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4 row(s) meet your search criteria for July , 2004.

Overrun by Foreigners - July 30, 2004

Once upon a time, our land was populated with a singular race of fescue, lovingly nurtured with chemical stimulants, automated watering, periodic aeration, and sharp mulching blades. The lush deep green carpet was a beautiful landscape of soft consistent dark shades of green. But there was trouble ahead. The vast greenery required constant cutting - twice weekly during the summer. The time, effort and sheer mileage for mowage forced the task into a chore mode. As the seasons went by, the scourge of Oregon spring rains and a faulty grade conspired against us resulting in a grassy, mud bog.

The solution was concrete - yards of hard, stamped, colored concrete. Commercial "sandy loam" was backbreakingly brought in to resolve the soil to patio transition, and a store bought mix of "quality" fescue was spread. The bog was erased along with 500 square feet of grass and half of zone 1 of the carefully computer designed sprinklers. Certain sprinkler heads were capped, and some heads quickly repositioned to water grass, and not patio.

In time, the new grass filled in, but dry spots emerged. The original anal sprinkler design combined with the repositioned heads had gaps, and required manual intervention during the long hot days in the dead of summer.

More time goes by and new planter beds are built, peripheral planter beds are expanded, more lawn is removed, and sprinkler heads repositioned. And more dry spots emerge. Soon the manual watering time is eating into our personal time, and becomes a low spot on the priority list.

Our constant companion during mowing sessions, the European crane fly. A rather large flying insect that resembles a mosquito, the fly neither bites nor feeds. It's short life is consumed with mating and laying eggs in the lawn.

It's the egg part that causes the problem. When they hatch, the larvae feed on the root systems of grass, causing brown patches and weakening the structure of the lawn.

Then come the intruders. Drifting on the wings of cool breezes, or riding shotgun on the myriad of stray pets and wild birds come the evil seeds of our discontent: foreign grass. They start innocently enough, but soon infiltrate into the very heart of the lawn. Their proliferation is easily ignored, as a vigorous and healthy lawn can combat the intruders. But alas, the society of fescue had been neglected, and the foreigners began to undermine the fundamental society of our lawn.

Seemingly overnight, the foreigners have taken over the environment. What was once an consistent rich soft carpet of beautiful green grass was now a hard patchwork of textures and colors ranging from green to brown. Sitting on the grass seemed like an itchy version of the concrete, and something had to be done.

Fresh off a reading of a book on lawncare, Marie decided that the first step was to rid the property of foreign grass, which would allow the local grass to thrive. Armed with a lethal Roundup cocktail, she began to serve the foreigners.

The only problem was that there was so much foreign grass, she couldn't identify the locals.

So she took the approach of the military: "Kill em All". She was very effective.

For two months now, we've had a dead lawn.

But this weekend, the grass (albeit dead) will be removed.

Monday is going to be one of those "oh my aching back" days.

But soon, sprinklers will be redesigned for effective coverage. In September/October, the grade will be adjusted with a new injection of fresh soil and amendments. And a new lawn will emerge. Seed or sod is not yet known at this point. Sod gives the immediate satisfaction of dirt one day, grass the next - but it expensive. Seed can give a healthier lawn, but requries great care and attention to get established.

I am looking forward to the beautiful lush soft green carpet again. I just hope we can keep up with it to keep it that way.

#  | 12:14 PM |  Comments Closed (0)  |  (Tags: House)

I've Beat the Heat - Now I Can Sleep - July 22, 2004

It's been pretty hot here, pushing into the mid-90's. That may not seem too bad for you desert dwellers and Californians, but for an Oregonian, specifically a Willamette Valley dweller - that's pretty hot. With upstairs bedrooms, an undersized A/C, and all too efficient home insulation combine to make nighttime sleeping more difficult. I've even resorted to sleeping on the couch downstairs a couple of times because it's so hot up there.

The air conditioner we installed a couple of years ago does keep the house relatively cool during the day downstairs. With the thermostat downstairs, the temperature upstairs is ignored, making it a good 5-10 degrees warmer.

At night, I find it silly to run the air conditioner when the outside temp drops to below the thermostat setting (nighttime lows are in the upper 50s to lower 60s). Opening windows is ok, and by morning the house can be quite cool. But at bedtime, the nightly breezes are not strong enough, or not blowing in the right direction to make a difference. Table top fans are noisy, and there is only one of us that likes the blowing wind on them - me, so that's out.

Picture of Fan

So I installed a "Whole House Fan" (30", belt drive, 5700cfm). The fan installs in the ceiling and sucks air from the house, into the attic. Ideally, you run it when the temperature outside falls below your inside temperature, with a few windows open. It sucks the air from outside in, the air in the house is blown to the attic, and out through the roof vents.

After having it working for a few days, I can say that I'm very happy with the results. About 6 or 7pm we turn off the A/C, turn on the fan and open a few windows. Standing by a window you can physically feel the cool outside air coming in. After less than an hour, the upstairs temperature has dropped 5-10 degrees, and sleeping upstairs is no longer an issue. It's even to the point where the blanket and sheet are actually used rather than discarded at my feet. It is not the quietest thing - although if we had to you could sleep through it - but we only keep it on for a few hours and the whole house is significantly cooled off.

I wouldn't say that installation was a snap, nor was it particularly difficult or required any special tools. I took my time and made sure that I got it right. I spent lots of time in the attic, lots of time balancing on the upstairs landing banister leaning over a 20ft drop, and lots of time with my arms over my head - none of which are very pleasant, and sometimes downright frightening.

The only thing I didn't do quite right was buy the right size attic joist replacements - I just bought 2x4s initially. When I looked up there, I knew I needed bigger, so I went back and bought 2x6's. Only when I went to measure did I realized I had 2x8 joists up there! DOH! With only 4 or 5 trips back to the home store for more supplies, I built the frame, tapped into the smoke detector power connection, bought a replacement ceiling fan switch with the pull chain (instead of the two position wall switch), and WHOOSH - it works! Love it!

I've beat the heat, now if we could only get the kids to sleep earlier.....

#  | 02:07 PM |  Comments Closed (0)  |  (Tags: General)

TV My Way - What Would You Choose, If You Could? - July 14, 2004

Kehaar, one of the guys at Silflay Hraka was discussing an article on Wired about the debate in congress over allowing a la carte channel selection for cable TV.

Several lawmakers, including Sen. (Editor's Note: a.k.a. future President) John McCain (R-Arizona), already support mandated "a la carte" carriage. Under such a system, people could pick only the few channels they want rather than have to buy large "tiers" of cable programming that include 70 or 80 channels.

Kehaar could only name 11 channels that he'd pick up. For me, a professional couch potato and expert with the remote control, I'd need more. I like to discover programming that would not have otherwise found through program guides. If I had to make choices, here's my list, not in any order of preference, and not including "over the air" broadcasters (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, WB, UPN):

  1. News Channels: CNN, Headline, Fox News, MSNBC - I would have them simply for breaking news. I get most of my news from the Internet, but with major news stories, it's good to have them available.
  2. Sports Channels: Fox, ESPN, ESPN2 - Again, most of my sports news comes from the internet, but each of these three offers some "infotainment" options that are good to watch. And it's football season coming up so NFL Countdown and NFL Primetime are required watching.
  3. Documentary Channels: Discovery, History, TLC, A&E, Food, Travel, Wings* - These are the channels where I "discover" programming, and usually learn something. But I wish that TLC would drop 90% of the "Trading Spaces" and it's offspring from the lineup.
  4. Entertainment Channels: Comedy Central, VH1, E! - For when I don't want to learn something. Simply mind candy.
  5. Movies 'n Stuff: FX, TNT, TBS, Spike, USA, Sci Fi, AMC - Mostly for the movies, although Nip/Tuck on Fx is quickly becoming a "must watch", and the Powerblock on the weekends is fun. But I think less "Star Trek" would also be an improvement.

I like the idea that I could pick/choose the channels I want, and if it was less expensive that would be good too. Essentially, I'm already doing the first part. I have lots of channels programmed out of my TV, so surfing I only skim through the channels where there is some possibility of finding something of interest. I think the possibility of a la carte programming costing the consumers less money is remote, as the cable companies would have to invest in technology to make the option available, and I doubt most people would take the time to peruse the channel offerings, and make choices based on 32 cents for this channel, 10 cents for that channel, etc.

Plus, by making hard choices, I would miss things that I stumble upon on the other channels I don't normally look at. CSPAN for example sometimes does have some interesting things. During the Reagan funerals, it was nice not to have to listen to the network talking heads. They simply showed the scene with no commentary. Sometimes they also show speeches from events that I would never choose to watch, but become nonetheless, become interesting to me.

And we can't forget about the shows on Univision. I don't speak Spanish so I can't understand a word. But there isn't an english speaking channel in my lineup that parades beautiful women around so prodigiously. And beauty needs no translation.

* - I don't get Wings now, but would love to if I could get it without Comcast's "digital" offering.

#  | 10:46 AM |  Comments Closed (0)  |  (Tags: Tv)

20 Questions Personality - July 01, 2004

The title of this quiz says "20 Questions to a Better Personality." I'm not sure how it creates a better personality, but I found it an interesting test, and pretty accurate results.

You are a WRCL--Wacky Rational Constructive Leader. This makes you a golden god. People gravitate to you, and you make them feel good. You are smart, charismatic, and interesting. You may be too sensitive to others reactions, especially criticism. Your self-opinion and mood depends greatly on those around you.

You think fast and have a smart mouth, is a hoot to your friends and razorwire to your enemies. You hold a grudge like a brass ring. You crackle.

Although you have a leader's personality, you often choose not to lead, as leaders stray too far from their audience. You probably weren't very popular in high school--the joke's on them!

You may be a rock star.

The only thing I disagree with is the "grudge" thing. I don't really think I hold grudges. I can barely remember what was for lunch.

#  | 05:47 PM |  Comments Closed (0)  |  (Tags: Web-Assignment)