Taylor and his friends are pretty creative for July 4, 2018
Posted By RichC on July 4, 2018
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Working with an old Shaw wrench from my grandfather
Posted By RichC on July 3, 2018
While working with my "travel tool bag" today, I pick up a open end wrench with SHAW on the handle. It brought back memories of my Grandpa Bluhm and where he once worked back in the 1950s or 60s. I sent a photo to my cousin Diane, but because it was a tool, don’t really know if she remember the company. It is amazing how an object can bring back such fond memories … I really wish I would have had more than 10 years of life with someone I admired as much as Dick Bluhm.
Music Monday: The song “I Can Only Imagine” and recent movie
Posted By RichC on July 2, 2018
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Does a Lockeed SR-71 Blackbird call AAA for a tow?
Posted By RichC on June 28, 2018
The SR-71 was designed for flight at over Mach 3 with a flight crew of two in tandem cockpits, with the pilot in the forward cockpit and the reconnaissance systems officer operating the surveillance systems and equipment from the rear cockpit, and directing navigation on the mission flight path. The SR-71 was designed to minimize its radar cross-section, an early attempt at stealth design. Finished aircraft were painted a dark blue, almost black, to increase the emission of internal heat and to act as camouflage against the night sky. The dark color led to the aircraft’s nickname “Blackbird”.
Pay attention to the toothpaste tube size vs the box size
Posted By RichC on June 27, 2018
Colgate is my usual go-to toothpaste, although generally prefer the old fashion white and am partial to baking soda … but I’m off topic. My gripe is that their recent packaging (at least so I’ve noticed) is terribly misleading. After opening the normal large sized toothpaste box, I noticed it was WAY larger than the very small 4.0 oz tube. Likely if I would have read 4 ounces, I would have probably put it back … but I was in a hurry and, marketing being what it is, the box size really mislead me. Disappointing.
Will it be enough for me to switch brands or just pay more attention? (probably should be buying Crest a Proctor and Gamble brand since it is Cincinnati based and because we own $PG stock anyway)
Predictors of the next recession: Inverted yield curve?
Posted By RichC on June 26, 2018
How does on plan for the flattening yield curve – or even inversion (spread between 10-yr and 2-yr Treasury Bonds)?
“Inversion has an amazing record of forecasting recession…but stocks have typically continued to rise (sometimes sharply) after the inversion with a median gain of 13.1%.…Bottom line: the flattening yield curve is not a reason to flee stocks.”
— Bill Stone, Chief investment officer, Stone Investment Partners“Although many fear [financials] may underperform…the history of the past two cycles suggests otherwise. We would add to our overweight sectors of financials, info tech and industrials with an intermediate-term time horizon.”
— Tony Dwyer, Analyst, Canaccord Genuity“Contrarian investors should take a look at interest-rate sensitive defensive sectors like utilities, stables and real-estate investment trusts, which may gain their footing as growth momentum peaks.…”
— Michael Darda, Chief economist & market strategist, MKM Partners“We still think it is too early to go full-on defensive, but it probably is not too early to start shifting out of some of the extreme cyclicals and picking up a few more defensively oriented names.”
— Michael J. Wilson, Equity Strategist, Morgan Stanley
Music Monday: Jet Airliner recorded by the Steve Miller Band
Posted By RichC on June 25, 2018
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The power of a photo, no matter how manipulated or misleading
Posted By RichC on June 24, 2018
While there is no doubt the "fabricated" Time magazine cover photo has impact and tugs at everyone’s heartstrings, the deeper story represents far more than the current illegal immigration debate over separating children from those who bring them across the U.S.-Mexican border, 
whether with parents, relatives or traffickers. ("fabricated" in that the photo is obviously manipulated and the truth being that little girl was not separated from her mother)
First it reminds us that politicians are not solving the issue over immigration numbers, securing the border or having a deterrent that prevent illegal border crossings or the trafficking of children. Politicians refuse to legislate the issue and seem to be using it for their own party’s political purpose. Sadly the media is complicate – they not just "reporting the news" but adding their bias regarding border security and illegals within the United States. The commonsense solutions that includes more green cards, raising yearly immigration numbers, making legal immigration easier along with securing the border, eludes those with opposing views elected to run our country. Neither party can solve this issue without the other. Work together and address the issue!
As for the "deeper story" on the Time photo: It is minimally reported that the mom, who was already deported once in 2013 (Obama admin), was paying a "coyote" to smuggle her and her daughter across again. This story required overseas journalists to report the "whole story." What is even more disturbing is that the mom left her other 3 children in Honduras and left without the father’s support or knowledge as to where they were or if they were safe. According to the UK’s DailyMail’s story, the dad had not heard from the two for 10 days and the first he knew anything was when he saw the heartbreaking photo.
Why did it take the overseas media to bring this to light — perhaps it does not fit the mainstream media’s narrative? Once again, the media’s commentary and poor reporting or purposely biased slanted reporting adds traction to President Trump’s Fake News mantra.
It’s shameful that dems and the media exploited this photo of a little girl to push their agenda. She was not separated from her mom. The separation here is from the facts. Dems should join POTUS and fix our broken immigration system. #ChangetheLawshttps://t.co/Y6KrTp4Ulk
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) June 22, 2018
Filled up Jerry Cans and my BMW X5 35d with diesel (25 gal max)
Posted By RichC on June 24, 2018
Since I drive a diesel BMW X5 35d as well as an old 1982 Mercedes 300D Turbodiesel, and use diesel fuel in our Kubota and John Deere lawn tractors (not to mention sailboat) … seeing pump prices 20 to 40 cents higher at the pump is starting to cut into my theory of saving money through better fuel efficiency over gasoline. Thankfully there are still a few stations that keep the gasoline vs diesel spread a bit tighter. A local “new” UDF station has been the lowest in our area as of late, but in the summer they also market fuel discounts with a uDrive promotion which Brenda and I “unfortunately” take advantage of every summer as the scale proves; we have a weakness for an “occasional” milkshake.
Of course looking at the $1.77 per gallon price in the photo on the left ($1.10 discount), you might say my use of the word “occasional” is inaccurate? In that case, substitute the work “regular” milkshake!
I’ve been using Fuelly.com to track most fill-ups for a long time now and wanted to include some of the tracking long term. Also below is the impressive new Volkswagen Tiguan fuel efficiency based on my daughter’s Fuelly tracking — Wow!
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.