Archiving Chrstmas photos: Gigi, Santa, the Oostra family and Mickey Mouse from Disney on Ice in Toledo, Ohio

| December 17, 2024

It is that time of year … time for Christmas photos … with children and pets? Well a “dog” in the case of Megan and Taylor, but our granddaughters in the case of Katelyn and Drew. In both cases these 2024 photos belong on in the My Desultory Blog archive. Here’s one of Gigi with […]

With Katelyn and Megan the figure skaters in our family, who knew Taylor would learn through osmosis?

| December 10, 2024

With early November and December winter weather showing up somewhat early, there’s no better time for Megan’s employer to have a holiday gathering at Kings Island. For their business, it is time to promote WinterFest with 7-million lights and some ice skating.  Both Megan and Katelyn learned, and then taught, figure skating for the Queen […]

Archive: Megan, Taylor and Gigi out for a walk and Venus rising

| November 26, 2024

Nothing earth shattering, but looked up to see Venus rising on Sunday evening as I was taking out the garbage. It was beautiful in the SSW sky and far more than the iPhone photo … but it was worth posting anyway. Megan, Taylor and Gigi were out for walks on Sunday and shared a couple […]

Remembering Taylor and Michael’s connection to KFC #TBT

| November 21, 2024

While Taylor was at his conference and staying with us the other week in Florida, we started talking about good friends … and “old friends” who are still good friends. My thoughts automatically go to my college friend Jeff and Taylor’s to his grade school friend Mike.  One thing led to another and he pulled […]

Archive: Taylor talking with WKRC regarding Batavia Township

| November 14, 2024

After a great visit with Taylor in Florida last week for his planning conference, he’s right back into the hornet’s nest in trying to find the best way to navigate economic growth and housing development in his township. The battle lines are being drawn between fairly large housing developers and builders who are growth focused […]

Archive: More Autumn 2024 family photos and video

| November 12, 2024

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Tech Friday: Tinkering with Apple Intelligence summary feature

| November 8, 2024

Apple is finally rolling out the much ballyhooed Apple Intelligence on Apple devices … including my new iPhone 16 Pro Max. Their have been a few laughs from me when it comes to the AI “summary” feature generating a questionable summary (an automotive enthusiast John Rowe’s X.com comments – he does NOT recommend Sunbeam).  On […]

Archive: Our family is enjoying the 2024 autumn weather

| October 29, 2024

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Taylor with a friend in Chicago and a cover for our utility trailer

| September 24, 2024

Taylor and his newlywed longtime friend, Mike, were in Chicago for the weekend and they sent me a few photos of their time together … sort of a post-wedding bachelor get together. I’d did check the Chicago Cubs – Nationals score (they lost), but it did look beautiful at Wrigley Field. I spent the weekend […]

Maine for the weekend. Congratulations Mike and Addie Agler.

| August 20, 2024

It is becoming the norm for me, but Tuesdays are often the day that I end up saving leftover weekend family photos to the MyDesultoryBlog.com. Last weekend was a wedding in Maine for Taylor’s lifetime best friend Mike Agler. So Taylor (Mike’s best man) and Megan flew up to a beautiful and historic Inn to […]

Music Monday: Replaying the song “Kodachrome” by Paul Simon and the drowning of my Apple iPhone 7 Plus

| July 8, 2024

Today’s Music Monday is a redux of a previous post regarding the popular 1973 song “Kodachrome” by Paul Simon song (of Simon and Garfunkel and solo fame). The song came up in a conversation on Sunday afternoon with Megan and Taylor as they were showing a “slides” wall display of hundreds of old transparencies all mounted […]

Archiving photos: Our family busy doing “family stuff”

| June 27, 2024

Storm Clouds mid-June over Mankato MN  After our enjoyable and busy week with our granddaughters, I wanted to archive a few photos that have been piling up in the “maybe” for the blog folder. Above are some of the storm clouds in Minnesota that caused flooding in the midwest in mid-June — ominous! For us, […]

Happy Birthday Taylor … a day early

| June 9, 2024

Taylor and Megan for Birthday golfing at Beckett Ridge (he worked there when he was in college) The weather was cooler than normal for a June birthday get-together for a few of our 35 year old sons’ friends, their spouses and now young families. It wasn’t a formal party per se, but it was a […]

Archive: Taylor and his MU fraternity brothers in Vegas

| April 5, 2024

After posting the “Bald Eagle and 100K post,” I was feeling guilty in not including Taylor on the “goings-on” archive of my blog. So … to keep up, here’s photo from a bachelor trip to Las Vegas with his Miami University fraternity brothers last weekend. It sure looked and sounds as if they had a […]

Archive: Gigi, Creative Rainbow artwork and Ilia Malinin skating

| March 26, 2024

As has become a routine, I’m archiving a couple family weekend photos. First, last week was Gigi’s rescue day (Taylor and Megan’s dog). It was in 2023 that they found her and after attempting to find the owner by posting signs etc … although they suspected she was abandoned after having puppies … adopted her […]

Archive: Updating the “goings-on” of Taylor and Megan

| March 1, 2024

While I really wanted to take the time and archive the great time we had in February with Katelyn, Drew and our granddaughters in Florida, I’ll start with a less time intensive post. Last week Taylor and Megan made me jealous by going to a Mac McAnally concert in Cincinnati. It definitely looks like they […]

Archive: A few leftover Valentine’s Day photos to make me smile

| February 15, 2024

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An away from home work-table and a long overdue desk chair

| January 21, 2024

Really this is to archive a few project ideas (below the break) for Taylor. He is a Mid-Century Modern lover and has consistently focused his decorating with this kind of taste. If dollars didn’t limit his shopping, I think he would be living in a Frank Lloyd Wright home and have it decorated with a […]

Family is busy enjoying the winter weather and MLKJr.

| January 16, 2024

Although the temperatures around the US have taken a deep dive and have brought a cold and snowy winter to much of the country, our family is making the most of it. Taylor and Megan spent the long weekend skiing with some in her extended family in Utah and KDAE made the most of the […]

Taylor impressed me with his handyman skills earlier this week

| December 30, 2023

All fathers who semi-attempt to pass down a few “handyman” skills are proud of their sons (and daughters – mine is amazing!) when they tackle projects by themselves. Taylor continues to amaze me at his fortitude when taking on homeownership projects, although he’s never been hesitant to jump into things with both feet. 😊  It […]

Finding a Chrstmas Tree while Brenda shops with Taylor

| December 9, 2023

This would be a great photo of Brenda and Taylor, but for being a blurry selfie (click to see larger). Oh well, I enjoyed seeing the two of them out for their annual mother and son Christmas shopping and evening dinner. I hope they were successful?  While they were out, I did my annual the […]

Taylor’s first VW and a CinciTDI Throwback Thursday #TBT

| December 7, 2023

About a month ago, I stumbled across a photo that I think was used as a header for the CinciTDI website at some point after Katelyn and I sold our VW Jetta TDIs, but I had to smile noticing the Volkswagen in the header photo was once Taylor’s GTI. Very good memories for sure (and […]

A wedding and reception with Katie and Jason Kirklin

| November 13, 2023

We attended and enjoyed the wedding for Taylor’s long time “birthday buddy” and grade school, high school and college friend Katie Gormas to Jason Kirklin in downtown Cincinnati this weekend. Beside a high traffic parking fiasco that almost made us late, the evening was very nice. Taylor and Megan arrived even a few minutes after us […]

Archiving a weekend wedding photo of Taylor and his college buds and an impressively engineered antique candle snuffer

| October 24, 2023

The title of this post is a little disjointed, but since I don’t have all that much to say about either topic, I’m putting them in one post. First, Taylor stretched out a long weekend with Megan in Key Largo Florida with his fraternity buddies at a wedding … and second, I’m just impress with […]

A new battery, Taylor’s office and homemade socket organizer

| September 19, 2023

My son Taylor‘s sealed car battery bloated and split open last week and left him stranded at work. He didn’t have any tools with him (is he really my son?) 😉 so I headed his way after work to replace his old-ish battery with a new one (2019 VW AllTrack). The first two auto part […]

Archive: Our family together for Labor Day while Taylor was backpacking in Glacier National Park with a friend

| September 6, 2023

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Archive: Family photos and visiting NW Ohio as move nears

| August 6, 2023

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Archive: We had a great time celebrating Taylor’s Birthday

| June 13, 2023

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Happy Birthday Taylor. Embrace the change this year.

| June 10, 2023

It is hard to believe Taylor, our youngest, is celebrating another birthday (although better than not having them) and that he was born AFTER the long running television show (1952-1989) American Bandstand ended. It just so happens that Taylor was born a month after Dick Clark finished the final episode … it does not seem […]

Taylor settled into his new office in Batavia Township, Ohio

| June 3, 2023

What a super nice office and comfortable place for Taylor to work. I find myself envious of his new position as “Director of Planning and Zoning” in Batavia Township, Ohio. As a parent, it is rewarding to see your children excelling in their careers and appreciated by those they work for and with. I’m confident […]

Woodworking: Practicing mortise and tenons on a project

| June 1, 2023

The previous “refined” Cornhole game project for my granddaughters worked out so well that I decided to make a modified set for Taylor’s birthday in June this year. Thankfully I started it early since I’m modifying the project just a little bit to work on mortise and tenon jointery … and have been busy outside […]

Megan, Taylor and Gigi … and Tootsie to make it #TBT

| May 25, 2023

It looks as if the dog Megan found a month or so ago … and tried to find its owner (it was probably abandoned) … has now found a new home with Taylor and Megan. They have named her Gigi. Since both Megan and Taylor have grown up with dogs, perhaps it is no surprise […]

Our six-year old granddaughter’s dance recital weekend

| May 24, 2023

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A ‘distance planning’ tip for hiking or backpacking to pass along

| May 23, 2023

My son Taylor has another semi-repeat backpacking trip planned with a friend from North Dakota (he is now in Montana) for the end of the summer in Glacier National Park (different area). The permits were obtained for the “loop” that they wanted … so now the packing and getting in shape begins (it was fun […]

Angel Food Cake, Strawberries and Whipped Cream Leftovers

| May 9, 2023

Although few of us getting older really want to spend too much time highlighting “yet another” birthday, last weekend was mine … so I celebrated by hauling 68 pounds of aluminum cans to the recycler (above). Since we were with KDAE the previous weekend … and Taylor stops in regularly (twice this past week) and […]

After 8 years as a Clermont County Planner, Taylor has accepted a new position in Batavia Township, Ohio

| May 2, 2023

It is a bitter sweet departure from Clermont County for my son Taylor. He has grown professionally and enjoyed his job as Planner for the last 8 years after moving back to Ohio from Williston, ND (being a Planner for Williams County was his first job out of college). He has been patient and taken on […]

Archive: A few Easter weekend family photos and video

| April 11, 2023

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Archive: Family photos from weekend text messages

| April 4, 2023

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Presentation by Taylor and time with our granddaughters

| March 26, 2023

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Archive: Saving a couple family update items to the blog

| February 1, 2023

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Amazed at the mobility improvement so soon after surgery

| January 15, 2023

Brenda is making remarkable improvements (in my opinion) in her mobility after having expedited full hip replacement surgery on Monday afternoon at 4PM. As mentioned yesterday, she was released from the hospital on Wednesday night and after a semi-restful day on Thursday, began physical therapy on Friday. Katelyn came down from Perrysburg and was wonderful […]

Saving family photos from our Corbett-Oostra Christmas 2022

| December 29, 2022

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How many flat tires does a person repair in a lifetime? #TBT

| December 8, 2022

The Throwback Thursday #TBT tag was just an excuse to ask the question: “How many flat tires does a person need to have repaired in their lifetime?” I don’t know the answer, but I do know that I’ve repaired A LOT. It seems I’m forever needing to add air (change in temperatures), have a slow […]

Thanksgiving 2022: “Out of the mouth of babes …”

| November 24, 2022

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Our family together for Dave Schneider’s Celebration of Life

| November 15, 2022

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Belated Obituary: David George Schneider (1952 – 2022)

| November 5, 2022

The sharing of this obituary news is a month late in coming … partially due to the sudden shock … and partially due to not having the right words to share on my blog … but a friend of our family and Megan’s father, Dave Schneider, passed away on October 5, 2022. He was one […]

Archiving photos from our Trick or Treating family in 2022

| November 1, 2022

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Our granddaughters’ First Ohio State Buckeyes football game

| October 25, 2022

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Archiving a photo of our 1998 Toyota Rav4 for #TBT

| 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 […]

Taylor has a CAN-DO attitude that can get him in trouble

| September 27, 2022

After fixing “Arthur Avenue Pork Sausage and Pepper Heroes with Melty Mozzarella Cheese and Garlic Potato Wedges” … as the recipe card states on Sunday night, which was the last of our subscription meal for a while … my son Taylor called at 8PM after getting himself “in a pickle” (a perfect place for a Shakespearian […]

A few years ago, Taylor moved to Williston, ND #TBT

| September 22, 2022

A lot has happened in 9 short years … but it has been NINE years! Where does the time go? While cleaning out a few miscellaneous files and moving a few photos off my iMac’s upgraded SSHD and to cloud storage only, I noticed a few of my son Taylor after his move to Williston, […]

Taylor’s slow move, galls autumn oak leaves and pool pump

| September 20, 2022

After helping Taylor move a few larger things over to his new condominium last weekend, he sent a photo of his still bare living room, but it is coming together. The TV is working so he could watch the 2022 losing Cincinnati Bengals (now 0-2) on Sunday afternoon. He has been slowing moving boxes of […]

Checking out Taylor’s place and Labor Day weekend chores

| September 5, 2022

Labor Day weekend was relatively busy with chores and stay-at-home chores. We have also noticed a coyote regularly making his round again (photos above). On Friday night we stopped to see Taylor’s new condominium in Walnut Hills (Cincinnati) and then had dinner at O’Bryon’s Bar and Grill. We ate outside up on the roof as […]

Chick-Fil-A masks and Taylor has “the keys to the Castle”

| September 2, 2022

We are looking forward to seeing Taylor’s new condominium in Cincinnati for the first time this weekend. He informed us that he “has the keys to the castle” a couple days early (negotiated current tenant move out date). We can’t wait. It also came on the same day Katelyn and Drew forwarded a photo of […]

A day of negative news and some positive: The stock market was down big, but the plus, Taylor closed on a condo

| August 26, 2022

It was an ugly day on Wall Street as investors reacted to comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell who indicated “that the Federal Reserve must continue to raise rates” and “hold them at a higher level until they are confident inflation is under control.” Some economists highlighted in Barron’s Magazine last week, have suggested that […]

Leftover travel weekend update and photos from our kids

| August 24, 2022

While Brenda and I were in Atlanta celebrating her sister’s birthday, Taylor was once again at another wedding clear across the country. One of his elementary school friends (they stayed in touch) gave a bunch of friends a chance to get together in a nice location – Lake Tahoe. Of course this wasn’t the first […]

Summer 2022 at home with our granddaughters wrap-up

| August 14, 2022

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Taylor is planning to own rather than rent in Cincinnati, Ohio

| July 28, 2022

A bit of news from my son Taylor who has decided to buy a condo in Cincinnati rather than renting a few blocks away. He has been looking for a while now and pondered a house vs property vs urban condo or townhouse. Escalating prices since the pandemic turned and rising rates in both lending […]

Oostra lot clearing has begun, a KETO diet and Fitbit update

| 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 […]

Wishing all the purpose-filled dads a Happy Father’s Day

| June 19, 2022

I enjoyed a very nice Father’s Day on “Saturday” yesterday with Taylor, Megan and their long time friend Meredith, who was “dog-sitting” her sister’s dog “Chase” (below). They enjoyed the nice weather around and in the pool while I busied myself with a few projects … one of which was adding the additional pipes to […]

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