Lawn Work

So, yesterday, I went out to mow my front lawn with my little push mower. My neighbors were out working on their lawns, and one of them offers to let me borrow his gasoline-powered mower to trim my Bermuda-grass front lawn in order to help it warm up. I took him up on the offer, and I'll tell you what: my lawn looks really good right now, just by how it's clipped. I'm thinking I might have to invest in a gasoline or electric lawn mower just to make caring for my minuscule front lawn a lot easier. The old push mower that I have just isn't cutting it (pun intended). But, there are bigger fish to fry around the house: the garage needs to be re-roofed and the whole exterior (including the garage) needs to get re-painted. We'll just have to see whether the funds will be there or not.

Digital Television Experiment

For months, I've been hoping to use an antenna and a digital converter to get television over the air instead of paying money to cable for basically nothing. Monday, the coupon that I've been waiting for from the government finally arrived, and today I hooked up the new digital converter box to my old, analog television. So far, the results have been good, even though I'm using only a small, indoor antenna. Every station seems to coming in relatively well, although I do have to re-orient my antenna to get the best signal. Still, the results have been quite satisfactory, even with thunderstorms in the area. I'm going to give this experiment a two or three week run before I finally pull the plug on cable, just to make sure that everything will work satisfactorily. Then, if all goes as expected, I will happily stop paying money to Cox.

Spring: This Time It's for Real

After a couple of false starts, Spring has finally settled into the Central Plains. These past two days have been beautiful, with sunny, warm weather. It looks like the abnormally-cold start to Spring is finally over with. While I've shivered a lot at soccer games so far this season, there have been two tremendous benefit to this cold start to Spring: minimal yard work necessary and no mosquitos. Normally, everything would have already bloomed two weeks ago. Instead, everything is blooming now, and it is beautiful. What more can I say but thanks be to God!

Taking Things a Little Too Seriously

If you want to read about a situation in which someone had his priorities a little out of whack, read this story from the AP about a construction worker who tried to curse the NY Yankees' new baseball stadium by burying a Red Sox jersey in the concrete. I mean, I understand his desire to see the Yankees lose. I'm no fan of NY and the destructive effects its overspending has had on Major League Baseball as a whole. Still, an action such as this one, which could likely result in criminal charges, is a bit over the top. Baseball, after all, is just a game. In eternity, we're not going to care whether the Yankees (or Royals) won the World Series in a given year. All that's going to matter is what we have done for Jesus Christ. And I know that I fall far short of serving Him as I ought. So, I'm going to take this as an object lesson for myself to continue to work on getting my priorities straight, putting the eternal first and the temporal second.

I Spoke Too Soon

With a forecast high of only 49 for Friday, it appears that my declaration of Spring's arrival was premature. The average high for this time of year is about 60-61 degrees. For most of this month, we've been stuck in the 50s or lower. It has been a cold, gray, rainy start to "Spring." The nice part about this cool, rainy weather is that it helps keep the bugs under control. It's been too cold for mosquitos and flies to become active, meaning that as long as one dresses properly, it is enjoyable to be outside. In fact, I think I'll do that right now. I feel the need for a nice, easy jog.

Finally, Spring!

The nice weather that I've been waiting for has finally arrived! Today feels like Spring. The temperatures are in the 60s, thunderstorms are in the forecast for the coming days, and I've got the windows open, enjoying it all. I can hear the roar of lawn mowers and smell the freshly cut grass from one of my nearby neighbors mowing his lawn. I can hear the birds singing with gusto. My cat is going nuts, running between the windows while trying to keep an eye on all the birds and squirrels. Ah, yes, Spring is here!

The Royals Start 2008 Well

Just have to publish this because I'm a bit surprised to be writing it and because I want to savor it while it lasts: the Kansas City Royals have a winning record! After 2 games, the Royals are 2-0. Today's game was a 4-0 blanking of the Detroit Tigers, a team that is expected to compete for the AL Central. The Royals, if all goes well, will avoid the cellar, but it is unrealistic to expect much better than that. Still, it's exciting now to have a couple of good wins to kick off the season.