My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on September 8, 2009

This update slipped through the cracks this busy weekend, but Roz Savage made landfall in Tarawa an island in the Pacific Ocean completing her second leg of rowing  from California to Australia. The arrival at this tiny island marked 104 at sea since leaving Hawaii (see previous post).

From Roz Savage’s blog:

I stepped ashore, setting foot on dry land for the first time in 105 ?days. This was now my third arrival after prolonged periods at sea, so ?I wasn’t surprised when the ground seemed to lurch beneath my feet. My ?brain had adapted to being on a constantly pitching boat, so now it ?was over-compensating when I stood on terra firma. I looked up at the ?crowd of several hundred people that had come to greet me, and ?wondered if my first act on arriving in Tarawa would be to topple over ?like a drunkard.

Then two big hunky men in traditional island outfits approached and ?knelt in front of me, forming a cradle with their arms. “Thank heavens ?for local tradition” I thought, as I sank gratefully onto the ?proffered cradle.

I was carried to a plastic chair, and the hunky men were joined by ?several more who performed a local dance of traditional welcome. I ?felt like visiting royalty as I smiled appreciatively. They presented ?me with a coconut, its top lopped off so I could drink the cool, ?refreshing, sweet coconut water inside. It was exactly what I needed. ?I was feeling a bit woozy after my exertions. It had been an ?exhausting 3 days.

As I approached Tarawa from the south on Sept 4th, I hadn’t been sure ?if I would manage to make landfall under my own steam. Given the ?strong easterly winds that had prevailed over the previous few days, I ?thought it much more likely that I would get close to the island but ?miss it by several miles, and would need a boat to come out to catch ?me as I whizzed past.

But finally Neptune decided to give me a break. I had already made it ?safely past the island of Abemama (where Robert Louis Stevenson lived ?for a while). I was making good progress in a northwesterly direction, ?but there was a problem. Unless I managed to shift course to north- ?northwest, I would run slap into the island of Maiana. I had to choose ?whether to go south of it, which would mean I had no chance of getting ?to Tarawa under my own steam, or else east of it – which was the way I ?wanted to go, but was it possible? Under present wind conditions, no, ?it wasn’t.

Then, finally, the long-awaited southeasterly wind arrived. Woohoo! ?Now I was in fine shape. The wind only lasted a few hours, but I was ?able to ride it all the way up the east side of Maiana, which lined me ?up nicely for Tarawa.

I rowed late into the night until I was reasonably sure I was clear of ?Maiana and its reefs. Then I tried to grab a quick nap, but I kept ?opening one eye to squint at the GPS to make sure I wasn’t going to ?shipwreck. At one point I got up and rowed some more, just to make ?doubly sure. It would have been a real shame to get this far only to ?end up on a reef within sight of the finish.

So as I approached the final 20 miles into Tarawa, I had had less than ?6 hours of sleep in the previous 48 hours, and the heat was brutal. ?The wind had dropped away to nothing and the sun was intense. When I ?got to 9 miles out, I really wondered if I was going to make it. After ?rowing 3000 miles, the last 9 seemed to loom very large. I put some ?good rocking music on to help me through.

And finally, mile by mile, I crossed off the final hours of my voyage. ?After each mile I posted another Tweet and had a bite of food. A boat ?arrived to escort me the last mile or two to land. On board were ?Nicole, Hunter (from Archinoetics) and Conrad (our cameraman). Also ?Rob, the New Zealand High Commissioner, who put his sea kayak in the ?water and paddled alongside me.

But I could feel that I was getting depleted. As I always seem to do, ?I get over-excited on my final day and push myself too hard. I arrive ?on land dehydrated, sunburned and exhausted.

The last mile was really tough. I wondered if it would ever finish. ?Rob told me I was rowing against the incoming tide. I was reduced to ?counting tens. Just ten more strokes. Then another ten. Then another ?ten. As I crossed my finish line of latitude, I collapsed backwards ?off my rowing seat.

But nothing that an ice cold beer wouldn’t cure (oops, ignore this ?bit, please, Dr Aenor!). Nicole knew what was needed. I heard some ?splashing as I lay on the deck with my eyes closed, and then Nicole’s ?head popped up over the side of the boat. She had jumped off the ?escort boat into the water and swum over to Brocade, beer in hand. It ?was a bit warm after its time in the water, but tasted pretty darned ?good regardless. Now that’s what I call a dedicated Program Director!

So now I am on Tarawa, quite possibly one of the most remote places on ?the world. I’m dying to tell you all about it, but this blog is long ?enough already, and the Solicitor General’s wife’s aunt is waiting to ?give me a much-needed massage. So I’ll sign off now, but will tell ?more tomorrow. I intend to blog every day until we leave Tarawa, ?probably Sept 17th. But internet access here is very limited, so ?please forgive me if I miss a day or two.

Category: Environment, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: Environment, ocean, rowing

Posted By RichC on September 7, 2009

The weekend was busy as usual with the annual Red Stewart Airshow and my Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter’s (EAA284) Tail Dragger Fly In and Pancake breakfast. Set up was smooth on Saturday afternoon and most of us enjoy relaxing for the evening on the field as the temperature cooled and the airshow started. I can say with assurance that everyone enjoyed Stewart’s hospitality and the excellent performances by mostly local aerobatic pilots. The show topper as usual was the nighttime performance by Bill Leff in his T-6 “Texan” with a spectacular display of aerobatics in the dark with lights and pyrotechnics. It was definitely worth staying until after dark.

Speaking of after dark and pyrotechnics, the Cincinnati Riverfest Fireworks on Sunday evening were great too. We arrived just after dinner and relaxed for a few hours on the levy while waiting for the 9:05 show to begin. It was great and we really couldn’t complain since leaving with nearly a half-million wasn’t all that bad. It only took us about a half hour to get onto the interstate; not bad considering?

Click for larger images

Category: Aviation, Entertainment, Personal, Photos | 1 Comment »
Tags: airshow, cincinnati, eaa284, fireworks, flyin, pancake, riverfest

Posted By RichC on September 5, 2009

An interesting balloon photo shoot was happening for about 30 minutes above my house as the still air of the evening settled in.

I spent a few hours in the yard into the evening and watched the full moon rising in the woods. The weather and evenings have been nice.

Category: Misc, Photos | No Comments »
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Posted By RichC on September 4, 2009

I used an excellent free conference call product from FreeConference.com yesterday. The registration took about 3 minutes and a conference call can be scheduled in about 5 minutes. I set up my first call and had very good results while conferencing with three others … that is, right up until the end —  see comment at bottom*. The call quality was excellent and having two options in setting up a free conference was most appreciated. It is hard to beat the price … FREE, although each participate must cover the long distance connection (there is a 10 cents per minute 800 number option if desired).

The first method is to schedule the call and reserve the appropriate number of lines (number of callers) in a planning process. The wizard walks the conference call planner through the steps by picking the date, time, etc. An email is sent to each participate or a fax document is ready to be filled out for those not savvy with email — do they still exist? The email contains the information needed to call in and participate at the appropriate time along with an attachment that will insert an entry into a calendar (ie. Outlook, Google calendar, Thunderbird/Sunbird/Lightning, iCal, etc.)

The second, and simpler, method is to give out the Conference on Demand phone number and private access code. This makes it very easy to put together a quick conference call. For example, today I sent ouf the time, Conference On Demand number and Access code via SMS message. Within a few minutes each participant had dialed in and 30 minutes later we were finish. Really simple.

* The glitch I mention above was one in which the participants of my conference call had all disconnected and I continued to tinker with the *-number control combinations. Unfortunately I found myself connected to another conference call … one that I wasn’t invited too. One oddity was that I could hear all the participants on this “green energy” call, but they couldn’t hear me? Lesson — avoid using this service IF the calls are classified or if critical information is being discussed and shared.

Category: Computer, How-To, Productivity, Technology | 4 Comments »
Tags: conference, website

Posted By RichC on September 4, 2009

Labor Day weekend promises to be a busy one in and around Cincinnati with events from political tea parties to the annual spectacular Riverfest  fireworks. I’ll be prepping for the Fly In, Airshow and Pancake breakfast at Red Stewart Airfield in Waynesville Ohio (great small airshow about 6PM Saturday) while the Cincinnati Tea Party will be holding a big rally at Voice of America Park in West Chester (press release below). I won’t be there, but hope the voices from SW Oho are heard nationwide … and particularly in Washington DC.

The Cincinnati Tea Party is proud to present the Voice of America Freedom Rally, September 5 from 1:00 p.m. to 6:20 p.m. at the Voice of America Park Museum in West Chester. The rally will feature America’s voice, along with the voices of average citizens who are becoming engaged in the political process and holding their representatives accountable. Following are details and the schedule of events:

12:00 p.m. Onsite Parking Available

1:00 p.m. Music, Entertainment, Merchandise and Food Booths

Dan Rivers, music

Anntones, music

Jim Klosterman, reprising his role as Uncle Sam from the March 15 Tea Party

2:30 p.m. Speakers

Jason Rink, Director of Education and Outreach for the Ohio Freedom Alliance, member of the Ohio Liberty Council – Speaking about the connection between faith and health care

Greg McAfee, Small business owner – Speaking about “America’s Scoreboard: We’re in the Fourth Quarter – What It’s Gonna Take to Win”

Shannon Hartkemeyer, Mother, member of the Cincinnati Tea Party, first-time candidate for Fairfield Township Trustee – Speaking about why she’s running for office

Rob Scott, Founder and president of the Dayton Tea Party – Introduction of patriotism

3:00 p.m. Patriotism

Pledge of Allegiance

Star-Spangled Banner

3:10 p.m. Speakers

Harald Zieger, East German immigrant, small business owner – Speaking about “The Voice of America Heard Around the Globe”

Tracy Miller, Cancer survivor, member of the Houston Tea Party – Speaking about “The Bastardization of the Constitution”

Harlene Holland, Honduran immigrant, mother – Speaking about “Taking Back Our America and Our Constitution”

Mike Wilson, Founder and president of the Cincinnati Tea Party, first-time candidate for state legislature (Eighth District of Ohio) – Speaking about citizen involvement in politics

DakLak Do, Vietnamese immigrant, small business owner – Speaking about his journey to freedom in America

Todd Young, Attorney, first-time candidate for U.S. Congress (Ninth District of Indiana), founder of the grassroots group called NO PIGS – Speaking about issues facing America

Chris Orecchio, Small business owner, member of the Ohio Liberty Council – Speaking about health care

Rich Apuzzo, Consulting meteorologist – Speaking about global warming, and cap and trade

Thomas Tabback, Author, inspirational speaker – Speaking about “We the People Health”

5:00 p.m. Town Hall Program

Representative Michael Turner

Representative Jean Schmidt

Ohio gubernatorial candidate John Kasich

House Minority Leader John Boehner

6:20 p.m. Conclusion

God Bless America

America’s voice will be heard on September 5, as it was during World War II, from the historical site of wartime broadcasts that were heard around the world. The very first VOA program in 1944 began, “We shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good or it may be bad, but we will tell you the truth. (Source: Ohio History Central, An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History)

Rally Location and Logistics

Front lawn of the Voice of America Park Museum

8070 Tylersville Rd. West Chester, Ohio 45069

Onsite Parking

The grassy area south of the Voice of America Park Museum building on the east side of the driveway. Must have VIP parking pass.

VOA MetroParks lot; entrance off of Cox Rd.; $5 for a pass (if you don’t already have one)

Offsite Parking Within Walking Distance

UC Physicians at University Pointe, 7700 University Ct., West Chester, OH 45069

Offsite Parking With Shuttle Buses – $2 Donation

Hope Church, 4934 Western Row Rd. Mason, OH 45040

Lakota West High School, 8940 Union Centre Blvd., West Chester, OH 45069

Lakota East High School, 6840 Lakota Lane, Liberty Twp., OH 45044

For more information: http://cincinnatiteaparty.org/Events/voarally2009.htm

National and Regional Involvement

September 5 marks the first round of national Stand Up for Liberty events. The Voice of America will be in the community of West Chester, Ohio, and is presented by the Cincinnati Tea Party in partnership with the Cincinnati 9/12 Project, the Dayton Tea Party, the Indiana Tea Party, and the Ohio Liberty Council. The Stand Up for Texas event in Austin is presented by Texas liberty groups, including the Tea Parties from Austin, Baytown, Beaumont, Dallas, Houston, Katy, Lufkin, McAllen, Mount Pleasant, San Antonio, Sugar Land, and Wichita Falls.

Upcoming Events

9/12 National March on Washington, DC Saturday, September 12, 2009 9:00 a.m. music and speakers, 11:30 a.m. march, 1:00 p.m. rally More information: http://912dc.org/

Glenn Beck Viewing Party Saturday, September 12, 2009 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (doors open at 12:00 Noon) Crowne Plaza Hotel-Blue Ash 5901 Pfeiffer and Blue Ash Roads Cincinnati, OH 45242 (513) 793-4500 RSVP: http://www.cincinnati912project.com/?page_id=393

About the Cincinnati Tea Party

The Cincinnati Tea Party is a grassroots, nonpartisan group opposed to wasteful government spending. Our core values are fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free markets. Our goals include influencing elections for the betterment of America, promoting state sovereignty (Federalism), and compelling our elected officials to comply with the Constitution as written by our Founders. The Cincinnati Tea Party was founded by a group of lifelong Cincinnatians in February 2009. In April 2009, Community Tea Parties were launched to allow local leaders to spread the core values at the neighborhood level.

For Additional Information

Cincinnati Tea Party: http://www.cincinnatiteaparty.org

Cincinnati 9/12 Project http://www.Cincinnati912Project.com

Dayton Tea Party http://www.daytonohioteaparty.com

Houston Tea Party http://www.houstontps.org

Indiana Tea Party http://www.inteaparty.com

Ohio Liberty Council http://www.ohiolibertycouncil.org

Category: Politics | No Comments »
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Posted By RichC on September 3, 2009

While talking with a long time client and friend Bruce Claflin about  the business climate, our conversation turned from that sour subject to our  families.  We both have close ties to living World War II USAF veterans and  have sons heading in a similar direction — AF ROTC. His son being older and finishing up his university program recently and talking with Bruce  seemed like a good place to gain some insight … so father-to-father I picked his thoughts on how to help my son navigate the politics and challenges.

As the conversation progress, we ended talking more about his dad’s experience (Howard Claflin)  as a B-17 pilot than ROTC.  Eighty-eight year old Mr. Claflin was recently interviewed by  Brian Albrecht of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and I found the article interesting enough to pass on to my father-in-law. The interview and video footage below, was done at the  MAPS Museum at the Akron-Canton airport last month, the same place our family visited  a few years ago. Reading and listening to this generations stories leave little doubt in my mind that,  as coined by Tom Brokaw, they were and are “The Greatest Generation.”

A WORLD AT WAR cleveland.com/news Bomber pilot Howard Claflin recalls his first mission of World War II and the day he got shot down.

As the vintage B-17 bomber landed with a roar of remembrance at Akron-Canton Airport last month, nearly 100 World War II veterans watched and took a slow, heartfelt breath of the past.

An icon of their youth, these bombers once filled the skies from Europe to the Pacific during the war. Bristling with machine guns — top, bottom, front, back and both sides — it was aptly named the Flying Fortress.

The vets would get a chance to get up close and nostalgic in tours of the old “Fort,” plus a B-24 Liberator bomber and P-51 Mustang fighter that also had flown in as part of the Collings Foundation’s Wings of Freedom Tour, barnstorming across the country.

One of those vets just watched with a knowing smile as the others lined up for their chance to soar over the horizon of history.

Howard Claflin, 88, of Silver Lake in Summit County, had already been there — flying B-17s with the 8th Air Force on 16 missions before being shot down on a flight over Hamm, Germany, and spending 53 weeks as a POW.

The restored plane carried a bomb-bay full of memories for Claflin. “It was a good aircraft to fly, one of the best,” he mused, watching as the B-17 taxied to a halt.

Claflin had wanted to be up in the clouds ever since a German zeppelin cruised over his childhood home in Akron. “That’s when I said I want to fly someday,” he said.

When war broke out, the Cuyahoga Falls High School grad enlisted in the Army Air Forces, got his pilot’s training and flew straight into the meat grinder in the skies over Europe. The 8th Air Force’s 47,000 casualties (including 26,000 deaths) represented about half of all Army Air Force losses during the war.

Claflin got an appreciation for the risks on his very first mission — a bombing run to Berlin, the first such raid by the 8th Air Force, that took three flights to complete. After bad weather scuttled their first attempt, the formation had to turn back a second time due to heavy losses from enemy anti-aircraft fire when the sky, as the former pilot recalled, turned black from exploding flak.

“You were just lucky,” Claflin said of what became a routine of running a gantlet of fighters and flak. Once safely back, “all you thought about is, I’ve got another day,” he said.

His biggest worry was his plane being damaged and forced from the protective cover of the bomber formation. Instant fighter bait. “The worst thing that could happen is to get out by yourself,” he said. “Then you’re in real trouble. Then they’d come and get you.”

Yet he remained optimistic. “I was always wondering how it could get better,” Claflin said.

He’d need all the optimism he could muster after flak hit his plane just as it dropped its bombs over Hamm. Claflin and two other crewmen parachuted to safety but were immediately captured.

One of the POW camps where he was imprisoned was Stalag Luft III. Claflin arrived a month after 76 Allied airmen broke out of the camp through tunnels (as popularized in the movie “The Great Escape”). Only three made it to freedom, and 50 of those recaptured were executed.

Claflin said the Germans posted signs at the camp: “Escape is not a sport. You will die. We will shoot.”

But the POWs persisted. Claflin said he was assigned to scraping lead solder from food cans to be reused for splicing electrical wiring to light other escape tunnels.

One of his most harrowing experiences came at another camp near Hammelburg when British bombers hit a nearby target at night.

As Claflin and other POWs stood outside to watch the fireworks, one of the bombers was hit and dropped like a fiery comet straight for the camp. “I thought Boy, it’s going to hit right on us. This may be the end,’ ” Claflin said.

Suddenly, he saw a vision of Christ, clear as day, spread across the sky. The stricken plane roared overhead, just clearing the camp, then exploded.

Claflin said nothing of the vision. Nor has he ever tried to explain it. “I usually don’t tell people about that,” he said. “But it happened. That’s all I can say.”

Otherwise, life as a POW involved long weeks of cold and deprivation. As the number of Red Cross parcels shipped to the prisoners dwindled, food shortages became a major issue.

Claflin recalled that one time a rabbit made the mistake of hopping into camp. It was immediately surrounded by 600 hungry POWs who formed a circle, linking arms, foot-to-foot, so somebody’s dinner wouldn’t escape. It didn’t, nor did Claflin ever get a taste of that German hossenfeffer.

But there were also moments of kindness and understanding from his captors, according to Claflin.

While traveling on a train to be interrogated shortly after his capture, Claflin said he was spit on by an enraged German civilian. Understandable. He shrugged it off. But when his guard momentarily left, an elderly woman sitting across from him gave Claflin a sly smile and slipped him a roll of hard butterscotch candy.

“That was something I’ll never forget,” he said.

As the war neared an end and POWs were marched away from the advancing Allied forces, Claflin said the prisoners helped carry the rifles of their guards — mostly old men in their 60s, the last dregs of Germany’s former military might.

“They all told us the German people would kill us if they could,” he said. “One guard told me, One day when this war ends, I’ll go home to nothing. My home is gone. My family is gone. Everything is gone. I hope you fellows get a better deal than we did. You deserve it.’ ”

Claflin returned home to a career in sales, a marriage to his wife, Margaret, a Cleveland girl (now deceased), and raising four sons.

When he looks back on the war, it’s with a sad sense of the tremendous loss of life but a firm belief in the necessity for military preparedness.

The war also taught him a lifelong lesson, Claflin said. Even when others around are being blown from the sky, even as your own crippled plane spirals toward certain doom, even as your life drains away in the slow starvation of a POW camp . . .

“There’s always a chance,” Claflin said. “Never give up.”

UPDATE: A book that details one of the return B-17 missions that his father talked about — although pricey enough that I’d like to find it in a library: Night of the Intruder: First-Hand Accounts Chronicling the Slauhter of Homeward Bound USAAF Mission 311

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Category: Aviation, History, Video | No Comments »
Tags: b-17, howard claflin, maps, museum, wwii

Posted By RichC on September 2, 2009

Stephen F. Belden (ex-teacher … just kidding), a Canton Ohio Municipal Court judge, silenced argumentative defendant Harry Brown with duct tape in his courtroom last week. After listening to the audio of the exchange between the judge and Mr. Brown, it sounded as if Belden’s patience ran short after listening to the defendant expressed displeasure with the court assigned attorney. Judge Belden explained that if Brown didn’t want the public defender, he could represent himself, although he would be a fool to do so. After warning Brown not to continue his argument, the judge ordered the defendants mouth to be duct taped shut and after removing it only to hear arguments again, added another 30 days to whatever sentence Mr. Brown received.

Something tells me that the ACLU might take a look at this case … and if not, perhaps judges in other municipalities will adopt the practice? (certainly CIA operatives would never be permitted use of duct tape in this way as an “enhanced interrogation technique?” [/sarcasm])
🙄

Category: Humor, Local, News | No Comments »
Tags: duct, tape

Posted By RichC on September 1, 2009

While have some service done on my Honda Pilot today, I went around the back of the dealership to see the rows and rows of ‘Clunkers.’  No doubt the government money  —  MY tax dollars  — being used for this program has encouraged some new vehicle shopping, but it has also retired some nice looking vehicles. I was particularly sad to see this nearly spotless Volkswagen Passat 4-Motion sitting in the row; although it wasn’t a TDI diesel, it was a very attractive car. Too bad it ‘s headed for the crusher.

Category: Automotive, Environment, Financial, Politics | 2 Comments »
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Posted By RichC on August 31, 2009

Watching the tropical storms and hurricane firing up this season in both Pacific and Atlantic, I noticed that my posts 4 years ago reflected on Hurricane Katrina as it first came ashore on the east coast of Florida and then returned to power its way into New Orleans (my blog posts 1, 2, 3, 4 from 2005). Since reflecting I also noticed several news outlets doing the same and publishing 4th anniversary articles on the substantial rebuilding of this historic city. Let’s hope the efforts are not in vain since sea levels are still rising and powerful storms still brew — currently Hurricane Jimena.

_

Category: Weather | No Comments »
Tags: hurricane, katrina, new orleans

Posted By RichC on August 30, 2009

Some kind of  hungry varmint has been biting through an aerator cable in the lake in front of my house. We dredged it up today and replace it with a new cable, but a second thought has me thinking we need to invest in about 200 feet of conduit? The electrician believes the damage is from a snapping turtle due to the depth of the cable in the smelly muck, but I’m still suspecting muskrats. Any experts?

Category: Misc | 7 Comments »
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