Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
Office OpenXML A Dead End, Microsoft Will Back ODF
During the LinuxWorld Expo in San Francisco, I met with Bob Sutor, IBM’s vice president of open source and standards. We discussed document standards and the implications of ISO’s controversial decision to grant fast-track approval to Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) format.
Top 10 Cell Phone Etiquette Rules People Still Break
Do we really still need to talk about this? You’d think with over a decade of experience under our belts along with our inherent delusions of hyper sophistication that we’d have figured things out by now. But the sad truth remains: cell-phone baggery is worse than ever!
What would happen if we each used 10% less gas?
For starters, we’d save billions of dollars and keep billions of tons of carbon dioxide out of the environment. So, on that note, support proper tire inflation, not off-shore drilling.
Leaves, Twigs, and Bark: Cheap Biofuel Alternatives?
It seems like new reports are practically coming out daily about the next great gasoline alternative— furfural, algae, and switchgrass, just to name a few. Now 3 more contenders have entered the ring: leaves, twigs, and bark.
Colorado Creating World’s First Fossil Fuel-Free Community
Called Geos, the 25-acre area will have 250 homes from smaller 850 square feet to mansion-sized 3,500+ square feet placed in four neighborhoods. While that’s a whole lot of houses, they’ll be keeping a whopping 40% of the area as green space.
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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
It has been pretty dry here lately. It just rained this morning, which is good, but up until that, we haven’t had any substantial rainfall in quite some time. I have been watching many plants wilt because of the dryness. The neighbors are getting used to the guy with no shirt standing out front with a hose in his hand.
I have had a few goals. One of them was to finish the rhododendron line across the front of the property. I have been looking at Home Depot for rhododendrons, but none can be found…anywhere. I guess they are a Spring time seller. I actually had to dig up and few that were already planted on the property and the ones I planted earlier in the season to finish the row. It’s done now, so that’s good.
I also wanted to plant some sort of a perimeter around the patio area near the basement doors. I decided to go with the Blue Prince Holly that I have been buying (it’s the only thing left), along with some that I planted earlier on. Earlier in the season, I had no plan and I was just sticking these things in the dirt. Now, at least I have a plan.
I did make a nice discovery yesterday. For a few months, I have been dismayed at the price of mulch around here. I used to pay $20 per yard at the other house. Here, these crooks are charging about $50 per yard. I need to get some of what they are smoking. It’s funny because when I call somewhere for a price, I always sense a little hesitancy in their voices as they tell me how much they charge. They know what they are doing.
I called the local hardware store and found out they sold mulch by the bag. They had 3lb bags of pine mulch for $4.49 per bag. I didn’t think that was too bad, since I just paid almost $5 per bag at Home Depot for that dyed junk. I stopped by the store and picked up 10 bags. That’s 30 cubic feet (a little over a yard) for about $45. I beat the system, you see. Now, I can go back and get 10 bags at a time only when I need them.
The mulch is very important, not only to me and my mulch addiction, but for the plants as well. The whole reason for the plants wilting is because the ground wasn’t holding in any of the moisture. I kept watering them, but the sunshine was just too strong. Now, since I mulched and gave each plant a nice soaking, I think the plants will grow nicely.
Mulched Colorado Blue Spruce
Rhododendrons in mulch.
The holly bushes really don’t need any mulch because the grass is nice and moist in the back yard.
Speaking of grass, I don’t know how I did it, but the back and side lawns are like a nice thick green carpet. I now mow the lawn on the highest level the mower will go and I think it made a difference. I also overseeded with the Vigoro Contractor’s Mix, so there is some good warm weather seed in there. The reason I mow with the higher setting now is because the grass I planted holds most of the water it absorbs in its leaves. If you mow too low, you are actually cutting off all that water. Also, a short mow exposes the dirt so it gets baked and weeds start to grow. Mowing at a higher level will give you a greener lawn.
Here, check it out…
Green grass in dry conditions.
Hand in grass showing height of mowing.
See, I’m not making this stuff up. Now, if I could just get rid of the brown crispy grass in the front and replace it with this stuff, I will be in good shape. The seed is down, so a bit more rainfall should do it.
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Tuesday, September 11th, 2007
Since this blog is named Blog and my brother Jeff is still a G, he deserves some real estate on these pages.
He went out to Colorado last week for some business and during that visit, he was lucky enough to go ATV riding up in the Rocky Mountains. I saw the photos and I felt like I needed to go riding too. That didn’t happen, but I still have the photos, so I decided to post them here. Maybe one day I will visit the same person my brother visited and we will all go riding.
Jeff writes…
I was out in Denver for work and stayed the weekend. One of the managers lives out there and he has a bunch of ATVs. We drove to the mountains to a little town called Buena Vista, CO. We rode a little on Friday and all day Saturday. We rode 70 miles thru the Rockies an thru 3 passes in the Rockies. We rode to Tin Cup, St. Elmo and others. We had perfect weather and only very minor incidents. Attached are a couple pics of the trip.
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