RichC | December 23, 2022
Brenda has struggled most of the year to find a replacement Oriental or Persian Rug for our Great Room after retiring our original rug to my office. In November, Katelyn connected her with “Donald,” the decorator she is using to help with their homebuilding, and after several Facetime calls finally decided on a VERY large […]
RichC | December 10, 2022
With inflation pushing grocery prices up, Brenda refuses to purchase store-bought croutons unless they are “on sale.” So since we had a quarter loaf of stale bread after our recent week away, I decided to cube and turn it into Rosemary, Italian seasoning, Garlic and Olive Oil croutons. After making them (bake 10 minutes at […]
RichC | December 1, 2022
With Thanksgiving behind us, I’m wondering if Brenda is adopting a new-to-us December holiday tradition? Perhaps or most likely not … but I do see something that looks like a Seinfeld-like “Festivus” pole in our foyer. For those familiar with the the long running television comedy Seinfeld, you will recall immediately the 1997 episode call […]
RichC | November 24, 2022
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RichC | November 15, 2022
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RichC | October 9, 2022
Brenda and I have been fortunate to almost always taken an autumn trip to Florida. Years ago it was often to visit my parents who would go to Panama City Beach or take a trip with the kids. After Katelyn and Taylor were in college, it was often to visit Brenda’s parents and then to […]
RichC | October 6, 2022
The old Chrysler Town and Country Throwback Thursday #TBT post triggered my archiving of another old automotive photo of Brenda’s beloved 1998 Toyota Rav4. Having own that small ute with a surprisingly large interior for so many miles (265K) and so many years (18), it may be one of the best vehicles we have ever […]
RichC | August 27, 2022
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RichC | August 12, 2022
It has been a perfect summer week with Ellerie and Annalyn and all topped off with our family together to celebrate Brenda’s birthday. Katelyn and Drew are taking the girls to Kings Island today while we recuperate and I try to get a few things done that have piled up from phone calls, emails and […]
RichC | August 6, 2022
Well if one has to stay at home … looking at our backyard “storm is coming” pool photo … and we aren’t to be out and about, there could be worse places to be isolating? The summer storms continued rolling thru this past week and and after testing positive the previous week, I thought a […]
RichC | August 1, 2022
Well it looks like COVID19’s BA.5 subvariant has found us … or we found it. Fortunately for us, we have been vaccinated and at least I have one of the boosters … so hopefully the more serious and severe illness seen by many can be avoided. As of my writing (over the weekend) the symptoms […]
RichC | July 13, 2022
Instead of starting a rant on our nightmare return trip from the Canadian Rockies flying Air Canada … I’m going to let the stress dissipate for a while. It was painful travel. So instead I’ll archive a couple exciting photos from Katelyn and Drew as their builder has started clearing the trees from their lot […]
RichC | June 10, 2022
Taylor last weekend at the Cincinnati Zoo with Megan While typing the subject line of this post, I wondered at what “age” is respectful to NOT mention a number when sharing a Happy Birthday greeting? Hopefully not at 33 yet, since from memory those were the years I pretty much felt my best (pre Menieres!) […]
RichC | June 5, 2022
A poor quality scan of our 1982 wedding with DadH, MomH, MomC and DadC Often a 40th Wedding Anniversary triggers a husband or wife to make the comment “thanks for putting up with me” or something to that effect. Although there is truth to it, spending the rest of your life with another person is […]
RichC | May 8, 2022
It is difficult not to recognize what great moms both MomC and MomH were to me … but since they are no longer here, I want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to a couple of great moms — my wife Brenda and daughter Katelyn. They both have risen to the most important role of […]
RichC | February 13, 2022
We’ve never been all that timely in getting Christmas decorations put away after the holidays, but this year we … and by “we” I mean Brenda … has been slower than usual. To be fair, most everything has been packed and put away, but there are a few stragglers still around our house. I’m not […]
RichC | January 7, 2022
Here’s a look back to a Mansfield News Journal article and something a little different for a New Year’s Nostradamus-y Tech Friday post … also in using the word “keen” it reflects the Christmas present/hiking shoes I bought (well Katelyn actually ordered) for Brenda … along with a bed-desk for her “preferred” office. 😉
RichC | January 5, 2022
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RichC | December 26, 2021
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RichC | December 23, 2021
While posting to the blog yesterday, I noticed a “Year(s) Ago On This Day” post archiving the stamped concrete was being pour/stamped for our backporch – 14 years ago). And even more shocking is that we were building our house back in the winter and spring of 1996! (click on house photo below of Katelyn, […]
RichC | December 14, 2021
Looking at the rear brake wear on Brenda’s 2010 Acura RDX is not a sign that I’ve been taking good care of her car, but she did mention her brakes were squealing a bit last month. By the time I got around to ordering brakes and discs for both the dual-piston fronts and rears, it […]
RichC | November 20, 2021
Brenda and I flew to Florida with a “use it or lose it” expiring Southwest Airline ticket …and hopefully as a way to earn a future companion-pass ticket (we’ll see how that goes). We were there for a long weekend and to enjoy a couple days at the condo and the beach. Unfortunately I wasted […]
RichC | November 11, 2021
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RichC | October 30, 2021
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RichC | October 14, 2021
Although I’ve highlighted our 1987 Mercedes Benz 560 SEL before (see photo in front of my parent’s house in Sidney) and this fall photo at West Branch State Park reminds me that autumn is the perfect time to take my current 1982 MB 300D Turbodiesel out for a drive. The ‘87 was one of those […]
RichC | October 2, 2021
As summer turned to autumn, Brenda and I found ourselves enjoying a few more evenings and weekends walking around and working in the backyard. Last week it was cleaning up “the mound” (although we have a few) and getting it ready for winter. I dug out some deeper rooted plants that had spread and planted […]
RichC | September 23, 2021
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RichC | September 9, 2021
Last month when we were together with the kids, they were talking about enjoying trips to Michigan for long weekends during the summer (Drew’s parents have a house on Lake Michigan). It brought back memories for us and I mentioned that once-upon-a-time we thought about buying cabin property in the Upper Peninsula on Lake Huron […]
RichC | August 17, 2021
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RichC | August 12, 2021
Today is my wife’s birthday and I do my best to remember and marked the day on MyDesultoryBlog.com. This year I remembered one of my favorite photos of Brenda from one of our cruises (actually an ani gif … wait for it) – this one is west of Gibraltar back in 2009. Since it’s from […]
RichC | July 11, 2021
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RichC | July 10, 2021
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RichC | June 13, 2021
The current pile of books to read is too high for my nighttime side table; I think I need to move a few to my office … or better yet, finish reading them! Since Alistair Begg is a favorite teaching pastor of ours (Parkside Church was our home church when we lived in NE Ohio), […]
RichC | June 10, 2021
We had a great time celebrating Taylor’s 32nd birthday last night after work at Pepp and Dolores restaurant in Cincinnati thanks to Megan. Brenda and I enjoyed arriving a little early and sitting at the bar talking with the bartender while sipping some Italian wine. We ended up discussing menu since she wasn’t overly busy. […]
RichC | June 5, 2021
Brenda and I are still a year away from a milestone wedding anniversary, but we aren’t taking our 39th for granted – Happy Anniversary Brenda! This past year has been challenging … but an improving year on all counts. Everyone has been dealing with the COVID19 pandemic, but thankfully for us, we are coming out […]
RichC | May 28, 2021
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RichC | May 26, 2021
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RichC | May 18, 2021
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RichC | May 14, 2021
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RichC | May 11, 2021
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RichC | May 9, 2021
I probably should be quoting from Leviticus 19:3, but I can’t help but remember Ferris Bueller commenting that, “Life moves pretty fast …” when thinking about respecting and honoring mothers today. So for Mother’s Day 2021, focus your attention on your mother before it is too late … because from experience, “life does move pretty […]
RichC | May 2, 2021
Although I know much of the country has lived locked down for much of the year, Brenda and I have probably done a little more than most. She has worked in the pharmacy without much of a break and since the COVID19 vaccinations have started, has been very busy. We had planned a trip to […]
RichC | April 17, 2021
It’s that time of year … cleaning up, getting the landscaping mounds ready for new mulch and of course, Brenda has to burn something … decorative grasses go up fast. Let’s hope she doesn’t burn the fence again. For my part, I’m digging out older stone (what a pain) and prepping to put down some […]
RichC | March 23, 2021
Besides what has become an annual photo of one of our lilac bushes pushing out buds, this past weekend was the first weekend of spring. Besides the new growth and greening lawn, we celebrated with our neighbors of 25 years, Pam and Jim by attending their son’s wedding in Cincinnati. It was a beautiful wedding […]
RichC | March 22, 2021
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RichC | March 21, 2021
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RichC | February 27, 2021
This past week was a semi-rushed haul out week for Encore in Florida. I headed south for 3 days of work on the “running hot” Volvo diesel auxiliary, as my assumption was that the heat exchanger was plugged up/calcified and needed to be taken off and cleaned (something I’ve never done). I met a friend […]
RichC | February 14, 2021
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RichC | January 28, 2021
When searching for a photo of my 1996 Toyota 4Runner (never found one), I stumbled across a couple personal photos from 1997 and will archive them for today’s Throwback Thursday #TBT. One of “professional Brenda” dressed for the office in 1990’s style (ha!) and the other of our family on an October Hawk Migration birding […]
RichC | January 20, 2021
While talking with a customer on the phone today and talking about when I’ll be traveling to NE Ohio again, they asked me when they could get the Covid-19 vaccine? See Covid-19 Vaccination Program – LINK. So I figured it would be appropriate to include a screenshot from an Ohio-based health care provider in our […]
RichC | January 16, 2021
My wife is great … and her decorating and building taste as to what “looks” nice grows on a person after nearly 40 years of marriage … but I still grumble about some of the decision she makes. One of them was wanting a drywall ceiling rather than something removable when we finished the basement. […]
RichC | January 6, 2021
Now that the final season of Last Man Standing has started (Jan 3, 2021), Brenda and I are finally catching up on the previous season that I recorded on the DVR. We had forgotten just how much we enjoyed this sitcom. It is hard to remember the last time both of us laughed at the […]
RichC | January 2, 2021
Adam Savage, from Mythbusters claim-to-fame, has been regularly posting a few of his shop ideas online. A few months ago he triggered me into improving my portable Sailrite Sewing machine set-up (well my wife’s sewing machine that I use .. cough, cough). Anyway, a few weeks after he built his table for his impressive Sailrite […]
RichC | December 29, 2020
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RichC | December 17, 2020
For Throwback Thursday #TBT this week I’ll include a couple photos from 1998 or 1999. These Soma.com photos are items from my friend Jeff sent to me when cleaning out his apartment. He (and my wife Brenda) were hired to build out the first Dot-Com era online Pharmacy … or at least the fulfillment facility. […]
RichC | December 15, 2020
It has been a challenging year to say the least with the Coronavirus still raging in the US and around the world. So many lives, businesses and plans have been forever changed. Brenda and I just feel blessed to be surviving the pandemic and able to function in a day to day matter. We hear […]
RichC | November 25, 2020
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RichC | November 6, 2020
Although it was announced in October 2020, most existing Netflix subscribers won’t be feeling the 8% price hike immediately (new pricing over the next few months) … but prices are going up again. In our house we also have Amazon Prime for the movies and Prime shipping, but haven’t added any other services … our […]
RichC | October 6, 2020
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RichC | September 24, 2020
We had our first taste of cooler fall weather for 2020 last week as the hot 80+ degree days of August and early September gave way to pleasant mid-to-high 70s and cooler evenings dipping into the 40s. Brr, my body has not adjusted yet. As autumn approaches and the temperatures are more tolerable in the […]