My Desultory Blog

An alligator/turtle relationship and an old Army airfield

RichC — Fri, 24 May 2013 11:03:00 +0000

Location: Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, Townsend, GA, USA Photographer: Mary Ellen Urbanski was at Bluebill Pond when she saw what she thought was an alligator sunning itself on a stump. On a side note and as an interest to aviation history buffs, the “now” Harris Neck NWR was once a WW2 Army airfield for [...]

Time to call Gary Gerber for lube and diesel oil advice

RichC — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:30:00 +0000

In keeping with a slow once-over on the new to me 1982 Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel, it looked as if the previous oil change was not a diesel specific oil … meaning that it wasn’t designed for the additional soot carrying and lubricating characteristics often associated with compression ignition engines. Along with needing EIGHT quarts [...]

The future is bright for science and super capacitors too

RichC — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:45:00 +0000

I love reading stories about bright young inventors exploring the world of science and remember with fondness the days of science fair projects. One that recently caught my eye was a scholarship winner from California who worked with super capacitors and is finding ways to improve electrical energy storage devices (as well as charging and [...]

Finally … we know how to pronounce GIF

RichC — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Steve Wilhite, father of the Graphics Interchange Format, has ended the heated debate on how to pronounce "GIF." LINK

Move along, nothing to see here.

RichC — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:12:45 +0000

Hmm, perhaps we are alone in having to make significant changes in our health care coverage this year … not to mention paying more for less? “If you already have health insurance through your job … nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change your coverage or your doctor. Let me [...]

Is there enough outrage over IRS targeting conservatives?

RichC — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:50:06 +0000

I’m sure that I’m not the only one hesitant to voice my thoughts about the IRS targeting conservative groups like the Tea Party and pondering the wisdom of even chiming in. Normally I favor the “keep quiet” approach and avoid even the thought of commenting on an agency with the power of the Internal Revenue [...]

A few more updates on the 1982 Mercedes 300D

RichC — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:01:00 +0000

Learning, learning, learning. After spending the weekend putting a few things back together on the old Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel, after taking too much off, it is back on the road again with four new rotors, brakes and both bearing and races pressed into the hubs. I’m waiting for a few new AC parts [...]

Major tornado damage in southern Oklahoma City

RichC — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:06:09 +0000

I’m not looking forward to watching the news tonight … my thoughts and prayers go out to those in the path of these deadly storms. USAToday LINK

Spina Bifida lip dub effort at Lakota East #wewantellen

RichC — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:58:35 +0000

My son mentioned a video produced by his alma mater, Lakota East High School, and after first thinking it was just another goofy video, I realized that the community and student body effort was a lot of work – I even watched it to the end as the music gets more appealing to those of [...]

Hard to beat photos of aircraft landing in St. Maartin

RichC — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:52:00 +0000

Great series of 13 photos from St. Maartin’s Princess Juliana International Airport on Weather.com this month where Maho Beach-goers get up close and personal with landing aircraft (one of many posted short videos below).

Removing too many parts from the Mercedes at one time

RichC — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:08:00 +0000

I’ve been taking too many things apart and not putting them back together fast enough, so before I go any further, I think I’ll put some new parts back on? (forgetting where all my parts are from and where they go) I’m okay with working on brakes, rotors and wheel bearing, although I’m having [...]

ISS Chris Hadfield’s photo “A New Dawn” last week

RichC — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:18:57 +0000

Excellent information on the “cost” behind 401Ks

admin — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:09:27 +0000

May 16, 2013 You could end up with a lot less savings at 65 than you ever anticipated because of fees charged by the financial institutions managing your retirement accounts. Robert Hiltonsmith, who researches retirement security, says those fees were disclosed to 401(k) plan participants until only recently. NPR AUDIO LINK

Archive: A video project for a Planning class by Taylor

RichC — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:59:13 +0000

As Taylor wrapped up his senior year in college and reviewed his posted grades for the last time, he read me his 20-some page capstone paper and showed me a video he did for another class. I enjoyed the history lesson …

A popular 1st music video from space – Col. Chris Hadfield

RichC — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:06:16 +0000

The first Canadian to walk in space, who also was the first Canadian to command the International Space Station, is now the first human to shoot a music video in space on his last day on the job.

Motley Fool Stock Advisor: The death of diesel …

RichC — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:33:00 +0000

A Motley Fool financial advisory email arrived in my email box this week which caught my eye with a subject line reading “The death of diesel.” While this seems to predict dire news for those of use who are advocates for compression ignition engines, I’ll paraphrase Mark Twain and say that announcement of diesels death [...]

Happy Birthday to Katelyn, my married daughter

RichC — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:55:11 +0000

Just saying “married” and seeing these photos is making me feel old! I’m posting a couple brother-sister photos from our family trip to Montana back in 1999 and this past weekend. That day was about Taylor so we purposely didn’t mention Katelyn’s upcoming birthday. This year, I won’t be seeing Katelyn for her birthday, but [...]

Learning to manually shutdown my old Mercedes diesel

RichC — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:48:52 +0000

EDIT: Still working the bugs out of the WordPress plug-in Postie (missing the text?) when it comes to including images and video via email from my iPhone and iPad. The above is a short test video demonstrating shutting down an idling 1982 Mercedes Benz 300DT 5-cylinder diesel using the manual shutoff under the hood.

A Miami University graduation milestone for Taylor

RichC — Sun, 12 May 2013 21:15:00 +0000

We proudly celebrated my son Taylor’s Miami University’s college graduation this weekend at Yager Stadium in Oxford Ohio and later with more family downtown Cincinnati for dinner. Brenda and I enjoyed seeing our son and his fellow college graduates in their caps and gowns enter the stadium, even if the weather was on the cooler [...]

Panorama of Miami Graduation (iPhone 5 attempt)

RichC — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:30:16 +0000

EDIT: Attempted an iPhone5 panorama photo on Saturday and assume the photo size was too larger for the limited Sprint 3G service?)

Tech Friday: Reusing my OLD Blue Snowball microphone

RichC — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:19:18 +0000

After almost throwing away my older version of the Blue Snowball microphone, I decided to plug the USB mic into my new iMac running OSX 10.8.3 … and to my surprise it worked great for a couple VOIP connections. For those of you familiar with this original USB mic, it was not supported with firmware [...]

Flying with frequent flyer miles

RichC — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:54:43 +0000

An article in Thursday’s WSJ highlighted airline loyalty programs and just how easy it was to book a frequent flyer seat. The data collected by Switchfly Inc, looked for 2 seats on 14 round trip dates between June and October. The regular survey determined which airline made it the easiest to get the seat when [...]

Removing the crusted on rear brake calipers and rotor/drums

RichC — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:30:00 +0000

I was up late Tuesday night taking apart the well crusted rear brakes on the new to me 31 year old Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel. It was a slower than usual process as the quality brakes were nearly down to metal to metal contact and so will require new rotor/drums as well as hoses and [...]

Happy Birthday to me – A Mercedes diesel is parked in my garage

RichC — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:18:00 +0000

Hmm … it looks like some kind of ancient diesel is parking in my garage? It has been a long time since I’ve looked at one of these beastly relics. (our last was an ‘87 MB 560SEL) The overall condition looks pretty good considering the old Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel is over 30 years old [...]

SiriusXM Jam_ON with Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers

RichC — Mon, 06 May 2013 21:54:30 +0000

I’ve posted a few Van Session links in the past and figured why not at a SiriusXM Jam_ON session recording a “Little Too Late.” It has been fun watching the Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers expand their audience last year as they toured the country. The “cream rises the top” and it is great to [...]

Desultory advice: Buy BIGGER bathroom bar soap

RichC — Sun, 05 May 2013 11:30:00 +0000

Once in a while the “post for the day” reaches desperation levels and inspiration comes to me in the shower … literally! So after reaching into the simpleton part of my brain – the majority of it, before I get a wise crack – a brilliant cheapskate idea for my eventual advice book crops up. [...]

Video: Jay Leno talks about the B-17

RichC — Sat, 04 May 2013 15:50:08 +0000

Jay Leno does a great job shooting automotive videos in between his real job duties (aka: The Tonight Show) and occasionally detours into subjects that interest many of us. His recognition for aviation history and those who fought for our country is appreciated … as is talking about the amazing B-17. Nice job. On a side note, I would love [...]

Looking good — well at least the bride and groom were!

RichC — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:01:12 +0000

The first 50 professional wedding photos from Shuey Mills Photography have trickled in to be reviewed. I know I’m not suppose to be sharing the previews, but can’t help myself and will include two, ok THREE since they are so good (but here were a few photos from our guests – thanks for sharing on [...]

Sprint continues to expand their LTE 4G footprint

RichC — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:09:32 +0000

Looks like there might be LTE service at the boat? The speedy expansion of Sprint’s LTE network continues with a total of 21 cities with speeds of 6 to 8Mbps with peaks of up to 25Mbps. Here’s the list of markets where Sprint will be offering LTE service: California: Los Angeles, Contra Costa County Florida:Palm [...]

A local connection in Discovery’s The Big Brain Theory

RichC — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:50:00 +0000

The Discovery Channel’s Big Brain Theory included one of our Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA284) chapter members as a competitor – Tom Johnson (@flyboytomj). The engineering reality show debuted with both teams failing in their challenge of protecting a box of explosives in a head-on collision. Even worse, the project management demonstrated by both teams left [...]