My Desultory Blog

The highly anticipated Facebook IPO was priced right for day 1

RichC — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:58:52 +0000

Facebook made it stock market debut today with a $5 move from the $38 IPO price to above $42/share and then kind of drifted back to close the day at $38.23. There was plenty of interest. Lots of hype and even a NASDAQ snag to prevent an on time opening this morning. For employees of [...]

Rally Sign? Market Most Oversold Since Financial Crisis

RichC — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:29:53 +0000

CNBC.com Article: Stocks are at their most oversold levels since the doom days of the financial crisis and bound for a rally, according to one measure. Full Story:http://www.cnbc.com/id/47473723 Posted via email from RichC’s posterous

Dependence on government and the value of a dollar

RichC — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:35:32 +0000

As a country, a nation and a generous people … we are heading down the wrong path when assistance programs fail to teach the value of a dollar [insert joke here about the “value” of a dollar] and instead teaches the next generation dependence on government. “Over the last four decades, our government has quietly [...]

Facebook priced at $38/share as investors head for Treasuries

RichC — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:12:42 +0000

Stock market heads down again as investors and traders head for the sidelines and U.S. Treasuries, which by the way are hitting all time lows. In fact the 10-year note closed at 1.70% yield … a record low yield for the security of U.S. notes. On the other hand the much anticipated Facebook IPO (FB) [...]

U.S. Markets are not as bad as they seem

RichC — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:19:00 +0000

Just my opinion, but the “social” disease that infected Greece, Spain, Portugal and other European states should not be impacting markets in the U.S. in the way that they are. Sure we have our major issues when it comes to be fiscally responsible all the way around: corporate governance, banking and housing, personal spending and [...]

Archiving: Friends Mark and Dar had their cushions recovered

RichC — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:51:00 +0000

Very nice job … I’m going to have to get the name of the boat upholstery shop. click for larger images

A long drive with rain off and on– I26 & I40 were beautiful

RichC — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:14:00 +0000

Headed home after a quick few days with Taylor and his friends on the boat. Project were minimal but we had a great time and had some interesting stories – the one about “Rick” would have any parent giving a lecture (ah … memories). Surprisingly I found the time comfortable on the boat even [...]

Sailboat repairs and How-To questions

RichC — Sun, 13 May 2012 21:00:00 +0000

In keeping with my sailboat repairs theme, I removed one of the Spinlock line clamps thinking I might be able to order parts and repair at home. Unfortunately getting the bolts out and permanent bonding materials to let go was another issue. I did finally get the cam lock off. I’m also reworking some of [...]

Happy Mother’s Day to Brenda (Taylor’s mom) and my mom

RichC — Sun, 13 May 2012 17:58:18 +0000

Mom, from the time I was really young, I realized I had someone…you, who always cared, who always protected me, who was always there for me no matter what. You taught me right from wrong, and pushed me to do the right thing, even when it was hard to do. You took care of me [...]

Joe Murray’s Ohio Piper Cub flight

RichC — Sun, 13 May 2012 14:30:17 +0000

Archiving and supporting a aviation article with Ohio connections – as in connecting airports: KSU professor to attempt to land antique aircraft in each of Ohio’s 88 counties – Local – Ohio Posted via email from RichC’s posterous

Parts, repair, replacement for Spinlock line clutches

RichC — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:02:00 +0000

As with older boats (and newer), parts age and eventually fail. I have 4 sets of duel Spinlock line clutches that are used all the time and the levers are breaking. One was broken when I bought the boat and one broke yesterday. I’m now down to deciding which lines I want clutched or [...]

Mom’s out of surgery but a bit groggy

RichC — Sun, 13 May 2012 02:44:13 +0000

My mom’s surgery went semi-okay today. The surgeon indicated that he was able to relieve pressure on the spinal cord and nerves, but unfortunately with the infected tissue (and possibly bone) they were unable to “cement” the vertebrae fractures. Long term this will be a problem but can’t be repaired until infection is gone. She [...]

Spinal Decompression surgery and a few days on the boat

RichC — Sat, 12 May 2012 04:01:00 +0000

I’ll start off with the stressful update that my mom will be going in for spinal decompression surgery at OSU Wexler Medical Center on Saturday … and that I won’t be there. Her doctors are cautious, but confident that they will be able to relieve pain by eliminating pressure the nerve bundles and spinal cord [...]

Taylor and a couple friends made a spontaneous trip to the boat

RichC — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:20:00 +0000

A couple of Taylor’s friends were over after their college graduations and while pondering life’s next big moment, decided within and hour to hop in the car and drive 16 hours down to the boat. I hope this isn’t the happiest you’ll see them as the marine forecast is for a bit more wind and [...]

Off to Columbus to settle mom into the hospital

RichC — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:01:00 +0000

Posting a personal update today as we are dealing with doctoring issues for my mom. She has been suffering with a lot of pain and various testing for several … way too many … months. On Monday, the OSU neurosurgeons reviewed my mom’s case, consulted each other over last weeks CT scans of her spine [...]

Outstanding hypermiling in a 2012 VW Passat TDI

RichC — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:13:30 +0000

Thought I would post some impressive VW Passat TDI clean diesel numbers … John and Helen Taylor – Volkswagen calls them "mileage experts" and "the world's most fuel efficient couple" – recently drove a stock 2012 Passat TDI SE all the way from Houston, TX to Sterling, VA without refueling. That's 1,626.1 miles from just 19.3 gallons. [...]

Cheap protection for the back of an iPad

RichC — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:45:00 +0000

I couldn’t resist spending $3.35 on a plastic snap on slim fit back at Amazon to put on my iPad. I’ve be semi-pleased with the non-skid surface (not sticky) when holding the tablet for reading outside the case and now no long cringe when the aluminum back slides on a rough surface. For just a [...]

Interesting rooftop photos …

RichC — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:03:36 +0000

Check eleven of them out on Slate’s slideshow: http://tinyurl.com/6vqlj9m Posted via email from RichC’s posterous

Archive: Triggering a Christian’s everyday mindset

RichC — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:46:07 +0000

Christ calls us to be “fishers of men” not just “keepers of the aquarium.” Be bold today. Share the gospel in your deeds AND words. Posted via email from RichC’s posterous

How common to Ohio is the common five-lined skink?

RichC — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:45:00 +0000

I’ve spent quite a few hours/years out in our yard working around, but today was the first I’ve ever noticed a tiny green lizard zipping around the foundation of our house. I’ve seen hundreds of little skinks in Florida, but haven’t notice many around our house. At first I though one must have hitched a [...]

Supermoon and a green pool on Cinco de Mayo

RichC — Sun, 06 May 2012 02:53:24 +0000

A late in the evening couple of photos to mark Cinco de Mayo. First, the warm winter and spring … and late opening of the pool for us … gave a bit more growth to the pool water than what I find inviting. Yuck. But it has already improved with a little cleaning, pumping [...]

The feeding and trapping of “Chubby” my car mouse

RichC — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:16:00 +0000

I was busy driving to and fro this week and had my usual granola bars and peanuts in the center console. Unbeknownst to me, I picked up a traveler … probably while in New York opening up my father-in-law’s barn for the season. I left the rear hatch open on my Honda Pilot while accessing [...]

My sailing friends know how to be thankful

RichC — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:47:57 +0000

I received a needed lesson in blessings and being thankful today. My sailing friends Mark and Judy Handley have been sharing their daily lives online for many years while cruising around the world. Their circumnavigation ended over a year ago, but Judy continues to document their return to a “somewhat” more normal life. Unfortunately this [...]

Volkswagen concept car in China

RichC — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:48:33 +0000

My friend Scott (@sbilik) tweeted me this excellent "Volkswagen concept car in China" video this morning. Although I can’t understand the audio, it was well done and something I think many my age thought might be a reality in our lifetime.

Anarchists had multiple targets in northeast Ohio

RichC — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:19:02 +0000

Traveling through NE Ohio today, I had thought about driving across route 82 this morning … but hearing the news that anarchist planned to blow up had me rethinking my route (not that there was really any danger — thank you FBI). I’ve often thought, that just as with the “interstate snipers” from a few [...]

Do I wait for the VW TDI Alltrack?

RichC — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:08:14 +0000

Posted via email from RichC’s posterous

The future for diesel powered cars in the U.S. is promising

RichC — Tue, 01 May 2012 02:42:30 +0000

Interesting article with perhaps a slightly bias option … but in an article today Bosch projects that by 2015 one in ten new cars sold in the U.S. will be powered by a diesel engine. … data from CNW Research says that with greater awareness of new clean diesels, and a lower cost premium for [...]

Novus Fine Scratch Remover for headlights

RichC — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:22:55 +0000

Since my daughter is home this weekend, I did a few items of maintenance on her 2001 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. After replacing a headlight I thought I’d using a little plastic scratch remover on the yellow and hazy lenses. For $5.99 and a little elbow grease they polished up nicely — so much for the [...]

Losing your smartphone, e-reader, tablet or notebook computer

RichC — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Airlines say they are warehousing hundreds of iPads and other tablet computers and e-readers left behind by travelers. Carriers try to reunite the devices with their owners but are often thwarted by the lack of ID tags, password protection and Apple Inc.’s reluctance to track down owners based on serial numbers. – WSJ Scott [...]

Tech Friday: A test drive of Google Drive

RichC — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:48:57 +0000

Against my TOS reservations, I installed the PC version of Google Drive on my notebook computer. So far from what I can see – for storage — it’s not all that different from Sugarsync that I used for a couple years and my regularly used Dropbox installation (still preferred at this time). I had thought [...]