Posted By RichC on July 12, 2017
The United States is healthy enough to absorb further gradual rate increases and the slow wind down of the massive bond portfolio accumulated by the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in prepared testimony to be delivered to Congress Wednesday morning.
Source: Fed’s Yellen says economy steady enough for more hikes, bond wind down
Posted By RichC on July 11, 2017
Question:
Why do Swedish warships have bar codes on their sides?
Answer:
So when the ships return to port, they can Scan-di-navi-an.
(Merriam-Webster: Scan·di·na·vian \ˌskan-də-ˈnā-vē-ən, -vyən\ ) 
Posted By RichC on July 10, 2017
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Posted By RichC on July 9, 2017
The new iPhone7 Plus is a bit too large for my taste at the moment, especially coming from the iPhone5. I like the speed and the bigger screen, but not the bulk, especially with the new protective case. So … I ordered thinner case (maybe too thin) that should be in this week, but since I purchased Applecare “insurance,” perhaps a light-duty case will be fine?
A couple evenings ago thunderstorms moved through the area and left us with a beautiful evening sky. While I was out picking up branches and sticks up off the driveway, I took the opportunity to compare the standard lens on the iPhone7+ to the “optical” telephoto. The photos below are the reduced size but untouched photos — standard on the left and the same scene with tele on the right.
While on the topic of a new phone, the new carrier VirginMobileUSA and InnerCircle $1 for a year service plan was working great, so I decided to try and move Brenda from Ting (which has been great for us) to VirginMobileUSA. I was able to persuade them add her “relatively new” iPhone7 to the $1 per year InnerCircle plan … even though she didn’t techincally buy a new phone through Virgin. That said, the overwhelmed customer service department is not up to speed on activating and messed up my existing number. Ugh! I ended up with a temporay number for 24 hours while they tried to recover my old phone number. Thankfully I’m back in service again … and if all goes well, should have 2-lines of unlimited talk, text and data* for 12 months all for buying one new iPhone. Sweet deal if the service continues to be solid.
* I did lose the personal hotspot moving from Ting to VirginMobile, but can add it for $10/mo. I may give it a try on my next trip to the boat since we don’t have wifi at the condo and the marina wifi is pretty questionable at times.
Posted By RichC on July 8, 2017
You’ll need a small hand with a good grip to change the daytime running light bulbs in the sardine like corners of a BMW X5 35D, and assume other models. That doesn’t mean you can wiggle around and tweak a tool or two to fix and assist, but smaller hands would make the process a bit easier.
I ended up using a large adjustable wrench to help break the seal loose on the cap that covers the headlight compartment. Once open, the first bulb is the H8 daytime running light. Since I was not upgrading to brighter lights or a different color, an inexpensive $9.99 halogen replacement is fine.
I was able to twist the old bulb out, but the pigtail on the locking plug was not easy to hang onto while trying to unclip. I ended up wrapping the tip of my needle nose pliers with a little padding (electrical tape) and was able to hold onto the plug while snapping in the new bulb (don’t touch the new bulb with your hands). Once twisting the bayonet bulb back in place and resealing the cavity cover with a finger tight twist, pat yourself on the back because you just saved over $100 and a trip to the BMW dealership.
Posted By RichC on July 7, 2017
Complaining is getting me nowhere … but those of us old school users of Yahoo and Google continue to be frustrated to see both companies going down the "design for smartphone – card look format" to their pages, even for large display computers.
YAHOO
A few weeks ago Yahoo Finance forced all users to give up their "classic view" portfolio pages that many including me have used for over a decade. The "new" view shuffles what is displayed on a "row" for each ticker AND adds white space and less information which is the trend for smaller screen smartphone use (lost "notes column" and others). This new portfolio eliminates what was "a nice full screen" of data for computer use and is now sluggish to scroll or quickly scan through "spreadsheet-like" amounts of tightly packed data. I complained (as did hundreds of others) and eventually stopped using Yahoo Finance and their portfolios.
So, I rebuilt the portfolios using Google Sheets which takes far more management and is not nearly as workable as Yahoo’s "old" portfolios were. I opted for Google rather than a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet since I regularly used the Google News page. Now, Google has force switched users of their pages to their new format and is heading down the same design path. Their design team seems to be "pleased to announce" the "new UI having a clean and uncluttered look, designed for comfortable reading and browsing."
I disagree with their decision to give up function and ease of use for artistic and trendy looks. A quick glance at the above screenshots will illustrate how much less information (stories) can be displayed on a computer screen with out scrolling and jerking up constantly just to scan stories. I could not be more frustrated … as are a lot of other users.
As with Yahoo … I doubt complaining will get us anywhere. Time for changing again and looking finding both a new "news" and "portfolio" data aggregator — suggestions?
Posted By RichC on July 6, 2017
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Posted By RichC on July 5, 2017
Just wanted to archive some Practical Sailor “Waypoints” advice excerpted from Renee D. Petrillo’s A Sail of Two Idiots … good to remember about powerwashing.
… we had a narrow canal to squeeze through to reach the Travelift. Then we were strapped into it and hoisted out of the water. We then made one of the most expensive mistakes ever. We were asked if we wanted the bottom pressure-washed or to just give it a quick rinse. Because Americans often think that more is better, we went for the most powerful option. Our bottom paint had held up well from the Bahamas application, but with the pressure-washing, we watched $3,500 of liquid gold (or blue antifouling paint, in this case) wash into the boatyard. The boat bottom was now nice and clean, all right, but it would need repainting. You do not want to make this mistake.
Lesson 91: Just Say “No!” If your bottom looks good, and there’s a lot of antifouling paint on it, when someone asks if you want it pressure washed – say it with me now – “NO!!!!!” A light washing with a garden hose will do just nicely, thank you.
Posted By RichC on July 4, 2017
If you listen and make it to the end of this 10 minute July 4, 2017 Independence Day podcast by Mike Rowe, you’ll get the point of this interesting story. Well worth the Blue Apron advertisement and introduction (definitely a worthwhile podcast to subscribe to or follow on Facebook).
| Render Unto Caesar (mp3) | Mike Rowe – 2017 |
Posted By RichC on July 3, 2017
As is all to frequent … the YouTube video has been removed.
When it comes to music, I’ve always been a James Taylor fan and have posted a few times about him. This past weekend I ran across a YouTube clip from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from a year or so ago that had me laughing (video below). The skit was about James Taylor writing “Fire and Rain” … and that “he hadn’t seen that many things.” Funny stuff, but … it also had me remembering it on his original vinyl album “Sweet Baby James” or watching him live at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Coliseum in 1980 with Kim Carnes (archiving “my” story after the below video).
Personal story:
At the end of the summer in 1980, I had sold my 1974 Capri and purchased a 1973 Cadillac Coupe de Ville that was hit by a train (drivable but needed a little body work – my thing at that time). It was a BIG and comfortable car with a giant 489cu in V-8 with a thirst for gasoline to match (probably why my next car was a 1977 Honda Civic!) … but I’m off track.
Anyway, a good friend and I decided we wanted to go to the James Taylor concert in Cincinnati so we bought 4 tickets ($10 ea) and took our dates down to the Riverfront Coliseum (just 8 months after The Who concert disaster) for the 8PM concert. As I rolled into the 3 floor of the parking garage in downtown Cincinnati on a hot August summer night, we heard a loud BOOM from under the LONG hood of the car and watch all the antifreeze gush out. Hm, I knew it must be a radiator hose and didn’t bother to even open the hood. Off to the concert … excellent by the way … and left for the car just as the encores were starting. At least the parking garage was not backed up and the streets of Cincinnati bare at midnight. I’m not sure why, but drove across the bridge to Covington, Kentucky and rolled off at the first block over the river into a parking lot of an all night parts store. What are the chances … just FYI, this is way before cellphones, etc. I walked in, picked up the correct under $10 hose and with a rag and a couple tools from the trunk changed the very hot hose and added water. Within 30 minutes we were back on the road and heading 2 hours back home to Sidney — I don’t recall the feedback from our dates’ parents, but never dated her again. I wonder why?
