, ancestry.com, centimorgans, dna, family, family tree, lifestory, testing

Posted By RichC on February 11, 2019

This content is restricted.

Category: Memories, Music, Personal, Photos, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: aaron, beatles, encore, family, florida, here comes the sun, howard, justin, katelyn, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, peek n peak, richc, taxman

Posted By RichC on February 10, 2019

I enjoyed the warm sunshine and working on a few project on Encore this past week. It was a delayed trip due to a flight cancelation, but thankful my schedule is pretty flexible. It would have been nice to stay longer and to have had Brenda with me, but "ya got to do what you got to do."

It was also nice to see a few old friends and catch up on a few maintenance items … although repairs on a sailboat are never done. That last bit is something I’m plenty familiar with and so will keep trying to enjoy working on the boat.

This past week was a semi-bust in that the scuba guy I use to clean the bottom and replace sacrificial zincs did not show up. I also tried to diagnose my overheating issue but did not tear into the heat exchanger on the Volvo diesel … something that is looking more and more like it needs to be done. If I run the engine at low RPMs without much load, there seems to be enough water flowing over the heat exchanger tubes to cool enough, but if under a heavier load or higher RPM, the diesel will overheat.

One of the other projects I wanted to get done was to remove the center (smaller) Lewmar Ocean series hatch, just as I did for the larger ones a couple years ago. I did get it removed (not easy) and built a temporary wood plug/hatch to seal the opening. Before flying back home, I sent the hatch to Select Plastics in order to have new Lexan bedded in to the frame. It is a pricey repair, but has become necessary after continued taping in order to keep it from leaking. I really put off this repair because I’ll end up losing my solar vent. Bummer.

While I was down at the marina it was great to see the new pool going in … but not so good to see dockage rates going up.

Category: Archive, Idioms, Misc, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: encore, florida, fort pierce, harbortown, hatch, idiom, lewmar, sailboat, sailing, sunrise

Posted By RichC on February 9, 2019

Although I’m not fond of birds that mess up the topsides of our boat, this Osprey made for a great photo from Aruba. Above is an Osprey is catching a blue reef fish. (more…)

Category: Blogs, Photography, Photos, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: aruba, encore, filler, mirror, osprey, photo, photography, reef fish, uk

Posted By RichC on February 8, 2019

Yup … I have over 1000 photos.

Once again, the lesson to take to heart is to "control your own data" whenever you can or be blackmailed into new subscription rules or lose everything.  Even more challenging if a company goes out of business or deciding you have infringed on their user policy without warning and having your entire account deleted without recourse.

Do you have a Flickr account? Does it have over 1,000 photos?

Go back them up, or you might lose a bunch of them forever.

..

1. Go to Flickr.com on a desktop browser
2. Log in
3. Tap your profile picture in the upper right, then hit “Settings”
4. Scroll down, and look for “Your Flickr Data” in the bottom right.
5. Double check that the email address listed is your current one. If not, change it.
6. Hit the “Request my Flickr data” button.
7. Wait.

Within a few hours, you should get an email with a big ol’ zip file with all of your pictures.

PSA: Go back up your Flickr photos before they’re deleted | TechCrunch

Category: Business, Cloud, Photography, Photos, Social Media, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: account data, flickr, Photos, psa, tech friday, techcrunch, techfriday, yahoo

Posted By RichC on February 7, 2019

The 2018 wireless phone Tax Foundation report came out in December 2018 and although we may have seen income tax rates drop, wireless phone plans continue to be ripe for the taxman’s pickings. It is shocking to see such a wide rate structure from all the different states (map above) but that doesn’t tell the story of the year to year upward creep in total taxes paid. The average family "can expect to pay about $229 per year in wireless taxes, fees, and surcharges—up from $221 in 2017." Check out the chart below that show the year to year increases Americans are taxed for their cellphone plans … closing in on 20% on average (count your blessings if your plan is in Oregon … or even Ohio!)

Category: Business, Cellphone, Financial, News, Politics, Productivity, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: Cellphone, government, Politics, tax foundation, taxes, wireless

Posted By RichC on February 6, 2019

We often act as if we are so enlightened in the 21st century when it comes to political philosophy and an understanding as to what motivates human beings. Politicians, and in turn their dreamy-eyed followers, are once again attempting to solve income equality with big government and expensive social programs that propose to "tax the rich" … not unlike what has been attempted in socialist countries in the past (or even in our own country with the memorable LBJ "Great Society." For all the millions of dollars, did it work? No!).

Good to remember we’ve seen it fail and debated many times before, but will we learn?

EDIT – always good to get it correct:

Dr. Adrian Rogers – (1931-2005) American pastor
Often attributed to Dr. Rogers with an incorrect date of 1931. The quotation is part of a longer 1984 sermon in a larger series titled “God’s Way to Health, Wealth and Wisdom” (CDA107); it also appears in Dr. Rogers’ 1996 work “Ten Secrets for a Successful Family” stating that “by and large our young people do not know either the importance or the value of honest labor”. Rogers did not originate the quote and did not claim to have originated it. Instead, he was citing almost verbatim a bit of anti-Soviet propaganda that had circulated in many magazines in the early 1960’s. The quote appeared before that in the Congressional Record of 1958, where they were appended to the record by congressman Bruce Alger. Alger had borrowed the words from Gerald L. K. Smith, who had written them first in his magazine, The Cross and the Flag. Since the quote was attributed to Rogers in 2009, it has been regularly attributed to him; however, Rogers was essentially quoting Smith at the time.

Category: History, Misc, Politics | No Comments »
Tags: adrian rogers, equality, great society, income, lbj, Politics, socialism

Posted By RichC on February 5, 2019

The prediction that diesel fuels will rise (“double in price” – note the last minute of the interview) is bound to impact the price of goods. Everything is shipped using diesel fuel, be it on ships, trains or trucks, and with those prices rising significantly, consumers will be paying. On the personal side, those of us driving diesel cars, trucks and SUVs are going to notice it at the pump.

Category: Automotive, Biodiesel, Diesel, Energy, Politics, Video | No Comments »
Tags: diesel, economy, fuel, inflation, phil flynn, shipping, tommy san miguel, youtube

Posted By RichC on February 4, 2019

While chatting with my son Taylor over the weekend about the terrible news regarding the killing of a law enforcement officer in the county where he works (depressing), we discussed his career options again. His job is currently to his liking, but the challenge and opportunity for advancement and salary improvement is dependent on seniority and the advancement of those in management position above him. He is very good at his current job as county planner (hence the joke photo above), but unfortunately it does not give him experience in administration or managing people. It is tough to know when to be satisfied with a job you do competently and when to stretch yourself by taking the risk with a new job, new people and new challenges?

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Category: History, Misc, News, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: ancestry, blue, career, dna, family, Humor, law enforcement, planning, police, richc, taylor, wsj