My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on July 18, 2014

We’ve been having a wonderful time enjoying what Minneapolis, Minnesota has to offer “in the summertime” with Katelyn and Drew. Our couple of days has been filled with activities from picture hanging and yardwork to bike riding and fine dining (photos above from 6Smith in Wayzata).

Another evening we we were off to visit my nephew Justin Howard and his two adorable kids … what a great time enjoying a local modern Spanish restaurant family style (Rincón 38) and then a long evening walk for ice cream at Lake Harriet. It sure was great to see them.

Katelyn driving in her new 2014 Nissan Juke … yes, banished to the back seat.

Category: Archive, Personal, Photos, Travel | 1 Comment »
Tags: brenda, drew, family, justin, katelyn, minneapolis, rich, wayzata

Posted By RichC on July 17, 2014

When the rain came this past week, I turned to an indoor project that we’ve been tossing around: “How to aesthetically increase the height of an antique table?”

After toying with a couple ideas for increasing the height of my mother-in-laws old table that we now have in our kitchen, I opted for adding ball casters to the six legs. They were a little more attractive that the standard caster wheels found on a couple other items (chest of draws, parlor chairs) and lifted the table height about 1-3/4 inches. That was just enough to fit one’s legs more comfortably under the end of the table. The current cherry dining room chairs (high quality chairs) are not really appropriate for this table, but until Brenda finds something else, these will have to do. BTW, she loved the casters.

Category: Misc, Personal | No Comments »
Tags: casters, chairs, dining, furniture, home, momh, table

Posted By RichC on July 16, 2014

Our sailboat Encore is in need of a better hatch screen system, so in my search for roll-able, but sloppy looking velcro stick-up screens to replace our ill-fitting fix framed screens, I came across this simple European idea.

The stiff wire frame (stainless steel?) is covered by a stitched on polyester “no-see-um” type mesh screen with a grommet in the center. A short length of lightweight shock cord with a stopper hangs with a small loop and keeper knot on the inside end (or double up smaller line as in top right illustration). A suction cup with a hook (keep spares) is stuck to the underside of the hatch and the screen is cinched up to to cover the hatch opening. Very clever and should work great.

Category: Archive, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: creative, encore, european, hatch, idea, project, sailboat, screen

Posted By RichC on July 15, 2014

I didn’t think I spent all that much time posting comments to Twitter, but over the years it does add up. I noticed that my Volkswagen Crossblue post Monday hit the 9000 mark (below). But then it occurred to me that those tweets don’t include the automatic notifications sent out by WordPress MyDesultoryBlog.com … add a few more (right). I guess I do my share of choking the Internet?

Category: Cellphone, Computer, Social Media | No Comments »
Tags: mydesultoryblog, Social Networking, twitter

Posted By RichC on July 14, 2014

As hinted a few times before, Volkswagen has now officially announced that it will be building the new “yet to be named” seven passenger CUV  in Chattanooga, TN. The attractive American-sized crossover will help VW compete in the popular SUV/CUV market come 2016. Many VW enthusiasts (and potential new customers) with growing families have struggled with how to own a Volkswagen and still haul the whole family. The Tiguan is too small and the Touareg, well an expensive and heavily built SUV that isn’t necessarily a family hauler … this new Crossblue (???) just might be the ticket. VW Group of America’s CEO says it will be offered with a diesel … we’ll see about the diesel hybrid?

“The Chattanooga-built midsize SUV will allow us to fulfill the wishes of our dealer network, bringing new customers to our showrooms and additional growth for the brand,” VW Group of America CEO Michael Horn said. “We are eager to be entering this growing vehicle segment with a world-class, seven-passenger SUV from Volkswagen.”

Volkswagen’s yet-unnamed SUV will begin rolling off Volkswagen’s Chattanooga assembly line by the end of 2016, the company said today. Horn also said the MQB-based crossover will be offered with a diesel variant.

LINK – Autoguide.com

Category: Automotive, Diesel, Hybrid, Volkswagen | No Comments »
Tags: 2016, crossblue, cuv, diesel, hybrid, SUV, volkswagen

Posted By RichC on July 13, 2014

In analyzing my Sodastream Christmas gift from the kids … after polishing off the original soda flavors … my 5 gallons of Diet Coke concentrate will last about 6 months. My wife Brenda unfortunately did not become a fan (lifetime Diet Pepsi addict) although I adjusted my daily refreshments choice to primarily the paintball carbonator version of Diet Coke.  I still treat myself to the occasional Diet Mountain Dew (my favorite) so that may skew the “priceonomics” when doing accurate financial calculations … but have concluded my modified Sodastream use is about two $60 cubes per year plus about twelve 20 ounce CO2 carbonator refills – one per month ($3.99 at Dick’s Sporting Goods). This totals to about $170 per year … which still seems extravagant until I compare it to my approximately “one case of cans per week” calculation – 52 x $6/case (avg) = $320 per year. All in all IF I could switch totally I’m looking at about a $150 per year savings.

Marketing: Notice “all” the bottle shapes on this Diet Coke/Taylor Swift video.

EDIT: Hmm, just realized that we also recycle our cans which just last week paid us $40 for a carload (plus a few aluminum printing plates). Maybe that tweaks my savings per year to about $130??? Also, in my opinion, adding the small Sodastream on Encore make even more sense. No cans or bottles to haul from the store to the boat or boat to the trash … a no-brainer.

Category: Financial, Marketing, Sailing, Shopping | No Comments »
Tags: coke, diet, economics, sodastream, soft drinks

Posted By RichC on July 12, 2014

In planning our upcoming trip visiting the kids, a quick search of the weather indicated that we are in for a cooling spell which will feel good in mid-July IF it happens. I also ran across the  National Weather Service predictions for a weak-to-moderate El Niño. According to the NOAA site, “typical El Niño impacts in the U.S. include above-average rainfall in the West and suppressed hurricane activity in the East, although neither is guaranteed and largely dependent on El Niño’s strength.” I don’t have a problem with the “suppressed hurricane activity” but then it only takes one coming ashore to wreak havoc and devastation.

Evenings here in SW Ohio have been very pleasant this past week and have given both Brenda and I time outside in order to work in the yard and enjoy the summer weather and the lower than normal humidity. I continued my lumberjack-lite imitation and split some of the logs from last weekend; this was reminiscent of our early years when we heated our house with wood and coal. We always stayed warm.

It still felt good putting away some seasoned firewood for winter … even though with our gas furnace it is not a necessity anymore. I kind of miss those early years.

Category: Personal, Photos, Travel, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: El Niño, firewood, logs, weather

Posted By RichC on July 11, 2014

Those who enjoy tinkering with Linux and the small and inexpensive 
Raspberry Pi will love the new $45 (Intro price) credit card sized HummingBoard computer.

Category: Computer, Raspberry Pi, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: Computer, linux, raspberry pi

Posted By RichC on July 10, 2014

I listened to a debate on CNBC on Wednesday morning featuring Princeton economics professor Alan Krueger discussing the problems of long term unemployment which lead to Joe Kernen suggesting there are financial disincentives to taking entry level jobs … the kind of work the unemployed need to gain experience. Krueger discounted that people weigh the numbers and choose not to work, but seemed troubled when faced with the financial calculations in some states which heavily favor continuing to accept government handouts and remain unemployed.

It reminded me of a CATO Institute study from 2013 that shocked me: “… in the three most generous states, a person on welfare can take home more money that an entry-level computer programmer.”

Add taxes to what you would need to make in these states to equal the government support, and your hourly pay would need to match the chart below in order to break even.

Category: Audio, Business, Financial, Politics | 1 Comment »
Tags: cato, cnbc, economics, economy, government, krueger, mp3, welfare

Posted By RichC on July 9, 2014

Cable and phone companies generally get the bad rap for arranging questionable appointments and providing disappointing in-home service. Well a third company is in contention for the top spot: AE Door & Window.

Last week we had another spring break in our garage door (different one) and since we could drive a different car, this was not an “emergency” call.  I instead politely called to set up the appointment for Monday, which following a holiday weekend was pushed to Tuesday. The service department took a few detailed notes about which door and even commented that he could see that they were recently out to replace a spring. I chuckled ‘yes’ and then asked if they knew what time on Tuesday and if it would be the same technician. He wasn’t sure … but promised to call on Monday so I could schedule the time off … Déjà Vu.

Then late on Monday I received the call that a service technician would be out to replace the spring between 12 – 5pm Tuesday. Ugh! I asked, “can’t you narrow it down a little more?” No not really … that’s how they schedule, but the technician would call 20 minutes before he arrived. Great … my Tuesday afternoon was shot.

Tuesday … the lunch hour, and then some, passes without a phone call. Finally about 3:30pm the technician calls to ask if he can still come later or if he should re-schedule. “NO, no, no, come tonight” I beg, “come tonight” … I’ve been here all day and don’t want to schedule another day off. He arrived about 6:15pm and looks at the spring and says, “I’m not sure I have that one in the truck.” Huh? Another appointment anyway???

He is going to have the office call to set up another appointment and THEN proceeded to fill out his paperwork bill me for $59! I remained calm externally, but was pretty hot under the collar. I refused to paid … and proceeded to leave the office voicemail machine a “frustrated customer” phone call. What would you do?

Category: Business | 2 Comments »
Tags: Business, cincinnati, customer service, doors, garage, ohio