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 […]
If you use your battery powered drills as much as I do and are suffering with something a bit older than a couple of years, it is time to check out the new lithium powered tools. I can’t tell you how pleased I am with both my slightly older Craftsman Drill and Impact driver and […]
I have teased my “good humored” son far too long about his “girlfriend” from Wayzata Minnesota a few years ago (click here for old photo). So with that “old joke” aside, I think it is about time to officially include his friend Megan on the blog and mention we are excited to see them spending a […]
Happy Easter brothers and sisters in Christ! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. This past week I’ve been listening to Alistair Begg speak on Life After Death recorded from Parkside Church and shared on the Truth For Life podcast. Ever since Katelyn and Drew gave me the Amazon Echo Dot for Christmas I […]
This content is restricted.
This ain’t my first rodeo (was looking for an excuse to use the idiom) as it pertains to stretching the life of my favorite pair of Sperry Topsiders. The idiom this ain’t my first rodeo is generally traced back to the movie Mommie Dearest, in which the character Joan Crawford says, “This ain’t my first […]
Bits and pieces are still arriving from my Christmas shopping. Sometimes I forget that not every company/individual doing business online is shipping with the efficiency we become accustom to with Amazon and other big online retail sites. In any case, one of the gifts I assembled was an emergency kit that included survival items we […]
Our Amazon Echo Dot Christmas gift is the gift that keeps on giving now that I’m learning new “skills.” There isn’t anything earth-shattering it is currently doing, but the “easy” interface to Amazon’s cloud server for content and function may be limitless … at least looking into the future. It is an impressive device; perhaps […]
In order to improve efficiency on WordPress sites (my customer installs) I often experiment with updates on my personal MyDesultoryBlog first since very little on this site really matters for paying customers. So over the Christmas and New Years holidays I fiddled with a few highly recommended updates to the LAMP server and WordPress installs. […]
Just in case there are a few men looking for last minute jewelry gifts to give to their sweetheart for Christmas, here’s a ring idea that will pretty much guarantee that you’ll never need to worry again – you’ll either be alone … or dead! And since I know there is sure to be a […]
Better late than never in posting a few photos from our Thanksgiving day dinner and family time over this extended weekend. My brother Ron and his family were all able to get together at our house this year with our two new additions: Annalyn (Katelyn and Drew) and Teagan (Keira and Ben). Thankfully all of […]
This content is restricted.
Not too many photos, but Taylor‘s friends all seemed to have a great time celebrating his birthday this weekend in the backyard. The Knockerballs were a hit … and Taylor even showed his love for his mom Ha! (video below).
One of the fun areas of IT that has been growing in recent years is the “maker community” of products for do-it-yourselfers. These devices range from the Raspberry Pi, Pi Zero, Photon, Arduino, etc. The movement is bringing electronics to those of us that have that tinkerer mindset, but it also extends the opportunity to […]
A couple gifts I gave this past Christmas were magnetic Nato Smart Mounts for holding smartphones or even tablets in a car. After buying a first one for our Honda Odyssey minivan as a promo and liking it, I added several more to the next order as gifts. The final one I kept for my […]
Having just returned from my mother-in-law’s funeral in western New York has me thinking of my late mother and now on January 24th … particularly my father. Today would have been his 88th birthday if he were still alive … although I’m not so sure many of us want all that many more years as […]
Heating with wood is in my genes, since my parents started heating with wood back when we lived on Lake Erie and were constantly without heat either due to power outages in the rural area we lived, floods forcing the power company to turn off utilities or the old finicky oil burner furnace (think “Christmas […]
My mother-in-law passed away last week … or as my good friend Pastor Keith Thomas (groupbiblestudy.com) said, "graduated." The word choice is very fitting for Mom Howard considering she has been a lifelong Christian and loved studying and memorizing the Bible. She has been looking forward to "graduating" from this temporary life on earth to […]
I’m feeling guilty about receive a Christmas present from my daughter and son-in-law after realizing the price ($$$). I mistakenly admired a bag Drew‘s brother demonstrated to me when they had the baby reveal … and although I knew is was above average in price, I never took the time to do the research as […]
I finally finished up a long overdue project for Taylor … a headboard for his bed. He had giving me a couple magazine images as to what he wanted, but I just haven’t found the time or put together the materials I needed to build it (let alone been ambitious enough to start the project). […]
I helped fund the Raspberry Pi based computer Kickstarter project known as the RaspberryShake networkingworking a large number of inexpensive earthquake monitoring station around the world (www.raspberryshake.org/quick-start-guide). The idea of connecting hundreds if not thousands of independent volunteer monitoring stations isn’t new, but it is a growing force in data collection. Hopefully I’ll be able […]
As Fernando Lamas would say (or Mark Howard – it’s on the back of my late brother-in-law grave marker) … "it looks mahvelous!" (paraphrased). Unfortunately the Apple’s newest MacBook Pro has a price to match it’s looks and expected performance with the 13" model WITH the new TouchBar starting at $1799 and the big boy […]
There was a day, when all I wore for casual footwear were boat shoes … but Sperry Topsiders in particular (also athletic shoes of course ). In recent years I’ve opted for simple slip on sandals around house, pool and at the dock or if you preferred flip-flops … or if you go WAY back – […]
Two years has passed since a missle downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, yet 298 families are still without closure. In the US we’ve heard the slogan “too big to fail” when giving a pass to big banks, companies or their decision makers. When it is the powerful like Vladimir Putin and Russia, one wonders if […]
Posting a few photos after completing the woodstove project that I’ve been working on this past month or so. It is working great as we used it to dry a bit after the rainy and wet Knockerball fun when the kids were home for Christmas. After spending a few hours cleaning the old stove and […]
Another excuse to try to get Blogsy, the blog posting app on my iPad, to include photos without posting them to Flickr or Google (the two options besides “normal WordPress media” built into Blogsy). Unfortunately the suggestion from the programmer was to use a separate sFTP client — very cumbersome and not the way to […]
When you begin to depend on prompt order fulfillment and reasonable delivery times from online retail stores, it feels like we’ve gone back a decade or two? On Cyber Monday, November 30th, I placed an order with Target thinking there was plenty of time before last minute Christmas ordering. I entered both my email address […]
As I was getting the paper this morning … in a tee-shirt in December … I noticed one branch of our struggling Lilac was confused as to the season. Hard to believe we’re getting ready for Christmas when temperatures are in the 60s.
Well I really am working on getting ready for Christmas this weekend, but wanted to post an updated photo as the dry-stack brick project in the poolhouse/ garage. As mentioned previously, the floor leveling was the biggest pain in order to level the top of the “walls.” I used an aluminum angle to hold a […]
Shortly after Brenda and I were married, I commented that I was going to write an advice book for new couples that included the good and bad decisions we made when buying things for our home, yard, kids and our life. After all this time I’ve yet to write the advice book, but continue to […]
The slower work days between Christmas and New Years has given me a little time to clean up my files and office, both paper and digital. One productivity app that I’ve been using on my iPad for over 2 years is Notability and I’ve collected a bunch of “notes” and PDFs that have been semi-organized […]
A local convenient store today in Liberty Township, Ohio … December 23, 2014. As a Volkswagen TDI and Mercedes diesel car guy … there is something wrong when the spread between regular unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel is this much – over $1.50 difference! Ugh … back to driving the Honda Pilot, at least for the […]
The Stock Trader’s Almanac is always an interesting read in referencing history when it comes to forecasting market moves. If their research is correct we may still have 5-10% to grow. Quite bullish. Since the great stock washout of 2014 the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average have gone up about nine percent in […]
Somewhat an excuse to slip in a Hank Williams song, but the Dome Homes article was intriguing because we explored this area with my college buddies in the late 1970s every Christmas break. I’d still like to get back there by sailboat and anchor for a few days …weeks … or maybe months … and […]
After our visit with Katelyn and Drew in Minneapolis ( 7/18 & 7/19), we flew up to Williston, North Dakota to see Taylor. Flight and weather were great and after dinner our first night we stopped at Taylor’s Williams County Zoning and Planning office (below) and took an evening hike along the levy east of […]
In analyzing my Sodastream Christmas gift from the kids … after polishing off the original soda flavors … my 5 gallons of Diet Coke concentrate will last about 6 months. My wife Brenda unfortunately did not become a fan (lifetime Diet Pepsi addict) although I adjusted my daily refreshments choice to primarily the paintball carbonator […]
The snow has returned again to stretch out this already long and cold winter. March has always been one of those questionable months, but one I generally associate with “spring” … so far not this year. Katelyn and Drew were home for the weekend and we had a great time together as usual. Besides talking […]
Those who are regular readers of My Desultory Blog realize that besides posting commentary on newsy items, be it tech, cars, aviation, politics or whatever, that I also include personal entries and photos relating to my family. This blog, now 4000 posts, is a continuation of a journal that I started in 1977 as a […]
One of the pleasures of my “adult” life has been enjoying coffee. Generally I’m content with run of the mill canned coffee or “plain Joe” restaurant brew for that first cup of the day, but after dinner or on the weekend I much prefer a freshly ground bean from roasters who know their craft. Recently […]
My oldest Corbett cousin Michael passed away on Sunday and although we have not stayed in touch over the years, his “too young” passing is a telling sign that we are all vulnerable when it comes to our health. My dad who talks to his brother (my Uncle Sonny, Mike’s father) mentioned to me during […]
An early Christmas present to myself. I’ll probably never need an impeller puller for the boat again, but now I have one.
My son Taylor checked in with me during the Bengals win over the Browns for another “battle of Ohio” NFL game this weekend. He is ‘im‘patiently waiting for his new big screen TV to arrive and complains that his little TV is not satisfactory for watching football — in the day of HD it is […]
Although video chatting isn’t for everybody, I do appreciate seeing a face and a smile when catching up with my son in North Dakota and daughter in Columbus. Skype was once my preferred method (when “Skype to phone” was free), but now between iPads, iPhones and iMacs it is easier to jump on Facetime. Katelyn […]
So much for my air travel shopping tips as the holiday airfares have already risen. I’m seeing $700 to $900 for the flights I’ve been pricing and the ones leaving mid-day are gone. I think I’ve waited too long to confirm my son’s trip home because at one point a few weeks ago I had […]
Since I’m looking to bring my son home from North Dakota over Christmas, I figured it might be time to archive a list of shopping tips I copied and saved in a document a few years ago … can’t remember where I found them? I can’t vouch for the current accuracy, but I’m using the […]
I ran across a “Packard: An American Classic Car” documentary on You Tube the other day and know it is something my dad will enjoy watching. I downloaded a copy to my iPad (using McTube Pro) and am archiving the 44 minute clip to my blog — might purchase the DVD as it would make […]
I chuckled when I saw this top ten list appear in a hands-on automotive forum (there were more than 10, but I shortened it). It is pretty accurate. Wherever you go, you hear your wife say "let my husband help you fix that." You have many tools (and multiple toolboxes), including special service tools […]
I had one of those “knight in shining armor” moments this weekend after a call for help request came in from my wife Brenda. She planned a weekend trip with her mother with a stop to visit our daughter in Columbus then to the farmhouse in New York. The primary goal is to begin taking […]
It may be 15 degrees outside, but that doesn’t keep my firebug wife from heading out to burn landscape grasses and who knows what else. She asked if I had a larger fire blanket (I gave her a small one for Christmas this year), and since I didn’t, she settled for a 5 gallon bucket […]
As a casual flag flier, I often wonder if I’m respectful enough of our stars and stripes? Disclosure: I’ve always had a flag, portable staff or flag pole and initially decided to raise our flag and illuminated it 24/7 after 9/11 out of respect for those serving our country. I committed to keep it flying until […]
I received a needed lesson in blessings and being thankful today. My sailing friends Mark and Judy Handley have been sharing their daily lives online for many years while cruising around the world. Their circumnavigation ended over a year ago, but Judy continues to document their return to a “somewhat” more normal life. Unfortunately this […]
Ever since I can remember I’ve carried a pocket knife … in part because the first one was given to me by my grandfather when I was 5 years old. Yes … FIVE … and I can vividly remember cutting ants in a sandbox (where was Peta?). Although it was a small single blade tourist […]
My college friend Dallas on Marco Island BEFORE it was developed – 12/1978 Who doesn’t enjoy reminiscing a little bit about “the good ol’ days” after looking through a couple of old photos? Here are a few from a trip to Florida over Christmas break back in 1978 … whoa, we were young. This […]
Almost all companies have customer service issues and what separates the successful from the not-so-successful is how they are able to recover with the least amount of pain. One example this year is Best Buy who in the past was one of my least favorite retailers. During their pre-Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday store […]
Brenda and I are enjoying the evenings with our son Taylor who is home from college for Christmas break. He shared a few stories and a cute video from the Miami University (OH) football field that was shown on Sportscenter. The somewhat viral YouTube video (at least on campus) made by the student film team […]
After weathering the hot summer and safely making it through hurricane season, our sailboat Encore demonstrated that wind and rain from “unnamed storms” can still find its way into a closed boat. One of the port above the book rack dripped some water onto a few books … a couple of them headed straight to […]
Our old house and 5 acres of property on Stow Road in Hudson Ohio On my trip to NE Ohio this week I had both the chance to enjoy dinner with my daughter in Columbus (always a pleasure) and meeting with Mark Goloback, an old friend from when we lived in Hudson, Ohio. I recently […]
It was nice to have my son home and finished with finals … and to have him think about me on my birthday. Thanks for the Miami Alum license plate surround, Taylor. My aging first generation Palm Pre is still taking some pretty decent photos (above) Of course he wasn’t the only one to wish […]
For those of us who can relate to being asked for investment advice by family … I’m sharing letter I received today that might help. For some delusional reason, a few in my family feed my ego by asking for investment advice, even though my competence is questionable. I usually keep quiet on the subject […]
A glance at the news pages these last couple weeks and one can’t help but feel a little more positive as we close out the Christmas retail shopping season and a challenging 2010. One hopes that the confidence consumers are showing will translate into businesses expanding and hiring in 2011. It’s been a long recession […]
Christmas has come early for me as we finalized the closing on the “new to us” sailboat – 1986 36’ Westerly Corsair called Encore. Although Brenda and I have been looking at boats for years, we realistically planned on putting off owning our next boat until both kids were out of college and comfortably on […]
Palm Pre photo after clearing the driveway on Thursday I’ve had to put the snowblower on my old John Deere 330 a bit early for SW Ohio this year since we’ve had significantly more snow and colder weather this entire month. In years past I remember crossing our fingers that some snow would whiten the […]
Just in case your wife complains that you are a procrastinator for putting off all the Christmas decorating and shopping this time of year, all you have to do it point to me. After realizing that Rich hasn’t even closed the pool yet this year, she should appreciate you far more and forgive your minor […]
Encore – and UK built 1986 well equipped 36’ Westerly Corsair CC I’ve been offline and a bit out of kilter the last couple of days … I could say I was busy Christmas shopping, but then what I’m doing sort of stretches any Christmas present budget that I’m aware of? I headed to sunny […]
While helping my wife work on her Christmas letter today, she asked about the context for the famous Thomas Jefferson “Question with boldness” quote taken from his letter to his nephew Peter Carr on August 10, 1787. I’m archiving the text of the letter below Jeremiah’s letter to the Exiled Jews. “For I know the […]
Brenda and I enjoyed visiting our son on Saturday for Family Weekend at Miami University. Although we didn’t spend the entire day with all the planned activities, we did enjoy a brunch with his professors and department head. It was nice to be in a small group talking with them about internships and future options […]
According to Sherri Wells, a leading expert on SMS messaging, the “SMS (Short Message Service) was developed in 1985 by a collaborated effort between Germany and France and was created by Friedhelm Hillebrand, Bernard Ghillebaert, and Oculy Silaban .” Ms. Wells also states that the first practical message was “Happy Christmas” and was sent in […]
Letter from Mike Tobin: “… this trip is the one that ends more than half a decade of living in Jerusalem and moves me back to the US. It is with no small amount of doubt that I packed my bags and left the Middle East. The threat of a conflict with Iran is still out […]
Wayne Meretsky shares the “Loss of Moonduster“ We arrived in Savusavu, Fiji, on Monday, November 23, after a fairly uneventful 3-day passage from Tonga. Our goal was to spend a month cruising the western Yasawa Islands before leaving from Lautoka around Christmas to arrive in New Zealand early in the New Year. After a week […]
After years of resisting the thought of using ‘my kids’ preferred social networking site Facebook, I’m starting get the urge to check my “wall” (or “walls” plural – explained below) once in a while. Usually this occurs after being send a link, or receiving an email invite from someone I might, or might not, know. […]
No comment is necessary after watching the Cincinnati Bengals once again disappoint their fans in a tough post season loss to the New York Jets. About the only thing to say is that the better team won … at least on this particular Saturday evening. As for more positive thoughts, Brenda and I enjoyed moving […]
Success … finally! I been all thumbs in an ongoing struggle (post one and two) to fix my notebook computer during the Christmas and the New Year holiday. I ordered the suspect part, ‘an inverter,’ for my Gateway notebook computer and after hassles with pre-Christmas shipping, finally received it only to find out it was […]
Mom and Dad 01/02/10 — Palm Pre We’ve had a couple of nice family gatherings over Christmas and New Years this holiday season, so why not include two of the most important people in my life … Mom and Dad. It was a great to be together with them and enjoying time reminiscing — I […]