Short montage of songs Jimmy Buffett has not played in 10 years
Posted By RichC on June 15, 2016
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Excitement is building, but the Elio is not in production … yet
Posted By RichC on June 14, 2016
The hardest part in putting down a deposit or investing way before a company is even off the ground is not the fear of failure, but the anticipation. Elio is doing their part to keep the excitement alive by sending out development photos, surveys and computer generated drawing. So far, they are doing most everything right so I only hope the delivered product will live up to the hype. This week’s update was all about the interior … it looks great!
In this week’s Momentum we talked a little bit about the process of building and installing the Instrument Panel (I/P) in our E-Series vehicles. Fans have been clamoring for a look into the E-Series build process, and we were happy to offer a look into the exciting developments. This week’s Momentum also initiated a ton of questions about the interior of the Elio. Most questions were asking if we had more photos of the interior of the P5.
Very sobering, Bill Gordon, a college friend collapsed and died
Posted By RichC on June 13, 2016
The death of an in-shape friend and someone who is my age, really hit me when I read Bill Gordon had died on Facebook Sunday afternoon. He was one of my Ohio Northern University roommates and according to closer friends, he was on a ride Saturday morning and collapsed. How can that be??? He was an avid cyclist, rode all the time and was in great shape. Obviously better than me considering his high cardio activity (did he push his body too hard?)
A few positive memories below:
Bill Gordon and I were roommates when we first headed to ONU for our engineering summer orientation prior to the start of our freshman year. We hit it off right away and would have continued as roommates, but I had already matched up and agreed to room with Jerry Moody (we remain roommates for all 4 years of undergrad, so no problem there). Jerry and I added Don Blinn to fill out a 3-man dorm room and we all remained friends with Bill — even those he was quite distracted by a cute girl named Julie … his college sweetheart and the love of his life … for the rest of his life! Still, he needed a place to live, eat and sleep and we needed a #4 to cover the rent … so was our first choice was Bill to fill the spot our senior year. (few know this, but I’m most thankful for Julie, because Brenda, who lived upstairs, may have been interested in Bill if not for Julie? Whew, close call.)
The four “roomies” spread out in different directions after college and we, for the most part, lost track of one another. I was working for a purchasing division of Knight-Ridder (a newspaper corp) and Bill for Goss (printing press equipment manufacturer) and by chance the big Chicago Print/GraphExpo tradeshow brought us together for a day or two. We were both surprised to see each other. Similarly, we moved from Cleveland to Cincinnati about the time the Gordons moved to Columbus … after reconnecting a bit in recent years, we found out we were only a few miles apart when they were here and likely our kids would have been in the same Lakota schools.
Interestingly Bill and Julie’s son moved to Cincinnati while my daughter was moving to Columbus for her residency — Julie instinctively said Katelyn should come over for a home-cooked meal. Good memories.
I realize Bill and I were not overly close, but I’m emotionally sad for Julie and their children. For Bill himself, not so much. He was involved with Outdoor Pursuits in Central Ohio and doing what he loved … riding. From day one in 1977 at ONU, Bill rode … and took care of his expensive bike (generally I teased him about that “skinny silk tired fragile toy”). In other words, riding for him was his passion … he did it all the time and obviously his whole life. Few of us prioritize life around our passions and get to pursue it like Bill Gordon did. He lived a great life, had a great family … and was with the one he loved. Sadly … his life was too short. Carpe Diem readers.
Show me, LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. — Psalms 39:4
Added: June 17, 2016
Gordon William J. Gordon. The cycling community lost a leader and friend Saturday morning when William J. Gordon passed away suddenly while biking with friends. A Dublin resident, Bill was born February 22, 1959 in Elyria, Ohio. He graduated from Huron High School in 1977, and from Ohio Northern University in 1981 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. At the time of his death he was Events Director for Columbus Outdoor Pursuits. Earlier in his career, Bill was an executive in the newspaper printing industry. He was preceded in death by his birth mother Nancy Yarrington Gordon and nephew William Michael Gordon. He is survived by his wife, Julie Zickar Gordon, who he met while attending Ohio Northern; his son, William Ryan Gordon; his daughter, Abigail Katherine Gordon; his father and mother, Richard J. and Linda K. Gordon, Dublin, Ohio; his two brothers, Scott Gordon (Samantha) Cincinnati, Ohio, Bryan Gordon (Megan) Dublin, Ohio; and his two sisters, Linda Hoptry (James) Medina, Ohio, Jennifer Duwel (Kyle) Dayton, Ohio; and his 11 nieces and nephews. Calling hours will be held at RUTHERFORD FUNERAL HOME AT POWELL, 450 West Olentangy Street, Powell, Ohio on Friday, June 17 from 4-8 p.m. with a funeral mass on June 18, at 11 a.m. at RUTHERFORD FUNERAL HOME AT POWELL, and interment at Dublin Cemetery immediately following. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Bill’s memory to GOBA, Bike Lady, Pedal-With-Pete, or Yay Bikes. To send an online condolence, please visit www.rutherfordfuneralhomes.com.
Never too old for a Birthday Bash
Posted By RichC on June 12, 2016
Taylor’s Birthday party this weekend brought back memories of past pool parties when our kids were younger. Kids no more … these were all late 20s adults … but had fun acting like kids again for a day. The above photo include most from their group … click for full size!
The birthday was really only an excuse for Taylor to get a bunch of his college friends together for swimming, games, a bonfire and campout. What a great group … so polite and appreciative. Great friends for Taylor to have as they all seem to look out for one another even if most had not seen each other for a couple year. So glad we could serve them this weekend … the 21 lbs of ribs and 3 lbs of macaroni salad was a big hit.
Family, grandparents, art, handiwork and a special cousin
Posted By RichC on June 11, 2016
My cousin (a loyal blog reader … a little embarrassing) exchanged a couple of text messages the other day after she commented on "our" grandfather’s photo and grandmother’s painting. It is nice to know that I’m not the only one who is sentimental about our grandparents, considering the very few years they were in our lives.
I mentioned to her that I posted my second favorite painting from my grandmother in the prior post and that my favorite was "The Baithouse" … it also hangs in my office. We talked about Grandma Bluhm learning to use a pallet knife … and then Diane remembered "Mr. Jensen" … the name my grandmother’s art teacher from the 1960s in Toledo Ohio! The human brain is amazing … truly intelligent design.
I know Diane Mears will be reading this, and because I mentioned my dad and grandfather helped me build a treehouse in the tree in a prior painting … I’m archiving a photo of the nailbox my Grandpa Bluhm made for me (it is a treasured item in my workshop). He designed it with a hole in the handle so that I could attach a rope and pull it up into the tree (click photo to enlarge). I also chicken scratched JUNE 1968 on the box … who knew my grandfather would die the following year? 
I do have some great mentors and role models in my life … I hope I will be one too.
My niece Sarah Gerber is an impressive young lady
Posted By RichC on June 10, 2016
We recently returned from the high school graduation of my niece Sarah Gerber who has fought and lived with childhood cancer her entire life. She continues to defy the odds with an inoperable brain tumor and her story is truly encouraging for all who face similar medical challenges. Sarahs’ 18 years are ones of courage, strength, "faith, hope and love" … "but the greatest of these is love." — 1 Corinthians 13:13.
I’ll let her tell the "love" part below with a speech she gave just before graduating high school. Her older sister Jessica sent me the transcript (below) so I could archive it with family items and the graduation video (above) — although the 30 minute video will primarily be enjoyed by family and friends (great job Jess. You did a lot of work).
Love Yourself
Loving yourself is easier for some of us more than others. This isn’t going to be a self-help speech or prompt you to continue those New Year’s resolutions. We all probably have some though: stay in touch with friends more, read more books, get a gym membership, drink more water, save money, lose weight, stop stressing, and the list goes on… These all are great things to do for you, but how do we love ourselves?
We already talked about loving God. And I would like to remind us of the immeasurable amount of love God has for you before I continue. There’s a lot so keep up:
Genesis 1:27, Psalm 8:3-6, Psalm 23:6
Psalm 36:5-7 “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”
Jeremiah 31:3-4 “I have loved you with an everlasting love: I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt. You will go out to dance with the joyful.”
Luke 12:6-7, John 3:16, Romans 3:23-24
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Colossians 1:21-23
1 John 4:16 “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”
These verses are just a few of the many regarding God’s love for us. In order to love ourselves, we need to believe whole-heartedly in what God says about us. Loving yourself isn’t the same as acquiring love for yourself. If you felt yourself pushing back, and thinking “but how can He love me if” or “but why would He love me when” while listening to this Scripture, you don’t believe whole-heartedly in what God says about you. When we think “but”, we automatically create a void in our lives and as humans, we try to fill this void by acquiring love for ourselves.
Maybe it’s getting that perfect BAE to like you, or fulfilling your resolutions you set (a month ago). You are filling this void in your life with all the wrong things. In my life, my void was a diagnosis of a brain tumor when I was 4. At the time, I didn’t understand the gravity of my situation at all but growing up going through brain surgery and with chemotherapy treatments and constant MRIs and visits to countless different doctors gradually expanded my void. I can’t do a lot of things like driving because the brain tumor is on my optic nerve and inhibits my vision. I began to let the things I couldn’t do continue to expand my void and inhibit it from being filled back up. My void was so big, that without myself even realizing it, I distanced myself from people, and I pushed away from those who helped me through the most difficult times of my life. Through this whole time I kept a smile on my face, but those around me could see the void; I didn’t let them help fill it; I was accustomed to my void.
Reading through the Scriptures, I find myself thinking “but” a lot. Your “but” may be different than my “but”. But all of our “buts” create the same void that can only be filled with the same thing.
1 Corinthians 2:12 says “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” God’s love; it’s freely given to you but you have to be willing to receive it from Him. You need to open up your void and let God’s love rush in. All of our voids are going to take different amounts of time to fill as well. Mine is still being filled and every now and then, I let it get bigger. However long it takes, please continue reading through these verses until you believe whole-heartedly that they are true and there is no “but” because “but” was killed a long time ago on the cross and an immeasurable, unexplainable Love for you never died, but just to be clear, it was resurrected three days later.
My parents told me about a time after chemotherapy treatment a long time ago. I was skipping down the hall way singing. My parents were perplexed because how could I be singing in a hospital after a long day of treatment? My mom told me it reminded her of Psalm 59:17 that says: “You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.” As a little girl, God knew I had a void, and He gave me a song to sing to fill to fill that void to remind me of His love for me.
Loving yourself isn’t the same as acquiring love for yourself, loving ourselves is believing in what God says about us is true.
And I leave you this this: Ephesians 3:17-19 “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
A day early … but Happy Birthday to my son Taylor #TBT
Posted By RichC on June 9, 2016
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Jerry Skinner talks about #MH17 with @MariaBartiromo
Posted By RichC on June 8, 2016
As the second anniversary approaches of the downing of #MH17 by Russian missiles over the Ukraine, my brother-in-law Jerry Skinner is doing what he can to keep the tragedy in front of the public eye. Pressure on politicians for them to pursue justice, compensation and a admission from Russia and Putin (a long shot) is what will prevent reckless actions in the future.
In today’s world of smartphones and social networking, there is a amazing amount of evidence that this was not just poorly trained Ukranian rebels mistakenly firing a Buk missle at a commercial airliner that was over 30,000 feet in the air (that was my personal assumption). After learning more, too much is known about the Russian crew, the Russian officers and those who authorizes the movement of this missle carrier. Those investigating can track the route this particular missile carrier took from Russia to the Ukraine and then back after the launch. Images and interviews have forensically tracked this carrier and crew (think social media, cellphone pictures and even directions being asked for in Russian). There are enough ties to Russia if there is political will to listen and demand justice. We’ll see, but with the interedendencies for trade and energy, mixed with corruption and politics in the world today, doesn’t make it easy for justice to prevail for the families seeking accountablity.
Jerry was on with Maria Bartiromo‘s FoxBusiness morning show yesterday for a few minutes explaining the case (Video below).
So very true: Living Near Water Can Reduce Stress
Posted By RichC on June 7, 2016
The other day in Mental Floss I read that a "Study Confirmed What We Already Knew: Living Near Water Can Reduce Stress." I can attest to this since we lived by the water when I was a boy. My parents had a home on the shores for Lake Erie 
with a 150 foot private beach until I was in high school (rocks added in 1974 by Corp of Engineers to prevent seasonal floods). I can’t imagine a better way to grow up.
It got even better … because my retired grandparents were close enough to stay with us for what seemed like long stretches of time. One year they even rented a house next to us for the entire summer. Once school was out, we’d spent hours playing on the beach and in the water. Days were filled with fishing, gardening, building forts and playing baseball (until the garden took over our miniature ball field). My dad and grandfather, Richard H. Bluhm (photo), even helped me build a treehouse that hung out over the beach perched in the large forked Maple tree in the center of the painting below by my grandmother Ruth Bluhm (it now hangs in my office). It relaxes me just looking at the view. What a childhood!
Study Confirms What We Already Knew:
Living Near Water Can Reduce StressBeachfront property is considered the pinnacle of real estate for the views, the lifestyle, and, of course, the shoreline access. Everyone knows that being on the water makes us feel good, but now there’s scientific proof: a new study confirms that living near a body of water improves wellbeing, even for city dwellers. The report was published in the journal Health & Place.
Scientific interest in so-called "blue" and "green" spaces is relatively recent, but cultural awareness of nature’s therapeutic power is quite old. Poets, Christian mystics, and nature-worshiping pagans alike all celebrated the power of the trees and tides. These days, we’re just getting good at quantifying it.
Just a few weeks ago, for example, researchers published a study showing that living near lots of trees or other vegetation can actually extend a woman’s lifespan. The authors of that study cited three potential reasons green spaces might improve health: they provide inviting places to exercise, create opportunities to socialize, and they reduce stress.
The authors of the new paper believed that the same was true of blue spaces. They were especially interested in stress reduction, and whether blue and green spaces’ purported ability to calm would hold up in crowded city environments—specifically the capital city of Wellington, New Zealand. With nearly 500,000 citizens, the Wellington area is home to 10.6 percent of New Zealand’s entire population.
The researchers pulled topographic information from national databases, mapping any forested areas, parks, and coastlines that would be visible to residents. They then looked to the 2011/12 New Zealand Health Survey (NZHS), which included questions on health, lifestyle, doctor visits, socioeconomic status, chronic medical issues, and mental wellbeing. Of the adults who took the survey, 442 were Wellington residents.
The health and topographic data were then combined and analyzed. Some of the results were predictable, but others came as something of a surprise. "Increased views of blue space is significantly associated with lower levels of psychological distress," Michigan State University health geographer Amber L. Pearson said in a press statement. "However, we did not find that with green space."
Was it a money thing? After all, people in higher socioeconomic tiers tend to have better access to green and blue spaces, as well as medical care. But even after controlling for variables like sex, wealth, age, and local crime rates, their findings held true: being able to see the water was associated with better mental health for just about everyone.
To ensure that their tests were accurate, the researchers decided to measure blue space visibility with a totally unrelated factor: toothlessness. If they found a significant relationship between seeing water and missing teeth, they’d know something was wrong. But the relationship wasn’t there.
Why would water help, but not trees? Pearson admits those particular results may have something to do with their study design. "It could be because the blue space was all natural, while the green space included human-made areas, such as sports fields and playgrounds, as well as natural areas such as native forests," Pearson said. "Perhaps if we only looked at native forests we might find something different."
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.