The other day, we went to the cluster of big-box stores over on Barrington Road where many of our simple needs may be met: Home Despot, Staples, and up until 2 years ago when Stuey died, pet supplies at PetSmart. David had some errands to run at the other stores, and I decided to loiter with intent at the PetSmart, where I knew there would be some cats in their Adoption Center. Last weekend’s visit to a similar pet place near our hotel in Salt Lake started up a powerful hankering; it had been nearly two years since I’d even…
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It’s the end of another weekend, and in spite of my usual practice, it was actually a productive one, and I’m pretty happy about that. I’m just not that motivated (or organized) a person as a general rule, but now and then even I can actually get something done around here. Yesterday was one of the exceptions to the Rule of Saturday; normally, I spend the first few hours of the first morning of the weekend in bed, listening to NPR’s Saturday Edition, and then to Car Talk, and then to WWDTM. Possibly also to “Whaddya Know.” By then, it’s…
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So, week of vacation at home, day two. Where to start? Well, I got up earlier this morning. That was good and boded well. I fixed some tea (Twinings English Breakfast, and I’ll need more to get through the week) and had rather a lot of toast. Kind of on the Douglas Adams model of procrastinating, except that where he took serial baths, I made, um, more than two slices of toast. With butter and Vegit. Some time later, I wandered out to the garage and swept it out a little, looking over our junk and figuring out what can…
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Yes, that’s David’s new car, a Ford Escape Hybrid. We just drove it home from Woodfield Ford, and frankly, we’re in shock. In a good way. Because we got a good deal and we didn’t have to wait weeks and weeks and weeks for delivery, like some new hybrid owners. First off, what’s a hybrid? It’s a partly gas-powered, partly battery powered car. There’s different kinds of technology involved; this particular vehicle has what’s called a “first generation” power plant. The Ford site explains how it works We weren’t planning on driving the demo car off the lot, but that’s…
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Here are some tips for those ready to begin research into whether this is the car for them. Personal research is all-important because many Ford dealer salespeople are not knowledgable about the FEH. Learn everything you can learn from the ‘official’ hybrid vehicle manufacturer websites such as the Ford Hybrid, Toyota, and Honda websites. This will give you a bit of understanding about what a hybrid is and some assorted terminology. Using browser search tools, find online discussion groups and join in the chatter. There is a wealth of positive and negative information from real people. Note: one of the…
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What a lovely day… well, now it is. The sun is shining. However, last night we got about 5 or 6 inches dumped on us so this morning I had to use the snow blower to get out of the driveway. David couldn’t do it because he had to get out quickly to get to an early meeting, and he’s got all-wheel drive. But I, in my trusty little Corolla stick, did not have the luxury or the horsepower to plow through the heavy wet snow at the bottom of the drive without firing up the snowblower first. It’s one…
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It was cold the other night, we built a fire. Note to self: the damper is open if the handle is pointing TOWARD the window.
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I had noticed, in that vague not-noticing way, that there seemed to be a strip of green grass showing in the back yard, right along the drainage line when I glanced out the kitchen window this morning. It was ruler-straight, which I assumed was because it followed the line of drainage. Water, least resistance, and so on. About half an hour ago, after a half-day off spent blogging and so on in the Lair o’ Computers, I again looked out the kitchen window and noticed that there are tire tracks visible in the bare strip of lawn (in this area,…
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No need to water the lawn or shrubs for at least 3 days now. There was flooding in some areas; fortunately, not around here.
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BERLIN (Reuters) – A snarling Staffordshire terrier trapped a German railway worker at his post for hours and even bit through metal trying to elude capture, police say. We’re thinking about getting a dog next spring. Not this kind of dog, I’m thinking.