My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on December 31, 2017

After installing Cloudflare in hope of adding another layer of security to WordPress blogs, I noticed a couple issues with sluggishness compared to my own DNS. I wish it were quicker, but something isn’t right since instead all aspects seems slower after switching. Even after bypassing the caching feature things continued to run slow. Once back to my own DNS and separate Comet Cache, speed is back to normal. The only concerns is the 11 threats detected in a 24 hour period. Hm? Perhaps I should give a another try?

Category: Blogs, Computer, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: blog, cache, comet, dns, mydesultoryblog, speedtest, tweaks, wordpress

Posted By RichC on December 31, 2017

Let’s end 2017 with a kitchen cabinets knob repair. One of the changes to our new kitchen were the crystal looking knobs … Brenda felt they were too small. So we added larger ones, but the adhesive they used is not as solid as it should be, so out comes the epoxy and clamped in my bench (below).
 
Speaking of epoxy, I put together an "Epoxy Bucket" with every kind of adhesive, tape, stick’em that I could think of, along with rags, brushes, mixing cup and sticks for Taylor and Drew. I suspect it will be one of those handy items when needing to make a home repair – I use epoxy all the time and even probably when it is the the right "fix" for the job! HA!

Category: Misc, Personal, Photos, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: adhesive, epoxy, fixes, glue, kitchen, repair

Posted By RichC on December 30, 2017

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Category: Personal, Photos, Video | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, babysitting, boatshoe, boatshoes, drew, family, howard, katelyn, ohio, perrysburg, sperry, topsider, topsiders

Posted By RichC on December 29, 2017

In the world of community supported software and Internet applications, there are few better than those associated with the Linux Foundation Collaborative Projects … like Let’s Encrypt. The latter provides HTTPS certificates that are perfect for lightweight Linux OS webservers and it operates on a "donate" for certs services basis.

This month Let’s Encrypt plans on offering the highly requested Wildcard Certificates which will help sites using subdomains as a way to access the server. If I ever get Quickdex.com up and running, I’m hoping to use MongoDB to set up users with their subdomains. A project for the future.

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Category: Advice, Blogs, Computer, Raspberry Pi, Software, Technology, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: blog, https, letsencrypt, linux, security, ssh, ssl, tech friday, techfriday, website

Posted By RichC on December 28, 2017

My daughter and son-in-law, who moved back to Ohio in 2017, send me occasional updates from my "birth" city and the surrounding area. This past week the Toledo Blade reflected on 2017 in the "glass city" with its Finding Nellie illustration and included the Promedica Promenade Park revitalization … with Drew’s dad dancing in the center of the illustration.

Smiles aside, those who suffered through the decades of urban decline in Toledo are now enjoying a very strong urban and suburban rebound. NW Ohio residents and local businesses must be pleased with the dedication and teamwork of city and business leaders in bringing back their city. Hopefully the growth will continue in 2018 and make  residents (and former residents) proud to call Toledo their hometown.

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Category: Archive, Business, Human Interest, Misc, Personal | No Comments »
Tags: blade, nellie, newspaper, ohio, oostra, promedica, promenade, toledo

Posted By RichC on December 27, 2017

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Category: Archive, Holiday, Personal, Photos, Video | 2 Comments »
Tags: annalyn, brenda, christmas, corbett, drew, family, katelyn, rich, taylor

Posted By RichC on December 26, 2017

California Gray Whale watching is on most ocean lovers "want to do list" but few have up close and personal opportunities like this. Part of me wants whales to "fear" humans and keep their distance (for their own protections and survival), where another part of me loves seeing the bond between mammals and knowing the sensitivity helps make us "want" to protect whales from commercial whaling operations for little economic gain.

Humans and killer whales (orcas) are the adult gray whale’s only predators Aboriginal hunters, including those on Vancouver Island and the Makah in Washington, have hunted gray whales.

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Gray whales have been granted protection from commercial hunting by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) since 1949, and are no longer hunted on a large scale. Limited hunting of gray whales has continued since that time.

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According to the Government of Canada’s Management Plan for gray whales, threats to the eastern North Pacific population of gray whales include:[133] increased human activities in their breeding lagoons in Mexico, climate change, acute noise, toxic spills, aboriginal whaling, entanglement with fishing gear, boat collisions, and possible impacts from fossil fuel exploration and extraction.

Western gray whales are facing, the large-scale offshore oil and gas development programs near their summer feeding ground, as well as fatal net entrapments off Japan during migration, which pose significant threats to the future survival of the population.[31] The substantial nearshore industrialization and shipping congestion throughout the migratory corridors of the western gray whale population represent potential threats by increasing the likelihood of exposure to ship strikes, chemical pollution, and general disturbance.

LINK

Category: Environment, Nature, Photos, Social Media | 1 Comment »
Tags: gentle giants, gray, ocean, Photos, whale, wikipedia

Posted By RichC on December 25, 2017

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Category: Audio, History, Holiday, Music | No Comments »
Tags: carols, christmas, History, mp3, Music, music monday, musicmonday, solstice, songs, winter

Posted By RichC on December 24, 2017

My wife Brenda shows a lot of attention to decorating with memories and detail to our house each December (and my mother did too). I wish I would be more thankful, but am usually a bit Grinchy when ask to do just a few things that seem to much such a waste of time … you know, the put it up and taking down of décor for just for a couple weeks each year? This year I’ve been trying to be better, but I’m sure I have rolled my eyes once or twice after having to move the ladder again, replace another string of lights again or add another hook here and there … again. 

When we are buzzing around the house, I don’t necessarily take the time to notice the MANY little thoughtful touches and decorations she has collected that are carefully stored and placed just so to make our house beautiful and festive each Christmas. I do appreciate it.  I’m sure it is the same with my kids, especially as adults. They recognize the hundreds (seriously!) of memory items that come out to make our house a warm and inviting place to come home to for the holidays.

I wonder how many other husbands either ignore or fail to appreciate the touches their wives (and mothers) do/did this time of year? (below are just a few memory items archived in photos)

Category: Archive, Holiday, Memories, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: brenda, christmas, decoration, family, Holiday, home, house, memories, Photos, slideshow

Posted By RichC on December 23, 2017

Just a beautiful sky (photos doesn’t do it justice) as the new LED Christmas spots and candle lights pop on as I head up the driveway. Good for the blog archive.

After a cold start, having sunny but cool weather right before Christmas is welcomed … but should be thinking about getting the blower put on the John Deere as I’m sure it won’t be long before the snow.

Category: Archive, Blogs, Personal, Photos, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: christmas, house, john deere, led, lights, photo, sky, snowblower, weather