Archive: A family visit and dance recital for our granddaughters
Posted By RichC on June 3, 2025
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Learning a little abbreviation grammar later in life
Posted By RichC on June 3, 2025
Here’s a note-taking tidbit from “out in left field” for those of us who have been taking shorthand notes their entire life and have never asked the question — or at least thought about it enough to even ponder the question? 
When abbreviating the word continued or continue, do you scribble “cont, con’t, cont’d or contd” when you are taking notes?
You might feel like there are many potential abbreviations that could be short for continued, like contd, cont’d, and con’t. If you’re struggling to remember which ones you’re supposed to use, you aren’t alone.
So, what’s the correct shortened version of the word continued?
There are two official abbreviations for continued: cont. and cont’d.
Music Monday: Linda Ronstadt recorded Phil Everly song “When Will I Be Loved” in 1975, as did Vince Gill in 1994
Posted By RichC on June 2, 2025
Although I mentioned the song “When Will I Be Loved” before on Music Monday … with the Linda Ronstadt version and 
her 1976 live performance in Germany … but didn’t realize that Vince Gill recorded the Everly Brothers song about 20 years later in 1994. Gill’s version was used in the the movie “8 seconds” which was a contemporary western film on the rodeo legend Lane Frost. Although I’ve never been attracted to “western” themed movies or television, I am adding this one to our movie list?
So here are the three versions of “When Will I Be Loved.”
| Vince Gill – “When Will I Be Loved” | 1994 |
| Linda Ronstadt – “When Will I Be Loved” | 1975 |
| The Everly Brothers – “When Will I Be Loved” | 1960 |
Do you have a favorite version? You know I do — 1975 of course!
Widow’s Peak – The desultory rabbit holes a blogger goes down
Posted By RichC on June 1, 2025
While Katelyn was home with her family over the Memorial Day weekend, she made a comment about Drew’s hairline while he was swimming in the pool; she used the term “Widow’s Peak“ and it 
stuck with me as something “desultory” enough for MDB.
According to GrokAI (sketched an illustration too):
A widow’s peak is a distinctive V-shaped point in the hairline, typically centered on the forehead, where the hair converges into a downward peak. It’s a genetic trait, often inherited, and can vary in prominence from subtle to pronounced. The term originates from folklore, where it was associated with widows, as the shape resembled the peak of a widow’s hood worn in mourning. It’s seen in both men and women and can influence hairstyles, with some embracing it as a unique feature while others style their hair to minimize its appearance.
Perhaps the most prominent illustration of a Widow’s Peak that comes to my mind would be the legendary Count Dracula? I also thought of former speaker of the U.S.House, and Miami of Ohio grad, Paul Ryan … and supposedly the famous actress Marilyn Monroe once had a widows peak … although it is reported it was tweaked with some Hollywood electrolysis. Hm, who knew?
Why is it Called a Widow’s Peak?
The widow’s peak is a physical trait most often noted for its name. Although the term “peak” is assumed to be a way of describing the distinct V shape, this trait actually has a more interesting reason for its name. The name can be traced back to 18th century England, where this hairline was originally thought to be a bad omen, signaling early widowhood. During this period, widows would typically wear a hat or hood that pointed down the middle of their forehead to signal widowhood. Thus, when a woman was born with this hairline that created a similar look to the headpiece worn by widows, it was assumed that that would be her fate.
Highlighting some of what Taylor is doing in Batavia Twp. Ohio
Posted By RichC on May 31, 2025
Some of what I attempt to archive on MDB are the goings-on in our family for posterity. Taylor has definitely found his career niche and excels at socially interacting with coworkers and the citizens he serves in Batavia Township, Ohio.
In April it was putting on the Easter Bunny suit to the smile of children and parents and this month it was the grand opening of their “splashpad” at the community center (very impressive, BTW). His county’s local Clermont Sun newspaper published an article which included Taylor (archived PDF). It is wonderful to see how well Taylor fits in and has become an integral part of the community — and makes a mom and dad proud.
Tech Friday: Digital Ocean server maintenance and blog panic
Posted By RichC on May 30, 2025
This past week, regular readers may have noticed MDB going down. I battled with it instead fo relaxing on Wednesday night — wasting time building an entire new Digital Ocean Droplet/Server with an overnight (automated while sleeping) older “snapshot” set to 
Tech support wasn’t all that helpful wanting me to look at what was running using all the CPU, etc. I suspected a networking issue since there was significant pre-planned maintenance the day before my problems started?
Maintenance will begin as scheduled in 60 minutes.
Start time: May 27, 22:00 UTC
Estimated duration: 2 hours
Components affected:
API, Cloud Control Panel, Cloud Firewall, Networking – NYC3
By Thursday morning (5/29/2025), both servers were up and running just fine and my overnight build of a new droplet now seems like a waste (now “destroyed,” DO’s word for eliminating the droplet). Let’s hope all continues to run smoothly?
In the same Tech Friday vein as a server going down, one of my newer Wyze Cams failed to update. After a “chat” to review what could be done, they instead issued a Wyze credit towards a new product. Hm … do I really want another cam?
Testing MarsEdit blogging feature and interesting aviation trivia
Posted By RichC on May 29, 2025
This is a blogging test of a MarsEdit feature to include content that is on a different server — a Memorial Day 8-plane backyard formation flyover (it didn’t work). ☹️
Also, an interesting bit of Area-51 “Skunk Works” Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk development trivia:
The stealth bomber prototype secretly developed at Area 51 in the 1970s, that became the now officially retired Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, was named after the invisible rabbit in the Jimmy Stewart film – “Harvey” 🤔
Archive: Memorial Day early pool time with our granddaughters
Posted By RichC on May 28, 2025
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How carbon dioxide in the atmosphere travels around the globe
Posted By RichC on May 27, 2025
FYI, I have zero understanding of climate science beyond knowing that it is a politically loaded topic. I’ve tried to remain balanced on pollution vs economic issues my entire life — advocating for saving the whales, birds and manatees and for clean water and air in the 1960-70s when human offensives were clearly noticeable … but started to question things in the 1980-90s when global cooling, then warming and peak oil alarmists were clearly political. I was even an advocate for harvesting crops and seaweed/algae for biodiesel in the 2000s. It only gets more confusing from there … to the point it became glacier melt, ozone layers and CO2 levels.
Never the less, I did enjoy this video for the aesthetics and continued attention.
Music Monday: “18 Summers” – Matthew West on Memorial Day
Posted By RichC on May 26, 2025
Although Memorial Day posts have generally been focused on honoring and remembering on MDB, I’m breaking the tradition and will include a Music Monday song titled “18 Summers” from the Christian artist Matthew West. It so happened that my daughter sent his YouTube video 
and a comment regarding college and her girls (still a decade off, mind you!) … to which I said that I’d be including Matthew West and his song on a Music Monday … I just didn’t think it would be on Memorial Day. 😉
Anyway, “18 Summers” is one of those “pull on your heartstrings” kind of songs that especially yanks on a father-daughter bond (see last week’s Throwback Thursday #TBT), but likely impacts every family (the years go fast). Also, it is a well done song, a great video and worth including.
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.