Posted By RichC on September 14, 2023
A week or so ago, a tweet (or is it X?) appeared on an automotive publication’s social media account … and it caught my eye (see below). It triggered a memory of a well loved plastic 1957 Ford Ranchero that my brother and I had in our large collection of toy cars and trucks; some of them were for inside the house play … and others a bit more beat up and dirty for outside playing on the beach (our beach in 1967 when I was a kid below).
There is a small part of me that would love to go back to those simple summer days playing in the sand with cars and trucks.
Category: Automotive, Memories, Photos, Social Media, TBT |
No Comments »
Tags: beach, cars, collectible auto, ford, playing, Ranchero, sand, toys, trucks, twitter, x.com
Posted By RichC on September 13, 2023
A little bit of history told in an entertaining movie format … what could be better? Here’s a Sorbo movie call “Miracle in East Texas“ to be in theaters in October 2023 with a timely release (inflation and energy).
The history tie in is the the World War II era story just as we were a world at war in the late 1930s and 1940s.
Ten years down the road, in 1941, that tremendous amount of oil would prove absolutely essential in the Allies’ fight for freedom from the Nazis.
Within one month of the Pearl Harbor attack and America entering the war and inside of 22 days, Nazi subs sank 73 of 74 tankers shuttling oil from Texas, through the Gulf of Mexico, to the east coast. That oil was meant to supply our fighting soldiers over on the European battlefields.
(more…)
Category: Energy, History, Movies |
No Comments »
Tags: map, movie, oil, sorbo, texas, war, ww2
Posted By RichC on September 12, 2023
Occasionally when a good book is finished, it leave you wanting it to continue and hoping for more. That is the case with Frank E. Walton’s book “Once They Were Eagles.” It is the second book in the pile that I’m reading focused on the infamous World War II era’s VMF-214 better remembered at the Black Sheep Squadron.
As the intelligence officer and keeper of details, Frank Walton had excellent knowledge of the US Marine fighter pilots serving under Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington. His account of the Solomon Island Campaign and men that helped America advance towards the Empire of Japan was excellent and likely a bit more accurate than Boyington’s, expected from someone with a high IQ (Mensa).
I enjoyed every page of his book as he wrote down the missions that blended with those in Boyington’s book “Baa Baa Black Sheep (1958).” It is amazing just how agressive this squadron of Corsairs responded to the overwhelming number of Japanese “Zekes/Haps/Hamps/Zeros” that were sent up to thwart the American advance and knock down both bombers and fighter aircraft.
The second part of the book highlighted the outstanding men after they returned home and met for interviews years later with Walton. It is amazing how successful so many of these heroes were on their return to civilian life (or some who remained in the military). If you enjoy being and armchair student of World War II aviation … and in particularly US Marine fighter squadrons in the Pacific Theater … you wil enjoy “Once They Were Eagles (1986)”
I plan on moving on to the next book in my pile. “The Black Sheep (1998)” was written after the others by aviator, historian and writer Bruce Gamble. It should be an interesting … and perhaps tad bit more accurate portrayal of VMF-214 and the the men that Hollywood semi-disparaged or at least portrayed inaccurately and the questionable account from the colorful Boyington, who may have inaccurately remembered events … or as he himself said to an interviewer: “I’m a psychopathic liar” (Gamble points out that he probably meant “pathologic” liar).
Category: Aviation, Books, History, Millitary |
No Comments »
Tags: black sheep, Books, corsair, History, pacific, war, ww2
Posted By RichC on September 11, 2023
“Nope” … I’m not really a Deadhead, but I do enjoy listening to some of the devoted fan’s music. Last month I save the SiriusXM channel clip to my phone thinking to myself that I should add a Grateful Dead song 
to Music Monday.
So here is Uncle John’s Band, a song written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter from the Grateful Dead‘s 1970’s Workingman’s Dead album.
|
“Uncle John’s Band”
Grateful Dead | 1970 |
The song is characterized by its folk-rock sound, incorporating acoustic guitar and harmonious vocals. Its lyrics are somewhat cryptic and open to interpretation, which is a common feature of many Grateful Dead songs. The song’s melody and arrangement, along with its nostalgic and somewhat reflective lyrics, have contributed to its enduring popularity.
“Uncle John’s Band” has been performed at numerous Grateful Dead concerts and has become one of their signature tracks. The song’s name comes from the phrase “Uncle John’s Band” which is mentioned in the lyrics and has been speculated to refer to various things, from a musical group to a metaphorical representation of the band’s community and fans.
— ChatGPT
Category: AI, Music |
No Comments »
Tags: chatgpt, grateful dead, m4a, music monday, musicmonday, siriusxm, uncle john's band, workingman's dead
Posted By RichC on September 10, 2023
A couple of my short “cheap” T-tracks arrived last week that I’m planning to use for either a router table or table saw jig … or both?
I’m not sure exactly how I’m planning to integrate them yet, but I have been collecting a few idea. Initially I was going to use them for featherboard hold-downs on a fence, but then needed to make a couple taper cuts and thought it might be nice to have a sled with T-tracks to hold clamps?
Anyway, here are a couple router table jig ideas that I’ll archive to the woodworking category of my blog.
Category: Archive, Ideas, Woodworking |
No Comments »
Tags: jigs, router, router table, t-track, table saw
Posted By RichC on September 9, 2023
This content is restricted.
Category: Archive, Personal, Photos |
No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, ellerie, family, homebuilding, ice cream, ohio, perrysburg, whitehouse
Posted By RichC on September 8, 2023
One of my social media contacts who knows that I’ve been using computers to monitor investments and trade for decades heard me mention that I switched to 
a tiny MacBook Air M2 from a 27” PC display (iMac with a second Thunderbolt Apple display running Windows 10 on Parallels). He asked how it was possible to do the same thing on a small MacBook without Parallels and on such a small monitor?
Admittedly is was a concern of mine too … enough so that I originally tried to run Windows on Parallels on the MacBook Air M2 (failed) and tried a dongle connected to the OLD 27” Apple Thunderbolt Display — it didn’t work even with a dongle because it was too old. So I’m now finally going without Windows and added an inexpensive portable UPerfect 18.5” USB-C hub powered/connected display (the CocoPar smaller display in Florida has a better image and better brightness). But what really makes things work is learning to use Spaces (Desktops) efficiently in order to handle whatever your daily workload might be. For me, I run 4-spaces giving me 8 separate display views for different purposes (and likely eventually a fifth).
- Investing “space” running IB Trader Workstation on larger “upper” screen,
- Web, multiple email tabs, reading and writing, spreadsheets, business bookkeeping, basic computing, etc,
- Programming, blog writing on MarsEdit, server terminal access and cloud management “space,”
- Graphics and photo editing … mostly GIMP instead of Photoshop these day. I can see eventually AI is going to need a separate “space” since I’m forcing myself to learn more about it (probably “space” 5)?
The downside is that the IB Trader Workstation “hides” when flipping to different “Spaces” but alerts and triggers are helpful. For now … above is my “side” desk set-up … I’m still running the iMac and second display on my main desk (photo at the top), but I’m slowly shifting to the MacBook Air M2 for more and more. The 2012 iMac is getting a little long in the tooth anyway.
Category: Computer, Financial, Idioms, Personal, Photos, Productivity, Technology |
No Comments »
Tags: cocopar, desktops, gimp, idiom, imac, investing, macbook air, marsedit, trading, uperfect
Posted By RichC on September 7, 2023
The late summer heat (90+ degrees F) have gave me Labor Day afternoon to work on cutting up some downed branches. It was hot, but the pool was refreshing.
On a side note, it is shocking just how much grass build up under the insoles of my old “outdoor work” Sperry Topsiders. Perhaps I should clean the insides a little more often?
Category: Misc, Personal, Photography, Photos, TBT, Weather |
No Comments »
Tags: bluemoon, branches, grass, insoles, moon, richc, shoes, sperry, supermoon, topsiders
Posted By RichC on September 6, 2023
This content is restricted.
Category: Archive, Personal, Photos, Travel, Video |
No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, baby jack, drew, ellerie, family, glacier, katelyn, labor day, national park, taylor, Travel
Posted By RichC on September 5, 2023
There was an interesting tidbit shared on X.com (formerly Twitter) that highlighted in graphical color where a states population was born. It highlights movements from different areas of the country to other areas, populations who were not transient … as well as what state people born outside the US made home.
Category: Social Media, Tidbits |
No Comments »
Tags: america, chart, graph, states, twitter, x.com
