My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on May 27, 2018

There is always a need for "another knot" when sailing. Here’s one for joining lines together with a few pointers from Captain John’s Skipper Tips.

Anytime you join one line to another, you want a knot that will hold under a shock load. Think of any line like a rubber-band. Boat wakes, tidal rise and fall, and wind gusts push and pull on your line. You could tie two bowlines together…

But, this takes lots of line and you’ll end up with two bulky knots that can snag on shrouds or hatch lids. Your second choice may be the Becket Bend (also called a Sheet Bend). I like the extra security of the Double-Becket bend (vs. a Single-Becket). Use this knot to:

* Make short lines longer in just a matter of seconds.
* Double-up docking lines in a slip for heavy weather.
* Join two lines of unequal diameter safe and secure.

Grab two pieces of line and follow the steps below along with the illustration…

1. Form a Teardrop "Foundation"

Form an upside down teardrop (or raindrop) shape with the larger of the two lines–or one of two lines if they’re the same diameter. Hold the teardrop in your non-dominant hand with the fat part of the drop facing down (first illustration).

2. Make a Double Turn

Pull the other line (or the smaller line) through the back of the teardrop and bring several inches toward you. Form a loose loop on one side of the teardrop. Pass the line around the back of the teardrop and through the loop. Do this twice (second illustration).

3. Cinch Up the Sailing Knot

Make your knot tight and compact. Pull on both standing parts and bitter ends a bit at a time. You want the knot to stay put under surge or shock load (third illustration).

Category: Archive, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: knot, knots, line, rope, sailboat, seamanship, skipper, tying

Posted By RichC on May 26, 2018

Can’t say we are overly sad when seeing one more raccoon critter not trying to get into our house! RIP, buddy.

Category: Humor, Memories, Nature, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: Humor, photo, raccoon

Posted By RichC on May 25, 2018

Noticed a blog post from 12 years ago discussing “portable” computing and how things have changed. In 2006 the average laptop weighed about 7 pounds with batteries, compared to 20 years prior where my Compaq was 28 pounds … and required 110VAC power.

LINK to post

Now an iPhone or iPad can run circles around both of them without even sporting a keyboard, trackpad or mouse (I can hear my granddaughter asking me in a few years, “what’s a computer mouse?”). After reading the post again, I even found myself pondering the “very cool at the time” Palm Treo that I used to take the photos!

Category: Archive, Blogs, Cellphone, Computer, History, Innovation, Memories, Productivity, Tablet, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: compaq, Computer, flashback, palm, portable, tech friday, techfriday, treo

Posted By RichC on May 24, 2018

A moon rock? Yes, my very own moon rock … or perhaps "rock" or even "stone" is too big a word – maybe moon chip or flake is more appropriate?

Nevertheless, the publisher’s promotion to encourage social networking assistance in marketing Robert Kurson’s new book Rocket Men, The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon, paid off for me in that I received my "piece of the moon." Small, but still pretty cool.

Last month after pre-ordering the book (loved his previous book Shadow Divers), I sort of forgot about the promotion, but this May it arrived and even impressed Brenda who love collecting rocks and things. Here’s on more for the rock garden … don’t lose it! HA!

Category: Blogs, Books, Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »
Tags: book, chip, moon, promotion, robert kurson, rock, rocketmen

Posted By RichC on May 23, 2018

What a mess on everything outside. The yellow, dirty pine pollen covers everything each May … but thankfully Pine pollen doesn’t trigger allergies for me. Brenda on the other hand, either has allergies at the moment or a summer cold? (used the iPhone 7 plus portrait mode for the above photo – note selective focus and blurred background)

[adinserter name=”Responsive6″]

While watching a thunderstorm roll through last week, the heavy wind whipped through the grove a trees to our west and blew so much pollen off the trees that I thought it was a huge cloud of rain coming; instead it was a cloud of pine pollen. While mowing the yard, every brush up against a branch turn my t-shirt yellow and my blue ball cap  and ugly dirty mess. I knew there was a reason not to get the porch furniture out and power wash the pool decking until it all drops!

Category: Advice, Apple, Cellphone, Environment, Nature, Photography, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: allergy, iphone7plus, photography, pine, pollen, portrait, smartphone

Posted By RichC on May 22, 2018

Just a few self-observations can be helpful between doctor visits when keeping an eye on your skin when it comes to early diagnosing basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.

Experts explain how to detect the warning signs of skin cancer

Skin cancer, defined by the fact that it starts on the skin, is more common in the United States than all other human cancers combined.

Initially, skin cancer is not symptomatic, meaning spots on the skin won’t necessarily itch or hurt, according to Dr. Aleksandar Sekulic, the associate director for Mayo Clinic’s Center for Individualized Medicine in Arizona.

There are many different types of skin cancer, but the three of the most common include basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer with an estimated 2 to 4 million cases in the United States each year. According to Sekulic, basal cell carcinoma are the easiest cases of skin cancer to treat by surgical removal.

The second most common type of skin cancer is squamous cell carcinoma, which occurs in approximately 1 million people in the U.S. per year.

MORE

Category: Advice, Health, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: abcde, accuweather, cancer, carcinoma, detection, melanoma

Posted By RichC on May 21, 2018

It is hard to believe that my YOUNGER brother Ron is retiring at 56 years old?!? Shocking, but I’m sure welcomed after a long career with the US Air Force working first in Ogden, Utah and the last 30 years at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

We were very close brothers when growing up as kids, but grew apart as I headed off to college in one direction and he in another. We both married and politely stayed connected as family … but never had the closeness of "best friends" again. The past decade pulled us back closer again as our parents needed "their boys and family" to assist in the later years, then in settling mom and dad’s estate and now as grandfathers ourselves. It is good to feel close to him again ,.. and "want" to get together more often.

Happy Birthday brother Ron – may you have a long and wonderful retirement (sorry for the lousy photo, but this was the only one I took last weekend when we were together!)

Category: Archive, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: afb, air force, birthday, brother, family, retirement, ron, wright patterson

Posted By RichC on May 20, 2018

This content is restricted.

Category: Archive, Personal, Photography, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, cat, encore, iphone7plus, kubota, megan, spider, taylor, yard, zd326s

Posted By RichC on May 19, 2018

Although the new auto company Elio Motors has struggled financially to move their production forward, Paul Elio still claims the Shreveport, Louisiana plant is 1-1/2 years from production. Those of use who have deposits and reservations and blog about it in are still hopeful, although low fuel prices, advancements in EVs and American’s love of SUVs has us questioning a new high production model 3-wheel car/motorcycle. Personally I still want one and want a new auto company, but see the move toward partnering with a cryptocurrency as a desperate way to raise capital?

A radio personality Lars Larson had a great interview with founder and CEO Paul Elio last week and it was encouraging. Let’s hope the reality is more than just a money burning dream since too much has gone into this little car to stop now.

Category: Audio, Automotive, Business | No Comments »
Tags: elio, elio motors, interview, lars larson, mp3, start up

Posted By RichC on May 18, 2018

Like most longtime savvy Internet users, I use Google more than I would like to admit. I try not to depend on them for everything, but just like with online shopping using Amazon … Google is simply the best at what they do: Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube and Drive/Cloud Storage. The latter has been a weak link in my opinion for those of us seeking low cost or free options … and so I’ve been reluctant to marry into only ONE Cloud Storage option (although Brenda uses a Chromebook giving her plenty of space).

This past week Google has announced a new series of cloud storage plans arriving for Google Account holders, including a new family option for divvying up a single storage plan amongst up to five members. It is called Google One and will replace existing Google Drive paid storage plans (which I do not use).  The new plans break down like this:

• 100GB storage for $1.99 a month
• 200GB for $2.99 a month
• 2TB for $9.99 a month (was $19.99/mo)
• 30TB for $300 a month (same as previous)

I think the last comparison I did was back in 2015 … and now only a few smaller players are left. I haven’t made a decision yet a, but will likely continue to use the FREE 15GB storage (it will continue to be offered) since I have several Google Accounts to multiply the free storage and spread around my data (I store data in different folders anyway – see odrive comment below).

I also have other favorites for cloud storage, including OneDrive cloud storage with my paid Microsoft Live account; it includes 1TB of cloud storage. If all options were free and equal at this point, my choices between cloud storage I use everyday would be in order as follows:

1. Dropbox (still my top choice, but pricey if paid for)
2. Google Drive (number 2 … so a good reason to upgrade to paid)
3. Microsoft OneDrive (1TB with Live subscription for apps – Word, Excel, etc)
4. Amazon AWS
5. Box.net
6. Apple iCloud
7. Amazon Drive

Another worthwhile cloud storage HELPER tool is ODrive. It synchronizes all the different cloud storage accounts between different computers WITHOUT keeping copy of the file on each computer unless you want it. If you use several different cloud services … check it out.

As before, the new Google storage plans provide users with space for Google Drive, Gmail, and original quality photos and videos (including 4K) in Google Photos.

All the paid plans come with access to live chat support, a feature that was previously limited to G Suite business account holders. The changes will be seen first by paying Google Drive users in the U.S. "in the coming months", with rollout to users in other countries shortly after.

Category: Advice, Cloud, Computer, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: amazon, apple, aws, box.net, cloud, comparison, drive, Dropbox, google, icloud, microsoft, odrive, onedrive, storage, tech friday, techfriday