Our family settling into a new city with a house of their own
Posted By RichC on July 2, 2017
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Congratulations Drew and welcome back home to Ohio
Posted By RichC on July 1, 2017
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TechFriday: Larger screened iPhones flipping to landscape
Posted By RichC on June 30, 2017
Switching from an iPhone 5s to an iPhone 7 Plus has a few surprising pluses and minuses that need to be address by new users. One such negative adjustment has a fix that on the surface may not be found by everyone.
The annoyance: 
The larger iPhones (currently 6 Plus & 7 Plus) go into “landscape mode” on the home screen and split screen on certain apps if the phone is turn horizontal in its standard setting. For some apps this is helpful, but for me, something I dislike on the home screen … particularly the home screen jumping to auto rotate back and forth while pulling out of my pocket or off the desk.
So the “easy” and likely known fix is to swipe up and “lock” the screen into portrait mode. While this fixes the home screen issue, it is not helpful if you want to look at landscape photos or video (you’ll have to swipe up and unlock each time).
So a better fix is to go to the Apple iPhone “Setting –> Display & Brightness –> View” and select “Zoomed” instead of “Standard” … your iPhone Plus will restart to implement these changes. This will enlarge icons and change the split screen view on a few apps (to look like smaller and older iPhones), but it will fix the dreaded flipping or pivoting “Home” screen when you pick up your smartphone. Give it a try.
Getting hit or hitting something while sailing
Posted By RichC on June 29, 2017
One of the fears when sailing long distances across oceans is either getting hit or hitting something. Numerous stories have been told by those who survive hitting “something” … and who knows how many are never told? My phobia is striking a partially submerged shipping container, debris or log with our fiberglass boat on a passage in the middle of the night. Other sailors spend thousand of dollars on AIS, radar and deflectors in hope to be seen and avoid a collision with a ship — ie. USS Fitzgerald recent yet avoidable accident.
A lessor worry but still realistic possibility is a whale (photo above or animated gif below) or other marine mammal or fish.
Kito de Pavant and his Bastide Otio hit an unidentified floating object. The damage was fatal for the boat and the skipper was forced to abandon the race and his monohull. .. When the videos recorded on the hard disk aboard the boat become available, it was discovered that the unidentified object was in fact a sperm whale, which was clearly visible in the wake of the boat.
Extra work that makes little sense – salt and pepper shakers
Posted By RichC on June 28, 2017
Did you ever find yourself spending way too much time on something where it makes no logical sense? Well this is the case for a set 
of my wife Brenda’s salt and pepper shakers … of which she has many.
Her grandmother had a collection that was split between her grandchildren and daughter-in-law (Brenda’s mom), which eventually were handed down to daughters and grandchildren. The salt and pepper shakers have little monetary value, but sentimentally they are priceless.
Such is the case for two of the larger shakers that Brenda’s dad used until his death … so when we were replacing things in the new kitchen certain items had more value than others. The Harvest Time "tiny mug" shakers have screw on caps that were rusty and so trying to figure out what to do with them fell to me. Initially (photo) I wire brushed and chemically de-rusted them and then checked with Brenda. She now wants them repainted and sealed so now they will go back to the shop and roughed up for some leftover John Deere "green" paint and maybe a shot of clear lacquer, enamel or polyurethane to keep them from rusting again. As I mentioned in the subject line … "extra work that makes little sense."
New iPhone7plus and new VirginMobileUSA as carrier
Posted By RichC on June 27, 2017
Well so much for waiting for the new iPhone8 to arrive in the fall … as was the plan. On the other hand, the $1000 “rumored” price was frightening me anyway.
Last week for a Tech Friday post I blogged on the VirginMobileUSA “Inner Circle” promo that offered unlimited talk, text and “almost” unlimited data for $1 (for 12 months) if you purchase a new iPhone. 
So after doing the calculations decided that buying a new iPhone now, and paying an 8 cents per month Virgin Mobile bill for a year … and selling my iPhone5s on eBay might work out in my favor. We shall see.
Instead of waiting for Virgin to ship an iPhone, I opted to go down to the Apple Store in Cincinnati to see if they could offer the deal and handle the switch as the Virgin Customer Service rep suggested. On Friday their order taking service went down or was just buggy so I was unable place an order. Unfortunately the usually super sharp Apple Store employees could not figure out the promo (it was new to them) and after spending over an hour with a half dozen working on getting me signed up and switch over from Ting, they gave up. I still came home with the new iPhone 7 plus and SIM card, but decided to wait until Monday to talk with Virgin’s (actually Sprint’s) tier level 3 tech support. By noon all was operational and my number was successfully ported — which was the glitch (something in the Sprint network … the actual towers and hardware Virgin Mobile USA is on).
I also purchase a highly rated but lower priced (cheaper than Otterbox) Supcase Unicorn Beetle PRO Series Full-body Rugged Holster Case with Built-in Screen Protector for $17.69 on Amazon with free 2-day Prime shipping so it does add a bit of bulk to the already large App[le iPhone 7 Plus phone, BUT there is a lot more phone to protect. Cellphones are no longer inexpensive and I’ve seen one too many cracked screens to be dealing with that on this new gadget (even though I did opt for 2-years of Applecare – have never done that before).
New Unicorn Beetle case for the iPhone7Plus vs the old Otterbox Commuter for the 5s
After an afternoon of using the new phone and carrier, I’m pretty happy with the service and speeds. The minor disappointment was in giving up my Ting “included” Personal Hotspot as a way to tether my notebook computer and iPad when on the road (or on the boat). It is something I can add on, but for $10/month for 2 GB of data, I’ll pass for now since I do have my Freedom Pop 4G puck and free but very limited T-Mobile wireless connection on my iPad (I’ve successfully added 5GB for 5 months to it twice now, but think it is only for new purchases — ie. one time???).
Screen display size comparison between my old iPhone 5s and the new 7 Plus.
For now I’ll keep Ting running a few more days and then see if there is any way to finagle getting Brenda’s iPhone7 ported over to Virgin’s “InnerCircle” promo … that would really be great!
Ran a couple speed tests on the new iPhone 7 Plus … one on my home Cincinnati Bell Fioptics and the other on Virgin’s Sprint connection from the house. It was better than with my iPhone5s.
Summer Music Monday with a Jackson Browne Two-fer
Posted By RichC on June 26, 2017
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How it works: An in tank fuel pump YouTube video
Posted By RichC on June 25, 2017
Well done … don’t forget to use your “brother’s sock.” 🙂
Very handy and inexpensive shield from a soda – pop bottle
Posted By RichC on June 24, 2017
After pelting my eyes with metal chips while grinding as a teenager, I’m overly careful when using tools nowadays. The nighttime of agony and picking out metal chips from my eyes was enough to teach me a lesson … and I’m so thankful to still have my eyesight. Be warned if you are reading this — wear the appropriate eye protection!
That warning out of the way, I saw a very creative Dremel Rotary Tool attachment made from a plastic soda-pop bottle. The screw on top was enlarged to fit the base of the Dremel tool, and the clear plastic was snipped to create a see-thru shield. After the correct grinding or cutting wheel is installed, then screw the bottle portion onto the cap. Voilà!
Tech Friday: Virgin Mobile USA wants iPhone users
Posted By RichC on June 23, 2017
In the battle of carrier wars, Virgin Mobile USA is stepping in with an attractive "first year" deal for buyers of a new or refurbished iPhone either through the Apple Store or their own site. Under the deal, customers will get up to one year of service for $1. 
Virgin piggybacks service on the Sprint network, so you’ll want to make sure the coverage footprint is solid since the $1 unlimited deal applies when you are not roaming ("unlimited" within reason – U.S. calling/texting and using over 23GB/mo could get throttled).
Once the year is up, users will have service will be $50/mo, so if you do the math, the nearly $600 saved in a year comes close to paying for a new iPhone6 or 7; it might be worth playing the game if you’re looking to upgrade soon (cough, cough … I have an iPhone5s) … but if you do wan this deal, the offer expires on July 31, 2017.
As part of Virgin Mobile’s deal with Apple, they are ditching Android phones in the coming years and will become the first iPhone-only network — LINK.
Unlimited voice and data services are while on-network only.
12 mos. for $1 unlimited service offer: Limited-time offer. Expires 7/31/17. Available only to customers who purchase an iPhone and transfer their phone number to the Inner Circle plan. Excludes taxes.
Virgin Mobile has no annual service contracts; service subject to certain terms. Plans are domestic only and include unlimited data, talk, text, 800 domestic voice roaming minutes and 100MB domestic data roaming. Int’l services extra and subject to applicable rates. AutoPay: Inner Circle members must remain enrolled in AutoPay with a valid payment vehicle on file. Service plan payment due on monthly payment date or account will be suspended. Unless monthly service plan payment made within 120 days after last monthly payment date, account will expire and any account balance will be forfeited. State and local taxes apply. Quality of Svc. (QoS): Customers who use more than 23GB of data during billing cycle will be deprioritized during times and places where the network is constrained. See Virgin Mobile Inner Circle Important Service/Product Specific Terms for details. Usage Limitations: To improve data experience for the majority of users, throughput may be limited, varied or reduced on the network. Virgin Mobile may terminate service if off-network roaming use in a month exceeds: (1) 800 mins or a majority of mins.; or (2) 100MB or a majority of KB. Other Terms: Offers and coverage not available everywhere or for all phones/networks and subject to change without notice. Additional terms, prohibited network use rules and other restrictions apply. Visit virginmobileusa.com for full details and latest pricing. Sprint 4G LTE network reaches over 290 million people. ©2017 Virgin Mobile USA, L.P. All rights reserved. VIRGIN and the Virgin signature logo are registered trademarks of Virgin Enterprises Limited and are used under license. Sprint and the logo are trademarks of Sprint. LTE is a trademark of ETSI.
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.