Friday, January 9th, 2009
When we moved here, I asked a few people who have been here for a while, what type of winters we were in store for. I wasn’t expecting huge changes from what we were used to, since we are only about two hours away from where we used to live. The responses I got ranged from, “same thing as your hometown,” “about 6-8 good snows per year,” and “a lot of ice.”
We have already experienced the snow storms. They feel about the same as where we just came from. Now, we are experiencing the ice.
See, describing winter in New York to someone is a tricky endeavor. There are many micro-climates. I think the temperatures vary to some degree, but what varies even more is the snowfall amounts. Rochester is a far cry from Long Island. Even the Catskills are much different from Westchester.
When Laura and I were out walking one day back at the old house, we stopped to chat with one of the neighbors. We started talking about snow, when she laughed and said, “Oh, you have never experienced a winter around here?” I was like, “C’mon lady, gimme a break. We are an hour away from where we used to live.” She was sort of right, there was a little more snow than we were used to.
Way, way, way back in the day, like 12 years ago, when I was attending Westchester Community College, we had an ice storm. This storm left the roads completely covered for an entire week. It didn’t help that it was about 12 degrees outside for all that time, keeping the roads frozen. I remember that I couldn’t get to the first week’s worth of classes because of all the ice. I would drive about 3 miles in the car down through town and turn around. It was maddening.
When I finally made it to class, I expected everyone else to talk about all their terrifying experiences trying to get to school. The funny thing is that no one even knew what I was talking about. They all lived in Westchester and got no ice. Either that, or it just melted faster.
Pieces of ice on driveway
Connecticut is a bit different from New York. The way it was explained to me from the sales guy at the John Deere dealership was like this: There are basically three zones in Connecticut. The first one is from Interstate 84 and north. They get snow. From Interstate 84 down to Interstate 95, we get icy, slushy mix. From 95 south, they get rain. Of course, that’s not always true, but most likely would occur in the early season and the late season. That’s fine with me.
We got some freezing rain a few days ago. It coated the ground and pavement and has been hanging around ever since. Yesterday, the sun melted most of the driveway, but not all of it. I was walking around on it today and nearly killed myself. For some reason, it’s like a magnet to me. It calls out my name…”Jay, come over and do the moonwalk on me. Act like you are walking on a treadmill. Do the robot and the running man, like Rob.” It just happens, I can’t help it.
Icy sidewalk
Icy driveway
Today, while we were at Home Depot getting some paint for the next bedroom, I went over and grabbed some calcium chloride snow melt stuff. It’s like little white beads. I think it was calcium chloride or the other stuff. The one I got said it wasn’t as bad for the environment than the calcium chloride. It could have been magnesium chloride or potassium chloride. It probably would have been a good idea to read the bag before I started writing. Either way, I got the snow melt stuff.
As you could have guessed, I was excited to throw some of it around on the ice to see how it worked.
When we got back to the house, I unloaded the bag, dropped it on the floor, raced over to get a small bucket and went to work. When I got everything situated, I started tossing the little white pellets all over the place. It was pretty fun. After I unloaded my first batch, I stood back and listened. I always like to hear the soft, “crack, crack, crack” of the ice being melted by the whatever chloride.
I did this a few times and some of the ice was melted. I think I need to add more because I now have a sheet of ice with about a million little holes in it. I always try to be conservative with this type of material, so I don’t think I get the best results. Plus, I don’t want to throw the whole ten bucks away at one sitting.
I’ll let you know how it looks in the morning.
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Sunday, September 14th, 2008
This article was written by Jay G on behalf of PetClassifieds.US, a popular pet classifieds website.
Is owning a dog right for you? Have you thoroughly thought out all the pros and cons of getting your first dog? If not, you might want to read this. I have put together a “Top 10″ list of what prospective dogs owners should be aware of before making the jump to dog ownership.
Can You Really Be a Dog’s Best Friend? A Top 10 List
I think that’s a valid question, and I don’t ask it lightly. The short answer is yes. The long answer may be no, and let me tell you why.
I think I’ll start things off with a short story. It’s interesting and I think it will shed some light on what I am thinking.
Way back in 1999, I was attending graduate school at Binghamton University. I lived on the third floor of an old house in a very small apartment. The house was in a rather congested part of town, so all of the residents could get a very clear picture of what was happening in the neighborhood around them. From my apartment, I had a pretty good vantage point of a few backyards that were close by.
As you could imagine, while attending graduate school, I was required to study for a good portion of the day and night. There was no way to get around it and much of it had to be done in my apartment. In order to have a good studying session, I needed quiet. Thinking back, I should have moved into a more sparse part of town.
The day after I moved in, I remember looking out the window into the backyard across the street. There were two dogs lying down on a dirt area. They were tethered together by the same dog leash, a piece of one tied to the other. Their heads were about a foot apart and they had no where to go. Every time someone passed on the sidewalk, they would stand up and run to the chain link fence, barking. This went on day after day. Eventually, someone from the neighborhood called the ASPCA and had the dogs removed. The owners were charged with having the dogs outside without shelter and a few other things.
This brings me to the point of this piece. Why do people bring dogs into their homes, when they clearly don’t have the means to properly care for them?
I’m sure we have all seen it a thousand times; the messiest house on the road with three viscous dogs chained to a stump in the front yard, the college students who thought it would be fun to get a “house” puppy, the overworked parents who thought it would be a good idea to get their young children an active puppy to play with.
What’s the common theme that runs across all three examples above? Bad choices. I think the mistakes many people make are 1) they don’t understand that owning a dog is a huge responsibility and 2) dogs can lead miserable lives, if not taken care of properly.
Here is a (hopefully helpful) list of reminders that you should consider before bringing a dog into your family:
1. Dogs bark. If you like your neighbors and want them to continue liking you, be sure to consider this when choosing the breed of dog you get.
2. Dogs eat. If you have trouble paying your own grocery bill, think about the extra expense of a big bag of dog food once a month.
3. Dogs need to go to the doctor. If you are having trouble paying for your own health care, think about what you are going to do the day your dog needs to have an operation.
4. Dogs need to relieve themselves. If you like to snuggle under your warm covers at 5AM in the middle January, think about the feeling you will have when your new dog starts barking to go outside at that time.
5. Dogs need to play. If you work late and no one is home, who will be there to take the dog outside to burn off all the energy they have?
6. Dogs need love. Are you ready to spend at least two hours a day with your dog?
7. Dogs need space. Do you have the room for a dog that may become hyper when it gets excited?
8. Dogs are not welcome in many rental units. Do you rent? Be aware that by having a dog, you are limiting yourselves to about 10% of available units for rent.
9. Dogs require patience. Take a good look at yourself. Have you ever lost your temper? Many dogs may do things that will upset you.
10. Dogs need to be licensed. What are the rules of your area when it comes to dog ownership?
The above list is not meant to be depressing. It’s meant to give you a realistic view of what you can expect after you bring that cute, cuddly little puppy into your home. I have owned many dogs and I write from experience.
A good friend of mine owns two rather large dogs that he adopted from a friend during his senior year of college. They are both about five years old now. He loves the dogs, but feels he may have made a mistake. He may not have been ready for them. I remember asking him how he feels about owning the dogs, to which he replied, “Yeah, that was pretty much the biggest mistake I ever made.”
Now, let’s discuss the brighter side of things. If you have looked over the above list and think you might be ready to give a dog a new home, good for you. Just be sure to look for that dog in the right places. There are many dogs in shelters across this country that are just waiting for someone like you to walk through the door. Do the right thing and adopt. You’ll be glad you did.
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Saturday, April 12th, 2008
I ran out to Circuit City this morning to pick up a new router and wireless card for my desktop computer. We already had a wireless router, but I am afraid that one won’t go the distance in a larger house. Also, I wanted to make my computer wireless like Laura’s and the laptop.
When I got to the store, I browsed through the equipment. I had some stuff in my hand, but then started really looking through everything else. As I understand it, there are a few different speeds and ranges that routers and cards offer. There is the “b” speed that came out first. Then, there is the “g” speed that is now a few years old and a lot faster than the “b.” I thought that was as fast as things got, so that is what I was looking for. After reading boxes for a bit, I realized there is now a “n” speed. This offers 4X the range and 12X the speed of “g.” That’s what I’m talkin’ bout.
I bought the WMP300N Wireless-N PCI Adapter here…
…that came with this massive antenna…
Now, that’s no wimpy little antenna that sticks out of the back of my computer. That sucker sits on top.
The recommended product to go with this card is the WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband Router, which I got too. Now, remember, this router offers 4X the range and 12X the speed of its predecessor. It will also wash your hair in the morning. Here’s a pic…
I hooked everything up and it works well. I like the fact that there is a security feature that stops my neighbors from using my far reaching bandwidth. If you want to connect to my network, you need a long password key. I already set all the computers up with it. I don’t notice any extra speed with my current DSL because I was hardwired into my old router, but once we make the switch to cable, we should see a big jump.
Please write your opinions on this topic, I will try not to argue.
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Friday, March 28th, 2008
Laura and I took a walk down to a local shop yesterday for some really neat little candles, lotions and even honey. This shop is run by one of our neighbors, so we were very pleased to give her some business.
During our visit, we started talking about food. We mentioned that our local supermarket doesn’t have the greatest produce in the world…well, not in the middle of Winter anyway. Even in the Summer, there is something to be desired. Our neighbor started talking about the Phillies Bridge Farm Project CSA up near New Paltz. She said they have great produce and that people can buy “shares” of the season’s crop. She also mentioned that they have a great website that offers all sorts of good information on their program.
I gave the website a once over last night and found a very interesting program. Local people (who eat a lot of produce) are able to buy shares of each crop. The benefits of this must be weighed with the risks. People pay the farmers upfront, so the farmers are protected throughout the season. If it’s a great season, there is tons of food to go around. If the season is terrible, people don’t get all that much food. I think it’s a pretty fun thing to do overall.
Wherever we end up, I am definitely going to look for a similar program to this one. I really enjoy getting involved in stuff like this.
Peace out.
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Thursday, February 8th, 2007
I just have to write these things. Usually, when I am out to dinner with more than one person, I bring up the funniest things that have ever happened in my life. I know this sounds strange, and you may be asking, “Jay, how do you remember such things?” Well, let me tell you…I have been thinking of these events since I was about 17 years old. I have them in perfect order in my head, from #5 to #1. I giggle even thinking of them.
Let me first give you a little background into those involved. I have two best friends. One I like much more than the other, but I won’t tell you which one. Just kidding, I thought that would be funny to make them wonder. But seriously, one is much better looking than the other. Anyway, there is Rob and there is Craig. To sum up their personalities is this; they are both waiting for the big one…the lotto, the settlement, the hot stock pick…the big one. I suppose we are all waiting for the big one.
Rob is a very special person. He is the kind of guy who likes to give you a hug. There is no one person on the planet that I play off of better. I remember a trip once where we were driving to Atlanta. We were in Pennsylvania and just passed the exit for Phillipsburg/Bloomsbury. We both thought those two words were kind of funny and continued to say, “Phillipsburg/Bloomsbury” with a female English accent well into Virginia. He would say it and then I would say it. Very funny and got funnier as time went on.
Rob and I used to help Craig out sometimes with his tree service. At the end of each day, Craig would profess to us that he was never going to have us work together again. He would be all pissed off that we joked around all day and that the customer watched as we made asses out of ourselves. Then, we would give him a hug and ask what time he wanted us ready for work the next day. 7:00…just like every morning. Then yet again, I would show up at 7:00 and we would hop in the truck to roll down to Rob’s driveway and honk because he was still in bed. Those were the good old days. Even today when I call Rob, there really is only a window of about 3 minutes where we are serious. After that, we are back to the regular old us.
Craig is also a very special person. He is the kind of guy who likes to get hugs. Rob gives ‘em and Craig gets ‘em. Who knows.
Craig is the guy who thinks he is serious. He really does. Of course, being around us, this lasts for only a few minutes. He could be rescuing people off a sinking ship when Rob and I would show up. A few moments later, Craig would be floating on his back laughing so deeply that breathing would be difficult. People would be diving off the boat and Craig would be trying to stay afloat. Our chemistry is remarkable.
Craig is a teacher. He likes to offer all sorts of information about all sorts of stuff. In general, his brain holds a good chunk of knowledge. At times though, I would ask him about something that he knows absolutely nothing about. If speaking to the average layman, his offering of information would be completely believable…but to me, not so much. I would question him about it for a while and then we would both come to the conclusion that he knows absolutely nothing about what he is talking about. He would start laughing and I would start laughing and then…the hug. Rob got us into the hugs.
Well, back to the reason for this post. There are 5 distinct things that happened in my life that are funnier than all the rest. These are the only stories that anyone will actually let me finish. In the days of cutting each other off before we finish our sentences, this is pretty special. I have narrowed the stories down, refined them and discussed them. I finally decided that these are the ones. Unfortunately, for those involved, I am usually the cause of the humor, not the recipient. I am hoping that these stories become my legacy. I know that is not the highest of goals, but it’s mine.
One day in July, Rob and I were hanging out on the corner of the street. We knew this as “Sunset.” My house was about 30 feet away. Rob lived two houses down the street and Craig lived one up. We were all neighbors all of our lives. The corner was the intersection of Hickory Drive and Sunset Drive. More things have happened at this intersection than I would care to discuss…motorcycles, quads, basketball, cops, love, hate, tears, sweat and blood. Meet me at Sunset became a common term for us.
Many times, I would be working on my car in my driveway and Craig would be working on his. I had a Camaro and he had a Barracuda. This particular day, Rob walked up the road and I was in my driveway, like usual, working on my car. Craig was inside doing who knows what. We talked for a little while and decided to give Craig a call. I picked up the phone and dialed. I could hear the phone ringing in his house. He answered and I told him to come out…we were just chilling in my driveway. He agreed and hung up. For some reason, Craig always took a while to come out of his house. It’s almost like he was eating a gourmet meal or something. I can imagine it this way: I would call and Craig would answer the phone. We would discuss meeting outside. He would agree and begin to finish his meal. He would have four more conversations with three more people. Then, he would remove his bib with the lobster picture on it. He would go to the bathroom, shave, slick back his hair, put on some cologne, boots a belt and then go outside. I, on the other hand, just get up and walk outside. To each their own, I suppose.
Rob and I got a little bored waiting for Craig, so we headed for the corner. The whole reason we wanted him to come out is because we had a fresh shipment of bottle rockets. I did mention it was July, right? About 15 minutes went by and Rob and I were getting extremely itchy to light these things off. We already burned as many leaves as we could and were getting bored when Rob came up with an idea. We would lay some bottle rockets on the ground, facing up the street. They would shoot horizontally about 100 feet and explode right in front of Craig’s house. This would be too much for him to resist and he would finally get the heck outside.
We started lighting a few off. As expected, they flew straight up the road and made a big bang right where we wanted them to. Where the heck was he? Who knows…we just kept lighting them and they kept exploding. After a little while, we forget that he was even coming outside…but right at that moment…it happened. Picture this in slow motion…Rob and I laughing at something stupid, slapping our knees, when I light off the next bottle rocket. WHOOOSH…straight up the road. 25 feet…50 feet…75 feet…still going. At that very moment, we both look up to see a hint of the color black and two white dots. The black was the knee of Craig’s favorite pair of Z Cavarichis and the white were the big tongues of his white Nike hightops. A little further…we notice the purple of Craig’s IOU sweatshirt (tucked in) and the black of his belt. His pants were tucked into his socks and his hair was glistening in the sunlight. No wonder he took so long. He was getting all gussied up.
The bottle rocket was inching up the street. Craig was in a great mood…he was almost dancing across his yard and making his way onto the road…the same road the bottle rocket was blazing up. “NOOOOOOOOOO!!!…,” we yelled. Poor Craig was oblivious. All he wanted to do is to hang out with his best friends. The rocket was red glare and Craig was skipping in the air. I even thought I heard him singing a soft lullaby. Closer…slowly…WHOOOSH. Craig made one step onto the road when the bottle rocket made a slight turn to the right. These things are very unpredictable, you know. Craig looked up and said, “Hey, what’s up gu….” when the rocket tore a little bit more to the right and headed straight for poor Craig’s head. Craig saw this and stared straight at the rocket coming right at him. I think I even saw his eyes go crossed as it got closer. “WHOA…!!!” he yelled as he tried to move his head with a bob and a weave. He did a good job, but not good enough. WHOOOSH…SLICE…right across the left side of Craig’s neck. Suddenly, the rocket exploded. Luckily it was a few feet in back of Craig. He whipped his hand up to hold his neck and starts yelling. Rob and I just stared at each other. Craig walked slowly down to us, still holding his hand to his neck. He arrived and just gives us this look…one of disappointment. He removed his hand from his neck and I could almost hear the pee dribbling down Rob’s leg. We both burst out laughing. Craig had a red stripe across the whole side of his neck. I know this might not sound funny, but it wasn’t a bad injury. Just thinking of the shock Craig just had was funny enough. One minute he was dancing across his front lawn and the next, he was all shook up, when all he wanted to do was show us his new Cavarichis. We all broke out in laughter and continued to shoot off the bottle rockets. No harm done, but one funny ass event.
The moral of this story…don’t wear Z Cavarichis.
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Sunday, September 3rd, 2006
We had a pretty large Red Oak tree in the front yard. Just large enough to take out the front porch if a good wind came though. Pretty gusty winds hit during the winter and head straight for the house. This would not be a major concern, but there were dead roots on the backside of the trunk. You could see them going right into the dirt. I felt that the dead roots, the height of the tree, the wind direction and the strength of the wind warranted that the tree come down.
We hired a local tree service and they were more than happy to take the tree down, cut up the wood (and leave it here) and chip the brush for $400. We went on a 3 day vacation and when we came back…gone. I rolled the firewood to the side of the road and within an hour, someone was taking it. People love firewood around here, especially since it is around $200 a cord now and I was giving it away for free.
Above is the only photo I could find of the existing tree. It was taken through a screen (obviously).
So, after we had the tree removed, it was just killing me to look at this ugly stump in the front yard. I got a great idea from the neighbors and cut out a kidney shaped mulch bed.
Ok, now that I made this beautifully shaped mulch bed, how the heck was I going to get the stump lower, so I could cover it up with the mulch I was going to get. Well, just as luck would have it, I purchased a brand new Stihl MS 250 with a 16″ bar a week earlier. This is a pretty good homeowner’s saw. I am used to the professional ones, so I know how to really work them. This one likes to bog down when it gets hot, but if you keep it nice and steady, it is a good strong saw. I began cutting the stump lower…
…and then the saw started getting hot, and so did I. I got half way through and started smacking the stump with a sledge hammer to break the half that was already cut off. This made cutting the second half easier. This size stump really calls for a larger saw, but I had confidence that I would get this thing cut…and I did. Man oh man…wood near the stump of a tree is very dense and hard to cut.
Then, the next Saturday morning Paul came over and we ran down to the local mulch dealer and picked up a yard of mulch to cover the entire area with. It was just enough mulch for now, but I will be getting another yard in the spring to make it nice and thick.
So for about a month or so, we kept it like this and the neighbors started to wonder. The area is pretty close to the road so people see it when they walk by. We went to Lowe’s and picked up a few Rhododendrons and some Midget Arborvitae, or Thuja to place as a back layer. The Rhododendrons will grow pretty large, but the Arborvitae will only grow to approximately 3′x3′.
We also placed a few random plants on either side, as we got them. We like to mix them up to keep things random…it’s a great look to have. Also, we are getting these plants at towards the end of summer, so we really have no idea what the will look like when they bloom in the spring.
Some of them are difficult to identify, but I know a few. We are getting most of them from a friend. In the photo above there are Easter Lilys, Sage and Hydrangea. There are a few more, but I have no idea what they are. As you can see, I used the shallow, smaller potted plants for directly on top of the stump. I will be sure to keep them watered until I get that second load of mulch.
In the photo above, we have a Butterfly Bush, some sort of a purple bush with little prickers on it, Sedum Autumn Joy and another bush that I will try to identify later. We left the center of the garden empty because we ordered a variety of 150 bulbs from Brecks. 100 of them are going to be planted in the center spot.
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