You may think that I was AWOL last week, having not posted anything since October 3. Actually, I have been extremely busy. At the beginning of last week, I was at the ATA (American Teleservices Association) convention in New Orleans. It was a great convention, but the preparation for the trip, the travel, and the […]
When I went to my bank last week, there was a commotion at the car wash next door. A number of trucks were parked haphazardly around the building and a couple of fire trucks were along side. The folks at the bank confirmed there had been a fire. Apparently, someone had carelessly flung a cigarette. […]
I have long maintained—and increasingly so—that my body does not comply with the “normal” 24-hour sleep cycle. Among the random press releases, I received today is confirmation that sleep cycle deviations can occur and that one enzyme may be the central culprit. Although I find this only semi-comprehensible, I nonetheless find it interesting: Central Gears […]
After my Friday blog about our local drought, I was in for a pleasant surprise. The light mist that evening resulted in two-tenths of an inch of rain overnight, which was quite substantial given the scant precipitation the prior six weeks. However, Saturday morning brought a deluge of another 1.6 inches in a couple of […]
In the last six weeks, we’ve only received about three-quarters of an inch of rain. That is about one-tenth of what we would normally enjoy this time of year. The crops are suffering and the lawns don’t look so good either. That means I’ve been doing a lot of sprinkling, dragging hoses around my yard on […]
Two weeks ago, we (my bride and I) helped children Dan and Kelli move from their apartment to their house. They moved a couple carloads the night before and I rented a truck, first to move their items from our house and then to move the furniture from their apartment. Kelli’s family brought a truckload […]
We’ve had an influx of mole activity in recent days. Perhaps the dry weather has something to do with it. I wouldn’t mind if not for the mounds of dirt they make throughout the lawn. Over the years, I’ve tried various means of “encouraging” them to go elsewhere—such as to my neighbors’ yard. One such recommendation was to […]
Over the past month, its been quite dry here, during which time we have accumulated less than a half of inch of rain. As such, I have been spending more time than usual watering my lawn, dragging hoses around every hour or so in an effort to keep in green. An interesting side effect of […]
The numerous Maple tress and Blue Spruce in our yard provide ample and ideal nesting sites for various varieties of birds. Most noticeable are the Robins. This is because they throw a fit if you get anywhere close to their nest. Sometimes they fly full speed, straight at your head, veering off at the last moment. I’m […]
Today it was a tad hot in southern Michigan, surpassing the 100-degree mark at my house. (For the record, I have a digital thermometer that is mounted in the shade.) In these parts, it is not unheard of to hit 100 at some point during the summer; however, those records are typically reached in August or […]