TechFriday: Still experimenting with computers and relays

Posted By on January 27, 2017

NewCheapRelay170125

After a previous simple $20 relay component test, my friend Jeff and I realized that there were a few shortcomings in using it for a future project — enter the cheaper eBay $3.99 higher powered solid state relay module.  This smallish sized relay component can be wired into a 40 amp circuit and switched with the same low DC voltage from a Arduino, Raspberry Pi or similar gadget.

I quickly wired it to a 110 vac male female plug and attached it to my Pine64’s GPIO breadboard and voilà it works!
On / Off, On / Off … I know, big deal. Smile 

s-l1600

Can the Federal Government find political balance?

Posted By on January 26, 2017

JohnColePoliticalPendulumMy answer: Rarely does the pendulum find the middle.

Neither the fiscal or social policy balancing coming from Washington DC makes much sense to me. There have to be moderates who see validity in each others positions? Rather than the black and white collisions between the liberal Democrats and the conservative Republicans’ points of view, there has to be someone willing to work on the issues that we all want addressed.

Pro-business does not mean anti-environment; Limited government is not a lack of compassion for those struggling to independently take care of themselves in our free market economy.  But where is that balance?

On the social front, I don’t believe the majority who protested the day after President Trumps inauguration are proud that we the United States abort 1 million babies each year … and I personally know most pro-life supporters are not against women receiving quality medical care and being offered compassion and counseling. Isn’t there enough support to at least start somewhere … maybe somewhere neither side will embrace? 

StartingPointToReduceAbortion
How hard would it be to find a starting point?

Those who are pro-business and are running companies are begging for educated employees with the skills they need to grow their business. They will gladly pay what employees are worth based on market forces in educationcapgraphorder to advance and grow their profitable business. Teachers for the most part aren’t in education unless they care about their students and the next generation. We expect that every citizen have the opportunity to get a quality education and not be shuffled thru and expensive and often broken system. The focus should be on teaching young people how to be productive and socially caring citizens, not on compensation, power and their own political ideology. Continuing to fund a failing public school system decade after decade is not working and ALL should recognize we need to look at something different. Maybe that starts with a new Secretary of Education willing to change the status quo? And to the parents and students themselves … you are paying for teachers, schools and colleges — expect more! You’re funding education through your taxes, tuition, etc … so get involved and make yourself heard. A little common-sense at the local level might go a long way in achieving better results. In the end, everyone involved wants the same thing from schools (minus a few union leaders).

Now that we look back on 8 years of a progressive "Hope and Change" Barrack Obama, many in the middle and lower class are feeling left behind. Perhaps a tad better than recession levels, but the "hope" part has faded for many. The promises saw "change" but it has left many seeing a more deeply divided country. Govenment handouts grew, but continued to keep many without prospect and surviving in poverty. Lacking in ambition and education, way too many have turned to crime and drugs — not a great legacy. Those who had EnvironmentEconomypower and means continued to succeed. The connected, innovative and agile business moguls, despite bigger government and the heavy hand of regulation, are the same ones who will succeed in a business friendly, right-leaning President Trump administration. Many just tightened their bootstraps at the expense of employees or adapted to the anti-business environment in the US and focused on producing globally in low cost countries.

I worry the Obama extreme has opened the door for a Trump extreme … where jobs, profits and a soon to be growing economy will trample commonsense environmental protection. There is nothing wrong with responsible environmental stewardship that balances the need for a strong economy … but compromise does not seem to be something either side is willing to work towards. It is as if each, the far left and far right, extreme grabs as much as they can while the pendulum has swung in their favor. Very sad … because we has a nation of primarily good people end up as losers.
Sad smile

A final goodbye to a grandmother and mom – Frances Howard

Posted By on January 25, 2017

HowardTombstoneBrendaRichMomHCemetary170121
Memorials, funerals and burials can be emotionally draining and it is hard to know just how they impact each of us … but “to the person,” those that knew mom – grandma – Frances Ann Louise Howard (Holmstrom), were without question happy and celebrating.

FranceHoward_Burial170121Fran and Christians who have placed their faith in Jesus, and in the teachings in scripture, are comforted by God’s promise of “salvation and eternal life (John 3:16).” We know beyond a shadow of a doubt where MomH has gone – Heaven is her home … and only her earthly shell remains. Of all the people I have known, Brenda’s mom exemplified unwavering faith and never questioned or struggled with the Sovereignty of God. She was one person truly prepared for death and looking forward to Heaven … what a great feeling to be happy for her.

This past weekend we had a good time together as family. The cousin get along so well and each looks forward to being together. It is a shame we all live so far apart and live such busy  lives. Most of us realized this could be one of our last trips as a family to Jamestown, New York and took advantage of the usually warm and mild winter weather to reminisce … and repeat many of the same pleasurable and memorable stories from the past. On Saturday, a few of us drove by “Granny’s” house (Mabel Howard, DadH mom) in Brocton, NY after the burial and also visited Lakeview Cemetery where Mark Howard (Brenda’s brother) is buried (his children are Jackie, Justin and Aaron in photo below). While on the “reminiscing tour,” we also drove by the office where both Dr. Mark and Dr. Fred Howard practiced dentistry on Lakeview Avenue in Jamestown. The three sisters and each of the grandchildren have fond memories of going to have their teeth worked on (who can say that about visiting the dentist!) … as well as painful memories like seeing their father lose a son, a sister a brother, a wife (Lynda) a husband and  child a father at 40 years old. I’m forever amazed as the resilience in people after that kind of loss.

JaxJustinAaronHoward170121FrederickAHoward_markerMabelAHoward_marker170121AllenGHoward_marker170121

Several in the Howard family are great with words and gave thoughtful and sometimes humorous stories at MomH’s memorial service. Pastor Jim offered his professional as well as personal remarks at both the memorial at Lind Funeral Home and at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, NY for the burial. I’m archiving the video, as I did for Brenda’s dad, in case some want to hear the words and see a few photos (at the end of video below or the YouTube version here) … besides, we likely all need a refresher on the Linda Ellis Living Your Dashpoem.

 

Thinking of my dad on his birthday and a pregnancy flashback

Posted By on January 24, 2017

Having just returned from my mother-in-law’s funeral in western New York has me thinking of my late mother and now on January 24th … particularly my father. Today would have DadC_Christmas1985been his 88th birthday if he were still alive … although I’m not so sure many of us want all that many more years as our bodies and minds start to fail in ways that make living difficult … not only for one-self, but for those taking care of you.

Thankfully I remember my parents and my in-laws with fondness and in good health. We had a lot of great years with them when “we” were little … and all over again when brought home grandchildren. That is one thing every grandparent (and those of us anticipating being a grandparent) have in common …  the excitement and happiness of being grandparents.

Brenda and I were smiling last night as we shared how we are looking forward to watching animated children’s movies (Brenda dislikes most animated movies … but that won’t matter) or sitting and reading books to our little “BabyGirl” Oostra. My own memories of Katelyn running over and begging me to read her “another” book are among the fondest memories I have in my role as “dad” … and I “hope” it will be the same as a grand-dad!

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Brenda/Rich 2 months before Katelyn in 1986
… exactly where Katelyn and Drew are at today.

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Brenda/Rich Spring of 1986 & Katelyn/Drew with 3 month to go

Who knows, there may still be a Range Rover in my future

Posted By on January 23, 2017

Great visual look at the evolution from 1969 thru 2017.

The first SUV to wear the vaunted “Range Rover” badge came in 1969 with the development of 26 individual prototype vehicles. Each “Velar” prototype wore special badging ahead of the production debut.

The first Range Rover to trundle across craggy landscapes arrived in 1970, claiming the title of the first SUV to feature permanent four-wheel drive in place of selectable drive systems. It was a painfully handsome SUV, wearing near-perfect proportions and endless capability when the path turned rough.


The four-door Range hit markets in 1988, carrying updated styling inside and out. Anti-lock brakes were now offered, and Land Rover says this was the first SUV to ride on automatic air suspension and make use of electronic traction control. This popular four-door was refreshed for 1994, giving way to what Land Rover considers the third generation of the SUV in 2001.

Finally, we arrive at the fourth-and-current-gen RR, initially launched in 2012. The video ends on the new Range Rover SVAutobiography Dynamic, the car soon to be clogging wealthy shopping centers and private school pickup lanes in the near future.

MotorTrend

A little SNOW country #humor

Posted By on January 22, 2017

Really just a filler post since we were in snow country this weekend for my mother-in-laws funeral. The “more realistic than we care to admit” chart is just a bit of humor that will likely have you nodding your head no matter where you live. Winter weather reactions definitely differs depending where you are located.

Demographics and Interests of those visiting MyDesultoryBlog

Posted By on January 21, 2017

LongWayBabyRecordThose who have been blogging for a while learn to monitor their viewership. We’d like to  know what kind of traffic is hitting the servers and often looking at the breakdown as to what generates interest and ad clicks. In the early days, a "hit counter" was sufficient, but as country music artist Loretta Lynn sang, "We’ve come a long way baby" (ok … so it was a stretch to tie in music to this post!)

  We’ve Come A Long Way Baby
        Loretta Lynn – 1978

I’ve mentioned which of the 5300+ posts are shockingly popular every year, but don’t recall ever breaking down the "tracked" viewers (according to Google) who visit My Desultory Blog. Most interesting to me is that nearly 46% of the viewers are female and 54% male. I would have assumed a far higher percent would have been male? A not so surprising statistic is that nearly 1/3 of all visitors are between the ages of 25 and 34 … oh how those millennials surf the net. 

Times are changing though as a sailing couple posted the other day. They have retired their Facebook posts and sailing blog to go 100% video on YouTube, stating: "Nobody reads online anymore. Everyone is "watching" content." Hm … might be some truth to that?

TechFriday: New to me IoT High-Power 110 volt AC Relay

Posted By on January 20, 2017

A friend of mine has been brainstorming the components and options for a project that I’m tinkering on for both the sailboat and improving my back up power at the house. Basically the idea is to use a minimalist single board computer like the Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Pine64 or maybe just the new IoT Photon. I would like to be able to monitor, graph, send updates/alert and switch a high powered relay automatically or using my computer or phone.

Iot_relay

The initial plan is to monitor a bank of batteries (like on a boat or emergency back-up power system) as well as the solar charging of them over time. When certain criteria are met, then have the programing automatically trigger events … initially turning on a smallish 110 volt charger in the event solar power alone isn’t enough to keep up with the demand. I bought a new $23 Digital Loggers High-Power Relay and gave it a quick test (digitalloggers.com). According to the circuit diagram, I should be safe up to 30/40 Amps … although plan to stick to about 15 Amp max. Here’s my short video of the quick test using my Pine64 below.
&nbps;

Throwback Thursdays and my life with woodstoves #TBT

Posted By on January 19, 2017

RichC_Loafing_Stove_170108Heating with wood is in my genes, since my parents started heating with wood back when we lived on Lake Erie and were constantly without heat either due to power outages in the rural area we lived, floods forcing the power company to turn off utilities or the old finicky oil burner furnace (think “Christmas StoryIIIIIT’s a clinkerrr!!).

We moved when I was in high school and when hit with the Oil Embargo and inflation, installing a Buck Stove in our house seemed like a natural fit … and it was so much warmer than electric heat (besides my dad had two boys and a woods to cut and split firewood from … actually became a winter part time moneymaking job for me!)

When Brenda and I became homeowners (photo of house) it was natural to want to save a buck and so I built my own basement fireplace/ stove combination that heated an old water tank with fins welded on it (1982 photo below in Aurora, Ohio, hence #TBT).  I piped the “heat chamber” into the existing “oil furnace” ductwork so we could circulate warmed air to the rest of the house. It worked great, although I’m sure it would not have passed code! Rich_FireplaceStove_AuroraOH_1982

After my daughter was born in 1986, we needed a bigger house and wanted some acreage with a woods and barn, so we moved to Hudson, Ohio and of course the first thing I did was remodel and put in a woodstove … two of them!

OurOldHomeInHudsonOH_GoogleMaps2016 (1)

Eventually we remodeled, added natural gas and gave one of the stoves to my father-in-laws who was restoring an old farmhouse outside of Jamestown, NY. It was ideal for auxiliary heat for that older small house (had free gas) and eventually the “farmhouse” became their “downsized” permanent residence.

Fast forward to last year when I added the leftover woodstove (the one I burned coal in when in Hudson) to my garage shop and have been enjoying it ever since (lazy RichC in the photo at the top!)

Grandfatherhood is sinking in, MY Lttle Girl is having a BABY!

Posted By on January 18, 2017

BabyShowerKatelynBrendaBump

It was a Baby Shower weekend, and what a wonderful one at that. Terrrific family and friends … and a beautiful mother to be and a “Babygirl” shower a few notches above (well my opinion). My wife Brenda and two of Katelyn’s friends from medical school put on a classy baby shower and turned our house into a French Restaurant. Brenda has been smiling and as happy as a grandmother-to-be … fussing around with flowered centerpieces and pink this and that for a least a month getting ready for Katelyn and “Babygirl” package to come home (well, Drew too).

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Despite the questionable forecast, everyone arrived on time and from what I could tell, enjoyed themselves; I know Katelyn appreciated all who came. If you are interested in “baby shower things” … checkout the 3 minutes video/photos below (little square in the bottom right of the controller should give you full screen).

EDIT: Apologies to Brenda … “yes, I took a photo of the beautifully decorated tables and did get a couple of your La Petite Pierre catering friends.” My mistake for not including it — adding a photo below.

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog