My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on June 17, 2024

While exploring a little bit with a “new found” AI client … Perplexity.AI … I used it to find an oddity from the 1970s for Music Monday by asking:

“What decade has the most influential music?“

Based on the search results, there is no clear consensus on the most influential decade for music, as different decades are celebrated for their unique contributions and impact. However, the 1970s and 1980s emerge as strong contenders for the most influential decades according to the sources provided.

The 1970s

Several sources highlight the 1970s as a highly influential decade for music, citing the following reasons:

Diversity of rock subgenres flourished, including progressive rock (Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd), hard rock (Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, AC/DC), and soft rock, as well as the rise of disco towards the end of the decade.

Emergence of punk rock (Ramones, Sex Pistols) and hip-hop, which would go on to become major genres.

Birth of electronic/synthesizer music with bands like Kraftwerk.

Consolidation of the “outlaw” country movement with artists like Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings.

Many legendary artists produced some of their best and most influential albums, such as The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Neil Young, and Bruce Springsteen.

The rest of the AI find is below the break, but for now I’ll highlight a musicians name I remember, Lou Reed, but his biggest hit that I had to listen to to remember. “Walk on the Wild Side” was the 5 song on Reed’s 1972 Transformer album and kind of forgotten by me. My point is that reading the AI researched info was that  it excluded the music I found memorable and enjoyed … and included some that I did not find high on my list from that decade? 
 

(more…)

Category: AI, Music | No Comments »
Tags: 1970s, ai, lou reed, music monday, musicmonday, perplexity.ai, transformer, walk on the wild side

Posted By RichC on June 16, 2024

Today has me thinking of the two dads in my life (DadC and DadH) as well as the father of my two granddaughters, Drew. I thank them for being great mentors … by using the stern hand of guidance when it was required … with an abundance of self-discipline … and always being the provider and an example of Godly love to those growing up with them a father.

Happy Fathers Day! Although I can’t help thinking about those without dads in their lives … and I pray for the children growing up without fathers. Those of us who have had good fathers, know the importance and also see a trend in America where there are fatherless homes. We are seeing a waywardness in America, with way too many lost  and troubled youth. We know some of it can be attributed to not having fathers (and Biblical teaching) in their homes and in their lives. 

The Statistics of Fatherless Children

The negative effects of a child without a father can be seen in countless studies and reports. The statistics show the importance of a father figure in the majority of children’s lives.

According to “What Can the Federal Government Do To Decrease Crime and Revitalize Communities?” from the U.S. Department of Justice, children from fatherless homes account for:

• Suicide: 63 percent of youth suicides
• Runaways: 90 percent of all homeless and runaway youths
• Behavioral Disorders: 85 percent of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders
• High School Dropouts: 71 percent of all high school dropouts
• Juvenile Detention Rates: 70 percent of juveniles in state-operated institutions
• Substance Abuse: 75 percent of adolescent patients in substance abuse centers
• Aggression: 75 percent of rapists motivated by displaced anger

To back up that data from 1998, which continues to be cited by researchers, a 2016 report of teenagers placed in juvenile residential facilities shows that 45 percent were living with only one parent at the time. That is a significant difference when compared to 30 percent of teens in two-parent households.

LINK

Category: Holiday, Personal | No Comments »
Tags: big joe, family, fathers day, pool

Posted By RichC on June 16, 2024

Really I’m just saving a couple of helpful photos to use when it comes to sewing heavy material or perhaps leather with the Sailrite WorkerB upgrade. It might help when remembering how to adjust the Ultrafeed sewing machine  … although I do know this, but sew so infrequently that it is easy to forget. 

• Knot on top = turn tension counterclockwise (loosen tension)
• Knot on the bottom = turn tension clockwise (tighten tension)

And here’s one talking about needle sizing, at least for leather …

Category: Archive, Tidbits, Tools | No Comments »
Tags: leather, sailrite, sewing, stitches, ultrafeed, workerb

Posted By RichC on June 15, 2024

While clearing a few photos off my iPhone 7 Plus due to limited storage space this week, I decided it might be nice to archive a few photos … so “leftovers” from the week sounded like a good idea for this post.

First, Brenda wanted a few new hooks for mops and things in the laundry room, so after mounting 7 of them on a board and painting it, I added it to the back wall (continuing to work on the new shelf over the sink). I took the time to clear out the workspace and clean behind the stacked washer and dryer, but when she put everything back … the open work surface was once again taken over by stuff. So goes the thought that we could be more organized — although looking at my garage and workshop, there is ZERO room for me to complain!

We’ve been having issues with the expensive Moeller 230V grinder pump ($4100!!!) in the poorhouse which handles the lifting of the shower, sink and toilet. It is not all that easy to access, but seems to be a switch problem rather than a pump problem. So for now I’ve cleaned up the old switch and it is running BUT after testing it for several days, noticed it still fails to turn on sometimes. Perhaps I can just replace it with an external 230V switch??? 

On Wednesday night I enjoyed as usual the Congressional Baseball game in Washington DC — Final score was Republicans 31 – Democrats 11. It’s a bipartisan tradition and those who participate play hard and for partisan pride — they also raised over 2 Million for charity this year.

All in all it was fun to watch and listen to the serious play calling and background info just as if it were a MLB game — great play-by-play and analysis by John Walton, Chad Pergram and Annie Mae. The GOP has won the last 4 years and has a slight edge since the games began in 1909.

And finally … another video clip from a “pet detection” trigger on one of our Wyze Cams. Hm … our pets are unusual these days! 😉 

Category: Archive, Misc, Personal, Photos, Repairs, Shopping, Technology, Tidbits, Video | No Comments »
Tags: amazon, baseball, congress, hooks, laundry room, leftovers, pump, security, wyze, wyzecam3, zoeller

Posted By RichC on June 14, 2024

After chatting with Brenda’s sisters and brother-in-laws about booking flights for a trip together, I mentioned that I was partial to Southwest Airlines. My brother-in-laws are both Delta fliers … and have a long history of booking business travel with the major airlines — I did feel as if I were ruffling feathers (text updates as mentioned previously). Now that they are retired, it seems they are more open to the value proposition (Chris and Jerry have booked on SWA with us). 😉 

This “searching for others” got me thinking about how to know the best day to book on Southwest.com. So started trying different search options from Google to DuckDuckGo and even Brave Search and added that what I’ve read in newspapers, magazines and newsletters (Kiplinger tidbit above). None gave me the results I was looking for and basically pointed to a few older articles on the subject …which just confirmed my “book flights on Tuesdays” thoughts. 

So I started using a couple AI assistants to see if they were up to date; the bigger named early out chatbots failed me … citing don’t have current information, etc. Then I recalled a WSJ article comparing AI competitors and gave Perplexity.AI a try. I was impressed.

what day is the best to book a flight on southwest airlines

Answer

The best days to book flights on Southwest Airlines are typically Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. On Tuesdays around 3 pm Eastern Time, Southwest releases its weekly “Click ‘N Save” fare sales and matches competitor sale prices. These sales usually run through Thursday night, so booking between Tuesday and Thursday can yield the cheapest fares.

Key Points

• Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are generally the cheapest days to book Southwest flights.
• Southwest releases new fare sales on Tuesdays around 3 pm ET, matching competitor prices.
• These sales typically last until Thursday night, so book between Tuesday-Thursday for the best deals.
• During major holiday periods, these cheaper “sale” days may have limited availability.
• Set airfare alerts and check Southwest’s website frequently, as they sometimes extend sales at the last minute.
• While Tuesdays tend to offer the initial cheapest fares, monitoring prices mid-week and rebooking if rates drop further can maximize savings on Southwest flights. Being flexible with travel dates also helps secure the lowest fares.

Category: Advice, AI, Aviation, Technology, Tidbits, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: ai, airlines, artificial intelligence, assistant, booking, Computer, delta, kiplinger, search, southwest, tech friday, techfriday, tools

Posted By RichC on June 13, 2024

It is shocking to count the years since I gave Brenda her first Apple Watch for Christmas in 2015 — NINE … shocker! I would like to be able to say that it actually lasted that long, but not all that long after she started wearing it, the battery “bloated” in the charger and failed. It was replaced, but did leave a bad taste in my mouth for small devices without replaceable batteries. (Hm, can I make this a Throwback Thursday #TBT post?)

Fast forward to her using it everyday for more tech things than I ever expected (she tends not to be all that techy) … and has been complaining that the battery would no longer last a full day. So for our anniversary earlier this month, I decided it was time for an upgrade with the primary goal to be something she could wear in the water … or at least get wet. She loves the new Apple Watch SE v2 which is rare when I give her a technology based gift like a notebook computer, phone or watch. 😉 

Category: Apple, Archive, Gadget, TBT, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: anniversary, apple, battery, brenda, gift, upgrade, watch

Posted By RichC on June 12, 2024

Great from Eastwood‘s “Mark’s Garage” in using a 4-fluke end mill in a cordless drill to remove “weld through” primer’s and coatings when making plug welds. Also appreciated the budget minded 3/16″ drill bit advice from a follower:

“You don’t need to buy an end mill. Grind a drill bit flat on the end and you have the same thing. Learned that tip off of Garage Journal years ago.”

Category: Automotive, Tools, Video | No Comments »
Tags: drill bit, eastwood, endmill, garage, plug weld, welding, workshop, youtube

Posted By RichC on June 11, 2024

The map below might not be up-to-date map (2021), but it looks like most states have there share of stressful traffic. Personally speaking … after driving to and from SW Ohio  to NW Ohio for the better part of 20 years, I can attest that winter driving (snow and ice) and constant road construction on I-71 was far more stressful than passing through Columbus at rush-hour (morning traffic on my way north if running late and almost always returning home and hitting afternoon/evening). 

The map did get me thinking … I’m glad I’m not commuting in big cities and densely populated states everyday! Check out the Fleetlogging website for the full article. 

Category: Automotive, Human Interest, Memories, Travel, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: commute, commuting, driving, maps, stress, traffic

Posted By RichC on June 10, 2024

This content is restricted.

Category: Music | No Comments »
Tags: into the mystic, mp3, music monday, musicmonday, van morrison, youtube

Posted By RichC on June 9, 2024

Taylor and Megan for Birthday golfing at Beckett Ridge
(he worked there when he was in college)

The weather was cooler than normal for a June birthday get-together for a few of our 35 year old sons’ friends, their spouses and now young families. It wasn’t a formal party per se, but it was a chance to remember backyard pool parties of the past. They sure did enjoyed warming up in front of the fireplace after getting out of the warm pool — no rain, so glad that worked out. Happy Birthday …tomorrow … Taylor (6/10).

It is interesting for us as boomer-parents to notice the generational differences between when our children and their friends are getting married and start to have families (later) and our generation. Most of his friends are in their 30s and starting families … where we were in our 20s. Perhaps it was the same for previous generations who married out of high school and started families, when we were just finishing college and starting to work. 

In any case, Brenda and I have failed by not taking any photos (shame on us, but I’m leaving space at top hoping Taylor has one) … but we did enjoy being “papa and grandma” to the little ones; Brenda held babies and I enjoyed cute 3 year old girl on the playlet and playing kitchen with sticks. 

Category: Archive, Friends, Memories, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: ani-gif, birthday, fireplace, friends, per se, pool, taylor