RichC | September 27, 2024
Hurricane Helene hit the Florida Panhandle, Georgia and the Carolinas with a furry as a category 4 storm. The early damage looks heavy, not to mention the death count (22 from the WSJ article as I post this). Currently in SW Ohio we are getting heavy wind and rain (not sure when I’ve seen this […]
RichC | September 18, 2024
Investors and traders on Wall Street started today in a pensive mood as all impatiently waited for the much telegraphed “first rate cut since 2020.” Market journalists debated if Chairman Powell and the Federal Reserve board members would see the slowing economy as a sign that their tightening polices had stifled inflation enough to managed […]
RichC | June 22, 2024
As the election season nears, the calls and text messages to my cellphone ramp up in earnest. My voicemail message for the past couple of years has been one that indicates that I no longer pickup calls from unknown callers — I don’t mind callers leaving me a message, but have grown tired of solicitations, […]
RichC | May 31, 2024
It is Tech Friday, but because I’ve already prepared and posted, I still wanted to highlight the newsworthy headline story regarding the politically motivated trial against former president and the likely Republican candidate for president, Donald J. Trump. So opted to test the relatively “new to me” AI client (Perplexity.AI) by asking: Can you summarize […]
RichC | May 15, 2024
U.S. inflation eased slightly in April, with a key measure of price pressures slowing to its lowest level since spring 2021. The consumer-price index, a gauge for goods and service costs across the U.S. economy, rose 3.4% in April from a year ago, the Labor Department said Wednesday. So-called core prices that exclude volatile food […]
RichC | April 24, 2024
RichC | April 19, 2024
RichC | April 13, 2024
Iran has threatened to retaliate for an attack in Damascus, Syria, that Tehran said was an Israeli airstrike on a diplomatic building. The strike killed several top Iranian military officials, including a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force. According to the WSJ on Friday, “the U.S. rushed warships into position […]
RichC | April 6, 2024
The subject line is my questionable twist on the Francis Church response to Virginia O’Hanlon in 1897, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus (see below). All of us “seeing” inflation month after month really don’t question its existence, but we do wonder how long inflation will continue a higher than the desired two percent […]
RichC | March 22, 2024
Although at this point I’m still sticking with cable for my Internet and television entertainment, the difficulty in watching certain sporting events is increasing. I’m not happy about Amazon locking up Thursday Night Football and did not like having to plan ahead for the NFL playoff game in January, but for the most part … […]
RichC | March 20, 2024
I’m of the opinion that there are three basic issues we Americans need to address when discussing what should be done with TikTok — be it a ban, divested ownership or continue under Chinese ownership and control. The Chinese Communist Party (government) uses the social media platform to collect data on U.S. citizens/user and feeds […]
RichC | March 9, 2024
Language usage is not one of my particular strengths … therefore I’m with the thought that “when in doubt reach for whom over who, just to be safe. Then get the ‘overcorrected’ mistakes …” — LINK A trick to figure it out, which we’ve mentioned before, is to substitute he or she in your sentence—and […]
RichC | March 8, 2024
Google exec Prabhakar Raghavan explained, Gemini “may not always be reliable,” so “we recommend relying on Google Search, where separate systems surface fresh, high-quality information on these kinds of topics from sources across the web.” Google is scrambling to tamp down a political uproar after its recently launched Gemini artificial intelligence app depicted the pope, […]
RichC | February 28, 2024
Court ‘Didn’t Stop Me’ – “ The President ignores the law again as he forgives more student debt. The total is now $138 billion and counting.” WSJOpinion February 23, 2024 article link He’s not really cancelling anything because he’s transferring the debt from the borrowers it benefited to the taxpayers who will finance it with […]
RichC | February 12, 2024
The passing of a great American patriot and country music singer/songwriter Toby Keith Covel last week from stomach cancer at age 62 was depressing. Surprisingly I have not posted about Toby Keith in the past on the blog or for Music Monday, but really should have considering his impressive career and devotion our military and […]
RichC | December 23, 2023
Although I’ve never paid attention to those who perfect the skills of bartending, I’ve always enjoyed listening to Jimmy Buffett Caribbean escapism music … and sipping on a good Margarita. Beth DeCarbo posted a recipe and thought I might want to give it a try “next summer.” 😉 Jimmy Buffett – “Margaritaville” […]
RichC | November 28, 2023
Perhaps there are a few Republicans in your circles struggling with selecting a GOP Presidential Candidate for 2024? Sometimes, if I listen really carefully, I can hear in my head the fragments of a dialogue between two voices capturing the ambivalence thoughtful conservatives feel about their current political choices. Yes, I’m hearing voices so you […]
RichC | October 10, 2023
Hatred runs deep in the middle-east as many in the Arab world have never accepted the State of Israel … which is probably an understatement. I haven’t posted on the “war” (as declared on Saturday by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) at this point since so much is unknown, but television news coverage is 24/7. […]
RichC | September 15, 2023
Perhaps it is just me paying attention to the rumors and knowing the announcements that were planned at Apple’s annual September “new iPhones” announcement event … but the iPhone15s (and Apple Watch 9) upgrades left very little to get excited about? I’m not saying that I won’t be upgrading my aging iPhone 7plus this year, […]
RichC | July 26, 2023
Katelyn and Drew brought us back some Rowdy barbecue sauce when they took a trip to Tennessee in the spring. I didn’t get a chance to use it until last week — chicken wings in the toaster oven (better than Buffalo sauce?) Anyway, a belated thanks; it is delicious. A chart/graph in the WSJ last […]
RichC | May 20, 2023
An opinion article by Faith Bottum in the Wall Street Journal about ink on paper books, ebook readers and bookshelves spoke to me last week … so I tweeted about it in agreement; I love having books in the home. Perhaps being in printing and publishing established my love for ink on paper, but for […]
RichC | May 13, 2023
Which airline do you fly most often? We had a bad experience last summer on AirCanada and probably won’t ever flight with them again … on the other hand, we fly Southwest all the time and thankfully didn’t fly during their “meltdown (click charts for larger).” Even after the December 2022 flightmare by Southwest Airlines, […]
RichC | April 18, 2023
Yup … ENFORCEMENT. … hundreds of IRS applications have been around for at least 25 years and dozens that have been in existence for more than 50. There were also pieces of software running 15 updates behind the current version. Fifteen! That’s like using a new iPhone with the iOS from the original iPhone … […]
RichC | April 15, 2023
For years now I have thought there was something to the Mediterranean diet and in drinking red wine with a meal. I’ve tried to put at least the “red wine” part of this into my regular diet and continue to read articles and studies that promote the positives of antioxidants for the heart — grape […]
RichC | April 12, 2023
Guess when this Fed news came out? High inflation and tight labor markets led Federal Reserve officials to signal they could raise interest rates at their next meeting despite a higher likelihood the economy would enter a recession later this year. Fed officials considered skipping a rate increase at their meeting last month but concluded […]
RichC | March 16, 2023
The South China Sea has become a hotly contested region in recent years, with multiple countries claiming various parts of the sea as their own. China, in particular, has been actively asserting its dominance over the region by building military structures and increasing its naval presence in the area. The WSJ published a detailed article […]
RichC | February 11, 2023
The WSJ reading list caught my eye this week … most likely due to "The Ship Beneath The Ice" book talking more about the story of Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 expedition to the Antarctic. I’ll be watching for it as a library ebook, but probably after I finished my current history read, "Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy […]
RichC | January 7, 2023
The saying that “if something sounds to good to be true, it probably is” came to mind as I re-subscribed to a WSJ.com and Barronsonline.com for a FIVE-year subscription? Part of me wants to believe magazine resellers are legitimately selling the digital versions for less than going directly to Dow Jones, but the other part […]
RichC | October 1, 2022
Another interesting story tied to scientific development during World War 2 has crossed my email inbox from WSJ+. This one is about the virtually unknown Mary Sears, “the first oceanographer of the Navy.” Her groundbreaking oceanographic research led the U.S. to victory in the Pacific theater during World War II, according to the summary. I’m […]
RichC | September 25, 2022
Finding enough overhead bin space for carry-on luggage is a problem for a lot of travelers who dislike checking bags, waiting at the carousel … or even worse, dealing with lost luggage. More and more airlines have or are updating their overhead bins to accommodate more carry-on luggage, but travelers have been slow to catch […]
RichC | September 8, 2022
The WSJ book reviews are a great place to find new and interesting military history books and biographies. The recent download for me is a book by Robert L. Connell highlighting several bigger than life U.S. military generals. “Team America: The Age of Generals,” looks at often written about World War A-list leaders: Gens. Douglas […]
RichC | August 21, 2022
While I generally do not plug things on My Desultory Blog, I do enjoy reading the paper edition of a couple of publications. Barron’s Magazine is my go-to weekend reading, but their shrinking size and poor delivery has me giving up on renewing again. If they would promise Saturday delivery again, perhaps with the WSJ, […]
RichC | February 17, 2022
Well, two doses of disappointing news in one week. First, the Bengals lose in Super Bowl 56, and then my Barron’s magazine gets smaller with even smaller type (requires a second pair of readers!). They call it “shrinkflation” in an attempt to save a few dollars and probably force subscribers into a 100% digital subscription. […]
RichC | January 21, 2022
The hefty book (1139 pages) that I tried to finish by the end of 2021 is finally done (halfway into January 2022) … so now in that same World War II Pacific vein, I’m starting Martha MacCallum’s “Unknown Valor” this week. I remember hearing about it last year, but never added it to my to-read […]
RichC | October 8, 2021
Although my interest in productivity in running a business has waned a bit now that I’m no longer aggressively working or growing a small business, I still have curiosity when it comes to the direction things are going. I’ve read Christopher Mims “tech writing” for a few years now as he contributes regularly to the […]
RichC | July 27, 2021
As a longtime subscriber to the Wall Street Journal (and for the last decade or so Barron’s), I’ve learned to appreciate certain journalists, economists and opinion piece writers like Jason Riley at the Manhattan Institute. When he told the inspiring story of Thomas Sowell for PragerU, I quickly viewed the video and applauded – well […]
RichC | July 14, 2021
Progress has been slow in my latest nightly book reading, in part due to being wiped-out by full days with our granddaughters last week and more recently watching a few episodes each night of an old 1965-1971 sitcom called Hogan’s Heroes (mention once before). So for a update on reading Operation Pedestal by Max Hastings, “I […]
RichC | July 7, 2021
One of the segments from the Wall Street Journal that I especially enjoy are the book reviews … or the “bookshelf.” I’m always intrigued by the history selections and the review on Stephen Walker’s book “Beyond” was no exception. It so happened that it is also a WSJ+ “free book club read” for the month […]
RichC | June 4, 2021
The Joanna Sterns review in the WSJ about the new Apple iMac highlighted a few plus and minus points last month … and started me thinking about a desktop computer replacement. It is difficult to imagine spending $2000 again to replace my aging late 2012 iMac 27” model, especially since I run a dual monitor […]
RichC | May 22, 2021
Audiobooks and eBooks are some of the perks that come with being a long time Wall Street Journal subscriber. This WSJ+ membership includes early pre-production copies and likely word-of-mouth publicity marketing associated with giving away free “controlled” copies of books. I say controlled because readers do not really own the books, but are granted the […]
RichC | April 6, 2021
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 pressure politicians and corporations. Just as with the tactics used by BLM, Antifa and “woke” groups using racism, […]
RichC | March 18, 2021
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 aren’t as secure or as tax friendly to live in, especially on the east […]
RichC | July 24, 2020
As a start up, doing business with big company in order to boost sales and visibility can be a great way to grow a business. Unfortunately it can also be cut-throat and the smaller companies can and are taken advantage of. It is not new, but but in the fast-paced and highly competitive technology world, […]
RichC | April 22, 2020
The Coronavirus is doing what environmentalists and anti-fossil fuel advocates have only dreamed of doing … killing the petroleum industry. There is so little demand for crude oil that “Producers must pay buyers $37.63 a barrel” to refine their product. There is no place to store it as companies who explore and drill are dead […]
RichC | March 10, 2020
The “old school” razor sharpening animated GIF below has NOTHING to do with my emotional state after stomaching Monday’s stock market crash and “oil war” between Russia and Saudi Arabia … so don’t read anything into my poor attempt at humor. After watching the DOW drop over 2158 points and seeing the index close just […]
RichC | February 25, 2020
It is shocking to see the “rock-star welcome” (or thumbs down reception in socialist leaning countries) that “recent” American presidents get when they are overseas. I said “recent American presidents” in respect for the popularity President Obama had when traveling in the leaning countries of Europe; he was seen as tilting the U.S. to the […]
RichC | January 29, 2020
Read an outstanding article in the WSJ this past week as the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) continues to spread and take lives. It is currently a China-based virus that likely stems from bats that mutate and spread through other mammals. Efforts are being made in China to prevent spreading within their country, but with travel and […]
RichC | January 6, 2020
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RichC | September 27, 2019
An interesting article this past week’s Wall Street Journal detailed the "distraction" and "attraction" boys seem to have with video games in comparison to girls. Vice versa, girls are far more attracted to social networking (big surprise) on their devices, but are better at juggling their time. I suspect this is just a new twist […]
RichC | September 2, 2019
All too often lately I’m reminded that the memories I have as a boy growing up are seen as being from “the olden days.” An article in this past month’s WSJ highlighted the beloved Gordon Lightfoot, a Canadian folk singer and songwriter who’s work spans many decades. His music was enjoyed and listened to by […]
RichC | August 11, 2019
As the cost of education, health care, cars, etc. goes up, it should be no surprise our financing habits change in order to pay for priorities like higher education … or luxuries like newer and more reliable cars. Paying for semi-essentials is significantly more expensive than in the past and we now extend paying for […]
RichC | July 8, 2019
As a newspaper oriented guy from years ago, I have a soft spot for ink on paper and digital journalism (started as local newspaper photog when in high school and worked for Knight Ridder in the 1980s). Even my eventual career path followed from what I learned working for newspaper companies. But as a subscriber, […]
RichC | June 16, 2019
My good friend Jeff Pitts, a network and IT expert, and most recently IT cybersecurity expert, constantly update me with the latest threats to computer servers. He manages the computers and networks for a Cincinnati-based international company that is constantly under bombardment from hackers. Most of the attacks are directly from China and according to […]
RichC | March 3, 2019
But before the “six degrees of separation” reference (see below), how do you stack up to the WSJ survey of “workers benefiting from a strong U.S. labor market?” One thing that seems to remain consistent over the years is that an education benefits you when it comes to jobs and compensation in the long haul, […]
RichC | February 27, 2019
As far as news goes, one would think that the biggest news of the day would be a second summit meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump. It was only two short years ago that “little Rocket Man” was firing missiles over Japan and testing his nuclear weapons … and […]
RichC | February 4, 2019
While chatting with my son Taylor over the weekend about the terrible news regarding the killing of a law enforcement officer in the county where he works (depressing), we discussed his career options again. His job is currently to his liking, but the challenge and opportunity for advancement and salary improvement is dependent on seniority […]
RichC | November 13, 2018
After Monday’s selloff (see below), what lies ahead for the U.S. economy? That thought has some of seriously thinking the next economic downturn could come sooner rather than as expected … later. The sell off … "again" … has me wondering if we are prepared for the next recession? Is the U.S., or the world, […]
RichC | November 2, 2018
As the positive economy in the U.S. continues to grow America out of the "great recession" and rebound off the slow growth Obama years, we are seeing signs of inflation, hopefully just the right amount. Wages are rising and businesses sense they have pricing power and can raise prices (their cost are up too). Consumers […]
RichC | October 30, 2018
October is indeed a "scary" month for investors who are still hoping the bull market is not over … and perhaps just slowing? Earning for the most part are still good, interest rates aren’t "scary" high and the economy seems to be chugging along. Most who want work are finding jobs and employers are complaining […]
RichC | August 31, 2018
Tech news this week highlighted Yahoo and AOL brand email services. There are still plenty of users still using them and unknowingly being spied on (including me since I still use Yahoo for "junk" mail — I started with AOL & Yahoo in the early 1990s kept the simple rdc2@ addresses). The search algorithms and […]