JB and JB performing together in 2013 on May 2nd & 4th
Posted By RichC on March 11, 2013
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Repaired a long overdue dripping faucet this past weekend
Posted By RichC on March 11, 2013
After 30 years of replacing seats, springs and stems in Delta style faucets, I had my first Moen cartridge repair this weekend. Ours has been dripping for about a year now (hot side only) and after the basement flooding I’ve decided it was time to finally fix this kitchen faucet too. The all in one cartridge is a bit more expensive (especially as the local hardware store) and surprisingly not as straight forward of a repair as I expected. (if you have hard water and lime, a cartridge puller might be helpful.)
After a disassembly and cleaning, the new cartridge fit in easily … what wasn’t quite as simple for me was reassembly since I didn’t pay as close of attention as I should have when taking the faucet apart. After a few tries, voila … what an improvement!
Moen cartridge puller can be helpful if you have older faucets and calcium/lime water
Made a few tweaks to Postie and the Twitter feed plug-in
Posted By RichC on March 10, 2013
After noticing that Twitterfeed has been stalling regularly, I’ve added a new WordPress plug-in to avoid using a third party site in order to feed updates to MyDesultoryBlog to Twitter.
I’m purposely adding a few links and a photo (Katelyn and Drew’s wedding invitation stamps) in an email in order to test a couple Postie tweaks.
Forwarding email – as Bill Envall would say “Here’s your sign”
Posted By RichC on March 10, 2013
When older friends start to included your name on forwarded emails, they might be thinking that you are “older than dirt” too! Hmm, maybe I need younger friends!
(Tip: Edit your forwards or use something like Papercut Software’s “email stripper” if you enjoy forwarding emails.)
OLDER THAN DIRT
Q: A kid asked the other day, ‘What was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?’
A: ‘We didn’t have fast food when I was growing up ?’ I informed him, ‘All the food was slow.’ ‘C’mon, seriously. Where did you eat?’
‘It was a place called ‘at home,’ I explained. ‘Mom cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn’t like what she put on my plate, I was allowed to sit there until I did like it.‘ By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn’t tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table.Here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I figured his system could have handled it:
- Some parents NEVER owned their own house, wore Levis , set foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country or had a credit card.
- My parents never drove me to school. I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow).
- We didn’t have a television in our house until I was 10. It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at 11, after playing the national anthem and a poem about God. It came back on the air at about 6 a.m. and there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people…
- I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn’t know weren’t already using the line.
- Pizzas were not delivered to our home… But milk was.
- All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers –my brother delivered a newspaper, six days a week. He had to get up at 5AM every morning.
- Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or most anything offensive.
If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren. Just don’t blame me if they bust a gut laughing.MEMORIES:
My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother’s house (she died in December) and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of holes in it. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to ‘sprinkle’ clothes with because we didn’t have steam irons. Man, I am old.
How many do you remember?
- Head lights dimmer switches on the floor.
- Ignition switches on the dashboard.
- Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
- Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.
- Using hand signals for cars without turn signals.
Older Than Dirt Quiz
Count all the ones that you remember ,, NOT the ones you were told about !! Ratings at the bottom.
1. Candy cigarettes
2. Coffee shops with tableside juke boxes
3. Home milk delivery in glass bottles
4. Party lines on the telephones
5. Newsreels before the movie
6. TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning. (there were only 3 channels !!
7. Peashooters
8. Howdy Doody
9. 45 RPM records
10. Hi-fi’s records
11. Metal ice trays with lever
12. Blue flashbulb
13. Cork popguns
14. Studebakers
15. Wash tub wringers
If you remembered 0-3 = You’re still young
If you remembered 3-6 = You are getting older
If you remembered 7-10 = Don’t tell your age
If you remembered 11-15 = You’re older than dirt !!!
One reason the financial market averages keep rising
Posted By RichC on March 8, 2013
In talking with a long suffering customer the other day he asked me, “why are the stock market averages rising to all time highs, but business seems slower than ever?” I thought about that a bit since business wise I’ve felt pretty much the same way … as do most Americans with depleted savings, depressed home values, higher taxes, 
higher health insurance premiums and stagnant or depressed paychecks … that is IF they have been fortunate enough to keep their jobs. Frankly, the policies from Washington DC haven’t encouraged additional hiring or expanding business. Companies with decent balance sheets and profitable operations have targets on their backs that say “tax me” so they have just been keeping the cash on their balance sheets or returning it to their shareholders.
It hit me this morning after reading an article in the WSJ … strong companies impacted by the recession hoarded cash, reduced investment in capital and personnel and weathered the slow economy by streamlining their operations; the “do more with less” management style.
“We are starting to get out of hunker-down mode, so what you have now is a bunch of cash-hoarders who have decided to take that cash out of their balance sheets,” said David Ikenberry, dean of the University of Colorado’s business school. “Is that a good thing? It probably is. They’re liberating capital and putting it back out into the capital markets, and letting that multiplier effect kick in.”
EDIT: Thanks for the email Lee, although the “nasty” comments were not necessary — just disagree politely please.
Yes … I know corporations have accountants and tax attorneys to reduce their tax burden through but deductions and credits (“loopholes” as you called them), but U.S. companies, particularly small to midsized domestic only companies, are still at a disadvantage to overseas corporations who also receive incentives AND therefore still pay the highest effective tax rate. See video explanation below.
Archive: Whipping a line from Mike and Yachtpals
Posted By RichC on March 7, 2013
Archiving content (link below).
Whipping is the traditional method for seizing the end of ropes against fray, and it has become a rather generic term in that respect. It looks salty, permanent, and difficult, but it’s actually only the first two. Proper whipping isn’t much more difficult than lacing a shoe, and if done right with good materials it is permanent. Furthermore it does not increase the diameter of the line appreciably, and it is one of those little touches one expects to see on a well-kept yacht.
Waxed hemp twine is the traditional material for whipping lines, but not the best by any means. Basically, unless you are a complete traditionalist, you’ll want a synthetic material with low stretch which is mildew-, UV- and abrasion-resistant. You can certainly order many appropriate products from your chandler or rope manufacturer, many of which are made to look like traditional hemp, but for our purposes, we need go no further than the local drug store or market, because there’s a very common material that makes for excellent rope whipping, plus it will leave your mouth minty-fresh!
Waxed dental floss or dental tape (tape is preferred by some), is readily available, easy to work with, and astonishingly long lasting. It can be threaded through a needle if you would like to run the whipping through the rope a couple of times (recommended to prevent slipping, and here’s where you’ll be happy you used masking tape – as it isn’t likely to leave glue behind to foul your needle), and the flavors generally available lend themselves very well to nautical color-coding. That’s cinnamon to port, and mint to starboard.
The actual method for whipping varies. Some wrap the twine (floss) around the rope and then tuck the ends between and through the rope strands, wrapping the whipping itself in what is often called the “sailmaker’s” whip. Others tuck the ends back through the line and whipping to make what’s called the “sailor’s” whip. Some tie a series of knots to create a “knotted” or “West Country” whip. For our purposes, though, we’re going to stick with a basic whip.
Starting a few inches from the end of the rope, make a loop. Now tightly wrap the floss around the rope, working toward the rope’s end, pinning the loop to the rope along the way. When you reach the end (or have as many wraps as you need, tuck the line through the loop. Now finish the whip by pulling both ends, and working the resulting bend under the whipping. trim and melt the ends of the whipping line and the rope to finish.
PRO
The most time-tested way to stop fraying
Often outlasts the rope itself
Something to do in front of the TV on cold Winter nights
Easily inspected visually
CON
Time consuming
Requires some skill (though not much)
see: http://yachtpals.com/whip-rope-9186
Check Mike’s Line Whipping PDF for an slight modification … a better whip?
—
Contemplating real Social Security and Medicare fixes
Posted By RichC on March 6, 2013
As the self-appoint nation’s problem solver [that’s worth a chuckle], I’ve been 
thinking about our underfunded Medicare and soon to be underfunded Social Security programs. For those needing a little primer, I will start by regurgitating some background information on these two taxpayer supported entitlements. Both Social Security and Medicare are supported by working citizens through payroll taxes. Eventually most of us will see a return on our contributions when we retire so as long as the programs continue. Many receive much more than they contributed during their retirement years, a few less than their contributions and about 15% received benefits (or their families will) due to a disability or early death. What is withheld from pay for Social Security is not placed in an account with a contributor’s name on it, but is instead used to pay the current recipients and then any additional is then deposited into a trust (opponents of Social Security (click for video) occasionally refer to this as similar to a Ponzi scheme). Medicare is health insurance provided to persons aged 65 and over and is used to pay for the medical care, but the program cost is much less predictable than with Social Security. Both both programs WILL need to be reformed (graphic below), but Medicare much soon since it is running deficits.
In my opinion, problems with the underfunded Social Security program is easily solvable with a combination of realistic changes, so as long as our nation keeps its economy chugging and manages its debt (of course depending on your perspective, that could be a big IF). Medicare on the other hand, is not going to be as easy due to unpredictable variables related 
to rapid changes in medicine and the costs associated with health care advances. It isn’t realistic to ignore improved care or the obvious cost associated with enabling people to live longer and healthier lives. Who among us isn’t going to seek or want the latest treatment for their health care, the majority of it coming when in our later years (over 65). Unlike actuarial tables that are able to project life expectance fairly accurately and the near certainty of Social Security payouts, predicting Medicare cost 30, 40 or more years into the future is far more challenging.
Where the money comes from …
First, self-employed individuals pay 15.3% of their income directly to FICA (Social Security) and Medicare as “withholding taxes” in order to support these two federal programs. If you are working for an employer, the amount paid is split between your share of 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% Medicare and an equal amount paid by your employer. These amounts change only when income levels rise and currently (2013) for Social Security a persons plus company pays 12.4% 
on all income under $113,700. (managing these programs cost about 1% of the total taxes collected, which is considered efficient, by government standards – [cough, cough]). Tax changes in year 2013, also added new taxes which affect the top earners by taxing them an additional .9% on incomes over certain thresholds based on their filing status … for the good or bad, it is a way to add a few more dollars to Medicare.
When it comes to collecting from Social Security and Medicare, it is pretty obvious that when most retirees were younger SS and Medicare tax bites were lower (as for many, so was income). The amount they are now receiving is far and above the amount they were require to pay in during the good ol’ days. Their elders passed away younger, disease took many earlier in life and medical care was far less advanced. Fifty years ago, life expectance was substantially lower than it is now. Still, the Social Security component is fairly easy to calculate IF adjustment are made now for shortfalls in the future. There isn’t a free lunch, so we’re all going to need to pay more or receive less in order to keep the system going, but once past the boomer generation, the Social Security outlay curve flattens off and future generations “should” be reasonably stable unless life expectancy rises dramatically.
This realistic and easy to understand adjustment in the Social Security rates, retirement age or benefit payouts is not necessarily the same for Medicare. Unlike Social Security where dollar amounts can be calculated based on life expectancy, Medicare has seen cost and care changes that are nearly impossible to predict. Will cloned organs or robotic become standard practice. Will extremely expensive drugs advance preventing life threatening disease?
My thoughts are that if the Medicare system is to continue, we will need to fund it … efficiencies and cost cutting alone is not going to dent the shortfall. Of the current two schools of thought on how to fund and continue to support Medicare, 1) the Medicare tax will have to continue to rise to cover the longer lifespans and higher costs or 2) people will need to contribute to their own “lifetime health savings accounts” (LHSAs) in order to cover more of their personal Medicare costs. My guess is that we’ll face a combination of the 3 points above … cost cutting, increases in withholding and personal LHSAs requiring some personal accountability for one’s own care.
Can the above be done? Doubtful it will come from politicians in Washington DC. Eventually “we the people” will have to want change bad enough … or face enough dire situations triggering the necessity to change. There isn’t a magic wand.
Overnight snow is slowing down the morning
Posted By RichC on March 6, 2013
We received a good 6 inches of wet snow last night proving it is still winter in March. I was able to beat the street snow plow and finish the driveway before the street was cleared making for a slow start to the day.
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.