Astrophotography is an interesting but expensive hobby #TBT

| June 16, 2022

As the warm evening and nights of summer arrive, I catch myself looking up at the sky again. It may have started with a purpose back when Charlie (Kamikaze) and I were locally sailing the “Fiberpile” and studying celestial navigation before there was much more than radio directional finders (LoranC was too costly and wasn’t […]

A semi-portable thickness planer for my woodworking shop

| September 27, 2020

When bragging that my latest sewing cart project had zero cost in it, I held off until the end of the post to mention that I was spending money and would post about that on Sunday. Well here it is: I bought my first planer; it’s a semi-portable DeWalt DW735, with the “X” option (extra […]

I’m missing sailing, but here are a few new knot tying ideas

| September 20, 2020

Most people who enjoy sailing and undertake the sport/activity as a hobby, also enjoy learning how to handle the many sheets and lines (ropes) that are used aboard a sailboat. I’ve been sailing off and on my entire life and find myself relying on a few knots that I’m confident about. Oh, I also enjoy […]

Made a new car guy connection when discussing the Packard

| August 29, 2020

On Friday afternoon I stopped in to talk with Rick Benhase, the guy looking at the Packard transmission for me. He is a truly old car nut and can’t seem to get rid of his “fleet” once he buys or fixes them. This applies to more than just cars, too (read below if you must […]

Once upon a time when studying black and white photography …

| May 23, 2019

I had several hobbies as a teenager, but photography was one that I thought might lead to a career. It “sort of did” since it opened the doors to eventually starting a printing and publishing company. When studying photography, several names of recognized photographers were published in the magazines and books. One French photographer that […]

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

| March 2, 2019

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A beautiful sunset looking west towards downtown Cincinnati

| January 17, 2018

Taylor continues to impress me with his enjoying photography. Above is a recent photo (click for larger) he sent me overlooking Cincinnati along the Ohio River – another beautiful sunset photo. I told him that I was going to start encoding them with a digital watermark they are so nice. I’d like to think of […]

After repairing my old Marlin 1894, it is time for upgrades

| November 21, 2017

One of my first rifles is still one of my favorites, so after repairing my Marlin 1894 last month I thought it might be time to upgrade a couple small parts. This .357 chambered lever action rifle is now 40 or so years old and after a fair number of rounds, suffered the bent extractor […]

A new larger travel tripod for my Lumix GX8 camera

| February 2, 2017

The larger "old" tripod that I’ve owned for 40 years and a small pocket tripod that I gave to my son is now unacceptable for my new camera (my bias opinion) …  so it is time to update with something I don’t mind hauling around. I would have liked a $300+ carbon fiber ultra-light, but that […]

The eye of a good photographer and interest to apply the science

| December 19, 2016

Admittedly I’m proud of my kids and enjoy seeing them living their lives … especially when a few of my interests rise to the top. In Taylor‘s case, he has expand on our mutual interest in backpacking and photography on his trip to Hawaii last month.   Memory Road: In 7th grade I had an […]

Black Friday and Cyber Monday thoughts of shopping – eww!

| November 26, 2016

No visits to the mall, stores or even online shopping for me on Black Friday, but I have started the process of looking for a new camera "system" to replace my aging DSLR. With my first granddaughter on the way, it might be time to get back to my roots and revisit my old hobby […]

A few amateur radio updates including my new call: K4RDC

| December 14, 2013

My older SCS PTC-IIe Pactor modem came back from Farallon Electronics after being updated with a new electronic serial number and Pactor III update – faster speeds using the HF radio (still very slow by modern Internet standards). A Winlink account is now active and seems to be working over Telnet, so the step is […]

Playing with our Baofeng UV-5Rs and contemplating antennas

| November 30, 2013

My friend Jeff and I had a chance to get today Friday afternoon and catch up on life. We enjoyed our semi-regular Mexican lunch and talked about work, church, family and our mutual amateur radio hobby. He’s been a Ham (N4XKJ) since we went to our first HamCation back when he was living in Orlando […]

Tiny internal combustion engines

| December 6, 2012

I remember Cox model plane and car engine when I was a boy, but this “Tiny” 4-stroke “popper” is as impressive as a Swiss watch.

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