My Desultory Blog

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

Posted By RichC on December 22, 2017

The big technology news this week  if you are an iPhone user is that Apple has a "feature" that slows down older iPhones with older batteries in order to protect users from unwanted crashes. Yes … your phone older phone will actually run slower.

According to CNET, the best option for owners of older iPhones is to:

1. Buy a new phone
2. Use a battery case
3. Replace the battery

Of course the "new phone" is a bit drastic if the battery isn’t what it once was and your phone is still reasonable functional (iPhones 6s or 7s) … so perhaps a battery case would work?I used Mophie and Lenmar cases for years with the iPhone 5 and 5s believing they were the best few dollars I could have spent on a phone.

Now with the newer iPhone 7 (Brenda) and 7-plus (mine) … the battery life easily makes it through the entire day. I would be hard pressed to add the additional weight of a battery case to my Plus sized phone and would go for number 3 "when" my phones slows – replace the battery. If in my case it happens before Apple Care fades, it should be under warranty … if not, I might opt to open the case (voids the warranty).

CNET – The DIY Option:

How hard can it be to replace an iPhone battery? Remove some screws, open up the case, take out the old battery, plug in the new one and you’re done, right?

Right. Except those screws are tiny. The case is hard to get open. Inside, you have to remove a bunch more screws and some fragile ribbon cables just to get to the battery. Which is glued in place. Then you have to do it all in reverse.

If you’ve never ventured inside an iPhone before, this can be some nerve-wracking surgery. It helps to have video-tutorial guidance (see below), but trust me when I say it’s easy to make a mistake. And if you flub along the way, you’ll brick your phone.

The DIY option, however, is definitely the cheapest. Replacement battery kits are available from Amazon, eBay and countless other sources, most of them priced anywhere from $10-$30. Personally, I recommend spending a few dollars more to buy from a reputable (and customer-reviewed) vendor on Amazon.

For example, this iPhone 6 Plus battery kit sells for about $30 and looks very similar to what you can find on eBay for about $11, but comes with detailed instructions (both print and video), a one-year warranty and customer support (via email). Of particular interest, it has a 4.5-star rating from over 150 customers, suggesting that a large majority of buyers were successful in their installation attempt and happy with the result.

Although this and similar kits come with the tools you need, I definitely recommend adding a tabletop magnifying lamp to the mix. For my aging eyes, at least, it greatly simplifies working with the iPhone’s tiny screws and cables.

As for the battery itself, it’s a crap-shoot: Ideally you want something that’s "genuine OEM," but it’s hard to be certain what you’re getting. That’s all the more reason to spend a little extra and go with a rated vendor.

Category: Apple, Cellphone, Technology | 1 Comment »
Tags: apple, battery, feature, iphone, tech friday, techfriday

Posted By RichC on December 21, 2017

Although my memory is a little bit foggy, Brenda and I probably saw each other a couple of Christmas’s prior our first Christmas? We were dating in 1980 and engaged in 1981 and likely celebrated with each other close to the day, but were home with our families for Christmas Day.

Anyway, when scanning the photos for the post several days ago, I also ran across a couple photos of my college roommate Jerry and then Brenda’s roommate Pam (married shortly after) and ended up posting it to her Facebook page in order to wish her a Happy Birthday. They were our close friends when we lived in Aurora (Jerry was single and lived in Cleveland at the time) and came over to helped us string popcorn and decorate our first tree. That fond memory rolled over me and  thought it was worth archiving on My Desultory Blog. Good days and good times.

Category: Archive, Friends, Holiday, Memories, Personal, Photos, TBT | No Comments »
Tags: brenda, christmas, friends, jerry moody, memories, pam, Photos, popcorn, TBT

Posted By RichC on December 20, 2017

Just in case there are a few men looking for last minute jewelry gifts to give to their sweetheart for Christmas, here’s a ring idea that will pretty much guarantee that you’ll never need to worry again – you’ll either be alone … or dead!

And since I know there is sure to be a thought or comment from one of my sailing friends about cheap hose clamps, perhaps an upgrade is in order? Open that squeaky wallet and go with the AWAB or ABA … at least for the boat!  
 

Here’s a 2014 Practical Sailor test on hose clamps.

Conclusions
The two T-bolts, Shields and Trident, cost over $10 each, and the ABA and AWAB were more expensive than any of the other worm-gear clamps at about $5 each. However, the ABA and AWAB are clearly made of higher-quality materials, are constructed well, performed smoothly with good compression, and excelled in our long-term corrosion test by showing no signs of tarnish. Practical Sailor recommends either of these hose clamps for all on-board general purpose and critical use applications. For extra measure of security, it is recommended that you put two hose clamps on each hose-fitting union that is below the waterline when the boat is heeled.

Category: Advice, Holiday, Humor, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: aba, awab, christmas, clamps, encore, friends, gifts, hose, Humor, men, rings, sailboat

Posted By RichC on December 19, 2017

Although I have the traditional conservative view that one’s gender is in our DNA and one that we are born with, I understand there are those who differ. Let’s at least try to agree as a nation that we should at least protect young kids and early teens from the irreparable damage parents and doctor can do to children by using drugs and surgery to a psychological problem.

Michelle Cretella, M.D. the president of the American College of Pediatricians shared her thoughts earlier this month in a short article and video (below) – it is worth watching.

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EDIT Add: Discussion as to why this was removed by YouTube:

Category: Education, Faith, Health, Politics, Science, Video | No Comments »
Tags: children, gender, identity, lgbt, medical, pedicatrics, transgender

Posted By RichC on December 18, 2017

While waiting for the predicted Tuesday vote on the GOP Tax Plan that has been anticipated ALL year, it is looking like it might actually get done in 2017. It has not been easy or as simple as many of us wanted “Tax Reform,” but the corporate tax cut will make the U.S. more competitive worldwide. On the personal side, the cuts aren’t quite as clear since it all depends where one lives as to what kind of cuts will be seen. High taxed states and cities in the past have been able to deduction their local taxes on Federal returns, now this will be limited to a $10,000 cap in deductions. For the wealthier in those states who have large mortgages, there is also a cap of $750,000. For the rest of the country … average Americans who have children or take care of elderly parents, the savings will be significant. The promised simplicity is a little muddled, but it will still be better than what “most” go through today.

December 18, 2017 Monday Morning Market Opening

The financial markets love that corporations can bring overseas cash back to the U.S. at a lower 15% “repatriation” rate and that these companies will have lower taxes in 2018. Economic growth is anticipated and it has yet to be seen, but most of us believe those wanting to grow business will invest capital and hire employees. Who knows … but watching the Fed inching rates up, it does look like they want to stay ahead of an economy that could heat up. If you are long in stocks today … it is probably a good day.



EDIT: Adding a couple of additional projected tax rate screen shots for tax rates filing single or married.

Category: Financial, News | No Comments »
Tags: congress, economy, finance, gop, investing, stocks, taxcuts, taxes, taxplan, taxreform, trading, wall street

Posted By RichC on December 18, 2017

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Category: Audio, Music, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: album, jackson browne, load-out, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, running on empty, stay