Posted By RichC on April 23, 2016
The other day after seeing Bill Engvall on the ABC sitcom Last Man Standing, I tried to remember his comedy bit where he used the line, "Bob, he’s a smoker." I could remember much more so I mentioned it casually to a friend — a few days later he text me the segment from his album "Dorkfish" which had to do with animals in Africa. Yup, that was it an d it had me smiling all over again. Thanks for the laughs Bill Envall … and you too Tim Allen (currently my favorite show … and the political component doesn’t hurt either!)
|
Bill Envall and a segment from Dorkfish |
Category: Audio, Entertainment, Humor |
No Comments »
Tags: bill envall, comedy, dorkfish, last man standing, smoker
Posted By RichC on April 22, 2016
The saga of our poorly running 2010 BMW X5 35d continues while replacing component by component the SUV is inching back towards running condition. The most recent hiccup was a bit of a computer glitch after getting the ECU back from the tuner. I was hoping that as as soon as I powered everything back up that it would be smooth sailing — nope, not going to happen.
Modern car problems aside, I’m still trying to remain patient with the fixes. Eventually I think everything will come together for good as I’m starting to see the light the end of the tunnel OR it might just be that I’m learning about BMWs after years of Toyotas, Hondas, Volkswagens and Mercedes?
I ordered another "tool" Thursday night call Carly for BMW … which is OBD scanning software that runs on iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad (of course I ordered the adapter too). It is suppose to be a lot easier to use then the Ross-Teck software and VAGcom cable that I have for VWs, but assume a bit more restrictive too? Never the less, I’ll probably be able to use it on Taylor’s car too?
Category: Automotive, BMW, Computer, Diesel, Tools |
No Comments »
Tags: BMW, carly, ecu, obd, scanning, x5 35d
Posted By RichC on April 22, 2016
While learning a bit more about Amazon S3 data storage, it was time to experiment with the hotlinking and leaching of stored content, be it video or photo. Although the S3 storage is relatively inexpensive, every byte that is stored (no biggie) … or megabyte that is downloaded/streamed (photo/video) is billed whether or not it is from the originating site or hotlinked site. Amazon has “bucket policies” that can be added or edited to their S3 servers as needed. I’ve written my own code, but after-the-fact I of course found a few prewritten policies; par for the course (call it a learning curve).
Category: Blogs, Computer |
No Comments »
Tags: amazon s3, blogging, hotlink, images, tech friday
Posted By RichC on April 21, 2016
I would have put the title of the book in the subject line, BUT it is a long one: We the People: The Modern Day Figures Who Have Reshaped and Affirmed the Founding Fathers’ Vision of America … whew! Title aside, I’m really looking forward to readings Juan Williams thoughts on the impact on America from well known figures like President Reagan, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Billy Graham and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. According to a short online review, Williams also touches on events like Stonewall Riots which brought gay life into America’s public square, as well as "the role of women in contemporary life as shaped by Betty Friedan."
At a time when many are concerned over the volatility in politics this year and see the radical change happening in our country in a negative way, a quick glance reminds us that America has had a turbulent past as it moved forward (or backward, depending on your perspective regarding some of the change). I’m hoping a little perspective has me believing that "not all is lost" … even if the current change in direction seems wrong. Hopefully after reading I’ll want to add a few more comments to this post?
Category: Books |
No Comments »
Tags: book, foxnews, government, History, juan williams
Posted By RichC on April 20, 2016
In an email exchange with Andrew Rodriguez of FixMyVW.com, he hinted that he’ll have a few new products up in Wisconsin at the 2016 TDIFest this Labor Day. One item that caught my eye was a billeted chunk of aluminum "goodness" as the marketeers say — he knew what he was doing sending it to me. I can’t wait to see it, as well as some of his other new exhaust items, and maybe I even add this EGR Race Pipe to my BMW X5 35d shopping list.
EGR Race Pipe for BMW 335D and X5 35D
Material: Billet Aluminum
Manufacture: AARodriguez Corp.
Country of Origin: USA
Pricing: $0.01 for pre-sale notification and to reserve yours before everyone else
Benefits:
Increases air flow
Deletes EGR cooler
Reduces lag
Increases throttle response
Eliminates hiccups in power
Less parts to break that can cause CELs
Retains the ASV for smooth shut downs and emergency cut off of the air flow in case of a run away
Features:
100% Bolt on
Billet aluminum machined in the USA
Includes Grade 12.9 mounting hardware with anti-corrosive coating
Includes high quality Viton O-ring
Includes Stainless steel block off plate for the turbo manifold
Includes EGR gasket for the manifold
LINK
Category: Archive, Automotive, BMW, Diesel, Volkswagen |
No Comments »
Tags: 35d, aarodriguez, bmw X5, fixmyvw, performance
Posted By RichC on April 19, 2016
Recorded a bit of audio off the television this week as the intellectual thinker Charles Krauthammer summarized in about a minute and a half just how and why our country move 
from its independent founding to the dependent populous we see today.
Krauthammer’s best comment in the exchange was “the big debate between left and right for the last 100 years is can we at least keep the behemoth in check.” If you believe conservative principles and a free market economy is what made America the envy of the world, you know doubt understand that the path we are currently on is not a positive one.
Category: Audio, History, Politics |
No Comments »
Tags: audio, conservative, factor, freedom, krauthammer, liberty, mp3, oreilly
Posted By RichC on April 19, 2016
I’m sure there are some naturalists who will point out the difference between alligators and crocodiles … but the rest can work with the "crocs" thing.
Category: Humor, Nature, Photos |
No Comments »
Tags: aligators, crocodiles, crocs, Humor, photograph
Posted By RichC on April 19, 2016
Have you ever wondered what a 1959 VW Karmann Cabriolet Convertible would look like if it was built 40% larger?
Well here you go … Tumbler LINK
Category: Automotive, Volkswagen |
1 Comment »
Tags: beetle, huge, tumbler, volkswagen bug
Posted By RichC on April 18, 2016
While cleaning out my mom and dad’s house in preparation to sell it, my brother and I are getting bogged down looking through items my parents kept. Sunday’s "finds" were sentimental treasures that my mom kept tucked away in her memory box. There were items like my first pair of glasses, the leg tag for my daughter’s birth and even charms and birthday candles from my mom’s childhood. Interesting things to go through and keep, but just more stuff.
My dad’s items aren’t quite as sentimental, but he did have the birth VHS tape in a box I sent him from my son Taylor’s birth… and it had Katelyn (3 years old) artwork on the box(above). He also had a collection of keys but who knows what they fit (below)? Unfortunately the keys I still need to find are missing, the one’s for the ’58 Packard Hawk!
Also there were several items they kept from my school days … like projects from shop class: sheet metal oil can, funnel and recipe box (below), as well as woodworking and leatherwork. There are even several art class pottery items of which I thought were pretty good … until we ran across a clay pitcher made by my niece. Hm, I guess she got my grandmother and great uncle Ray’s artistic talent? Our day was slow but we are making steady progress.
Category: Misc, Personal |
1 Comment »
Tags: dadc, family, keepsakes, memories, momc, sentimental
Posted By RichC on April 17, 2016
What a difference a week can make come April here in Cincinnati. Last Saturday we woke up to snow (backyard photo below) and this weekend after cutting grass Friday night has the grass green and tulips blooming yesterday morning.
Instead of shoveling snow that means yardwork and time to think about spring cleanup.
Also wanted a test a new set-up using Amazon’s AWS S3 services for the “click on photo” larger images — click the images to see how quickly larger hi-res version of the photos display.
Category: Personal, Photos, Weather |
No Comments »
Tags: amazon s3, aws, cincinnati, flowers, home, snow, tulips, weather
