RichC | June 6, 2024
My Grandpa Bluhm made this workbench and gave it to me for Christmas back in 1966. His influence early-on likely influenced my interest in tinkering and woodworking (car restoration and rebuilding was probably mostly influenced by DadC). This past weekend I cleaned it up a bit and added a homemade light strip with a roll of […]
RichC | December 11, 2019
Pocketknives have been part of my life since I was a 5 year old … yes, you heard that right, FIVE YEARS OLD. My grandfather gave me my first 1-inch semi-toy pocketknife when my family was still living on Spencer Street in Toledo – which means I was likely still only 4 (it was a […]
RichC | May 11, 2019
Although I regularly sharpen our "home" kitchen knives in my workshop and maintain the edge with a "steel" (love to try ceramic rod) … but that was not possible last week in Florida. I noticed when cleaning up the condo and starting the master bathroom update after the winter lease ended, that the new kitchen […]
RichC | July 24, 2018
Having owned a several pairs of different branded sandals and flip-flops over the years (decades), I’ve settled on my boatshoe brand of choice, the Sperry brand, as the flip-flops I prefer. Some of the more inexpensive brands wear out too quick, others, like the ones I really like from Eddie Bauer, are slick when the […]
RichC | January 12, 2018
Testing and tweaking the Handbrake software I use for video encoding and am hoping to improve the .MP4 compression settings for MyDesultoryBlog and others. The test video is an 18 sec knife sharpening iPhone clip and the new setting should average about 25-30 MB per minute at full 30 frame/sec at a reasonable 1280 x720 […]
RichC | June 18, 2015
For those who carry or admire those multi-folding tools like the Swiss Army knives and tools (like me), here’s something that pre-dates the popular red ones that many of us carry from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, UK. This multi-function spoon, fork, knife and picks “eating implement” was made from iron and silver and was […]
RichC | May 28, 2015
Shortly after Brenda and I were married, I commented that I was going to write an advice book for new couples that included the good and bad decisions we made when buying things for our home, yard, kids and our life. After all this time I’ve yet to write the advice book, but continue to […]
RichC | February 7, 2015
Those spending much time around me know that I’m a pocket knife (and tool) kind of guy. I’ve carried a knife ever since I was 5 years old … yes FIVE. I actually still have that “little tiny” inch and a quarter bladed souvenir pocket knife that was given to me by my grandfather. He […]
RichC | November 18, 2014
One of the items from my mother and father-in-law’s farmhouse that I wanted were her thin-bladed stainless steel kitchen knives. They were “always” dull, but the cast handles and all metal construction made them perfect for the dishwasher (although a couple of the tips were pretty bent). We have two similar knives in our kitchen […]
RichC | September 25, 2014
I posted a question on a Facebook group today for liveaboard sailors regarding sailing knives using Giphy.com’s animated GIF to Facebook posting. I’m not sure how many other GIF hosting services are out there for Facebook but Giphy worked well. There are times on a rolling sailboat where using both hands to open a folding […]
RichC | March 12, 2012
Ever since I can remember I’ve carried a pocket knife … in part because the first one was given to me by my grandfather when I was 5 years old. Yes … FIVE … and I can vividly remember cutting ants in a sandbox (where was Peta?). Although it was a small single blade tourist […]