Posted By RichC on September 23, 2014
It is hard to believe that we spent all summer mowing and denting our heavy-duty Kubota on stumps … and now that summer is over I’m finally getting around to hiring a guy with a stump grinder. I’m only doing the stumps in the front yard at this time, but nine are enough for now ($$$) … one was covered with a rock after the Hurricane Ike in 2008.
My wood pile of mostly Ash (courtesy of the Emerald Ash Borer), is growing but that means I’ll need to get splitting before winter arrives (although we no long heat with wood as we did back in the 1980s – good memories). I’ve been thinking about installing my original catalytic woodstove in the corner of my workshop garage, but am debating if giving up the space is worth the few times I’ll use it … especially if we want to head to the boat a few more times this year? Still, the draw of a wood fire in the corner of a workshop is pretty appealing.
Nevertheless, I’ve been burning the fireplace on the back porch regularly and it is great to have seasoned Ash rather than the mishmash of rotted junk wood and Pine.
Category: Misc, Personal, Photos |
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Tags: ash, autumn, fire wood, fireplace, stump grinding
Posted By RichC on September 22, 2014
Category: Video |
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Tags: 55 chevy, crash, drag racing
Posted By RichC on September 22, 2014
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Category: Music, Video |
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Tags: audio, jesus and jones, mp3, Music, nu-blu, sam moore
Posted By RichC on September 21, 2014
It has been a beautiful weekend to work on a few yard projects as the weather was warm, but not hot. A new drain has been on the list for a while, but the trigger stimulated the repair was when I hit the old plastic components with the lawn mower, shattering the grate and the housing. Instead of installing new underground parts, I used a cutting blade on my 4-1/2” grinder to modify the fitting to accept the new grate – a few bucks later and it looks better than the original ever did.
The other yard work besides mowing was to finish raking out the drainage work that I previously talked about for seed and straw. I’m probably going to be readdressing this area again with a load of topsoil as the clay dirt mix isn’t optimum for growing grass AND will most likely settle a bit over the excavated area. All in all, I’m glad to finally have this mess behind me before winter arrives.
Below are a few photos after bringing in Smallwood Excavating to correct the mess left by the unnamed (so far) previous company … the ones who disappeared with my deposit after starting the project. It is amazing what a difference a well managed and honest contractor makes … Smallwood Excavating finished in one day and even set up a laser to be sure the pitch was spot-on. Great guys, great three generation company. I enthusiastically recommend them.
Category: Misc, Personal, Photos |
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Tags: downspouts, drainage, home, projects, smallwood, sump, yard
Posted By RichC on September 20, 2014
A aerobatic bi plane, an Acro Sport II, crashed in a friend’s neighborhood a few mile to my north towards Monroe, OH but still in Liberty Township (thanks Tim). There were two people on board and there was an immediate fire on impact. Damage can be seen to a house and yard (click for slightly larger photos).
A quick check with my EAA friends to see if any local chapters had members flying this plane, but nothing from them yet. I looked up the FAA tail number (N94SM) and found its “registration pending” out of Hamilton with an additional owner listed as an LLC based out of Fairfield (but street address of principle for the LLC the same). No names have been officially released – 10:30 AM.
Category: Aviation, Local, News |
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Tags: airplane, butler county, crash, eaa, experimental, liberty township, ohio
Posted By RichC on September 20, 2014
Way back in May I hired a company to fix our downspout and sump pump drains that more than likely have been invaded by roots (also possible to have been crushed?) The company I hired, with a substantial deposit … I’m nicknaming them “Down the Drain” … made excuse after excuse as the summer months passed by and eventually sent me a text that “due to medical reasons he would not be able to finish until the first of next year.” I finally asked for my deposit back … and as expected all that was heard were crickets chirping. I would post the owner and company’s name, but will be most likely be going the dreaded small claim route; I don’t expect to ever see a dime back since I’ve been there, done that before.
Below are a few photos (taken 9/18/2014) showing the incomplete mess that was left prior to a new “more dependable” company finishing up.
Category: Misc, Personal, Photos |
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Tags: drain, drainage, excavating, home, house, yard
Posted By RichC on September 19, 2014
Apple’s much anticipated iPhone6 went on sale today as folks in line finally get a chance to own a blemish and scratch free smartphone their own … and here’s what happened to Jack, the first to walk out of the Apple store in Perth, Australia with one.
Category: Apple, Cellphone, Humor, Marketing |
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Tags: apple, drop, gfycat.com, gif, iphone6
Posted By RichC on September 19, 2014
Ting.com sent out an email blast update letting interested potential customers know that the new “older” iPhone 5s and 5c will be supported on September 29, 2014. I’m still weighing leaving Sprint, but they aren’t doing much to keep their long time customers in their Framily.They change their plans, promos, CEOs and marketing slogans way too often if you ask me … I’m a customer and don’t have any idea what I’m signed up for anymore … Framily, Family Share Pack, Unlimited Guarantee, New Unlimited or My Way Plan? All I know is that I think I’m paying too much and with BYOD pay as you go plans, I can almost cut my bill in half.
Category: Apple, Business, Cellphone |
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Tags: apple, carrier, iphone, smartphone, sprint, techfriday, ting
Posted By RichC on September 18, 2014
Most of Wednesday evening was spent backing up and cleaning up … and then downloading and installing Apple’s iOS8 release on a couple iPhones and an iPad (if full iCloud functionality is desired, then prepare for Mac OSX Yosemite install). Once finished, then the app update fun began and so as a reminder to those who have not updated, be sure you are in a patient mood, have plenty of free storage space and stay connected to a fast Internet connection.
Apple iOS 8.0 is 1.1 GB for my iPhone 5s and nearly that for an iPhone 5 and iPad 2. It’s a slow process, not only to download that much data, but to unpack and install on each device, which takes place automatically. The iPad 2 was the slowest, although all went well. The final step after going through the set-up screens is to start the app updates … and depending on the number of apps … can take a LONG time. For example, download for Apple’s productivity apps like Pages, Numbers, Keynote and iMovie, not to mention a couple of Microsoft apps is hefty; all totaled my MANY app updates will take a couple of gigabytes of space!
Category: Apple, Cellphone, Software, Tablet |
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Tags: apple, apps, ios8, ipad, iphone, updates
Posted By RichC on September 17, 2014
A small Canadian company called Davron Marine Products has an innovative stainless steel, block and line option for half lifting and half towing an inflatable dinghy for boating. Their Dinghy-Tow system looks simple and do-able.
I’ve been pondering adding davits that would work with our Cape Horn self-steering gear for Encore since 2012. What ever is added needs to be able to conveniently keep our roll-up Zodiac (or perhaps a new inflatable) available for use. The Dinghy-Tow system is ingenious in that it raise the stern of the inflatable out of the water while trailing the bow all with very little drag or risk of losing the dinghy. I’ve heard several stories where a sudden squall flips a dinghy being towed or swamping it.
According to David Foster, the components that are fastened to the stern would “need to be 15-18” above the waterline and would fit around our current Cape Horn steering gear.” I’m unsure how much space there is to the “port” of the centerline, but his “absolute minimum would be 20” between the 2”x2” stern brackets. It looks like it might work.
I’ll include a sketch above adding the Dinghy-Tow to estimate how it might work. I’m still waiting on a price quote … might be worth a trip to Annapolis for the United States Sailboat Show October 9-13, 2014!
Category: Sailing |
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Tags: davit, dinghy, encore, sailboat, sailing, tow
It is hard to believe that we spent all summer mowing and denting our heavy-duty Kubota on stumps … and now that summer is over I’m finally getting around to hiring a guy with a stump grinder. I’m only doing the stumps in the front yard at this time, but nine are enough for now ($$$) … one was covered with a rock after the Hurricane Ike in 2008. 
