RichC | May 22, 2020
I know it seems like a strange question, but our annual pair of ducks spend a lot of time in and around our pool. It doesn’t matter if it is covered or not, these mallard ducks do enjoy the relative safety of sleeping on the pool cover in the spring. My guess it provides them […]
RichC | May 9, 2020
Nothing like a little nature video with your breakfast cereal to start your day .. YIKES! I’ll never be able to look at my “Little Praying Friend” the same again. The latest news is that the giant 2 inch Murder Hornets (Asian giant hornets) are showing up in the western United States and threatening honey […]
RichC | May 2, 2020
Once in a while, the talking heads and opinion writers who editorialize present enough information in a single article or few minutes of television that hits home and makes one take notice. That definitely happened for me the other night and trigger me to think a little more seriously about has been happening in our […]
RichC | April 25, 2020
If you’ve watched, read or remembered any of the Public Service Announcements (PSA) since the Coronavirus pandemic started, you will probably smile when watching this.
RichC | April 21, 2020
As the United States and the world prepare to open society in phases after well over a month of stay-at-home orders due to the Coronavirus, the debate between those who see the health risk as too high and those who fear a full on economic collapse (world wide depression) continues. Several states are seeing protests […]
RichC | April 14, 2020
Once upon a time, families who only snail-mailed cards and letters would on special occasions, like Easter, dial their corded rotary phones and pay for an expensive long distance call in order to “Reach Out and Touch Someone” as the marketing jingle would advertise (a 1970s commercial below the break). I remembered many phone calls […]
RichC | April 10, 2020
Last week my son Taylor and friend Jeff both sent me their “homemade” stand-up or propped up (with books) notebook computers while working from home. I suspect they aren’t the only COVID19 “stay-at-home” workers trying to come up with comfortable ways to do their jobs? I know Jeff once had a stand-up desk at work […]
RichC | February 29, 2020
We have had a problem with our Amazon purchased halyard on our flag pole instead of the rapid flag degrading as usual – as can be seen on our WyzeCam security mp4 video (below). This is the second flag halyard we have had fail in the last couple of years; next time I’m going to […]
RichC | February 24, 2020
After last week’s outstanding Daytona500 pre-race festivities and the fitting musical performance by Darius Rucker, the “Years Ago On This Day” post from “The Greatest Auto Race – NOT the Daytona 500” from 2006’s appeared. Attached to it was one of my earlier video streaming attempts of the Bonjovi pre-race performance. What a great Music […]
RichC | February 16, 2020
Although one could spend all day or night watching YouTube advice videos from expert woodworkers, I’ve limited my viewing to a few guys. I’m fond of Jon Peters for both the quality of his videos and for the short “focused” tips. In a recent YouTube video, he points out how often he finds himself using […]
RichC | February 13, 2020
Last week, a Jasper, Alberta family photo near a glacier for a ThrowBack Thursday #TBT post, had me sharing a few of my thoughts on climate change. I should have included another photo that had a few more from our family (especially since my sister-in-law, Lynda, just returned home from the Cleveland Clinic). The trip […]
RichC | February 4, 2020
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RichC | January 15, 2020
A year or so ago, I “was” planning to give the Amazon Key service a try by having shipments delivered to the condo in Florida when we are not there. So I purchase a smart lock and then realized that Amazon didn’t offer Key delivery services in Delray Beach. I sent it back as I […]
RichC | January 10, 2020
This pet video of a dog in Turkey getting his back rubbed by a car wash is pretty impressive. I guess the human touch isn’t all that important to him?
RichC | January 7, 2020
RichC | December 31, 2019
While getting the Christmas decorations for Evergreen Farm Estates down from the poolhouse-garage loft earlier this month (Brenda and neighbor Pam have always decorated our neighborhood) … I spotted the yard game of Jarts. (you probably need to be a baby boomer to remember them?) What were they thinking??? Just as with the “design of […]
RichC | December 30, 2019
Here’s a #7 hit in 1977 (which has me thinking of American Top 40 and Casey Kasem) way back in the year I graduated high school. The song was “I Go Crazy” song by Paul Davis, who “looks like one of the Allman Brothers” as the late Ricky Nelson comments at the beginning of the […]
RichC | December 26, 2019
While sifting through a few old .MP4 files, I found one of my first iPhone 5 test video clips from 2012 and it had a bit of footage of my Sonex airplane project (posted a few photos back then) that I was working on a year before selling it. It was shortly before I sold […]
RichC | December 21, 2019
I love these motion-sensing Wyze Cams … Now what if someone happened to be coming to the front door? Yikes … although more than likely it would just be funny.
RichC | December 13, 2019
When you see something like this, you realize how suddenly life can end. Thankfully, in this situation, all survived … but it is a good reminder to thank God for each day and be sure to tell those in your life how much you love them. Yet you do not know what tomorrow will […]
RichC | December 4, 2019
This is when you know you need a mouse or RatZapper…
RichC | November 23, 2019
Tesla’s version of a “pickup truck” is being offered as a “green” alternative to America’s appetite for a consumer truck. Ford continues to dominate with it’s F-150 with Chevy and Dodge nipping at their heels. For some reason, we Americans want a pickup truck even though few use their dressed up beasts to haul anything. […]
RichC | November 10, 2019
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RichC | November 7, 2019
Although we have recently returned from a nice two week vacation (Part One, Two and Three) and finishing up projects at the condo, I was reminded when looking at a post from 5 years ago for Throwback Thursday #TBT, just how relaxed we were and how much we enjoyed our time together sailing Encore (it […]
RichC | November 6, 2019
Occasionally something appears on one of my sailing social media feeds that is just too cool not to share on the blog. I would give the original author credit for the video, but unfortunately, it has been passed around on too many feeds – perhaps he/she will see it here and contact me? (although I […]
RichC | October 31, 2019
When it comes to politicians making promises and pitching far fetched ideas nowadays, the sky is the limit. The current crop of Democrats campaigning for their party’s presidential nomination have lifted the “sky is the limit” to “space is the limit.” The sales pitches stretch from free tuition and education debt forgiveness to buying votes […]
RichC | October 31, 2019
The Washington Nationals proved they deserve to be World Series champion by winning game 7 on the road against the Houston Astros. The entire series has been nothing but entertaining as both teams performed unbelievably well on the road … each winning every away game. Last night’s final game started slow with a lead by […]
RichC | October 27, 2019
There were a few extra photos and some video of Brenda swimming on my iPhone from our Delray Beach, Florida vacation last week, so I’ll archive them and make a Vacation Part 3 post (Part 1 and Part 2). Nothing spectacular … but viewing the video and listening to the water and wave below is […]
RichC | October 26, 2019
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RichC | October 17, 2019
It is hard to fathom just how difficult life is in other highly populated third world countries. Count your blessings you live in America, even if you have a challenging “big city” commute. 😮
RichC | October 9, 2019
An Ellen DeGeneres video clip (shared on EllenTube) has been circulating this week after she attended a Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers NFL football game last weekend. With inflamed politics and our divided country it was both good to see and good to hear celebrities getting along. We all need to take her advice […]
RichC | October 5, 2019
Most people recognize how polarized our country has become … thanks in part to politicians and the media fanning the divisive flames. I’m not sure why we fall prey to their tactics, but generating hate and dislike for each other does seem to work when it comes to building campaign war-chests and rabid supporters. I […]
RichC | September 29, 2019
This must be what it was like to live in the Jurassic era … or camping in the Everglades as mating season begins for the gators in Florida? (been there, done that!) A post on Facebook from the Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens in Naples, Florida shows three alligators bobbing in the water, making loud […]
RichC | September 25, 2019
Following up on my weekend post and a few of the projects that I’m trying to complete (or get started) during my few days in Florida is the “somewhat new to me” upholstery project. It has bogged down my to-do list schedule, but I was able to get the master bathroom corner mirrors and glass […]
RichC | September 12, 2019
No matter your political ideology, everyone who values integrity in our elections and in political campaigns, should be concerned with how information is disseminated and prioritized. Nowadays we depend no a very few sources that we hope are unbiasedly sifting through and helping us search information and news. For the past decade or so we […]
RichC | August 20, 2019
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RichC | August 4, 2019
Who doesn’t wish they could surf like this?
RichC | July 20, 2019
As has been highly celebrated and reported in every form of media this week (and mention in not just one, but two earlier blog posts), today is the 50th anniversary of the landing a man on the moon. It was the historic Apollo 11 eight-day mission to the moon and back with the goal of […]
RichC | July 9, 2019
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RichC | July 6, 2019
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RichC | June 11, 2019
We had a great 30th birthday party for Taylor and his friends on Saturday in the backyard … just as we have many times before. As a parent it is nice to know he has always enjoyed bringing friends to our house rather than going someplace else … and seemingly his friends are okay with […]
RichC | April 28, 2019
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RichC | April 16, 2019
Besides finishing the painful tax filing this weekend, I replaced the rear shocks in my 2002 Honda Odyssey “work-wagon” and Florida vehicle. It is still the lowest mile vehicle we have, but unfortunately, it is showing its age … especially the rusting undercarriage. Still, it runs well and is reliable … knock on wood. I’ve […]
RichC | March 22, 2019
This is project for work as I wanted to demonstrate to a customer what I was referring to when I encouraged them to add a simple “read a script” podcast channel or simple YouTube video component to their marketing. It is a way to capture audiences who have moved away from reading articles and blogs […]
RichC | March 12, 2019
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RichC | February 16, 2019
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RichC | January 3, 2019
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RichC | December 25, 2018
Every tech-loving guy needs a subject for a new gizmo … my son-in-law Drew is no exception. He set up his new GoPro-like camera (gift from Katelyn) to time-lapse our Christmas morning. His effort was a little bit too fast for me to watch … so I stretched out the MP4 clip to last almost […]
RichC | November 17, 2018
Last week while clearing off our bookshelves I came across a ticket to The Music Man from 18 years ago when my nephew Ben played the lead in his high school musical. It occurred to me that his birthday was this month and that I should post it to his Facebook page while sending him […]
RichC | October 27, 2018
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RichC | September 30, 2018
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RichC | September 29, 2018
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RichC | June 11, 2018
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RichC | May 7, 2018
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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 | October 2, 2017
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RichC | February 28, 2017
Spotted this on my Facebook feed (was posted in 2016).
RichC | January 20, 2017
A friend of mine has been brainstorming the components and options for a project that I’m tinkering on for both the sailboat and improving my back up power at the house. Basically the idea is to use a minimalist single board computer like the Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Pine64 or maybe just the new IoT Photon. […]
RichC | January 7, 2017
While contemplating complexity vs simplicity in life and on sailboats, I once again stumbled on a precious morsel by Lin Pardey who has been land-based in New Zealand. Taleisin was sold to a young couple who now enjoys Lin and Larry’s “home” for over 30 years (mentioned before). Lin continues to write, appear at boatshows […]