Who doesn’t have a favorite photo on their desk? #TBT

Posted By on April 2, 2015

KatelynRichTaylor_DeskPhotoOne would think with a nisus to reflect on the good ol’ days more than I should … and as a long time photography buff (had my first darkroom when I was in 7th grade!) … that I would have been one of the first to participate in the Throwback Thursday trend? Nope … slow to the party, but better late than never, even iit I did include a couple #TBTs in 2014.

On my desk sits a favorite photo of my kids from a few years ago (sorry Brenda, you’re not in it). I can’t help but smile knowing that they are just as happy today as they were back in the 1990s. What great satisfaction there is knowing that we has parents did a pretty good job … and had a great time doing it! In case either Katelyn or Taylor stumble across this post … I love you guys!
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Typical risk-off trades – DJIA ends 1st quarter 2015 in the red

Posted By on April 1, 2015

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Watching the commodities today … particularly oil and precious metals. In the “classic risk off trade,” when stocks are selling off, gold rises (chart right – Business Insider).

Looking a little more down the road, investment banks who follow crude oil futures see the price on a slow rise after a weak winter and spring. A few bankers are predicting lower lows before a slow recovery (interesting chart below), likely due to excess inventory, abundant supply and weakness in world demand. So much for “peak oil.”

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The Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel after a winter slumber

Posted By on April 1, 2015

For those of us who love diesels, the sweet sound of an old Mercedes Benz diesel idling is indeed a beautiful mechanical sound.

Below is a very short clip of my 1982 300D Turbodiesel waking up after the winter of 2015 hibernation. Really it is just a filler post since it is a busy week after a long weekend awayno foolin’.
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Great White Sharks are pretty intimidating

Posted By on March 31, 2015

A large great white shark photographed by Greg Skomal off the Cape Islands on the Massachusetts coast. Hard to imagine a more intimidating killing machine.

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The Treasure Coast was a popular place this weekend

Posted By on March 30, 2015

After the rain on Friday (above), the weather improve for a weekend finishing up a long drawn out engine work (plus a few other repairs) to Encore at the marina in Florida. The weather improved and was high 70s on Saturday and Sunday but with the north wind felt cooler in the shade.

I wasn't the only one in Fort Pierce (photo right)…

It's too bad there isn't a scheduled flight in and out of St Lucie International Airport in Fort Pierce, Florida … like Airforce One. Sure must me nice to schedule a golf weekend and have the 1st class trip paid for by taxpayers. On the other hand, it would be far more convenient to fly into FPR “if they had scheduled flights” than Orlando, West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale. Oh well, no complaints really!

 

 

 

The Color of Pee — Cleveland Clinic

Posted By on March 29, 2015

It has long been known that the color of urine can give doctors a insight into a patients health. For most in our day to day lives, it is a good way to monitor IF we are drinking enough water.

Check out the info graphic below or the Cleveland Clinic Health Hub.

Creative Anchoring: Everything about Anchors and Anchoring

Posted By on March 28, 2015

One of my favorite sailing authors Fatty Goodlander has a new book, Creative Anchoring: Everything about Anchors and Anchoring, and it is now available. With some travel ahead I opted to purchase and download the ebook to my iPad for $9.99 at Amazon. Fatty's writing style is always entertaining be it a magazine article, sailing tale or educational cruising book. Since I follow he and his wife Carolyn on a couple of social networks, I also enjoy doing my part in keeping his vagabond sailing lifestyle in “freedom chips.”

Currently they are holed up in New Zealand, but I sure are anxious to continue “one again” sailing around the world … this time in their new boat Ganesh (rather than their long time smaller boat Wild Card). Fatty Goodlander is a prolific writter and has hundreds of articles to his credit not to mention several very enjoyable books. If you read one, you'll want to read another.

This practical, down-to-earth, step-by-step instruction manual isn’t merely about the basic mechanics of how to anchor—but how to anchor safely, while enjoying your boat more comfortably, in a far greater number of exposed anchorages. It contains everything a cruising sailor needs to know—including the proper cruising attitude and philosophy in relation to international anchoring-as-a lifestyle—and much, much more! It takes a completely new, totally unique “sea gypsy” look at the art and science of anchoring in today’s shrinking world. And, it does it from the penny-pinching perspective of a confirmed “economically-challenged, ever-restless” World Cruiser.

What other book on anchoring contains information on heaving-to, sea anchors, and Jordan Series Drogues? Flopper stoppers? Shore jackals? Dinghies? Anchor weights. Being tide-bound. The Etiquette of dragging. Land sharks. Snubbers. Doing WHAT to a coral head? Cheap DIY moorings. Arming your lead. Fish finders. Aground! Kedging off. Grappling hooks. Chain hooks. Lunch hooking. Hiding a sunken vessel under a floating vessel. Welding cables. Keep-away anchors. Free anchors. Cheap anchors. Free chain by the ton. Salvage. Karma! Sea Swine! Sex and Romance! Dirt Dwellers!

What special precautions should you take while anchoring in very shallow water? How to realistically anchor in 200 feet of depth? And what is the Key Concept to being able to anchor safely—year-after-year—where most sane yachties fear to tread?

It’s a book that only Cap’n Fatty would dare pen—written in his own inimitable, laid-back style.

 

TechFriday: Playing with Periscope from Twitter

Posted By on March 27, 2015

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I wasted a couple hours on Thursday morning while “working” (cough, cough) from home and downloaded the Periscope app for iOS on the iPhone.  To the novice “tech geek,” these live broadcasting social networking apps will soon have the Internet filled with video streams. Currently I’m seeing broadcasters like CBNC’s Julia Boorstin (above) jumping on the bandwagon and testing things out on the air. But as apps like Meercat (live video on Twitter) and Twitter’s Periscope take off, I’m beginning to wonder how culpable the “network” becomes. I’m thinking about underage children broadcasting live video using the conduits connected to Twitter, Facebook, etc as well as other crimes or terror publicity clips?

Streaming live video isn’t new, considering ustream.tv has been livestreaming for years, but connecting with an audience using a cellphone the size of Twitter’s and Facebook’s is taking it the next level. So far it makes live broadcasting of “breaking news” by everyone with a cellphone a reality. It will be interesting to see just what grows from having the ability to connect instantly with a social networking audience and have a decent quality live video (and audio) feed pumped in realtime throughout the world.

Now to fine time to watch more Internet video???

EDIT: Watch Bruce Van Horn walk around his lake over his lunchbreak on his iPhone and earbuds … very nice. I sent a few messages to him as he responded back audibly while walking. Wind noise and image quality of a moving iPhone does degrade quality so including image as an example. Still very cool.

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NYTimes says one of the pilots was locked out of the cockpit

Posted By on March 26, 2015

News is slowly trickling or leaking out as to what may have happened to Germanwings Flight 9525 with 150 people on board in the mountain region of southern France. The lastest indication from a New York Times report is that one of the pilots left the cockpit after having a “very smooth, very cool” conversation with the other (according to one report after listening to the audio on the cockpit recorder). After the pilot left the cockpit the Airbus A320 started to decend and the investigator said “the guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer. And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer. The investigator then said, “You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.”

How much do babysitters get paid in 2015?

Posted By on March 25, 2015

Nationally the pay for babysitters is up in 2015 according to care.com as reported on CNBC this morning. When the reports indicate that wage growth is stagnent and inflation is at bay, they obviously don't have kids to take care of …

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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