Posted By RichC on August 5, 2017
Ok, so the limes I’m squeezing are not truly “Key Limes,” but the the finished product is just as good. One of the “get ready” items before having the kids home for the weekend was to squeeze the limes so Brenda could make 3 Key Lime pies. It is a big favorite in our family as the relatively simple recipe was passed down from Brenda’s mom quite a few years ago. Grandma Howard always made it for our kids when they would visit her in Florida, so learning how to make them was critical.
One of our favorite stories about the pie was having Drew’s parents, Barb and Randy, to our house after “taste testing” wedding reception food. They visited and we served coffee and Key Lime pie … unfortunately something from the recipe was left out or the limes were 10 times tarter. Faces were made along with apologies, but shockingly nothing deterred Randy as he politely gobbled down his pie and had a second piece – he must not have normal tastebuds! Brenda was embarrassed and we laugh about it to this day. Hopefully this weekends pies will not be a repeat!
Category: Humor, Misc, Personal, Photos |
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Tags: brenda, dessert, family, food, home, key lime pie, recipe
Posted By RichC on August 4, 2017
It has been a slow process and a while in coming, but the beveled glass and shelves finally came in last week in order to finish the kitchen cabinets. These items are part of the "improved" 
corner cabinet for Brenda. She wanted a more attractive beveled glass door (larger window) and glass shelves so that the top light shines down on the china … a display cabinet for some of her glassware.
I used the existing stiles and rails and narrowed them as much as possible in order to hold the fairly heavy beveled glass. It was more challenging than I expected. I cut and routed the inside edge on the router table and fit the glass into rabbet. Sherwin Williams was able to match the paint and sheen of the white cabinets and a little bit white duct tape covered the black wiring and some caulking finished the "light leaks." All in all I’m happy with the final project (Brenda was a little critical as to the bevel not being as visible as she wanted – oh well, that’s not my doing).
Category: Archive, Misc, Personal, Photos, Woodworking |
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Tags: cabinets, crystal, glass, house, kitchen, project, remodel, stemware, update
Posted By RichC on August 3, 2017
Just one more irritation as to how politicians spend tax dollars … and line their own pockets.
For the past couple of decades, the private sector has been struggling … particularly the blue collar worker and mid to lower management employees. Pensions are non-existent, benefits eliminated and health care for the private sector a nightmare! In this same period, government workers seem immune?
Although I’m showing my irritation is with inequity and waste of tax dollars, I sense I’m beginning to sound like a "liberal" in taking out my frustration with the higher pay and benefits of government employees. That is not the right approach. It would be better to instead encourage policies like the presidents’ immigration reform, tax reform and regulation repeal. Each would generate jobs, improve wages particularly for working Americans and lift the private sector to that of their government counterpart. Better to lift up the private sector than bring down the public? (I still support shrinking the size of our bloated government and keeping compensation and benefits on par with private sector employees).
Category: Financial, News, Politics |
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Tags: employees, foxbusiness, government, graphic, pay, salaries, taxes, wages
Posted By RichC on August 2, 2017
The Dow broke above the 22,000 threshold for the first time on Wednesday rising for the seventh straight day. The boost over the "nice round number" happened after Apple posted stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and iPhone sales met expectations. $AAPL stock rose 5.5% and made its largest single day percentage rise since February. (Story WSJ.com)
Category: Apple, Financial, News |
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Tags: aapl, apple, djia, dow, stock market, wall street charts, wsj
Posted By RichC on August 2, 2017
Once again we’re dealing with BlueMax pipe (polybutylene plumbing), this time thankfully it is not on our nickel or is due to a flooded basement. I notice water bubbling from the water meter pit in our yard yesterday and after Butler County came out to look at the meter, he knew right away it was the "plastic" pipe connected to the "county water" side of the meter that was leaking. So today the contractor was out to replace it with copper and took care of the neighbor’s pipe too.
This pipe starts at your water meter and travels underground, through your yard and comes into your home either through your basement wall, your crawlspace, or through the concrete in your slab. In older homes, this pipe is made of copper, pvc, galvanized steel, or the dreaded "blue poly." In the ground, copper oxidizes (think green rust). Galvanized steel rusts terribly, releasing rust particles into your drinking water. Not to mention that all that rust causes potentially serious leaking issues. PVC has a tendency to crack with temperature changes. And blue polybutylene? Well, if you aren’t one of the hundreds of thousands of homeowners who suffered through this plumbing nightmare of a product, we’ll give you a quick summary.
Blue polyethylene (later replaced with a similarly faulty product called BlueMax) is a type of plastic water pipe designed to be a cheap alternative to copper plumbing. It was, until homeowners started experiencing high water bills and pools of water in their yards. It was then that we learned that blue poly was particularly susceptible to pinhole leaks and cracking due to the natural chlorine content of our water. The chlorine attacked the walls of the pipe, weakening it to the point of small pinholes, and sometimes complete breakage. There was a large class-action lawsuit filed against the manufacturer of blue poly in order to reimburse all the homeowners that were forced to have their waterlines replaced due to the faulty product. This lawsuit is now over and is no longer in effect.
LINK
Category: Misc, Personal, Photos |
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Tags: basement, bluemax, butler county, excavating, home, pipe, plumbing, repair, water
Posted By RichC on August 1, 2017
Although "I" am suppose to be the photographer of the family, I think it might be time to hand over the duties to my son Taylor. He enjoys capturing beautiful photos and definitely has the eye for natural beauty – some impressive ones in Hawaii last year too!
While on the subject of appreciating photos that I can’t take credit for, below is one that I’ll title "Moms are Moms" … even in nature.
Category: Environment, Nature, Photography, Photos |
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Tags: birds, cincinnati, east walnut hills, hawaii, kauai, photo, photography, taylor
Posted By RichC on July 31, 2017
This content is restricted.
Category: Personal, Photos |
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Tags: annalyn, chandelier, drew, family, house, katelyn, moving, perrysburg, pool, visit
Posted By RichC on July 30, 2017
Sort of makes hauling a few spare parts, some fluids, a toolbox and spare tire seem hardly worth mentioning?
Category: Automotive, Humor, Mercedes, Tools |
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Tags: 300d, benz, boot, camel, diesel, mercedes, trunk, turbodiesel, W123
Posted By RichC on July 29, 2017
It is that time again … the pool pump motor is chattering and popping breakers. That is a likely indication that the bearings are worn and it is time to recondition or rebuild the electric motor. I’ve had pretty good luck the last couple of rebuilds, but this time I’m opting on ordering a new AO Smith motor on Amazon to match my the old one. Hopefully the "made in China" model uses the better grade of bearings, but I’m not getting my hopes up.
For now I’ll just replace the old motor and leisurely have the old motor rebuilt so I’m ready for the next time (5-7 years???).
Category: Misc, Recreation, Tidbits |
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Tags: electric, hayward, maintenance, motor, pool, pump, rebuild, recondition, replace
Posted By RichC on July 28, 2017
Roto-Rooter’s Paul Abrams has a pipe-clearing trick that’s simple, cost-effective and environmentally friendly (unlike most drain cleaners, which use harsh chemicals). Here’s how it’s done:
- Remove the stopper on your drain
- Pour ½ cup baking soda down the drain
- Pour 1 cup white vinegar down the drain
- Wait 10 minutes (boil some water while you’re waiting)
- Carefully pour hot water down the drain
"A monthly or even a quarterly treatment of the drain using this method should clear your pipes of soap products, shaving creams and even whiskers,” Abrams says. “Plus, it doesn’t involve caustic chemicals, and it’s easy—most people have baking soda and white vinegar laying around the house.”
Tip from DollarShaveClub newsletter .
Category: Advice, How-To, Tidbits |
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Tags: baking soda, cleaning, drains, plumber, plumbing, roto-rooter, vinegar
