Panorama of Miami Graduation (iPhone 5 attempt)
Posted By RichC on May 11, 2013
EDIT: Attempted an iPhone5 panorama photo on Saturday and assume the photo size was too larger for the limited Sprint 3G service?)
Tech Friday: Reusing my OLD Blue Snowball microphone
Posted By RichC on May 10, 2013
After almost throwing away my older version of the Blue Snowball microphone, I decided to plug the USB mic into my new iMac running OSX 10.8.3 … and to my surprise it worked great for a couple VOIP connections. For those of you familiar with this original USB mic, it was not supported with firmware updates or updateable beyond an old XP gain control patch. It didn’t work well on my older early Intel based Mac Mini or any of my Windows 7 installs, but only ran on Windows XP.
Now I haven’t testing it on all of the programs on the iMac or my Parallels install running Windows 7, but it is nice to have an external microphone for those times when the internal mic on the iMac picks up too much intercom sound. The Blue Snowball isn’t perfect, but it might help isolate extraneous background noise when all that is wanted is a persons voice.
Flying with frequent flyer miles
Posted By RichC on May 9, 2013
An article in Thursday’s WSJ highlighted airline loyalty programs and just how easy it was to book a frequent flyer seat. The data collected by Switchfly Inc, looked for 2 seats on 14 round trip dates between June and October. The regular survey determined which airline made it the easiest to get the seat when flyers wanted.
No surprise, but the bigger airlines like US Airways, Delta Air Lines and American finished at or near the bottom (United the exception). Virgin Australia, AirTran (now Southwest owned) and JetBlue were near the top with Southwest Airlines flyers able to book 100% of all of the requested seats. Well done Southwest.
Removing the crusted on rear brake calipers and rotor/drums
Posted By RichC on May 8, 2013
I was up late Tuesday night taking apart the well crusted rear brakes on the new to me 31 year old Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel. It was a slower than usual process as the quality brakes were nearly down to metal to metal contact and so will require new rotor/drums as well as hoses and pads. No big complication, except that getting the assemblies apart took time. I took it slow to be able to reuse the pins and springs and used a little more liquid wrench and wire brushing rather than brute force. What is nice though is that all the parts are higher quality than I’m use too and they can be cleaned up to last another 30 years … not sure about the cylinder seals, but the are not leaking at the moment.
While I had the rear tires off, I gave the aluminum wheels a soak and scrub brushing. They are cleaning up nicely but show the same scrapes and scuffs that our previous MB 560SEL had back in the 1990s. I’m not sure if it is worth the time and effort to sand them smooth in order to repaint?
One minor detail is that one of the rear lug bolts had been previously stripped out of the hub and tacked in place with some caulk/sealant. Hmm, at least I have the lug bolt. Now to decide if a Helicoil is going to work for a lug bolt or if I should weld and re-tap?
Happy Birthday to me – A Mercedes diesel is parked in my garage
Posted By RichC on May 7, 2013
Hmm … it looks like some kind of ancient diesel is parking in my garage? It has been a long time since I’ve looked at one of these beastly relics. (our last was an ‘87 MB 560SEL) 
The overall condition looks pretty good considering the old Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel is over 30 years old and still lumbers down the road, although a in laid-back cruise mode. The odometer is just shy of 200K (middle age for a MB diesel) and everything is solid. I haven’t spotted much rust and beside some plastic crazing, the finish is good. One weak link is a no-go on the air conditioning. Mechanically, I’m hoping there is just a vacuum adjustments to be made for the hard shifting transmission. All in all, it is exciting to work on a diesel again.
SiriusXM Jam_ON with Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers
Posted By RichC on May 6, 2013
I’ve posted a few Van Session links in the past and figured why not at a SiriusXM Jam_ON session recording a “Little Too Late.” It has been fun watching the Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers expand their audience last year as they toured the country. The “cream rises the top” and it is great to see talent recognized.
Desultory advice: Buy BIGGER bathroom bar soap
Posted By RichC on May 5, 2013
Once in a while the “post for the day” reaches desperation levels and inspiration comes to me in the shower … literally! So after reaching into the simpleton part of my brain – the majority of it, before I get a wise crack – a brilliant cheapskate idea for my eventual advice book crops up. I must say, it is amazing “penny-pinching” still exist considering my daughter’s recent wedding (there is another movie remake in this experience somewhere).
I don’t know anyone who appreciates jumping in the shower and finding that there is only a little sliver of soap left. We do this enough of this in our house that I’ve decided to only buy “larger” sized bars of soap so as to minimize the number of small slivers we get stuck using each year.
I’ve calculated that a large bar last me at least twice as long as a regular size bar of soap (and I get more cleaning and deodorant from it too – fewer slivers!) … and after years of using bars of soap that reduces being stuck with a sliver 100s of times.
Hmm … perhaps I should add dealing with slivers of soap to Wikipedia’s Suffrage article? 
Video: Jay Leno talks about the B-17
Posted By RichC on May 4, 2013
Jay Leno does a great job shooting automotive videos in between his real job duties (aka: The Tonight Show) and occasionally detours into subjects that interest many of us. His recognition for aviation history and those who fought for our country is appreciated … as is talking about the amazing B-17. Nice job. On a side note, I would love to see a few more links pertaining the B-26 Martin Marauder … add them below if you have them as I would enjoy sharing them with my father-in-law.
Looking good — well at least the bride and groom were!
Posted By RichC on May 3, 2013
The first 50 professional wedding photos from Shuey Mills Photography have trickled in to be reviewed. I know I’m not suppose to be sharing the previews, but can’t help myself and will include two, ok THREE since they are so good (but here were a few photos from our guests – thanks for sharing on the wedding apps and Facebook guys).
EDIT: Adding a short video sent by my sister-in-law today.
Sprint continues to expand their LTE 4G footprint
Posted By RichC on May 2, 2013
Looks like there might be LTE service at the boat?
The speedy expansion of Sprint’s LTE network continues with a total of 21 cities with speeds of 6 to 8Mbps with peaks of up to 25Mbps.
Here’s the list of markets where Sprint will be offering LTE service:
California: Los Angeles, Contra Costa County Florida:Palm Bay, Port St. Lucie, West Palm Beach Indiana: Bloomington and Lafayette Illinois: Rochelle Minnesota: Mankato-North Mankato Missouri: Joplin North Carolina: Charlotte, Shelby, Albemarle, Sailsbury, Lincolnton Tennessee: Memphis, Greenville, Tullahoma Texas: Denison, Kerrville Virginia: Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News
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.