Posted By RichC on October 26, 2017
Yesterday I shared a "map" diagram with my daughter Katelyn and labeled a small drainage ditch we called the "crick" … also shared a disease story with her that she decided not to share with her friend. The name for that bit of water got me thinking about all the names we use for bodies of water … and there are A LOT! (video below)
Posted By RichC on October 25, 2017
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Posted By RichC on October 25, 2017
My daughter Katelyn and I exchanged a few messages over the past couple of days that had me reminiscing and trying to remember names of a few kids when I was in grade school. It started visiting in Perrysburg last week watching Annalyn when Katelyn mentioned that a co-worker of hers and father went to my grade school and also may have lived close to our house on Lake Erie.
This morphed into "do you know … so-in-so, etc," so while racking my brain in trying to remember the last names of classmates and neighbors, I ended up glancing at the last few existing photo on Google Streetview of our old house (above) … which has since been torn down. Interestingly the old tax records archived on the county site had a few more OLDER photos below and the old "microfilm" tax parcel record had my dad listed as Donald rather than Ronald (above) It was also interesting seenig the previous owners Hazel and Clyde Venrick and reminded me of the old scale from the Venrick pharmacy that I currently have in our pool house! I guess I’m getting old when amusement comes from GOOD old memories?
Part of the conversation also had to do with where exactly where we lived compared to the family property that Katelyn knows …
My text with this Google map:
That La Fontaine Drive was a vacant lot when we were there. We built our forts on the back side of the dike that was on the “CRICK” (creek) behind that La Fountaine property (our house was over the “crick” and dike on Lagoon Drive).
Posted By RichC on October 24, 2017
A couple days late in posting, but the weather was ideal for jumping on a few chores before the weather turns sour. Since the lawn was still in pretty good shape, I was able to use those weekend hours to repair some of the nearly 2000 feet of 4-board fence that borders our backyard — it would likely never get approve again as an appropriate pool fence? Anyway the boards are showing their age, yet still will hold nails or in my case the ringed nails set with my Paslode Impulse gas/battery ignited nailer. It’s was one of those must have tools years ago that rarely gets used … but is the perfect tool for 
repairing rough sawn wood fences.
I also worked on splitting and stacking some firewood for winter … mostly for the woodstove in my workshop, but I’ve also been burning plenty in the outdoor fireplace. The old John Deere 330 diesel still comes in handy … it was one of the best purchases I ever made back in the mid-1980s when we were in Hudson. Although grass mowing is now done with the zero turn Kubota diesel … the hauling, pulling, snowblowing and 10KW power generation is all done with this little 16 HP Yanmar powered John Deere.
Love this old "turtle" of a lawn tractor! 
Posted By RichC on October 23, 2017
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Posted By RichC on October 22, 2017
Taylor went camping and hiking down at Red River Gorge this weekend and continues to impress me with enjoying photography, which was a hobby of mine since 7th grade. So much has changed since “souping” film and spending hours in the darkroom fretting over exhausted chemicals and expired paper … but the capturing of something beautiful with light and lens hasn’t changed.
Posted By RichC on October 22, 2017
Our family has a couple of artists (previous generations) and so we’ve inherited a few painting. I doubt any are valued anywhere close to the Montague Dawson (artist father Henry) "nautical" series of painting from the 1940s, but do remember how much I enjoyed one of the first paintings (same time frame) that my grandmother painted.
Obviously my interest in sailing has a lot to do with me liking the Cutty Sark painting that hang on our wall, but wouldn’t mind having the original painting either.
The two thumbnails on the left below are Montague 
Dawson, where the one on the right hangs in our house and is my grandmother’s.
Posted By RichC on October 21, 2017
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Posted By RichC on October 20, 2017
Here’s a short tip for making power adapter wires last longer when traveling or packing them in a computer bag: When winding the cord, don’t wrap the first loop too tight.
The usual fail points when cords are coiled over and over are where the wires enter the power block or the plug, so allow for a long "lazy" loop when starting the wrapping … and end the wrap keeping the plug in end flat against the power block when possible. By doing this, the AC power cord will last for your devices life.
Posted By RichC on October 19, 2017
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