Closing in on Christmas, so why am I not in the right mood?

| December 20, 2023

Ok, so I’m not focused this year on “the reason for the season” (or frankly even the secular celebration of Christmas) … therefore it is really time to do something about it. We didn’t even write our Corbett Christmas Letter!  Thankfully turning to Truth For Life and Alistair Begg’s teachings and message “It is HIStory” […]

Learning more about the Everglades via audio field trip

| July 12, 2023

Enjoyed a long-ish audio field trip shared in the Washington Post last week by Lillian Cunningham. It was educational and a relaxing evening listen while “trying” to read a book (but I could not focus on both). 😉  The Everglades have always been interesting to me. My brother and I dreamt of living on Key […]

Audiobook: “Lethal Tides” by Catherine Musemeche

| October 1, 2022

Another interesting story tied to scientific development during World War 2 has crossed my email inbox from WSJ+.  This one is about the virtually unknown Mary Sears, “the first oceanographer of the Navy.” Her groundbreaking oceanographic research led the U.S. to victory in the Pacific theater during World War II, according to the summary. I’m […]

A couple Great Horned Owls surprised us with their hoots

| August 29, 2022

Neither photo is mine, but Brenda and I were both startled in hearing the sounds of owls coming from was seemed like inside the house.   Great Horned Owl Hoots After we slowly crept around inside our house, wondering where they were, we deciphered that the “hoots” were coming from the fireplace. "Hm, were they […]

Audiobook: “Land Of Big Numbers” by WSJ’s Te-Ping Chen

| June 8, 2022

In keeping with a previous book, I downloaded another book: “Land Of Big Numbers” by Te-Ping Chen. It is a collection of stories … on the “diverse and legion Chinese people” and according to a review, this book offers an “acute social insight” on Chinese history, their government, “and how all of that tumbled—messy, violently, […]

Tech Friday: Thoughts on M4A vs MP3 digital audio formats

| April 22, 2022

The MP3 format for audio has been used on My Desultory Blog since the mid-2000s and I have contemplated a variety of other opensource options over the years. Compression choices to keep file sizes and streaming acceptable come and go and as we search for quality of audio and bandwidth for streaming becomes less of […]

Cleaning up some trash and NON-trash on my computer

| April 9, 2022

Saw this “trash” can on social media the other day and don’t know if there was an R2-D2 Star Wars intent or not, but it did make me smile … ALMOST as much as receiving a photo from Katelyn and Drew while on spring break vacation with Drew’s family in South Carolina. It sure looked […]

Books: “The End Is Always Near” by Dan Carlin

| February 27, 2022

My son Taylor is a history buff and turned me on to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcasts. I particularly enjoyed Carlin’s long running Supernova in the East series and commented a couple times previously as it corresponded with quite a few books that I’ve read (and am still reading) detailing World War II and the […]

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History: Supernova in the East #podcast

| September 27, 2021

A couple of weeks ago, Taylor introduced me to a Dan Carlin “Hardcore History” podcasts. He thought I might enjoy them, since both of us particularly appreciate learning more about military history. The series is called “Supernova in the East” detailing the Japanese Empire from pre-World War Japan through WW 2 in six long lectures […]

Tech Friday: New audio player for blog with CSS tweaks

| January 8, 2021

A simple blog upgrade project that I’ve been contemplating for a while now was one of my 2021 New Year’s resolutions … so I’m worked on it this past week’s Music Monday post. I’m not sure how long the new button and player will remain unchanged since I seem to keep testing and tweaking it;  […]

World War II book: “I Marched With Patton” by Frank Sisson

| December 30, 2020

When it comes to being the first to read a book, I’m not the guy to turn to, but eventually I do get around to some of them. I’m particularly fond of the history oriented books from the last century and “I Marched With Patton” by Frank Sisson fits that criteria.  This World War II […]

Santa Mouse slippers, Christmas stories and Echo messages

| December 12, 2020

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Election Day: Protect your freedom and liberty, vote GOP

| November 3, 2020

Today is election day and A LOT is on the line when it comes to the governing and political philosophy of the United States. Back in 2016, the promises then candidate Donald Trump, made when running as a new breed of Republican, had to be taken on face value and his words… something I personally […]

Currently my favorite podcast: Streetwise by Jack Hough

| June 17, 2020

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A second post today to say Thank You

| May 8, 2020

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When all is well, life is good, even if it is not always as planned

| March 2, 2019

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Mike Rowe talks about doctors in his #TheWayIHeardIt podcast

| July 28, 2018

As a fan of Mike Rowe‘s The Way I Heard It podcasts, his praise for medical doctors highlights the debate of earning the "title" of doctor and being addressed as ‘Dr.’ based on "what you want to be called" or receiving honorary degrees. As Mike Rowe comments on Twitter, "according to my producer, this brand […]

Huntington Bank and their 24-Hour Grace Overdraft Fee Relief

| March 31, 2018

I’ve been around long see banking change from daily dealing with a local banker that I knew by name … who also knew me (and my business) by name … to just a drive up teller window or ATM to the latest technology of snapping pics of checks and tapping on a smartphone. I sort […]

Do something for someone this Martin Luther King Jr holiday

| January 15, 2018

Today, January 15, 2018, our nation celebrates the life and accomplishments of one of our greatest Americans on his national holiday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This past Friday, President Trump signed a proclamation that honors Dr. King by designating his birthplace, church and tomb as a National Historic Park. Along with the president’s respectful […]

Added the magnetic Nato Smart Mount to the BMW X5 35d

| February 14, 2017

A couple gifts I gave this past Christmas were magnetic Nato Smart Mounts for holding smartphones or even tablets in a car. After buying a first one for our Honda Odyssey minivan as a promo and liking it, I added several more to the next order as gifts. The final one I kept for my […]

Testing HTML5 Compact Audio plugin for WordPress

| November 14, 2016

As part of getting a handle on the Amazon S3 costs, it is finally time to move into the 21st century and eliminate the old-school audio player on MyDesultoryBlog. I attempted to go with an HTML5 player a few years ago, but struggled with using it especially with different browsers. A few years later, everything […]

Americans are giving up independence for dependence

| April 19, 2016

Recorded a bit of audio off the television this week as the intellectual thinker Charles Krauthammer summarized in about a minute and a half just how and why our country move from its independent founding to the dependent populous we see today. Krauthammer’s best comment in the exchange was “the big debate between left and […]

Second GOP debate: Fiorina and Rubio stood out

| September 17, 2015

Last night’s second GOP debate on CNN at the Reagan Library wasn’t bad as debates go. The current frontrunner, the attention grabbing Donald Trump did one thing for the Republican brand … he got generated attention. His grade school behavior buffoonery brought far viewers to  the stodgy GOP and that alone could help Republicans ideas […]

Borrowing 13 Hours in Bengazi from library on Overdrive app

| February 28, 2015

The Overdrive app on my iPad is one of my favorite reading and “listening” apps on any of my devices (previously commented). It is super for those who would love to spend more time going to the public libraries but have trouble finding the time to go. Have a “FREE” way to borrow from libraries […]

The State–Obama Democrats vs Kennedy Democrats

| December 9, 2014

One wonders if today’s Democrats blindly following President Barack Obama and his administration’s goal of “fundamentally transforming the United States of America” even remember what it was like to support a leader who understood our democracy?John F. Kennedy knew what it was to believe and fight for the words and principles which founded this country. […]

Senator Ted Cruz is beginning to sound appealing

| October 30, 2014

The left, the media and even mainstream Republicans had me convinced that Senator Ted Cruz was not a viable candidate to put on the national ticket … and that his ideas were “just too radically conservative” for today’s America. BUT … listening to him for 6 minutes (below) on CNBC’s Squawkbox this morning, I’m not […]

Music variety: Listening to and enjoying Jesus and Jones

| September 22, 2014

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TechFriday: Dashlane gets high marks as a password manager

| May 9, 2014

I’ve mentioned LastPass a few times in the past as a way to manage the many passwords that our online presence requires and it still looks like a good option. Over the years things change, so I was interested to read “The Best Way To Manage All Your Passwords” article in the WSJ by Geoffrey […]

Mourning Doves today – baby robins tomorrow

| May 1, 2014

It’s that time of year … time for eggs to hatch and baby Mourning Doves to start growing their feathers. Our pair does a fine job of leaving their “pigeon-like” mess everywhere too. Each year I wonder where their chicks go? Short MP3 audio clip — Mourning Dove calls

Prepping for an Electromagnetic Pulse — EMP strike

| January 25, 2014

No … not what you think. I have not gone down the Doomsday rabbit hole … just yet, but for years I’ve been interesting in self-sufficient living and do my share of reading. I enjoy reading both fictional thrillers about EMPs (ie. One Second After) and books oriented towards self-sufficiency. I’ve spent a few hours […]

Books: Enjoying “Things That Matter” by Charles Krauthammer

| December 1, 2013

Charles Krauthammer is one political analyst I always enjoy listening to, be he a regular panelist commenting on the nightly news (Special Report with Bret Baier), or as a guest on many Fox News programs. His columns at The Weekly Standard are always excellent and his intellectual prowess is even respected by those who politically […]

Federal Reserve policies and inflation concerns

| November 4, 2013

Frequent guest and St. Louis Federal Reserve President Jim Bullard discussed making “decisions by the numbers” on CNBC’s Squawkbox this morning. He offered an opinion that current low inflation and a sluggish economy is keeping the Fed’s “loose money policy” in place and that conditions are not signaling a need to taper. I’m probably not […]

Your health care plan: Spouses may no longer be covered

| February 25, 2013

The negative implication of “big government’s Obamacare” is just beginning to be felt by those with health care coverage and businesses are squirming to adapt to the pages of new regulations. One of the latest money saving measures is that of “dropping spousal coverage” – I’m just guessing, but I suspect it will be unpopular? […]

Governing and economic thoughts from Jon Meacham

| January 22, 2013

Pulitzer-Prize winning historian and biographer Jon Meacham made a few comments that had me nodding my head Monday evening in a discussion with Bill O’Reilly. I snagged a bit of audio while replaying for my wife. He was able to succinctly communicate the fiscal issues facing our nation and the seeming lack of urgency President […]

Great comment from WSJ’s Kim Strassel this weekend

| August 20, 2012

Our Tivo records the 30 minute weekend broadcast of the Journal Editorial Report (JER) and I enjoyed hearing from the team that manages the Wall Street Journal’s editorial content. Generally the week’s review is a rehash, but the conservative oriented look at what was in the news is something I look forward to each weekend […]

Closing comments on CNBC’s Squawkbox from Peter Fisher

| July 27, 2012

Peter Fisher, the head of Blackrock Global‘s fixed income, made a few observations this morning regarding economic slowness worldwide. One of the important conclusions that I’ve been hearing from experienced voices is that the U.S. is the safest bet when securing capital and inching out returns. In other words, investors globally move to the security […]

Happy Birthday America and the “pursuit” of happiness

| July 4, 2012

I heard a short bit on Tuesday from CNBC’s Rick Santelli, the fellow that may have triggered the political movement known as the Tea Party. I wanted to post the video or audio this morning as a way to think about the Fourth of July but ended up side-tracked with powerwashing the front porch, garage […]

President Clinton had an interesting interview on CNBC

| June 5, 2012

Although I’m not a big advocate for President Clinton, I do respect his intellect and ability to navigate the politics and the economy more than the current POTUS. Maria Bartiromo on CNBC had an interview which was both political (stumping for the Dems) and reasonably accurate when it comes to the dealing with the stalled […]

Test recording a little audio with the iPad while mobile

| April 19, 2012

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Intrade and “let’s increase the U.S. State Department by 50%”

| January 31, 2012

Intrade.com is probably one of the more interesting ways to track/trade the election. The ups and downs of a campaign are pretty clear to see … from the Gingrich surge after South Carolina to the precipitous drop we’re watching in Florida. If I had to vote today, I’m not sure I would even go to […]

Have investors gone too pessimistic and oversold stocks?

| August 11, 2011

I listened and nodded in agreement to a little optimism this morning in a CNBC interview which paints a slightly different picture as it pertains to the financial health of consumers, US bank and companies. So far today (Dow about 11000 over the lunch hour) this might be making some sense to those who may […]

Book: We Were Pirates by Robert Schultz and James Shell

| June 12, 2011

Enjoying a World War II audio narrative and reading about the book We Were Pirates.  It is a book that help us understand the life of WWII American submariners, particularly Torpedoman Robert Hunt and his point of view. He shared his memories and his collection of photos and documents from his service aboard the USS […]

The Process – poetic thoughts penned by a new doctor

| April 22, 2011

Not wanting to let this little bit of poetry disappear, I’m archiving it to my blog for both for posterity and pride (I made my daughter Katelyn record her poem – below). Although I’m not sure who the ultimate reader or listener will be, I’ve got a feeling that those attending medical school or young […]

Looking for more ways to tax: cellphones and ebook downloads

| January 1, 2011

According to a Smartmoney.com article by AnnaMaria Andriodis, we could see states and counties increasing taxes on new technology such as cellphones and e-books. Unlike Uncle Sam, state and county governments are required to balance their budgets and as local sales taxes and both the real estate and income tax stream of tax revenue dwindle […]

Lonestar and ‘CallRec’ Software Test

| May 29, 2007

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Neil Armstrong vindicated in grammar debate

| October 10, 2006

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog