The Lawn - to mow or not

So it's been a little dry here. The lawn is a little brown, but in places it's growing ok. I haven't mowed in a couple of weeks. It doesn't look THAT bad. Is it wrong to let it go a little?

I don't really have neighbors that would complain. I don't have to answer to a homeowners association. There is probably some kind of city ordinance for it but I'm sure that wouldn't apply until the would need to bring in the Farmall and go to town with the bushhog.

Maybe I'll get to it next week. . .

No Inspections

As a follow-up : The city council voted down the mandatory pre-sale home inspections.

DTV Converter Box

I have been running my Zenith DTT900 DTV converter box ( via big box electronics retailer - red NOT yellow ) on the "office" TV for almost a month now. I live pretty close to the transmission towers, but my OTA reception has alway been marginal ( stucco/plaster house , metal lathe, faraday cage etc . . . ). My cable reception has also been pretty bad, but that's another story. I have the DTT900 hooked up to a amplified RCA 4" UHF loop/VHF Rabbit ears-style set-top antenna like the good old days. I get an excellent picture except for a couple of channels. It makes the old Toshiba 27" look great. Who needs 1080p!

The remote has volume control via the DTT900 and also provides program guide access ( current program and what is coming up ) a channel signal strength meter, favorite channel settings and a sleep timer ( does anyone use those? ). I feel I spent my government cheese ( er DTV converter ) money wisely.

I really view 60-80% of my "television" programming via streaming on-demand video on the computer anyway. Heck, there is enough on NBC's vintage programming to keep me entertained for months ( if I had time to watch ) ! Nothing much beats Randolph Mantooth as Emergency's Johnny Gage or the first few opening bars of the Miami Vice Theme.

Mandatory Pre-Sale Inspections

The local city council will probably vote on Monday to make any real estate transaction dependent on the seller having a pre-sale inspection on the property to be sold. The results of the inspection must be shared between buyer and seller and, here is the sticking point, any deficiency found in the property structure, utilities or anything else the inspector finds to be a of a high priority, must be fixed prior to the sale of the property.

I have trouble with some of this government oversight. Even though I would ( and have ) probably get any property I sell inspected prior to the sale just to cover any post-sale buyer's remorse, I don't want the government telling me I don't have a choice.

On the other hand, I would support loan originators requiring this from their buyers. Way too many home estimates are drive-buys. The holder of the loan should make sure what they are loaning the money for is in good condition. The government does this with FHA loans where they require a pre-buy inspection.

To the City Council's credit, like everywhere else, they see foreclosed and abandoned properties popping up on every block. These are properties, in most cases, that the city now has to maintain. They don't want a bad situation to get worse. They have already put a hold on creation of any new rental properties. That is a good idea and no longer leaves the easy out for a instant absentee landlord. I'm not sure going the extra step with the pre-sale inspections will be as effective.

Hey cool, it works! I read an article somewhere about how so many Blogs do not survive the first post. So, I wanted to do a second post just to make sure I did not fall into that abyss.

Now what do I talk about?

I am coming to you via the Minneapolis WiFi Wireless system provided by USI Wireless. Apparently we are one of the only municipal systems in the nation to be rolled out successfully. Service is pretty good. "Roaming" service where you connect with just your laptop or via your own wireless adapter get you speeds that vary greatly depending on your location. If you use a fixed, tuned antenna and the modem available from USI, network connectivity is stable and connect speeds meet or exceed my plan ( 3Meg ). For just under $20 a month, it's a good deal. When I have questions, customer service is local and wait times are short.

Is this thing on? Test 123

Why am I doing this? I have spare time? No. Will I be cooler? Maybe in my own mind.

I have been inspired by Mark and Lou who have really cool looking blogs and interesting stuff to talk about.

First some definition. electronhose was a general term used back in my tech theater days to describe any electrical cable larger than your run-of-the-mill extension cord. This was generally a high current / high voltage cable used to power the main switch. It still comes up on occasion and still seems appropriate when describing any large cable, high current or not.

Deep Thought: I suppose you could use it as a verb to describe any kind of digitally-induced error as in "we've been electronhosed". But let's not get out of control here.

Apparently, as a two-word term, it has some significance in particle physics as well and several hundred thesis papers appear to be published referencing the topic. For this site, if I ever mention it again, I will keep it to one word thus avoiding search engine and the follow-on flack from the those testy particle physics types.

I wanted to try and post a picture so here goes. It's Dad and I at the cabin loading a dumpster with what should be the last of the trash removal.