My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on June 18, 2014

Ukraine continues to be under siege, SE Asia and Africa have unstable countries, Afghanistan will most likely go back to Taliban control, Iraq is imploding … but European markets are said to be in “recovery” and U.S. stock indices continue setting new highs and generating overly inflated annual returns for those “fully” invested (since when do these returns continue indefinitely?) Perhaps I’m just a “worry wart,” as my mom would have said, but then again yesterday I noticed consumer prices increased in May by the largest amount in more than a year. This can’t be good for middle and working class Americans already stretched to make ends meet. The cost of food and gasoline increased the most and airline fares jumped by the largest amount in 15 years. Maybe nobody told me that we have full employment and the numbers are reflecting that (sarcasm), or every average household has seen their annual take-home pay increase $4000 in the past few years (half-joking)? No … actually the cost of living is rising … but the incomes for middle and working class families is not.

The Bureau of labor Statistics reported that the CPI (Consumer Price Index) rose 0.4 percent in May this week which makes it the biggest one-month jump since February 2013. That means that over the past 12 months, consumer prices are now up 2.1 percent which is the biggest 12-month price change since October 2012. Not in itself a worry since this is in-line with the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent yearly target, but the Fed will need to at least acknowledge “that price pressures are growing." 

A change coming and according to Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, and the Labor report increases "the chances that it [the Fed] will raise interest rates before the middle of next year." “The days of low inflation and lower interest rates are now behind us” said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets,  and this is not helpful to Americans already feeling pinched … they will have to find new ways to either work more or stretch their dollars, or both.

Category: Financial, News | 1 Comment »
Tags: cpi, economy, federal reserve, inflation

Posted By RichC on June 17, 2014

While listening to CNBC’s Squawkbox yesterday morning, Southern Company’s CEO Thomas Fanning sees exporting U.S. energy as economically a best path forward. The strategy is not without debate and hits opposition from both sides – the anti-fossil fuel greens and conservatives wanting to preserve our nation’s natural resources for America’s future. That argument aside, one of the more controversial statements Mr. Fanning made was that “we can combust coal with a carbon footprint less than natural gas.”

CNBC Squawkbox – Thomas Fanning (mp3)

I’ve heard the argument that when factoring in the extraction process that we are currently using that natural gas isn’t as environmentally clean as we think (debatable science), but do find it difficult to believe that factoring in the full lifecycle of coal (scrubbers, chemical treatments, disposal and overall cost) that one can conclude that coal is a better choice than natural gas? That said, I’m not against using coal in the cleanest way possible … or encouraging those countries who only have coal as an energy choice – eg. China.

While combustion of natural gas does produce carbon dioxide, it produces about 30 percent less than oil and 45 percent less than coal, and natural gas doesn’t produce ash particles like coal and oil do, which adds to air pollution. Though it doesn’t have as much of an effect on global warming per unit compared to other greenhouse gases, it is by far the most abundant greenhouse gas in our atmosphere — and reducing carbon dioxide emissions has been the focus of curbing the greenhouse effect.

Fracking and Methane

So if natural gas is less harmful to the ozone than other fossil fuels, why are recent studies saying otherwise? The destructive side effects of natural gas occur before it even makes it to the pipes that carry it to users; it’s in the most commonly used and economical method of extracting natural gas, known as “fracking.” Hydraulic fracturing uses high-pressured water to “fracture” the shale rocks where natural gas is trapped.

During the fracking process, small amounts of methane are released directly into the atmosphere. And methane is considered more dangerous to the environment than carbon dioxide because it heats the Earth. Despite the fact that the methane breaks down relatively quickly so it doesn’t remain a heat source for long — unlike carbon dioxide, which can stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years — it’s still thought of the more harmful of the two.

LINK

Category: Audio, Energy, Environment, Science | No Comments »
Tags: cnbc, coal, energy, mp3, natural gas, thomas fanning

Posted By RichC on June 16, 2014

While keeping tabs on a hedge fund analyst and his comments over at Seeking Alpha, I read a little bit on $WPRT and the recent management change and where they still in relation to their “natural gas vehicle/truck conversion” peers. Having watched my shares lose value this past year, I’ve been wondering why Westport hasn’t been able to capitalize on higher oil and the natural gas boom?

Hopefully there is a momentum shift and the battered Westport Innovations stock has found its low.  I still like what I read … and am encourage to see some buying and convinced that as fleets upgrade that they will look at what Westport has to offer in their HPDI 2.0 technology.

Category: Energy, Financial | 1 Comment »
Tags: conversion, investing, natural gas, stock, trucking, wprt

Posted By RichC on June 16, 2014

Some time ago I purchase a couple Command Brand Bundlers with the idea that I could use them for cords and coils and then a few months ago I saw a fellow sailor using them on a boat to organize lines. I’m not sure how well they will stand up to the sun and elements, but I might give them a try on the mast. The idea that the strap can be latched makes for a better way to keep a small coil out of the way and off the deck.

I’d like to use them for the reefing lines as well since the three color coded lines are currently tossed under the spray hood and dodger … not as organized as I would like (above).

A WordPress blogging update (reminder to self):
Trying a new line of code a try when updating older posts on this site that have images sized too small for the wider current theme. Hopefully once updated, the full width images will format and size appropriately no matter the eventual column width.

style="border: 1px solid black; width:99%"

Category: Archive, Blogs, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: encore, hook, sailing, strap, wordpress

Posted By RichC on June 15, 2014

This first year and a half after my mom’s death has been a new chapter for my father and our family, but thankfully dad has been quick to adapt and has adjusted to living alone. Just saying “alone” is depressing, but his positive attitude makes it just a little bit easy on his kids (note to self: “be more of an optimist”).

I appreciated the photo my brother sent me a few months ago from his daughter’s wedding last year. We enjoyed the time with our kids and “our dad.”

Wishing a Happy Father’s Day to my dad (and Ron).

Category: Holiday, Personal, Photos | 1 Comment »
Tags: dadc, fathers day, ronc

Posted By RichC on June 15, 2014

As civil society’s long drawn out war on terror or GWOT continues dealing with Islamic terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda, the U.S. struggles in an effort to wind down military involvement and to leave political stability in Iraq and Afghanistan. After reading many of the biographies, political and history oriented books being published, I’ve gained better insight on the challenges all of our appointed and elected leaders faced.

I started reading about our involvement years ago with a preface to the war by in reading The Looming Tower and Ghost Wars which enlightened me on the long history preceding 9/11. The 2007 movie Charlie Wilson’s War and a hodgepodge of other books by solders and analysts returning from Iraq and Afghanistan added to the picture of what we were facing. The pieces became a bit clearer after reading President George W Bush’s book Decision Points and a more recently from an autobiography by General Stanley McChrystal titled My Share of the Task, but now already in reading the first few chapter in Robert M. Gate’s book Duty am I see the difficulty in finding an acceptable end. Partly because Gates served as Secretary of Defense after Donald Rumsfeld in 2006 and served under both GWB and President Obama, the insight gives him a unique role in both studying his predecessor (Rumsfeld) and dealing with policies of two presidents which view “winning the war” in a much differently. I appreciate how Gates weaves his joy of his personal career outside of politics (President of Texas A&M) and yet carried the weight of serving the country and decisions which impact the lives of our so many of our troops. I only hope that I can have the same respect for our current Secretary of Defense Chunk Hagel.

In the introduction Gate’s writes:

“It is, of course, principally about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where initial victories in both countries were squandered by mistakes, shortsightedness, and conflict in the field as well as in Washington, leading to long, brutal campaigns to avert strategic defeat.”

“But this book is also about my political war with Congress each day I was in office,” Gates continues, “and the dramatic contrast between my public respect, bipartisanship, and calm, and my private frustration, disgust, and anger.”

And then there is his reflection on the troops … the “heroes:”

“As I look back, there is a parallel theme to my years at war: love. By that I mean the love — there is no other word for it — I came to feel for the troops, and the overwhelming sense of personal responsibility I developed for them. So much so, that it would shape some of my most significant decisions and positions.”

Category: Books, History, Millitary, Politics | No Comments »
Tags: autobiography, book, congress, duty, History, reading, robert gates

Posted By RichC on June 14, 2014

So far this spring, I’ve thwarted the building of nests on our front porch … but lost the battle on the rear (two robin nests). Each year in the spring I bring out the coffee cans in order to crowd out the birds who try to build their nests under the protection of the porch and eves. The colored cans usually work but this persistent nest builder refuses to give up. Day after day the robin hauls nest making material to the edge and attempts to get it to stick … but there just isn’t enough room.

Actually I’m starting to feel sorry for my feathered friend and have almost considered giving in and moving the coffee can … if for nothing else, keeping the pile on the porch from getting any larger! Although I don’t have the frustrated bird on video, I’ll include this 15 second clip for clarity.

Category: Nature, Video | 1 Comment »
Tags: birds, building, eggs, next, persistance, robin

Posted By RichC on June 13, 2014

It will soon be time to replace the battery in my iPhone 5, and rather than drive to the Apple store and pay them the $80 to do it, it might be worth spending a few dollars on a tool kit and a battery in order to replace it myself. Wish me luck.

Category: Apple, Archive, Cellphone, How-To, Photography, Video | 2 Comments »
Tags: battery, How-To, iphone5

Posted By RichC on June 12, 2014

It is getting easier and easier to stream a variety of content while driving from my iPhone using BT to my car radio nowadays … even in my older Mercedes 300D (to a newer radio). At one time SiriusXM was the way to get uninterrupted news and content while driving longer distances with limited Slingbox streaming, but since most interstates are well covered by cellphone data now (and Sprint offers unlimited data), streaming has been nearly flawless for me in Ohio (and actually not bad back and forth to Florida). My personal thought is that as a longterm investment idea, $SIRI isn’t looking that great.

CVS Caremark ($CVS) on the other hand while down almost 2% today closing at $75.98, has a much more promising long term model. Solid earnings and financials, seasoned business model and management, an aging population along with healthcare reform (Obamacare) that works in their favor should continue the profitable trend … at least that is what analysts like USAA’s  John Toohey said on TheStreet.com. On a more personal observation, the CVS location in our area are busy and the customer service focus and efficiency measure being implemented are making a difference at the store level. Having more overall business is good news the retail drugstore industry even as they compete with each other, but particularly good news for those companies like CVS who seem to be rock steady in running their business.

* Full disclosure: I have a SiriusXM radio, Sprint cellphone contract (soon out of
contract and looking around) and my wife works for CVS

Category: Cellphone, Financial, Radio, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: $CVS, $SIRI, finance, investing, stocks

Posted By RichC on June 12, 2014

I’ve got to admit, at first glimpse these banana peel Wet Floor Cones are a pretty innovative idea. It gets your attention, at least the first few time you see them.

I also needed  a filler photo for the rest of the post and figured who doesn’t love a cute baby bunny photo … or as my buddy Jeff would say: Hasenpfeffer!

(Click photos for larger images)

Category: Misc, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: banana, bunny, cone, cute, photo, Rabbit