grandchildren | My Desultory Blog

Archive: On January 6, 2021, my nephew Ben, Emily, Liev and Ellis welcomed beautiful baby Lyra Eileen Skinner into the world

RichC | January 13, 2021

We don’t see my nephew and his family nearly enough, but a week ago, my nephew Ben, his wife Emily, and their two boys, Liev and Ellis welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. The boys baby sister, and Ben and Emily’s first daughter, Lyra Eileen Skinner was born in the morning, weighing a […]

Category: Archive, Misc, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: baby, ben skinner, birth, children, emily skinner, family, grandchildren, lyra eileen, skinner

Most parents and grandparents have room for improvement

RichC | October 11, 2020

I’m the first to admit, “I have plenty of shortcomings as a parent and grandparent,” … and I don’t think that I’m alone. That said, focusing on our past mistakes and regret will do little to correct the past, not to mention won’t help our own psyche. Instead, we can look forward, learn from the […]

Category: Advice, Archive, Books, Faith, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: advice, annalyn, book, christian, ellerie, examples, Faith, grandchildren, grandparenting, grandparents, katelyn, life, norms

Archive: Some books to bookshelves and granddaughter photos

RichC | October 6, 2020

The summer has slipped away and we are finally getting around to getting our boxes and bags of books back in the library/music room. Earlier this year I built some new bookshelves for the back wall that will house a lot of our books. I’ve been tossing and slowly organizing them, but Brenda has just […]

Category: Archive, Books, Memories, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, Books, bookshelves, brenda, collage, dentist, ellerie, family, grandchildren, granddaughters, katelyn, library, music room, preschool, school

Assembling a simple (cough, cough) swing set for grandkids

RichC | September 6, 2020

I was planning to hold off posting the progress from last weekend and a few evenings putting together a swing set for Annalyn … and eventually Ellerie who is now 6 months old (the playset is sized for 3-10 year olds). I had thought Drew and Katelyn might be coming down over Labor Day, but […]

Category: Archive, Misc, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, assembly, backyard, ellerie, family, fort, grandchildren, granddaughters, grandkids, grass seed, home, project, richc, swings, swingset, treehouse

Annalyn and Ellerie photos are keeping a smile on my face

RichC | April 8, 2020

Grandparents who receive regular photos, video, FaceTime and Alexa Echo messages from their grandchildren (and children) are fortunate to live in today’s technology rich world. Just a couple decades ago, families who moved apart for careers or whatever reason were lucky to get a few snapshots in the US mail or maybe talk on the […]

Category: Archive, Personal, Photos, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, drew, ellerie, family, grandchildren, katelyn, oostra, Photos, Travel, trips, vacation

My sailing friends know how to be thankful

RichC | May 4, 2012

I received a needed lesson in blessings and being thankful today. My sailing friends Mark and Judy Handley have been sharing their daily lives online for many years while cruising around the world. Their circumnavigation ended over a year ago, but Judy continues to document their return to a “somewhat” more normal life. Unfortunately this […]

Category: Blogs, Health, Misc, Photos, Sailing | No Comments »
Tags: chemotherapy, grandchildren, handley

Most Recent Posts

04/15/21: My new visual for the "blow your own horn [trumpet]" idiom
John Rowe, an automotive friend on Twitter, often shares a “ Today’s Useless Tweet” that I find entertaining. It fit with the idioms tag on MyDesultoryBlog and thought his “blow your own horn ” (see… »
04/14/21: When will Ford reinstate their dividend? $F
Since Ford once-upon-a-time paid a solid dividend, it was one of those stocks I felt comfortable trading in and out of or just sitting on for a while … but after the company suspended the dividend in March of… »
04/13/21: Experimenting with a Magnetohydrodynamic Drive demo
You can take the boy out of school, but you can’t take school (and learning) out of the boy ( or older man at this point). Over the weekend, I was talking to Brenda about how I’ve been following the NASA feed… »
04/12/21: Music Monday: Sheryl Crow and NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts
Stumbled across a pre-COVID19 lockdown NPRMusic Tiny Desk Concert on YouTube when watching another video from an automotive friend of mine … and since I like Sheryl Crow “music” … I figured it… »
04/11/21: Celebrities Then and Now Photos (popular on social media)
Last week my sister-in-law shared an update on her Facebook page of some well-known Hollywood celebrities that I thought would be interesting to at to MyDesultoryBlog. I downloaded the 30+ different-sized photos,… »
04/10/21: Canary cam selfies, Taylor and his fraternity friends in the Bahamas and the passing of the UK’s Prince Phillip
It is that time of year again … spring, when the camera loving birds (1, 2, 3) sit and look at the Pool Garage camera. The downside is that every time they sit and look at the Canary cam, it triggers a motion alert to… »
04/09/21: Tech Friday: Innovative hearing technology on my wish list
Sometimes when my mind wanders, I shift from pie-in-the-sky dreaming (flying cars, mind control devices, AI/robotics (mp4), time machines (mp4), “beam me up” transporters, etc) to something that’s a bit more… »
04/08/21: Double spline miters, my granddaughters and early drives #TBT
With all the photos that I take, I can’t believe I didn’t snap a couple photos of the recent redwood framed games and puzzle woodworking projects I made for my granddaughters? Oh well, they turned out nice. I used… »
04/07/21: Books: Reading the updated investing classic "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Burton G. Malkiel
In keeping with a New Year’s resolution from “years ago” to read more non-fiction books and some classic literature still sitting unread on our new bookshelves, I’ve picked up a new edition of an “older”… »
04/06/21: Political corporate activism in Georgia, boycotts and investing
Democrats have been gaining ground over the past few years with their “hate Trump” blitzing supported by the leftists, big tech and mainstream media (one in the same from what I’ve seen), and continue to put heavy… »
04/05/21: Music Monday: Paul Simon (and Art Garfunkel) – Kodachrome
Last week on Music Monday the subject was Kodachrome and how an automotive social networking site that archives slides and one of Cripple Creek, Colorado that triggered a musical memory for me. After mentioning it to… »
04/04/21: Happy Easter 2021 – He is risen. He is risen indeed.
For Christians, there’s no more celebrated day than Easter … for without a risen Savior, no other day in Christianity would matter. He is risen indeed! BUT … why does the day always change? I mean, we’ve… »
04/03/21: Archive: Granddaughter catch-up photos from this past week
There’s not much of a question whether Annalyn and Ellerie had a good time this past week. The girls … and their mom and dad … are vacationing in sunny and warm Disney World in Orlando before heading further… »
04/02/21: Tech Friday: A now rare Internet connectivity issue & speedtest
We have not had many Internet connectivity issues since switching to Cincinnati Bell Fioptic fiber and then added a mesh network instead of traditional router (although the Netgear Nighthawk was pretty good – we move… »
04/01/21: An Akron/Canton CAK photo from my Palm Treo in 2006 #TBT
While cleaning up one of my old Flickr accounts where my Palm Treo 700p photos were backed up, I stumbled across one of the first photos with it I took and posted to this blog – June 2006. Even though the camera was… »
03/31/21: An etymology share: ‘What Time Is ‘Noon?"
When was ‘noon’ a time that was later in the day … like 3PM? Let’s check with merriam-webster.com: There’s something aesthetically pleasing about the word noon. Its palindromic spelling feels appropriate for… »
03/30/21: After 6 days, the Ever Given is moving and the Suez Canal is open
The news that has captured much of the of the world’s interest this week was the very large Ever Given container ship lodged sideways in the Suez Canal by 40+ mph winds (and perhaps some mechanical issues?). The… »
03/29/21: Music Monday: The Band and Kodachrome photography
Last week while talking with a couple car enthusiasts about old cars, old photos and photography, one of the guys mentioned an online social feed that posts Kodachrome images of old vintage car scenes. While sifting… »
03/28/21: Worked on some spring yard clean-up over the weekend
The 70 degree spring weather, and the high winds last week, begged me to load up the trailer with fallen sticks and starting a small burn pile (still too windy to burn the big pile). A thousand up and down stooping… »
03/27/21: Business change, server updates, an idiom & a friend’s new toy
This past week was an on and off work week. I’ve been struggling to update software and the latest Linux flavor on an old server while telling myself “I’m getting too old for this.” Right or wrong attitude, I… »
03/26/21: Tech Friday: What is the best smartphone for 2021?
The current opinion by many who review technology (and Consumer Reports) is that the best smartphone for 2021 is the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max … although might be a bit larger than many are comfortable putting in their… »
03/25/21: Investing: Buying Vertex $VRTX for 2021 and hopefully beyond
For the most part, I’m a conservative investor, although a regular channel trader, and I rarely speculates on risky upstarts, IPOs, zero-profit tech stocks, pharmaceutical long-shots or the latest crazy …… »
03/24/21: Sticking with what I know: Bought my 4th pair of Vasque boots
The more I think about it, the “lamer” it appears to be talking about shoes … but truth be told, the Sperry Topsider reviews and shoe insole posts still are in the top ten when it comes to blog numbers. I’m… »
03/23/21: Weddings and Nice Weather indicates Spring 2021 has arrived
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… »
03/22/21: Music Monday: More Than a Feeling – Boston 1976
For this week’s Music Monday, mentioning the band Boston and their debut album of the same name triggers memories. Fond thoughts aside, the title song “More Than a Feeling,” is long overdue music for… »
03/21/21: Ancestry and two cute St. Patrick’s Day granddaughter photos
At one time I thought there might be a bit of Irish blood in my heritage mix, especially on the Corbett side, but an Ancestry.com DNA test in 2019 suggested that there was not. For some reason, I assumed the “known”… »
03/20/21: At what point do or can you start cutting ties with BigTech?
A technology friend of mine, Scott Bilik (who was considered my Twitter “Godfather in 2007), has recently wiped some of the mud from his hypothetical digital footprints and is systematically freeing himself from Big… »
03/19/21: Tech Friday: Apple expected to launch new iPad Pro in April 2021
Although I’m not in the market for a new iPad just yet, I am (or was) a multiple hours a day user back when traveling a bit more and interested in what a Thunderbolt and M1 chipped iPad Pro might offer. At least… »
03/18/21: Do you build or buy a new house this year or put it off?
Real estate has been on a tear in many markets as the coronavirus has people moving from cities to the suburbs and their own piece of land. In my opinion it is not just COVID19 related, but that fact that cities… »
03/17/21: Polished up our simple folding IKEA dish drying rack
At one time, I thought I was better at time management, but clearly after spending over an hour disassembling, de-rusting and polishing a folding IKEA stainless steel rack, I am not. In retrospect, buying a new one… »
03/16/21: A softening in attitude towards socialism for America
Support for socialism has been on the rise in America as I have previously noted and according to trend we have seen and the acceptable rhetoric/terms politicians have been willing to adopt this past decade. Liberals,… »
03/15/21: Music Monday: North of the U.S. border with The Guess Who
You might be forgiven not to know that the 1970 song “American Woman” (and album) was by a Canadian rock band … The Guess Who. According to Wikipedia, the Winnipeg, Manitoba garage band “originated as Chad… »
03/14/21: Weekend mailbox project update and Annalyn’s first haircut
Our old mailbox has lasted 26 years and considering it is cemented into a stone post that mostly matches what is in the neighborhood, replacing it with something else is not a option. A few people have repaired theirs,… »
03/13/21: Handy IFitIt tools for gadgets and Spring 2021 family photos
Last week I need a small socket and as usual went out to the garage only to realized that even the smallest 1/4” Craftsman socket that I own was too big and bulky. Then I remembered the IFixIt tools Christmas… »
03/12/21: Tech Friday: Life after switching to Mint Mobile has been good
Back in January I switched my “off contract” iPhone7 Plus over to Mint Mobile and a month later switched over Brenda’s iPhone7. The transition was smooth and pretty much glitchless. Service from our previous… »
03/11/21: Who doesn’t love the Gilligan’s Island TV show? #TBT
My generation grew up with a handful of odd, yet popular with kids, television shows, none more endearing that Gilligan’s Island … which shockingly is still loved by almost everyone in reruns still today. After… »
03/10/21: Backing up, updating Linux and installing WordPress 5.7
After having a server glitch and failed update this morning, it seemed like a good time to backup, updated Linux and test WordPress 5.7 “Esperanza” with a post today. For the most part everything has been… »
03/10/21: How to run email lists, sell your product and retain customers
After cleaning out my email in-box and “attempting” to unsubscribe to a bunch of marketing oriented email lists, it became clear that I chose to remain subscribed to the lists that do more than plug their products… »
03/09/21: Finishing a desktop bookholder project for my son Taylor
While finishing up a small black walnut book stand or bookholder for my son’s birthday later this spring, I decided to archive a photo since Taylor doesn’t regularly read my blog (watch this be the exception).… »
03/08/21: Music Monday: Johnny Nash recorded “I Can See Clearly Now”
Who doesn’t enjoy the smooth reggae influenced 1972 song “I Can See Clearly Now” recorded by the late Johnny Nash (1940-2020). It was enjoyed by my parents as well as my generation … and likely is still… »
03/07/21: Sunday Filler: Thinking about our path as Christians
As someone who enjoys using tools and building things, the reference to pendulums and plumb lines in a Stand to Reason post speaks to me. It is also a good reminder to stick to the “plumb line of Scripture” rather… »
03/06/21: How are we doing in vaccinating our population? #COVID19
Immunization is picking up speed, but we are still struggling to get enough of the produced vaccinations in arms … especially in some states. This past week an article in Fortune posted a “tracker map”… »
03/05/21: Tech Friday: S̶t̶r̶i̶k̶e̶t̶h̶r̶u̶ (https://richc.us/strikethru.html)
A couple of weeks ago, someone asked me about using Strikethru coding for a WordPress blog (or for that matter, almost all webpages) .. and of course it is a simple html code solution and is fairly easy … just add:… »
03/04/21: Happy Birthday Annalyn. Thinking about my granddaughter.
Annalyn putting on her Frozen (the Disney movie) Birthday dress last weekend EDIT 3/5/2021… »
03/03/21: Why do so many on the political left deride America?
If all we do is listen to those who spew negativity and show distain for America, we might miss the fact that the US through Operation Warp Speed in coordination with private companies, have given us a COVID19 vaccine… »
03/02/21: Celebrating Ellerie (1) and Annalyn’s (4) Birthdays in Toledo
It has sort of become a tradition to celebrate birthdays in Toledo with the Oostra family. We certainly enjoy getting together with everyone and regularly reflex on just how blessed we are as a family. I mentioned to… »
03/01/21: Music Monday: Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show video. Yikes!
There are some 1970s songs that I’ve listened to and heard again and again over the years, but never really given much thought to what the band might have looked like performing on stage? Dr. Hook (& the… »
02/28/21: MyDesultoryBlog maintenance and WordPress 5.6.2 update
Just marking server and blog updates to end the month of February 2021. I’ve put this WordPress 5.6.2 update off a few weeks in order to be sure I had a full backup, etc. Note to self, check on the Seagate hard drive… »
02/27/21: Encore diesel repair and last minute haul out in February 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… »
02/26/21: Friday Filler: A little duct tape humor (quack, quack) 😉
… »
02/25/21: Opinion: We need an all of the above energy plan in the U.S.
As an advocate of renewable energy, be it biofuels, hydro, solar, wind, etc for decades, I don’t understand why Americans can’t come together on a united “all inclusive” energy plan? I know a few anti-solar/wind… »
02/24/21: Woodworking Idea: A homemade Router Table Multi-Sled
After setting up my router for better, cleaner and easier woodworking dados last week, I started thinking about something better than using my table saw’s stock miter gauge for making “coping” style end cuts on… »
02/23/21: Is there a high quality, maintenance-free garage door and opener?
One of the most unappreciated attributes often overlooked when dating and looking for a life partner is that of a handyman, or to be a little more politically correct, a “handyperson.” I do know that having the… »
02/22/21: Music Monday: The Marshall Tucker Band – “Can’t You See”
The Marshall Tucker Band was one of my favorite groups in the 1970s and I mentioned them before. I was a big fan of modern country music as it inched towards what we know as southern rock. It really made inroads into… »
02/21/21: Thoughts on the passing of conservative icon: Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh died on Wednesday of this past week. It wasn’t a surprise to those who have followed his health challenges and in particular a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis a year previous. He continue his radio work up… »
02/20/21: Woodworking: Tinkering on a prototype desktop book stand
The weather has been … well, wintery and I’ve been working on a self-designed prototype desktop bookshelf or bookstand with the thought of making a couple of them. Unfortunately desks … let alone books … are… »
02/19/21: Tech Friday: Switched our iPhones to Mint Mobile to save $$$
Well it is official, we are both with Mint Mobile. I’ve been using them for a month now and haven’t had any issues with their service (backboned on T-Mobile I believe) … and since saving money for the same service… »
02/18/21: Archive: The Howards and the Woodcocks in Florida #TBT
A couple of weeks ago I shared a 1990s photo of Brenda’s dad with a close friend Hugh Woodcock and saw another one from 1997 to archive for a Throwback Thursday #TBT. Both MomH (2017) and DadH (2013) have passed away,… »
02/18/21: Archive for posterity: Sold a little more fractional Bitcoin shares
Almost 1 year ago, I started to use the Chromium-based Brave Browser and an Uphold account to receive the BAT (Basic Attention Token). I convert to Bitcoin along with the income generated on MyDesultoryBlog.com …… »
02/17/21: The retirement dividend income plan was challenged in 2020
For those of us living in a post-pension world, planning for retirement comes down to how much can be saved in 401K and IRAs … and how to make it last once retired. Most people rely on the “multiple buckets… »

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