Our Annalyn is amazing, altho I’m not surprised #video
Posted By RichC on January 3, 2019
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How does a rock solid dividend stock sound about now? $RPM
Posted By RichC on January 2, 2019
Are you looking at top quality dividend stocks? RPM International is a buy and hold stock that has a track record of increasing cash dividends to shareholders that can’t be match by many companies. Today it was down 1.87% to $57.68/share and is starting to look attractive again (at some point I’ve got to believe Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway will be interested in this company … and I’m not alone).
RPM Declares Quarterly Dividend
January 2, 2019 (BusinessWire)RPM International Inc. (NYSE: RPM) today announced that its board of directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.35 per share, payable on January 31, 2019 to stockholders of record as of January 16, 2019.
This action marks RPM’s 45th consecutive year of increased cash dividends paid to its stockholders, which places RPM in an elite category of less than half of 1 percent of all publicly-traded U.S. companies. Only 41 other companies, besides RPM, have consecutively paid an increasing annual dividend for this period of time or longer, according to the Mergent Handbook of Dividend Achievers. During this timeframe, the company has returned approximately $2.4 billion in cash dividends to its stockholders. At a share price of $60.00, RPM’s dividend yield would be 2.3 percent.
LSSU’s banished words and phrases from 2018
Posted By RichC on January 2, 2019
Each year since 1976 Lake Superior State University posts its list of “banished words.” Usually, we’ve all heard (or used!) the overused words and phrases — this year is no exception. I thankfully have only repeated a few, but have certainly heard most of them overused.
The 2019 list, along with reasons for banishment by nominators:
Wheelhouse, as in area of expertise – Chris, Battle Creek, Mich., “It’s not in my wheelhouse to explain why dreadful words should be banished!”; Currie, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada), “Irritating, has become a cliché, annoys me, offence to the English language, etc.”; Kevin, Portland, Ore., “It’s an awkward word to use in the 21st century. Most people have never seen a wheelhouse.”
In the books . . .
as in finished or concluded – Sandy, White Lake Township, Mich., “It seems everyone’s holiday party is in the books this year, and it’s all there for friends to view on social media, along with the photos of the happy party attendees.”Wrap my head around – Linda, Bloomington, Minn., “Impossible to do and makes no sense.”
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Happy New Year – Make the most of each day this 2019
Posted By RichC on January 1, 2019
This year our our 2018 Christmas letter included a quote by the Dalai Lama and it reminds me that our time on earth is finite. Once a grain of sand has passed through the hour glass, it is gone … so make each day count this 2019.
There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do, and mostly live. – Dalai Lama
Growing up in the 1960s and 70s, it is obvious that the decades and memories from the last century are “the shrinking part of my life.” We are now almost 20 years into the 21st century, meaning nearly one half or my adult life has taken place in the 2000s (yet I continue to act like prepping for a Y2K computer meltdown was just yesterday). A reminder over the holidays came when a 7th grade teacher mentioned that to his students, anything pre-911 is considered ancient history!
Upon reflection, I thankfully have very few regrets and would like to continue down that path. There weren’t many things left unsaid to my mom or dad, or mother-in-law and father in-law, before they passed. I regularly reinforce just how much I love my kids and granddaughter … and live life to the fullest each day, week and year. My “walk with the Lord” could always use some improving … and perhaps focusing more on that in 2019 is a great New Year’s resolution?
“Each day is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to Him.” — T.D. Jakes
I am so thankful that the Lord has SO bountifully blessed me with His mercy and the undeserving gift of grace … and the surety that accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior, I have eternal life. I want the same for you and would welcome a chance to share the Gospel with you.
“My gift of undeserved grace is all you need.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9
Amen!!!
Music Monday: Jumpin’ Jack Flash from FIFTY years ago!
Posted By RichC on December 31, 2018
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If you have a workshop, you need a few medical instruments
Posted By RichC on December 30, 2018
Twice this past week I used medical instruments in my workshop. The first repair was to use a non-needled syringe to suck out some moisture in a pump switch … thanks Brenda, it was handy (although I have used them before “with a needle” for delicate parts lubrication). 
Second, was to use the surgical instruments given to me by my son-in-law Drew to tie a bowline in a very short monofilament line – this zipper pack of tools is SO HANDY!
In the past, I’ve also used a variety of dental picks from my father-in-law … everyone should have at least a couple of these medical instruments in their toolbox!
Cheap and easy tight-spaces snoots for the central vac
Posted By RichC on December 29, 2018
A little central vacuum cleaner modification with a short snipped segment of polyethylene tubing did the trick for cleaning out some lint build-up in the laundry room. Brenda was having a difficult time with the normal sweeper tip, so just like the home-made snoot for under the refrigerator, I duct taped a plastic tube to get under the lint cleanout screen on the LG stacked dryer.
Tech Friday: Are Windows registry cleaners hokum?
Posted By RichC on December 28, 2018
Those of us who manage our own computers likely do our share of “desktop” cleaning and are regularly warned by our anti-virus software that we need to do more than prevent viruses and hackers from accessing our computers. 
The current “free” anti-virus companies all push to sell their paid software … and regularly highlight registry problems … no matter how many times you regularly clean/correct/fix it with their tools.
For my part, I habitually use CCleaner on my Windows 10 installs. I happily upgrade each version and click the “Run Cleaner” button at the end of a week thinking “I’m clearing out the crud.” In recent years 
I’ve even gone so far as to run their registry scan and it always finds something highlighted under the “problem” field. I click the “Fix selected issues” button and voilà it gets magically fixed. I feel good and move on only to do it all over again after checking it again.
Hm, what do others like MalwarebytesLabs and Microsoft think about “cleaning the registry?” It might be a lousy practice and could end up causing problems. I may re-think my practice and side with those thinking it is a marketing ploy to sell their computer scanning packages?
What Is A Registry Cleaner?
Registry cleaners came to prominence over 10 years ago when computer performance was nowhere near as fast as it is today. Essentially, a registry cleaner is a tool that scans your Windows registry for registry keys that are of no use, or potentially leftover remnants of malware that has been removed. It then gives you the option of removing this dead weight in your system. Vendors of registry cleaning claim that by cleaning up the Windows registry, you have an opportunity to speed up your computer. Or at least this is what Piriform wants us to believe.
Do We Actually Need A Registry Scan?
Quite honestly, no. You see, Microsoft has refused to release their own registry cleaner tool, or endorse any third party registry cleaner. And this is within reason. Microsoft’s stance is that they don’t want users messing with the registry since it probably brings attention to the most bloated part of Windows. Simply put, messing with your Windows registry without knowing what you are doing can trigger serious errors that can render Windows inoperable.If this is true, why do so many people choose to use a registry cleaning tool like CCleaner?
Piriform’s CCleaner is Snake Oil
Piriform (now owned by Avast) is run by smart individuals who get marketing. Do not let them fool you. They want you to believe that their Windows registry cleaner is the 2nd coming. Piriform has cashed in on our eagerness to increase PC performance and fed into our undying euphoria of deleting things on our computer that we believe are useless. Piriform and CCleaner aren’t the only ones out there. Others include the Wise Registry Cleaner, Glarysoft Registry Repair, Frontline Registry Cleaner, and Auslogic Registry Cleaner.
You too can restore a cast iron skillet like Jon Peters
Posted By RichC on December 27, 2018
When Brenda and I were first married, we started off cooking with a cast iron skillet. It was “old school” even 36 years ago to be using our old Wagner cast iron (were made in Sidney, Ohio), but there was something great about using those big heavy “somewhat” greasy skillets in our little two bedroom house. But as new parents, life gets busy, and we opted for simpler non-stick skillets (junky ones actually) for the ease of cleaning and storage.
Fast forward to my son Taylor needing kitchen gear for his apartment and the “retro” guy he has become grew interested in cooking with cast iron. It is great to see him enjoying our old skllets (and I think my mom’s too?) and preferring them over other pans. So here’s a video from one of my favorite woodworking guys, Jon Peters … just in case our old cast iron skillets up needing some refurbishing.
A limited Corbett-Oostra family Christmas photo recap for 2018
Posted By RichC on December 26, 2018
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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.