Posted By RichC on March 21, 2018
Pulled up Tuesday 3/20/2018 afternoon’s Raspberry Pi Cam photo of the backyard and Wednesday 3/21/2018 morning’s images (click for larger) — what a different a few hours makes.
Posted By RichC on March 21, 2018
Wouldn’t you know it … as soon as I take the snow blower and chains off our multi-use John Deere tractor that I use to clear our driveway … we get a forecast of more snow. Murphy’s Law I suppose?
Earlier in March as the weather warmed, so Brenda asked when I would have the snow blower off the old tractor so she could use the trailer by her landscape mounds and begin the spring clean up. We now have a few piles of cutting as I held off removing the blower thinking … “we could still get snow in early March” (often the case). But as mid-March came and the weather warmed a bit more … and the garage needed cleaning … I decided why not remove the snowblower and chains (and for good measure I half opened the pool and started cleaning up – what was I thinking???) Now two days later … we’re looking at 5″ of snow is in the forecast. Ugh!
Posted By RichC on March 20, 2018
Although the .mp4 video clip does remind me of some good times down at Delray Beach Florida with our family!
Posted By RichC on March 19, 2018
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Posted By RichC on March 18, 2018
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Posted By RichC on March 17, 2018
Just to set the stage when it comes to shaving … I’m a “humble twin” or cheap Schick ST2 razor kind of guy. I usually add a little Barbasol Aloe shaving cream or CVS equivalent 
and rarely opt for an after-shave lotion. 
It is a daily chore that I’ve repeated daily for decades, although have switched to an electric razor off and on. I’ve never looked at shaving to be much different from washing or showering … it was just a chore.
BUT … recently I clicked a link for a $3 trial from Harry’s because it was inexpensive and I needed a new razor handle (I refused to buy one from The Dollar Shave Club — yes, I’m a cheapskate). Anyway, after receiving the nicely boxed sample pack, I proceeded to take the small 2 oz can of shaving gel, fancy German 5-blade razor and shave lotion with me when traveling.
Wow, what a pleasure. It was not only the nice razor with trimmer blade, but the wonderfully scented (think aroma therapy) shaving gel and masculine after-shave lotion that has now spoiled me to the chore of shaving as it is now something I look forward too! Do yourself a favor and give up a few bucks for the trial … but be warned, you might get hooked on a better razor, cream/gel and after-shave lotion!
Posted By RichC on March 16, 2018
If our remembering the Mỹ Lai Massacre and teaching the history prevents the mass killing of civilians by U.S. soldiers in the future, it is a sober lesson 
that needs to be taught. One would have hoped we could have learned from a prior military actions, like from the No Gun Ri massacre in Nogeun-ri, South Korea … but few remember it.
Now 50 years after the killing of between 247 and 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians in hamlets and sub-hamlets in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968, we still struggle to come to grips with U.S. soldiers committing such atrocities. I suspect most going to war sympathize with the anger, hate and mindset of soldiers seeing their buddies killed daily in a guerilla war like in Vietnam, but also know their training and humanity needs to override behavior that would have them massacre civilian men, women and children.
I’m hoping that these ugly reminders, and the airing of bits of history like Ken Burns and Lynn Novik’s The Vietnam War last year, will impact enough of our next generation enough to prevent these kinds of undisciplined action in the future? For now though, let’s remember, teach and prepare those we ask to be our next warriors so we can always honor their service to our country. As the over and sadly all to often used "never again" statement applies — never again should U.S. troops have to be remember for such a massacre.
The My Lai massacre was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War. A company of American soldiers brutally killed most of the people—women, children and old men—in the village of My Lai on March 16, 1968. More than 500 people were slaughtered in the My Lai massacre, including young girls and women who were raped and mutilated before being killed. U.S. Army officers covered up the carnage for a year before it was reported in the American press, sparking a firestorm of international outrage. The brutality of the My Lai killings and the official cover-up fueled anti-war sentiment and further divided the United States over the Vietnam War.
Posted By RichC on March 15, 2018
In preparation for an upcoming project that I would usually rent a wet saw for tile cutting (Home Depot’s price is $26/day), but this time I decided to buy a cheap one on sale 
for $49 at Harbor Freight.
I’ve never been impressed with the well used ones I’ve rented in the past, nor am I ever really impressed with the quality at Harbor Freight. That said, the cost to buy is lower than the cost to rent for a couple days, let alone a second and third tile project later this year or next. Another thing I’ve learned over the years is not to skimp on quality blades … they are probably as, if not more, important than the tool.
As I started to put the portable wet saw together, I pondered being able to use it, “if need be,” for a small table saw. I will not have access to my large shop cabinet saw with the project I’m planning, so mounting an old 7-inch Nicholson blade might come in handy? I’ll modify the under-guard a bit to make switching blades out easier – at least it looks do-able and likely better than hacking a long rip cut with a saber saw or portable circular saw (at least my lessor quality one). If it doesn’t work well, I’ll just keep the segmented diamond wet/dry blade mounted and use it only for tile cutting I doubt I’ll want to tackle bricks as I did a couple years ago (or 35 years ago #TBT) with this saw though.
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EDIT: This photo is in the comment below, but would rather have it within the post.
Posted By RichC on March 14, 2018
After switching from TWC/Spectrum one year ago, Cincinnati Bell’s Fioptics (Fiber) delivered television video and Internet to our house as been 
excellent. Their Internet speed continues to rise (currently checking with DSLReports/speedtest).
Last year I was happy to have my speed increase to 100Mbps down when switching to CincinnatiBell, but then after losing promotional perks was disappointed to have my bill rise by 35%. After complaining and several calls, my account was mildly adjusted (still 25% higher than the 2017 promo) and a promo tweak boosting Internet speed from 100Mbps to 300Mbps. Unfortunately we’re hitting a speed where "tripling" doesn’t make much of a noticeable different.
This week a promotion arrived offering to increase speeds from 300Mbps to 500Mbps … just as my computer, router, network and MIND are slowing down. 
Posted By RichC on March 13, 2018
A new Amazon Alexa Echo voice command improvement now makes it easier to string together a series of commands without repeating "Alexa" over and over again.
The back-to-back commands will need to right after each other AND you must turn on (off by default) the Follow-Up Mode under settings in the Alexa app.
After switching ON each Echo device on your network from the list of devices under Settings, you can then string requests together without getting Alexa’s attention each time (you need to activate each device you want to use in Follow-Up Mode). My test was simply to switch on an off a couple of house lights and to play a favorite Pandora station. Everything worked smoothly … almost as if I created a Group command (but that’s another feature – "Alexa, turn on all lights" … after you put your sunglasses on – HA!)
*** Currently you cannot use the Follow-Up Mode while PLAYING audio or music.