A brilliant way to use a rake! #genius
Posted By RichC on September 6, 2013
Obit: Earl Gerber (1921-2013) — part of my extended family
Posted By RichC on September 6, 2013
When I first started my company, I had the privilege of learning about “taking care of customers” from Earl Gerber who was a long time business and sales professional in northeastern Ohio. Earl passed away at 92 in Cleveland this past week, and even through all his age related ailments, I never heard him complain. He was a positive role model for me and those that knew him.
Brenda and I met Jean and Earl through the same growing church in Solon Ohio — at that time we were meeting in the Solon High School auditorium … now Parkside Church. Brenda’s sister (Ann) met Earl and Jean’s son Gary (now my brother-in-law); they married and the rest is, as they say, “history.” Throughout the years we enjoyed including Jean and Earl – or Gerb as we fondly knew him – in our extended family gatherings. In fact Taylor and I were recently listing all the cars I’ve owned in my lifetime and I remembered that Gerb bought out the lease on one of my company cars (a silver-grey ‘84 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport). He will be missed especially by his loving wife Jean … but we ALL rejoice in the knowledge that he knew the Lord.
My adult children are busy traveling all over the place
Posted By RichC on September 5, 2013
Zip, zip, zip … thank goodness we have airports and jet aircraft, even if air travel isn’t as comfortable as it once was. Taylor is off to North Dakota interviewing for a city planning position in the rapidly growing city of Williston ND … where his education would be seriously tested, as well as his internal antifreeze. Nothing like a contrast to his previous trip to Santa Barbara!
Drew and Katelyn are off to San Francisco via different flights for a Breast Cancer Symposium where Drew has a presentation. I suspect the two of them will also find time to make it an enjoyable weekend. They will connect in different cities for flights as Katelyn is juggling her work schedule and Drew is in the middle of fellowship interviews … I think this trip includes Orlando and Minneapolis (but I can’t keep them all straight). Have a great time and show me where you go on the photo above sometime.
Is it duct or duck and was it called duck tape first?
Posted By RichC on September 4, 2013
Who likes to admit that they may have been wrong, or at least partially wrong? Not me that is for sure, but in the case of duct tape, I always thought “Duct Tape” the correct name and that it was around before Duck tape (branded). 
Unfortunately it looks like I might have to re-think this in the future or at least keep from rolling my eyes when someone writes or says “duck tape” (Wikipedia still “leads” with Duct tape).
According to a bit of reading, the sticky waterproof tape was created by the Permacel division of Johnson and Johnson back in World War II when the military needed a way to keep moisture out of ammunition cases. They developed an easy to tear mesh backed tape with a strong rubber based adhesive — colored drab-green of course (not post-war grey) — specifically for that purpose. They called it “duck tape” because it was waterproof. Just like today, the tape found many alternative uses, so it should come as no surprise to know it was used to patch and repair tents, jeeps and even aircraft … that was well before it was used to patch our dinghy or win a “Stuck at Prom” scholarship. After the war the color changed to the common grey and booming housing industry used it for heating “ducts” – hence “Duct tape.”
The durable cloth-backed tape first appeared during World War II, when Johnson & Johnson developed an olive drab version as a handy way for American soldiers to waterproof their ammo cans. According to the company, soldiers dubbed the product “duck tape” because it forced moisture to flee “like water off a duck’s back.”
Troops realized that the tape was good for more than just keeping their powder dry, and after the war, it caught on as an easy and effective way to seal, among other things, heating ducts. Johnson & Johnson even began offering a silver version of the tape specifically for this purpose, giving rise to “duct tape.”
So which is correct? “Duck tape” has the chronological upper hand, but “duct tape” is a more accurate description of the product’s historical use. To make things even more complicated, though, it’s no longer used to seal ducts! You could always just hedge your bets the way the leading manufacturer does when it bills itself as “Duck brand duct tape.”
It was nice to have Monday off, but now its back to work
Posted By RichC on September 3, 2013
Labor Day was great! I was home alone and able to work around the house, although accomplished very little. 
Most of my time was spent in the garage sanding and adding body filter to the Mercedes Benz 300D. Since the temps were warm, I regularly cooled off in the pool and pretended to be cleaning it. Brenda was in New York again with her mom and Taylor busy with the NFL fantasy football draft … something he takes seriously.
Diana Nyad completes her record swim
Posted By RichC on September 2, 2013
It is not like my long distance swimming wife needs an additional incentive to keep swimming further and further, but hearing this is sure to keep Brenda’s motivation alive. Congratulations to long distance swimmer Diana Nyad in succeeding in her open water swim “without a shark cage” from Havana to Key West this Labor Day afternoon. (video below)
A dozen pool crashers after the heavy rain
Posted By RichC on September 2, 2013
Rain and storms made for challenging airshow
Posted By RichC on September 1, 2013
It was a great “most of the day” on Saturday to be at Red Stewart Airport in Waynesville Ohio getting our EAA284 hanger ready for the pancake breakfast on Sunday. Yes it was hot, but it is still August. The Stewarts were gracious hosts as always and we enjoyed their pulled pork and corn on the cob … an annual airshow tradition. Unfortunately the evening was cut short by strong storms and rain, but not before a little showmanship. Well done.
Americans are split regarding military action in Syria
Posted By RichC on August 31, 2013
Now that about everyone is convinced that Syria and the Assad government has used chemical weapons in their civil war and the “red line” has been crossed, the decision about what to do about it is up to President Obama.
Personally I’m aligned with at least a strategic military response when it comes to Syria or any nation using WMDs. The United States and its leaders can’t be seen as weak, feckless or remaining neutral when it comes to governments using weapons of mass destruction. If the U.S. doesn’t respond, those who have weapons and commit acts of genocide will be embolden and no longer fear reprisal.
There are people on both sides of the political spectrum who disagree with our involvement in Syria or other places around the world, but I can’t imagine how chaotic and how many innocent people would die if the U.S. was not a threat. I’m not suggesting we “go to war” in every instance, but we cannot morally give free rein to governments to use chemical or biological weapons to wipe out 1000s of people at a time. Bashar al-Assad and his military can’t be left untouched or unchecked when it comes to these kinds of attacks.
As much as I dislike what President Obama is doing to our country internally, I’m sympathetic with the difficult decision that is his as our elected president … and will support him in making the difficult call to use our military. I expect he will choose an appropriate and measured response (that will no doubt receive criticism from every direction).
Rental Car with lots of miles and #GifGrabber for TechFriday
Posted By RichC on August 30, 2013
According to Scott McCartney who writes for the Wall Street Journal, rental car companies are keeping cars longer and accumulating more miles than in years past. The slow creep of their aging fleet is a result of the long recession and the improved quality of today’s vehicles (industry spokesmen say), but from a car renter’s perspective may also have something to do with the lack of national competition and a desire for higher profitability at the sacrifice of customer satisfaction (take a look at just how uncomfortable air travel is today). Until I read the WSJ article, I was not aware that there are only three major car rental companies: Hertz (who owns Dollar / Thrifty), Enterprise (who owns National) and Avis (who is the same company with Budget). Unless you’re headed to a vacation destination, good luck finding competition … in fact I just rented a car in Minot, ND for 2 days next week for a best price of $170! – Ouch!
Testing a new Mac app to create animated gifs called GifGrabber … kind of fun.
The frequent renter will most likely suffer when it comes to wear and tear issues during their trip as McCartney points out with examples in his article.
Last year I had a personal experience with a higher mileage rental and ended up returning it to Thrifty in Daytona Beach with over 38,000 miles due to an unbalanced tire. If I were driving it just a few miles I would not have bothered, but since I was “relocating it” from Florida to Ohio for the company ($7 rental for the week) it was both a comfort and safety issue … not to mention an inconvenience if a tire blew. Thankfully the company set up a return while driving north on my way, but it was still a hassle and inconvenience.
Rental-car companies have moved away from leasing new cars from manufacturers for a few months. In recent years, they’ve been more likely to buy and hold them for up to two years before selling them. The average holding time for a car at Hertz has grown to 18 months in 2012 from 10 months in 2006, for example.
So what can you do? Here are a few tips from Scott McCartney and the WSJ article.
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.