With all the carnage [neighbors cutting down trees] in recent weeks, the privacy that I use to enjoy in my back yard has been greatly reduced. Admittedly I have contributed to the destruction to a lessor extent but I plan to redeem myself a little bit by planting at least one tree near the property line in order to get some privacy back.
So I'm trying to decide what type of tree(s) I should purchase for planting. I'm really considering evergreens because of the screening that they would provide. The second type that I'm considering is an ornamental variety so they won't grow to large and overhang the house thus becoming a potential hazard.
I will need to take the cost into consideration as finances this year have been challenging.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The new bike
My son decided that he wanted a new bike. So badly did he want this new bike he was willing to raid his savings account to purchase it. His old bike is [we still have it] a mountain bike. Nothing special. It cost about $125.00 at Meijer about three years ago.
He got the itch for a new bike while riding with some buddies. Of course they had pretty nice road bikes that flew down the street. So off to shop for a road bike we went. We were thinking of spending between $300 and $400 but none of the bike shops had a road bike in that range. After some conversation we were shown a Jamis "street" bike. The handle bars are similar to a mountain bike but the wheels are pretty skinny like a road bike.
We took it for a test ride. First him then me. It rode very nice and the components worked well. But the cost was about $200 more than he had hoped to pay. I agreed to float him a loan for the $200 extra that was needed to make the purchase. The benefit to me is now he will ride the bike to his high school soccer practice with his friends and I won't need to fire up the car's engine and create more CO2.
He got the itch for a new bike while riding with some buddies. Of course they had pretty nice road bikes that flew down the street. So off to shop for a road bike we went. We were thinking of spending between $300 and $400 but none of the bike shops had a road bike in that range. After some conversation we were shown a Jamis "street" bike. The handle bars are similar to a mountain bike but the wheels are pretty skinny like a road bike.
We took it for a test ride. First him then me. It rode very nice and the components worked well. But the cost was about $200 more than he had hoped to pay. I agreed to float him a loan for the $200 extra that was needed to make the purchase. The benefit to me is now he will ride the bike to his high school soccer practice with his friends and I won't need to fire up the car's engine and create more CO2.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Yard work guilt
On Saturday I spent several hours mowing, cutting up a fallen tree and pruning several other trees on my property. As I was working in the back of my mind I was feeling guilty. Not for cutting up the fallen tree [it had fallen during a storm last fall but it was out of site out of mind]. Guilty because of the pruning, which would have little impact on the planet's greenhouse gas levels, and because the pruning turned into the act of cutting down a small tree. As you may know when a tree is cut down all the CO2 that it had been storing is returned, over time, to the atmosphere.
The tree was technically on my neighbor's property but 99% of it over hung my property and it was going to overhang my house if I let it continue to grow. In addition to the small tree I trimmed several trees whose branches hung low to the ground. The yard looks better but is that Mother Nature glaring down on me? Am I a hypocrite?
The tree was technically on my neighbor's property but 99% of it over hung my property and it was going to overhang my house if I let it continue to grow. In addition to the small tree I trimmed several trees whose branches hung low to the ground. The yard looks better but is that Mother Nature glaring down on me? Am I a hypocrite?
Monday, August 04, 2008
The high cost of gas = physically fit
Two of my childhood friends stopped by my house over the weekend. As we caught up on each others lives Tom said that he was losing quite a bit of weight. He attributed the weight lose to riding his bike more.
I asked him why he was riding more. Thinking that there was an environmental angle to follow. I was right. He said he was trying to save money because of the high cost of gas and the additional benefit was shedding some poundage.
Coincidentally I have working on a thesis that basically amounts to the high gas prices are an opportunity for Americans to not only become better stewards of Mother Earth's assets but for us to become a healthier nation buy doing more walking and bicycle riding.
I asked him why he was riding more. Thinking that there was an environmental angle to follow. I was right. He said he was trying to save money because of the high cost of gas and the additional benefit was shedding some poundage.
Coincidentally I have working on a thesis that basically amounts to the high gas prices are an opportunity for Americans to not only become better stewards of Mother Earth's assets but for us to become a healthier nation buy doing more walking and bicycle riding.
Entrecard's toolbar for Firefox
I saw the post from Entrecard today regarding their new toolbar for Firefox. So I thought that I would give it a try.
First of all you need Firefox version 3. Luckily I had upgraded last month. The install was quick, as usual for a Firefox plugin, and required a reboot of Firefox. I logged into Entrecard right from the toolbar and started visiting blogs from my Inbox. I think this will speed up my dropping quite a bit.
My current credits and drops are shown next to my blog's name. I can switch between blogs by just picking from a drop down.
My assessment: Wow! Great job guys!
First of all you need Firefox version 3. Luckily I had upgraded last month. The install was quick, as usual for a Firefox plugin, and required a reboot of Firefox. I logged into Entrecard right from the toolbar and started visiting blogs from my Inbox. I think this will speed up my dropping quite a bit.
My current credits and drops are shown next to my blog's name. I can switch between blogs by just picking from a drop down.
My assessment: Wow! Great job guys!
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