My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on March 4, 2014

Another electrical project for Encore on the top of my list is trying to convert a couple of my defective Navman instruments to older used Raymarine ST60+ series instruments (made an Ebay purchase). After talking with a pretty sharp supplier to the marine industry, he convinced me that if I wire them correctly the ST60 display should work with with the transducers currently in the boat. Worst case scenario … I’ll have to replace the transducers with standard ones that work well with the ST60.

Of course the connectors are entirely different from the proprietary and expensive SeaTalk connectors from Raymarine, so I’m looking for some small micro spade connectors. At some point I “might” want to add a SeaTalk backbone in order to feed data from and two other Raymarine items, like the ST4000+ autopilot, and maybe someday a Brookhouse Multiplexer … since I’d like to have all my instruments talking together and sharing data with a chart plotter, computer and iPad. First things first.

Category: Sailing, Technology | 1 Comment »
Tags: electronics, encore, instruments, navman, raymarine, sailing

Posted By RichC on March 3, 2014

The snow has returned again to stretch out this already long and cold winter. March has always been one of those questionable months, but one I generally associate with “spring” … so far not this year.

Katelyn and Drew were home for the weekend and we had a great time together as usual. Besides talking about moving (they move to Minneapolis this summer), we congratulated Katelyn on accepting a position with a practice in Wayzetta, MN. Very exciting.

Another topic that came up is that of selling her beloved 2001 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. As much as she loves the only car she has ever owned (learn to drive on it), the cold winters of Minneapolis and new job makes for an appropriate time for her to replace it (dad is no long within a fix-it drive away). Too bad in December 2013 she put a new “dealer installed ($$$)” alternator and battery in – someone else’s gain!

 Links: Beyond a Billion, New Tires, Fuel economy, Bumped, Rust

I mentioned her car to family and on our local TDIClub’s CinciTDI group list before going public and have already received a few inquiries … yes these older little diesels are still in demand. Below is a snippet of an email I sent to a friend who sent me an inquiry:

… the car isn’t perfect as it has a few points of maintenance that I’m more than happy to point out to a CinciTDI member. The front fender has the normal Jetta cancer (rust) just above the wheel arch and the squeaky struts will bug you until they are serviced … bushings would help, but if I were keeping it, doing the struts would make the most sense. I’ve replaced the brakes/rotors a couple times, but assume pads are probably needed sometime this year. Our CinciTDI gurus have used her car for a few workshop videos and we’ve improved a couple items under the hood. There have been performance tweaks Rocketchip, Kerma 520 fuel injectors, glowplugs, aluminum CCV, intake manifold cleanings, MAF replacement and different CAT fuel filter improvements … although I think we’re back to stock fuel filters again? The 2001 Jetta TDI is a 5-speed manual, has black leather seats, an after market upgraded radio with mp3, upgraded taillights, sunroof, winter floor mats and an aluminum Panzer skidplate underneath …

If interested, let me know.

Totally off subject, but here’s a question regarding Amazon Prime memberships.
Do any of you “share the ordering” of gifts on one account in order to maintain free shipping? A family who all travel in order to be together over Christmas ordered from a shared Amazon Wish List and had all the gifts shipped “free” to one location where they all travel. Neat idea … especially when using a 30-day free membership.
🙂

Category: Automotive, Diesel, For Sale, Personal, Photos, Volkswagen | 7 Comments »
Tags: for sale, jetta, katelyn, tdi, volkswagen

Posted By RichC on March 1, 2014

I’m intrigued with marketing and advertising when it comes to what makes people tick. We see something and then decide to buy it.

My education is not in marketing per se, but I know that I respond just as the advertising agency intended once in a while. Sometimes it is a newspaper or magazine ad and sometimes a catchy radio or television piece. Certain ad campaigns trigger the “buy” impulse while others seem like a waste of money. I’m going to have to sit down with a neuroscience friend of Taylor’s (he works for Neilson) the next time he is here and ask him which recent marketing campaigns have been the most successful.

For me, one of the most effective has been the Get Crackin’ campaign by Roll Global’s Wonderful Pistachios … I can’t remember when I “had” to purchase pistachios prior to the catchy and creative commercials … but now I can’t get out of the grocery store without looking at the well positioned pile of nuts! (see video with PSY from the 2013 Super Bowl below – or ALL the videos – if you need a reminder)

What advertising campaign has recently worked on you?

Category: Business, Financial, Marketing, Video | No Comments »
Tags: advertising, Marketing, pistachios, psy, wonderful

Posted By RichC on February 28, 2014

Once upon a time it seemed smart to host only light content on my own blog. In the early days it was easy to store larger files like video, audio and photos “for free” with content hosts like YouTube, Flickr and Posterous (among others). The plus was that I didn’t fill the “out of pocket” server with multi-megabytes sized files and was able to offload bulk and bandwidth. It seemed like a win-win.

The downside was that when something went wrong, repairing the links and attempting to salvage the files became a challenge as times changed.  For example, I posted many of my original videos along with a few encoded television snippets (don’t do it) to YouTube, only to find my account was shut down and all the video content including my own personal videos removed … no appeal …no warning. They were just removed due to the complaint of a copyright infringement (Oprah has clout, even though the snippet and links all pointed back to her 2009 program).

For Flickr, they were purchased by Yahoo and changed some of their terms and linking … breaking some of the links to images that I used on my blog. My final lesson was the demise of Posterous in 2012. It was shut down after the acquisition by Twitter and with plenty of warning, eliminated every post. Unfortunately I used Posterous as my mobile blogging setup which posted both to Posterous and my blog by email (from my phone). Thankfully I was provided and downloaded an archive unfortunately all the links were broken and file names changed … so each post much be manually corrected and images saved – tedious and hardly worth the effort (although I occasional fix a few).

Lesson: If you host your own blog, try to control most if not all of your own content, and then back everything up regularly.

Category: Advice, Blogs, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: blog, flickr, posterous, techfriday, youtube

Posted By RichC on February 27, 2014

Check out the full post over at Jalopnik.com.

Category: Automotive, Humor, Video | No Comments »
Tags: cab, gag, jeff gordon, pepsi

Posted By RichC on February 27, 2014

It is hard to believe that it has been 6 years since the death of the renown conservative thinker and writer William F. Buckley; where have the years gone?

I posted back in 2008, that his work played a significant role in my life when it came to my political philosophy, business, personal interests and even some of my personality. Along with a handful of other people, I credit … and blame … him for the direction and path I took in life.

My parents of course were influential, my grandfather (namesake) who died before I was 10, a singer/songwriter and sailor (JB) encouraged my socially conscientious, a youth pastor (MK) who taught me to sail as a teenager and helped instill my faith and values … and William F. Buckley, Jr … more from 2/27/2008

Mr. Buckley, you are missed, but fondly remembered by those of us who adopted the descriptor “Buckley Conservative” in the 1970’s and helped spur the Reagan Revolution of the 80’s. Conservatives believe in traditional American values such as personal freedom, smaller government, lower taxes, free markets, and a strong military … the opposite of what we see happening under an Obama administration today. Ronald Reagan in particular embodied these philosophies and achieved peace through strength in defeating communism. The United States came out of its slumber during the Reagan presidency and the result was the longest period of peacetime prosperity in our history. This solid foundation laid the groundwork for entrepreneurs to create jobs and build businesses. Unleashing free enterprise and our capital markets helped create unsurpassed expansion and technological advancements that made and currently still makes America and her people exceptional.

For those who don’t know, or haven’t hear William F. Buckley articulate conservative philosophies, here’s a 3+ minute snippet from a debate with George McGovern at Southeast Missouri State University in 1997. 

Study a little history and look at what you see in Washington DC today as you ponder our nation’s future before you vote for representatives later this year.

click image for larger

Category: Audio, History, Politics | 2 Comments »
Tags: buckley, conservativism, History, liberalism, mp3, Politics, remembering

Posted By RichC on February 26, 2014

With the popularity continuing to grow for Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers, it is great to know that they still remember “the Van Session” as a way to share their music. Check out their Van Session version (below) of “Dire Wolf” — Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead album – 1970 — on the way to a Salt Lake City appearance this week.

Category: Music, Video | No Comments »
Tags: gramblers, grateful dead, Music, nicki bluhm, van sessions

Posted By RichC on February 25, 2014

As the financial markets continue to flirt with record levels again, insiders are looking at where cash is being put to use, or not. Fox Business mentioned this morning that analyst expect much of the sideline cash to head towards R & D even as mergers and acquisition deals are garnering most of the headlines (ie. $19B Facebook/Whatsapp deal).

Although investors appreciate well manage companies with strong balance sheets, they also want to know that their investment is “working.” When companies sit for years on piles of cash, one wonders if management has an appropriate plan to continue growing? Berkshire Hathaway is probably not in the same boat with the other big five cash rich companies since they primarily buy good companies at good prices, at least that has proven to have been their track record, so I’ll exclude them from criticism … but the other four are focused on improving and selling products and services. When they sit on their hands, one wonders if Apple, GE, Microsoft and Google using their cash “productively” enough?

Category: Financial | No Comments »
Tags: $brk.a, $goog, aapl, fb, fbn, ge, msft, whatsapp

Posted By RichC on February 24, 2014

In my pursuit of cheaper soft drinks it has become my terminus to save a buck and still make decent tasting cola. I continue to tweak my Sodastream setup and can confirm that my tastebuds have now fully adjusted to self-blended Diet Coke … and that I’m addicted (not so good). Currently the five gallon cube of syrup ($60) being used with a tap (photo below) is stored in my cold garage, but I will move it to the refrigerator when the temperatures warm.

Ingredient number two is the CO2 … or carbonator. The best option would be to install a large commercial CO2  tank at home, but then that would defeat my end goal of “no-waste/no-hauling” of soft drinks cans/bottles on and off our sailboat. This can hauling is a hassle when “walking” to get groceries from a marina, but becomes an even a bigger hassle when on a mooring or anchored where the logistics require ferrying cans or plastic bottles to and from Encore by dinghy. Trash disposal is difficult enough in some locations, so reducing our waste to a minimum is a good idea too. So … for CO2 I’ve adapted the Sodastream to accept paintball sized tanks (photo below) which can be refilled over and over. My plan is a buy a few more tanks and recharge a few at a time as I find refill locations. Currently the best dollar for dollar size seems to be the common 20 oz aluminum tank. I purchased a new tank for $16.95 with free shipping to add to my smaller 12 oz bottles (2 used for $20). I like the 20 oz tanks because they can be refilled at Dick’s Sporting Goods for $3.99 ($2.99 for 12 oz), but if I could find inexpensive 24 ounce tanks I’d buy a couple (they refill for $4.49). Any real savings will come in finding a good tasting, but less expensive cola syrup (Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi) … although I do enjoy the Diet Lemon-Lime Sodastream flavor (syrup cost is half that of Diet Coke). 

For those of you mathematically inclined, you’re probably already mashing the numbers … but here’s what I came up with (still not a “deal”).

Category: Financial, Sailing, Shopping | 2 Comments »
Tags: coke, economics, sodastream, soft drinks

Posted By RichC on February 23, 2014

People have been fascinated with the intelligence of dolphins and this amazing video of a bottlenose dolphin coming up to a diver during a night diver in seek of help will continue that fascination. Watching this and knowing what “man” does to them has me wondering who is really the most humane?

Category: Environment, Nature, Video | No Comments »
Tags: dolphin, hawaii, youtube