My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on November 16, 2012

I have purposely not entered an “excuses” comment or worse since everyone in the conservative political realm has an opinion and I’m tired of hearing the internal bickering. I personally prefer the conclusion that neither party had a decisive mandate – the country is indeed split – but know that the Republicans will have to do more to include Hispanics and younger voters. Realistically the core principles of fiscal responsibility, individual freedom and national security DO NOT need to change, but will need to be communicated and understood better. As is repeated by pundits on the right, Hispanics are a natural fit for the GOP; the other (younger voters) may need to come to their conclusion after experiencing “more” of President Obama’s big government failed economic policies.

Another more troubling statistic is the trouble that Mitt Romney and the GOP had in attracting people of faith … or at least those “denoting a faith.” I was shocked to read that approximately 52% of Catholic voters cast their ballots for President Obama." This after his administration started a war against long standing religious principles that are taught by the Catholic Church.

Catholic adoption agencies and charities have been forced to close their doors and shutter their services in order to avoid complying with federal and state mandates to place children with same-sex couples. In 2013, Catholic employers will be forced to provide birth control and abortifacient-drugs in their health insurance offerings or pay millions of dollars in fines. Will they follow the path of the adoption agencies? The church has been told that private beliefs must remain that, private. And yet the people in the pew continue to support the man behind this assault.

Unfortunately it didn’t get much better with Protestants as a Pew study indicated that “a full 42% of all Protestants (which includes evangelical Christians) voted for Obama.” And even after President Obama stood distant from Israel and remained “nonchalance about the safety of the Israeli people, 69% of Jews voted for him.”

Conclusion? Voting for Obama may have enabled people of faith to feel good about voting for someone “who is going to make things “fair” for everyone. They didn’t have to support a man who was realistic about what it will take to get this country back on track to prosperity and liberty. That man doesn’t care about “fairness”; he cares about responsibility and liberty. And those aren’t comfortable concepts. So thousands and thousands of Catholics, Christians, and Jews cast their votes for a man who despises their worldview and is actively working to limit their liberties.”

Quotes from ClashDaily

Category: Politics | No Comments »
Tags: democrat, election, gop, obama, republican, romney

Posted By RichC on November 15, 2012

In keeping with the last couple days of family and personal posts, my daughter and future son-in-law shared their engagement photo proof pages (slide show) from their recent photo session with Shuey Mill Photography. The weather on Sunday afternoon was perfect for the shoot and it helps that the two of them are photogenic. Katelyn and Drew were pleased with the photos (as was Brenda) and they will have a tough time picking from all of the photos … but I know that the final album will be a great keepsake (quite the upgrade from our “self-photos” 30 years ago – although we weren’t really thinking engagement photos either). There were so many great photos, but just screen grabbed a few to archive on the blog.

 
Click for larger images

Category: Archive, Personal, Photography, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: drew, engagement, family, katelyn, photography, wedding

Posted By RichC on November 14, 2012

I tuned out for a couple days since wifi is scarce at my in-laws farmhouse in western New York. Brenda and I made our annual pilgrimage to pack up her mom and dad and are bringing them to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving and then on their way to Florida for winter. They take the a slow trip south with stops in Cincinnati and Atlanta in order to stay with their daughters … which makes the trip enjoyable for all.

While we were in Jamestown packing up, we made our usual and much appreciated trip to Davidson’s Family Restaurant for a fish dinner as well as to the post office, hair cut, bakery run and pickup truck load of stuff to the dump, which reminders me to get the brake fixed on the truck … I barely stopped behind an unsuspecting car. Whew!

We also enjoy leafing through a few old photos and collected items (shortly after WWI when her mom and dad were dating). We closed up the house and barn, but I also noticed the growing number of maintenance items … now that Brenda’s dad is unable to tackle these chores. I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to continue this?

Of course the weather turn sour as soon as we arrived and made the chores a little be less comfortable …we even had a little snow (thankfully just “a little”) … but the task is done for another year.

Category: Archive, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: brenda, dadh, family, holmstrom, howard, momh

Posted By RichC on November 13, 2012

Adding at least one day worth of make-up postings with this past weekend photo of Taylor as we visited with his Grandma … very possible it could be his last?

That said, my mom is handling the heavy antibiotics for her pneumonia pretty well and is much more comfortable than earlier in the week. She is still not eating or drinking much and occasionally starts coughing …  it is pretty not something I enjoy watching. We have all had time to be with her and that is something appreciated by her since family is everything to her.

Love you mom!

Category: Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: family, mom, taylor

Posted By RichC on November 12, 2012

It would be nice to be off today, but I will be spending most of the day driving in the rain. Minus that, I should be enjoying dinner tonight with a WWII vet (my father-in-law) so that will be respecting at least the Federal holiday, Monday following Veterans Day. 

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations." – President Woodrow Wilson, November 11, 1919

Thanks to all veterans who have protected our country and continue to today.

Category: History, Holiday | No Comments »
Tags: Holiday, veteran

Posted By RichC on November 11, 2012

Maybe I shouldn’t have purchased six 50 star flags IF we’re going to be adding Puerto Rico as our 51st state? (still a little work to do in Washington DC though)

A referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico was held in Puerto Rico on November 6, 2012. Puerto Rico has been an unincorporated territory of the United States since the Spanish-American War in 1898. In the referendum, Puerto Rican voters were asked (1) whether they agreed to continue with Puerto Rico’s territorial status and (2) asked to indicate the political status they preferred from three possibilities:statehood, independence, or a sovereign nation in free association with theUnited States.^[1] 54% of voters answered “No” to the first question, expressing themselves against maintaining the current political status. 

 is.gd/pr51st

Posted via email from RichC’s posterous

Category: Misc | 2 Comments »
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Posted By RichC on November 10, 2012

I had an eye appointment this week and decided to mention that reading, particularly in the evening, was becoming more of a challenge. I’ve been trying to fool myself into thinking that it was the lousy CFLs next to my chair or the added eyestrain of using computers, tablets and cellphones during the day, but we all know that its my aging eyes or in medical terms, presbyopia.

Currently, I’ve been doctoring myself with drugstore readers and a pair of computer bifocals that I ordered online, but the eye doctor thinks I’d be happier with a pair of glasses matched to my prescription. So with that in mind, I’ve decided a pair of glasses with free-form backside-progressive lenses (digital) in polycarbonate … with the hope there is less distortion towards the edges and a stronger safety lens for working with tools, etc (although I don’t think they will truly double as shielded safety glasses)?

Any thoughts regarding the digital progressive lenses from those of you with glasses? Are they more hype that helpful in reducing distortion?

The Advantages of Free Form Progressive Lenses

The debut of digital processing and the ability to create “free form” lenses has enabled optometrists to craft lenses that better suit the needs of the user while minimizing the distortion inherent in progressive lens designs. These free-form lenses are made using a three-axis, computer numerically controlled (CNC) generator to carve a complex surface that looks something like a 3-D topographical map. In addition, lenses made this way have a resolution up to six times greater than traditional progressive lenses.

A recent study performed at the University of California, Berkeley supported the benefits of the free-form lenses, including “statistically significant preferences for the optically customized free-form lenses over the non-free-form lenses.”  The study also found that subjects “reported a wider field of undistorted vision when looking through the reading zone of the test spectacles.”  Unsurprisingly, the study found that consumers prefer the lenses over conventional progressive lenses, that they were able to adapt faster to the lenses, and that they reported a wider near-vision zone.

This last point is becoming increasingly important as a growing share of the population is spending a sizable amount of time looking at objects in the near-to-intermediate visual zone, such as iPads, Kindles, smartphones, computers, and the like. This has contributed to the demand from users to widen the intermediate zone in the progressive lens. Most design companies report that one of the major things that users don’t like about progressives is the fact that the intermediate zone in the lenses is too narrow. Using digital processing, however, it can be made wider than it has been traditionally.

LINK

Category: Health, Misc, Personal | No Comments »
Tags: eye health, glasses, lenses, medical

Posted By RichC on November 9, 2012

The AP/Wall Street Journal published a color coded county map which does a pretty good job displaying the voting split in our country this past Tuesday. We are a divided country when it comes to political philosophy — I just hope we can survive another 4 years and stay the “United” States.

Posted via email from RichC’s posterous

Category: Politics | 4 Comments »
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Posted By RichC on November 8, 2012

If you’re thinking about a new midsize 4 door car … be sure to test drive the new Volkswagen Passat TDI.

Our mileage has been pretty remarkable — so far we’re averaging just shy of 46 MPG, with a one-day high of 50.2 MPG (moderate speeds and only a few steep hills to climb) and a low of 42.6 MPG (low speeds, lots of hills). Based on what I’ve seen, I have no doubt that we could top 55 MPG on a long, level road with a 65 MPH speed limit…

LINK for the full story

Category: Automotive, Diesel, Volkswagen | No Comments »
Tags: diesel, mpg, passat, tdi, volkswagen

Posted By RichC on November 7, 2012

I’ve unfortunately been watching the financial markets react negatively to the re-election of “less than business friendly” President Obama this morning and I am struggling to decipher what the future holds for investors and those saving for college or retirement.

In the middle of a 300+point DOW drop is probably not the time to form one’s decision as to what to do about retirement savings, but it does get one contemplating whether or not President Obama and the Republican controlled congress can or will be willing to address the nation’s fiscal woes?

It would be nice to see an olive branch extended (particularly from the big winner – Mr. President) … for now, hold onto your hat.

I’m watching as cash rich $AAPL has dropped 20% off it’s high just a month or so ago. Is it time to add a few shares?

Category: Financial, Politics | No Comments »
Tags: aapl, finance, investing