Makita BHX2500 4 Stroke Petrol Handheld Garden Leaf Blower

The Makita BHX2500 is a high performance petrol leaf blower and vacuum that has dramatically improved performance. Powered by the latest low-emissions and quiet 4-stroke petrol 24.5cc overhead valve engine with direct mounted impeller, a massive 65 cubic metres of air are generated every second. This actually gives an air flow speed of 145mph.

The Makita BHX2500 petrol leaf blower weighs just 4.4kg and has a comfortable, single handgrip with thumb control throttle and press-in lock device. The OHV 4-stroke engine runs on unleaded petrol, and so is much quieter than a 2-stroke, the blower also boasts lower emissions, and with twin bearing cast steel crank and chrome bore is best for durability, performance and long-life.

Alternative nozzles and a vacuum bag kit (all available seperately) makes the Makita BHX2500 blower the ideal garden clear-up machine for commercial and domestic landscape operations.

Available from The Green Reaper for just £159.99.  To order, simply:-

Call 0844 4780123

Email sales@thegreenreaper.co.uk

Click www.thegreenreaper.co.uk

It’s Monday here at the Deconstruction, which means the lawn care crew is next door — combusting internally, blowing deafeningly, emitting profusely and otherwise kicking up dirt. I’ve been trying in vain to get some work done all morning. I’d say something to the goggled workmen but I’m afraid it won’t help, and anyway, they wouldn’t hear me over the racket and through the snug protection of their air traffic control headsets.

No, I am stuck in the here and now, afraid even to open the sliding glass door for fear I might choke on the pulverized oak leaves and gas fumes.

Understand, these aren’t the same neighbors I disparaged in this month’s Fable. These are not the people who threw a table over the fence, took it back and then threw it back once more, a little further down, behind the camellia. Rather, these are the more immediate neighbors, a family I have known since my family moved into this house in the summer of 1977. I disparaged these neighbors way back in the spring.

And yet I don’t hate them. I wish they’d hire a different bunch of lawn care professionals, and that the guys they did hire might not come quite as often as they do or pack so much unnecessary firepower, but I actually like the family. They link me to my past and the past of my house more than any other household in the entire neighborhood. The fact that the same family lives at that same address more than thirty years on reminds me that while nothing is permanent, some things at least aren’t as fleeting as they otherwise seem.

The youngest son and daughter next door were the first friends my brother and I made in the neighborhood, and we stayed friends, and then friendly acquaintances, until every one of us had at last moved out of the house for college and beyond. I was especially close with their youngest son, who introduced me at different times to the music of the Beatles, Choose-Your-Own Adventure books and Playboy magazine. We don’t have a lot in common these days, he and I, but as of sometime last spring, we are friends on Facebook, where every few months we share a quick, impromptu reminiscence before returning to our separate realities.

The parents of these childhood friends — a couple a few years older than my own mother and father — still live next door and remain friendly, if a little reclusive. The mother still teaches piano lessons several days a week, as she did when I was a boy, and sometimes on spring evenings, when we each have our windows open and I’m in the bedroom reading a book, I can hear her tickling the ivories across the narrow alleyway that separates our houses. It is a pleasant, nostalgic sound that can sometimes wipe out thirty years in as few as three notes.

But how different the sound of the leaf blower and the riding mower. I know I’ve gone over this before, and that there is a danger in moaning too long or too loudly, but it really does get to be too much sometimes.

When we were kids we used to rake a labyrinth of bike trails through the leaves each fall and then chase each other through them on our Huffies and Schwinns for a couple weeks before quietly bagging our crudely constructed curbs and medians and setting them by the road, officially signaling the end of fall. Nowadays, regardless of the season,  it seems all I ever hear is the roar of a motor. Meantime, all I ever smell is gasoline and all I ever see is an enormous cloud of dust and smoke and swept-up leaves, reminding me of nothing so much as the passage of time and the erosion of the natural world.

Saturday, November 21, 2009
Waxing Moon
Uranus Retrograde
Cloudy and mild

I went to check Angie’s List to try to find a man-with-a-van. You have to pay to join. I don’t think so. I’ll keep hunting on my own.

By the way, Lori, the people running the leafblowers at 5:10 in the morning belonged to the Department of Public Works. Yeah, the city’s own employees completely disregard the city code. Of course what they were doing is illegal. But they don’t give a damn.

Yesterday was frustrating. I lost the thread of the Christmas story, and I’m having trouble getting it back. It’s been better this morning. I’m almost back, but I need to sort out more plot.

Ran errands, went to Costco to stock up on a bunch of stuff, went to Party City to stock up on plates and cookie bags — last year I waited too long and they were out. I’m trying some different cat food because I think Elsa has an allergy, and I’m wondering if it’s food-related, so I went to Pet Smart and bought a can of several different brands. This morning’s, called “by nature” was not a hit. Picked up a few things at the grocery store to get me through the next few days until I leave for Maine.

Started figuring out what I’m baking and who gets cookie plates this year.

Did some research for the Christmas story, took care of some unpleasant correspondence, searched for another man-with-van, sent out a few more requests for a quote. I guess we must be out of the recession, since so many of these places can’t even be bothered to give me a quote. They must not need the work. My great movers from July seem to have vanished.

Started reading AS Byatt’s THE CHILDREN’S BOOK. Not at all what I expected, and I have to shove away my expectations in order to properly appreciate it.

The cats woke me up at 4 and I said, “No way” and went back to sleep, which, of course, meant I overslept until 7 and had a slow start getting back to the page.

Writing today and more errands. It feels like I’ll have a better day at the page, which is a good thing. I’m behind, and allowing myself to get overwhelmed by the forest instead of dealing with the individual trees. i have to up my quantity and improve my quality simultaneously. Since I don’t have a day job to fall back on, it pretty much doesn’t matter whether I “feel” like writing or not, or whether the Muse smacks me upside the head, or whether or not life is getting in the way. The writing has to get done.

Devon

Mitox BV-280 Blower / Vacuum / Shredder

The Mitox BV-280 is a lightweight hand-held blower/vacuum which can move leaves and debris just as easily as it can collect and shred with its 10:1 reduction ratio. Offering good performance with outstanding value for money, the Mitox BV-280 is a truly versatile machine.  Full crank 26cc 2-stroke engine. Includes vacuum tubes and 70 litre collection bag with shoulder strap. Tube for blow only mode.

Available from The Green Reaper  for just £139 including VAT and UK mainland delivery, the unit has a metal shredding blade to reduce leaf volume for greater collection capacity and faster rot down on the compost heap.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Engine: 2 Stroke
• Power: 25.4cc
• Blowing Speed: 55 m/sec
• Collection: Yes + Mulch
• Weight: 5.5kg
• Warranty: 2 Years

FEATURES

Advanced Features - All Mitox machines have advanced features, normally only found on more expensive machines
Easy To Use – The BV-280 blowvac is lightweight and has conveniently placed handles making it a very easy product to use
Blower/Vacuum - As well as being a blower the BV-280 can also be used as a vacuum. It will collect and mulch debris when being used as a vacuum. 
Lightweight - Weighs only 5.5kg

The Green Reaper offers an extensive range of garden vacs and leaf blowers, including:
• Hand held electric blowers and vacs
• Hand held petrol blowers and vacs
• Push leaf sweepers
• Wheeled garden vacuums
• Back pack leaf blowers
• Commercial leaf blowers

Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Waning Moon
Uranus Retrograde
Rainy and mild

I’ve been dipping into OUR PRIVATE LIVES: JOURNALS, NOTEBOOKS AND DIARIES, which contains selections from 40 individuals including Paul Bowles, Bill Clinton when he was still a Governor, Gretel Ehrlich, Keith Basso, Tess Gallagher, Gail Godwin, Jim Harrison, Ursula K. LeGuin, Norman Mailer, Joyce Carol Oates, Oliver Sacks, and Stephen Spender. I originally read it in 1990 — interesting to see how perspectives have shifted since, both my own and culturally. And also interesting to see what stayed the same.

Early morning TV instead of early morning writing got me all out of sorts, and the constant leaf blowers didn’t help. I never really got back on track yesterday.

I was nearly forced into an accident while running errands. One of the dumbass leaf blower guys at one of the houses up the street deliberately blew the leaves into my windshield as I drove past, completely obliterating it. He thought it was funny. I couldn’t see anything and slammed on the brakes. Thank goodness I didn’t swerve into the oncoming lane or I would have had a possibly fatal collision with an SUV. I should have pulled over and called 9-1-1 and had the leaf blower guy arrested; to be honest, I was so shaken I didn’t think of it until later.

Got out some submissions and other correspondence; there’s still more stacked up that needs to be dealt with. Started packing for both the site job later this week and the DC trip next week.

Most of the day was spent emailing and tweeting back and forth with family and friends in Europe about the anniversary of the fall of the Wall. It brings up memories and emotions. It brings up memories of seeing someone, in 1973, get shot about 500 yards away from me as he tried to get from East Berlin into West Berlin. It brings back memories of being stuck in East Germany, with the Stasi asking questions and not wanting us — American citizens — to go back through to the West, in spite of our paperwork. It brings back memories of changing trains in the underground at a station that was technically in the East, with armed guards pointing assault weapons at the us as we moved from train to train.

When the Wall went up, one brutal regime was simply replaced with another, only this time with the consent of the world. All of the politicians in this country who so casually toss around terms of “socialism” and “communism” so inaccurately should have to actually experience it before they can use the terms. Unfortunately, politicians don’t have to conform to any standards of truth. They should be held accountable for the numerous libelous and slanderous statements they make the way anyone else is — it’s not a matter of interpretation — there’s way too much deliberate lying going on at all levels of government. The fall of the Wall should be a lesson in what happens when the general population is fed up and revolts.

Decent morning writing session today on both “Digging” and the Blair Holland project. I’m writing the latter out of sequence, which is a weird challenge, but it’s getting words on paper.

I need to get to the grocery store today to stock up on a few things to get me through the next few days until I leave.

My editor’s happy with the copyedits — I’ll see final proofs in January, and the book is on track to publish in April. And my producer let me know that THE MATILDA MURDERS is getting an enormously warm and enthusiastic response, which makes me feel like i’m headed in the right direction with my work.

I want to do some more work on Blair Holland and start the Christmas story today.

Devon

The McCulloch GBV325 Petrol Garden Blower / Vacuum / Shredder is an extremely useful, 3-in-1 labour saving device for keeping gardens, yards, patios and outdoor areas clean and tidy.

McCulloch GBV325 Petrol Garden Shredder / Vacuum / Blower

Available to buy online or in-store from The Green Reaper at just £106.49, this lightweight, versatile handheld garden blower and vacuum, can shred leaves and garden debris for a neater, cleaner garden. Powerful yet quiet, it clears large or awkward areas of leaves and debris. Combining low vibration with high performance and an easy starting engine, this blower is the choice of the professional, and ideal for any garden.

As a blower the McCulloch GBV325 saves hours of sweeping, as a vacuum it sucks up leaves, litter and garden debris even from hard to reach areas such as flower beds and, as mulcher the metal shredding blades reduce garden debris to a useful mulch by a ratio of up to 10:1.

Technical specification:

• ENGINE: 25cc 2 stroke
• OUTPUT: 180 l/s
• VELOCITY AIR SPEED: 325km/hour
• VACUUM: 10.9 m3/min
• FUEL TANK CAPACITY: 0.36 litres
• COLLECTION BAG: 45 litres
• WEIGHT: 4.6kg
• WARRANTY: One year

The Green Reaper is also able to supply a replacement bag for this machine.

Well, as much as I love talking to you all, I get asked alot of the same questions, quite frequently. So, I thought I’d make an FAQ section.

How’s France?

The reply to this question will always be ‘French’. That is unless there is a war, and Germany take over before Christmas, then the answer will be ‘German’.

What are you doing there?

It’s part of my course. I’m studying in a French University. But, I could have been an English Assisstant, or worked.

What are lectures/seminars like?

Here, they call lectures ‘Cours Magistrals’ and call seminars ‘Travaux Dirigés’. CMs and TDs are incredibly similar. Both involve being spoken at for lengthy periods of time, whilst saying nothing back. Being an Erasmus student has it’s advantages. Noone picks on you. Ever. My earliest class is a 2 hour lecture starting at 8h15, and on Thursdays I finish at 20h. It’s not great, but I cope.

Isn’t it difficult, being in French and all?

It certainly is a challenge. There are times when I just switch off, and re-engage when they’re on the 2nd point of something. That said, it’s nothing I can’t handle. Plus, one of my classes is in Spanish, which is great.

What’s the weather like?

It’s exactly like home. It rains. It doesn’t rain. Leaves fall. Leaves get blown away by men with leaf blowers.

Are the people snotty?

Incredibly. This is to be expected. It is part and parcel of being a citizen of France.

Do you know many French people?

I know a few. And they are nice French people. I don’t see them much though.

I think that is it for FAQs. If any more pop up, I will put them on here.

Bingham, Larry. “In the season of the falling leaf, we ask” Rake or blow?” The Oregonian, 23, October, 2009: E

(can’t find the underline feature on this, so I bolded the article source, instead.)

On Friday, October 23, there was an article in there Oregonian comparing raking or blowing leaves.  The article compared the carbon footprint, whether or not it was good for the body, efficiency, the cost, and the noise. For the rake there isn’t any fuel, so there isn’t any emissions. The gas leaf blower on the other hand would put CO emissions into the air.  Then the article stated that “if everyone in multnomah county stopped using leaf blowers, there would be about 1,430 fewer tons of carbon monoxide in the air emitted in a year,” comparing that to a Toyota Prius, which “emits roughtly 3.7 tons of carbon monoxide based on 15,000 miles of driving.”  (people roughly drive about a thousand miles a month, so about 12,000 miles a year.)  That was surprising.

The Article goes on to say that raking is hard on the body, like “blowing leaves will be better on the back, and muscles.”  When it actually “works out the upper body, and core; burning 290 calories an hour.”

Comparing the efficiency, the leaf blower definitely wins. It would take a long time using a hand rake to clear out a giant field, or park, but using a leaf blower would take a lot less time to clear the area.

Costs.  “A rake can range from $11 to $25 for a wooden handle, with steel tines”  A gas leaf blower costs a lot more – “ranging around $100 – $300,” and on top of that gas is needed to run it.  There are some alternatives ranging from $50-$100.

Lastly, the noise.  Raking has only a bit of scratching, but the leaf blower has a loud motor noise.  I’d prefer the raking over the leaf blower in the morning, when I’m asleep.

So…, this a win for the hand rake.  It doesn’t leave a carbon footprint, it’s good for the body, cheap, and doesn’t make any noise.  Get rid of those leaf blowers, and bring out the rakes! Keep Portland sustainable!

~Anthony Tran

Well, winter has arrived at Rennes. Or autumn. Technically, it’s autumn. You wouldn’t think it. The rain has begun. It’s very hit-and-miss, but it is there nevertheless. Ruining all attempts to leave the house and remain dry. Despite the rain (which, for the record, isn’t a patch on British rain), Rennes still manages to look autumnal, if only when it isn’t raining. It is odd, but nice at the same time.

Anyway, after the piss poor display France put on for Hallowe’en, I have higher hopes for Christmas. For example, when we went to Vitré last week, they already had Christmas decorations up in the street. Well, they had them up on the street, but no sign of a Christmas Tree though. This is disappointing. Rennes Christmas decorations are already up, and certain shops (although, not many) have begun the process of ‘Christmasization’ (I only used a ‘z’ there to make it look neater. I would never spell an ‘-isation’ word with a z [pronounced zed]). Still no tree. Although, at Carrefour, and Géant, they have a huge section devoted to all things edible and Christmassy. That said, it is only for things that are edible: Quality Street, Celebrations etc, even the odd Advent Calendar. I will be getting one of those ready for December. France will not stop me enjoying Christmas

Also, you can tell it’s autumn here: the leafblowers have emerged. Seriously, these people are paid, by the French State (probably) to blow leaves around, more often than not in the rain. It makes no sense.

Is there an easy way to get rid of fall leaves? If  you don’t have a large yard and the space for a compost pile to accommodate your fall leaves,  you are stuck raking the leaves and making a trip to the county compost site. At Hejny Rental we get numerous inquiries about machines used for fall clean-up this time of year; leaf mulchers, leaf sweepers, and leaf vacuums. Although, in name, all these machines sound like they would work great, they all have downsides. Portable walk behind leaf mulchers and tow behind leaf sweepers aren’t made strong enough and leaf vacuums have bags that need to be emptied.  One piece of equipment that doesn’t get enough use, however, is the leaf blower. Hejny Rental has both back pack leaf blowers and walk behind leaf blowers. In my yard I use a leaf blower to gather the leaves and a tarp to transport the leaves to one of Hejny Rental’s 5×8 Trailers. The 5×8 Trailers have 30″ sides and a tailgate ramp so it is very easy to load and unload! Hint: Lay another tarp on the bottom of the trailer.  When you are ready to unload the trailer all you have to do is pull on the bottom tarp in order to slide the load off the ramp!

Another piece of equipment that is also very popular this time of year is our 52″ Toro Zero Turn Commercial Mower with a Bagger Attachment. Many customers have been very pleased with this mower. The Bagger Attachment has its own vacuum which creates a lot of suction and is able to break down dry leaves very well. Check out the specs of our mower at www.hejnyrental.com.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I headed to Ringwood, NJ for a day hike in Norvin Green State Forest (near the Wanaque Reservoir). We mapped out a 5-mile route through the forest on the Wyanokie Trail System and then spent the next 4-1/2 hours hiking past 200-year-old stone walls, pint-sized waterfalls, old iron mines, enormous outcroppings of glacial and erratic rock, pines, maples, elms, oaks, sassafrass, laurel — and almost no sign of wildlife. At times, the trail was so quiet, I couldn’t decide if the silence felt church-like, or morgue-like.

The rocks, trees, bushes, flowers and other miscellaneous flora on the hike were quite amazing, and I highly recommend spending time on these trails (which were surprisingly well-marked, despite a few wrong turns). But it was over three hours into our journey before I saw a bird flitting from tree to tree — the only one I saw that day. About 15 minutes later I spotted two chipmunks chasing each other (finally! I love those cutie guys…). And we were almost at the end of the hike when I spied the lone insect to cross our path. Sheesh! Where was all the fauna? As we left the trail and headed back to our car, my husband asked, “Hey, what’s that noise?” “Leaf blower,” I told him.” Aha, I thought, leaf blowers. I realized that I’d been hearing the whine of leaf blowers all during our hike, except for spots above tree line (like the Wyanokie High Point, which was simply breathtaking — 360-degree views stretching at least 25 miles into the distance, which we viewed standing atop bare glacial rock with a stunning vein of quartzite running right through).

I’ve read that the incessant whine (too gentle a word — at 75 or more decibels they come in around 100x higher than the “safe” level for ambient noise*) and excessive pollution (they produce 500% more carbon emissions than a car*) of leaf blowers has a profoundly detrimental impact on our flora and our fauna, and I wonder if the forest’s neighbors’ attempts to shoo away those leafy bits of red, orange, yellow and brown have created a sort of woodsy ghost town. (And, honestly, the sight of a man wielding a leaf blower around his house in the woods, shuffling leaves from one tree-filled patch on his property to another, was laughable.) Apparently, the first recorded leaf blower was developed in Japan as a way to gently remove leaves from delicate beds of moss. These early blowers were nothing more than hand-held bellows. Certainly, if it’s necessary to remove leaves from hard-to-reach spots, this is a good solution (and think of how much better developed our biceps and triceps would be).

A friend recently told me that the next generation of leaf blowers will be even louder than the ones currently on the market. Clearly, the industrial designers on the leaf blower teams are not working collaboratively with Nature on developing these super-pollution devices. I shudder to think how our forest environments will continue to degrade with the current noise onslaught, let alone with the addition of even louder machinery. I vote for a little research into those early Japanese bellows-blowers, for those garden spots where it’s really necessary to remove the leaves (though I personally haven’t encountered one of those spots — I think fallen leaves look quite pretty, and it’s no secret that they decompose into excellent plant food).

But, I digress. Please treat yourself to a short walk or a dayhike on the Wyanokie Trails sometime, if you live in or travel to New Jersey. The forest is filled with gifts waiting to be enjoyed. And, perhaps the addition of gentle, co-creative souls to these woods will act as some sort of counter-balance to the noise and air pollution (or other man-made forces exacting a negative impact). Maybe I’ll see you there, the next time I journey into the Wyanokie wild — I’ll definitely be going back, and soon.

_______

* http://www.nonoise.org/quietnet/cqs/leafblow.htm

Yesterday, while riding my bike, I saw two people dealing with fall leaves. The first was a middle aged man in Mountain View, blowing madly away at leaves in his driveway, blowing them out into the street with a noisy gasoline-driven blower. I suppose then the neighbors will blow them back the next day.

The second person was a middle aged woman in Palo Alto, which prohibits gas blowers; she was suctioning up the leaves with an electric shop vacuum, rolling along on casters, to put them in her recycling bin.

“Don’t blow it – good planets are hard to find.” – Unknown

There’s no denying it: Fall is approaching quickly, and with that cool, crisp change in the air, leaves begin to high-tail it off tree branches.

While the red, orange and golden leaves do make a beautiful sight, they also clutter yards. For most people, firing up their leaf-blowers is the easiest, most efficient way to pile their leaves and make their lawns a bit less messy. Unfortunately, using leaf-blowers means sacrificing a healthy environment for a quick fix.

Photo courtesy www.gaspoweredleafblower.net

Gas-powered leaf-blowers pollute the air, just as any gas-powered invention does. According to a Reuters blog, “in one year, the average blower used by a professional gardener emits as much smog-forming pollution as 80 new cars, each driven 12,500 miles.” But the pollution doesn’t stop there.  Not only do these blowers produce foul chemical emissions, but they also stir up mold and other allergens that were trapped in the decomposing leaves. Several California communities have even placed bans on gas-powered blowers, as well as offered an exchange program to get those polluters off the yards.

But there is good news: This blower debacle is nothing that a little old-fashioned exercise can’t fix. In a study examining particulate emission (the fine liquid or solid particles discharged with exhaust gases) rates from leaf-blowers, researchers found that raking leaves did not generate significant amounts of the nasty debris. Horticulture agent Maggie Shao says, “Raking leaves is generally a good practice of sanitation, that is cleaning up possibly diseased leaves or preventing a dark, warm environment for diseases and pests to develop and create problems in the spring for new tender growth.” So, as you’re keeping your yard healthy, you’re also keeping the air healthy.

Photo courtesy www.imaginemason.org

And that’s not the only health benefit: Raking leaves will help to get your heart rate pumping and to tone your body. According to AARP.com, “A 135-pound person could burn about 240 calories raking leaves for an hour.” That’s quite a few calories for just tidying up your yard, and all you need is a rake. Good rakes are made with high-carbon steel. The type of rake you need will depend on the type of clean-up job you have to do. Adjustable rakes are great for big-yard cleanups, but they can also work well for digging leaves out of shrubbery. The “Cleanup Rake” is also versatile and can be used for picking up both wet and dry leaves.

Whatever style you choose, the important thing to keep in mind is that by raking, you’re taking one step toward cleaning up not only your yard, but also the environment. That is something you should really fall in love with.

Garden Machinery

A wide range of garden tools are available to hire or buy which allows affordable and effective maintenance of allotments and gardens, no matter how large or small in size.

The maintenance of a garden is time consuming and can benefit by the use of purposely designed tools and equipment such as a garden leaf blower.

In the autumn in the Uk it is an annual time when trees shed their leaves in preparation for the harsh winter season. When the trees drop their leaves it causes problems for both the home owners who are proud of their gardens as well as local authorities and councils that need to keep paths, pavements, and highways clear. 

A tool of choice to solve this issue has to be the garden leaf blower. 

Relatively new to the Uk, a garden leaf blower can be either electric or petrol driven (two or four stroke in the case of petrol engined models).

A garden leaf blower can be in the form of many different configurations. The most popular being held held blower – shredder models or backpack commercial type blowers.

Hand held leaf blowers typically are powerful electric or petrol driven models designed for small to medium leaf blowing and clearing work.

Back pack type units are high powered models such as the Stihl BR380, Br500, BR600, and Br600. These modern and up to date pieces of garden machinery are designed with several purposes in mind but with one main task – effective high volume clearing of leaves and garden debris.

Friday, July 24, 2009
Waxing Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Humid and cloudy

GRRR! 5:30 in the morning, I am awakened by leaf blowers. You know how much I hate leaf blowers. And our city code forbids the use of leaf blowers from May-September, and always at 5:30 AM. So I stomp down to pitch a fit and call the cops — and it’s city public works trucks using them! You can bet City Hall is going to get an earful. Not acceptable.

My wrist is in bad shape. I put too much pressure on it yesterday — two carloads of stuff into storage. Heavy stuff. For those of you with driveways and garages, it may not seem like a big deal, but remember I’m in a third floor walk-up, and have to not only navigate the stairs, but cross a large courtyard to the street and/or parking lot, carrying the stuff. No dollies or anything else. So, filling the car with 18 boxes (which is what the car can hold) means 36 trips up and down the 3 flights of stairs. Once I get to the storage facility, it’s fine, because I load everything onto dollies and roll them right in to the unit; I’m now on the ground floor.

There’s more room in the living room, though. And I managed to save the old couch from the 1950’s. For awhile there, it looked like it was beyond salvation — on one side, the wooden pegs have come loose, and the elastic struts underneath suffered dry rot. But I stripped the struts out, stripped it all down to just the wooden frame, which is still great with a little TLC, washed it. I’m going to get some wood glue and maybe some new pegs and put it back together again, and then put it in storage during the furniture swap. When I move, I’ll make a new bottom cushion and back cushion with upholstery foam and create covers for them in whatever fabric I want — it’s a nice piece of furniture in a unique style. The back corners already have angle braces. I can add some in the front corners, and then I don’t need the struts. It had wooden supports placed every few feet. So it will all be good.

But now I have a six foot wooden couch frame upended in the corner of the living room until the furniture swap happens!

The cats are having a fit!

I’m also reaching a point of lots of stuff stacked, because until the bookcases and the bureau come in, I have no place to put the clothes and books that are going IN them. There’s a bit of chaos going on.

Wasn’t able to get all the client projects cleared up, so I’ll finish them today and probably start the writing retreat tomorrow. I think, for the remainder of this particular Jupiter Retrograde, I have to block off Thursdays as just for hearth-and-home. For whatever reason, it’s got a strong influence on me, and I better just go with it.

As far as the wrist goes, I can’t see a doctor because I have no insurance (get that damned health reform bill done, Congress! All of you who voted to bail out AIG and the banks– who shouldn’t have been rewarded for their bad decisions with taxpayer money– if you can afford that, you can afford to reform health care, so stop dragging your feet. And stop calling it “socialized medicine” when it’s not and you have no clue as to the actual definition of the term. “Socialized medicine” is a very specific set of procedures, none of which I’ve seen included in any drafts of the current health care bill possibilities. If you can’t learn about that which you speak, shut the eff up. Don’t regurgitate inaccurate talking points), and my acupuncturist is out of town until fall. I’m going to take some ibuprofen, wrap it, brace it if I have to, and hope for the best. Only turning or heavy lifting bothered it yesterday — EVERYTHING bothers it today. I discovered that I can’t turn on the ignition using my left hand, so driving will be interesting.

Of course, when I had insurance, the usual round was: Go the the doctor; get sent to another doctor; get sent to a third doctor who sends me for X-rays. Go back to one of the three doctors who shrugs and writes a prescription for narcotic pain killers that I’m not going to take anyway, and I probably won’t even fill the prescription. Yeah, that’s “health care.” And it would be nice if any of the doctors and the X-ray people would actually talk to each other and have the same information.

Aside: the absolutely useless insurance company our union forced us to switch to (before I lost my insurance entirely), which isn’t accepted by most doctors or clinics in this area –is owned by the same parent company that owns U-Haul. That explains a lot! There are just so many bad jokes I could make, and I’m not going to go there . . .

I’ve got some errands to run this morning, then finish off the client work, and then descend into my weekend writing retreat. I am so looking forward to it.

Czech lessons are going slowly, but I’m plodding away at it. I always have trouble with a language when I’m not immersed in the country. For instance, I can’t speak French in NY, but once I’m in Montreal, it comes back pretty quickly. I certainly don’t consider myself fluent, but I can get by. And that’s what I’m hoping with Czech — if I work steadily from now until I leave in mid-September, hopefully enough will stick so I can get by.

Decent morning’s writing, in spite of the unpleasant wake up. I look forward to a productive writing weekend, in spite of the wrist. I’m eager to get back to the page. I’ve had too much practical lately, and not enough creative.

Devon

1. Buy the right amount of paint for the job.
2. Review labels of household cleaners you use. Consider alternatives like baking soda, scouring pads, water or a little more elbow grease.
3. When no good alternatives exist to a toxic item, find the least amount required for an effective, sanitary result.
4. If you have an older home, have paint in your home tested for lead. If you have lead-based paint, cover it with wall paper or other material instead of sanding it or burning it off.
5. Use traps instead of rat and mouse poisons and insect killers.
6. Have your home tested for radon.
7. Use cedar chips or aromatic herbs instead of mothballs.
8. Avoid using leaf blowers and other dust-producing equipment.
9. Use an electric lawn- mower instead of a gas-powered one.
10. Leave grass clippings on the yard-they decompose and return nutrients to the soil.

Kira Little

www.getgreenmusic.us/profile/kiralittle

Dear Man in Suit with Leaf Blower,

Yes. Hello. You are wearing a suit (minus the jacket, plus the tie) and you are carrying a leaf blower. Not in a casual, oh hey I happen to be transporting this leaf blower from point a to point b what’s up with you, kind of a way, but in a I INTEND TO USE THIS LEAF BLOWER TO ITS FULL EFFECT and to that purpose I have it SLUNG OVER MY SHOULDER with my finger on the trigger kind of a way.

In Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle, and through the throngs of unemployed men and across the street and down an alley.

Where are you going?  And for why?

And why dear god why with the LEAF BLOWER?  Not as in, why do you have it, but as in, why does it EXIST AND WHO CAN MAKE IT STOP?

I’ve tried to think of why you might need a leaf blower other than to blow leaves.  Something with dead bodies? A really big cockroach? An ex-wife? Something to do with baseball or football? But what will blowing on any of them do?

Are you trying to film a movie scene wherein a dog is hanging its head out the side of a car and its ears are getting blown back and its jowls are getting that crazy balloon-y effect that doesn’t look like it could possibly be fun and yet they all seem to enjoy it?

I am so confused.

Befuddledly,

MM

Friday, June 12, 2009
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Rainy and cool

Yeah, it’s STILL raining. I hope that means we’ll have lots of gorgeous flowers when it finally lets up.

Speaking of gorgeous flowers, my morning glories are blooming! Imagine! In a north-facing window! Beautiful! Hopefully, the moonflowers will bloom, too.

Hop on over to FEMMEFAN to read my Belmont Stakes wrap-up.

And if you haven’t read my interview with Kim Smith, please drop by here and leave a comment!

Yesterday was caught up in business, and I didn’t get much other stuff done. I helped my mom with a bunch of stuff. We stopped at our favorite Chinese restaurant on the way home and got some take out. The food is always excellent, and the prices are great. AND they’re really nice.

The issues with 1and1 seem to be cleared up, at least for the moment. Let’s hope they remain so. And Canon sent me the fixes for both printers, so that seems to be resolved. Many thanks to both of them. We think that, with the big printer, someone else’s wireless crossed communication with my printer, and my printer was printing from someone else’s computer. We hope that’s now fixed. I don’t have wi-fi, I don’t have my printer set up for wi-fi, but . . .

I’m a little behind where I’d like to be on client projects, although no deadlines are in jeopardy. I have to reshuffle a couple of projects over the next few days, but everything will get done. And I need to get back to my own fiction. I’m behind where I’d like to be on that, although, again, no deadlines are in jeopardy.

I’ve got some more business to take care of today, and if all goes well with that, the next few weeks will be crazy. Most of it will be great, some of it will be frustrating, it will be exhausting, but the outcome should be quite good.

I don’t plan to be online very much today. I’m a little cranky because someone broke the city code and woke me with a leaf blower (yes, in the middle of the rain) at 6:15 this morning. And ran it for 45 minutes. Leaf blowers are banned entirely by the city code from May 1 – either September 1 or October 1. So I have to put in a call to City Hall. I don’t care what day of the year it is — I should NEVER be woken up by a leaf blower at 6:15 in the morning.

I think leaf blowers should be banned anyway, all the time, especially around here. All they do is kick up dust,dirt, and noise pollution. The guys who run them just walk around pointing them randomly at the asphalt. I have yet to see them ever use them on LEAVES. And as far as leaves go? Use a damn rake! Much more eco-friendly. I understand if it’s the Town Park and there are acres and acres of leaves in the fall — but handkerchief-sized yards don’t need them, especially when they’re not used properly.

Come by Sole Struck Fashions tomorrow. It’ll be my monthly post.

I didn’t do anything particularly interesting that can be discussed on the blog. Sorry.

I’ll put in a good day’s work today. Tomorrow, I’m up early, because I have a meeting with a Congressional Representative at 9 AM. And I have another Mac class in CT at 2 PM. I’m going to go a little early and play with the iPod touch and ask some questions. I’m not actually going to BUY it tomorrow, but at least I’ll do my research, so when I’m ready, it’s just a case of the cash changing hands. I can Tweet from it, so soon — none of you will be safe!

I have another Mac workshop on Sunday morning, and one on Monday night. Then I think I’m done for about a week. Yeah. I’ll have taken nine workshops in a month. And I’ll know how to use my computer! These are the free workshops Apple offers. They’re incredibly helpful. I feel like I should bake them all brownies or something.

Speaking of brownies, I baked some for myself yesterday afternoon. Just because there must always be something chocolate in this house. It’s a requirement.

It’s supposed to clear up this afternoon. I’m going to run over and check the brook in a bit, and determine whether or not I need to move the car. Hopefully, I don’t.

I got my confirmation yesterday — I am officially a member of Broad Universe! Woo-hoo! I can’t wait to get involved supporting my fellow fantasy and science-fiction writers. And my renewal from PEN arrived, along with the new membership card. I’m delighted. I need to talk to them about the plans for the Laura Ling/Euna Lee situation, and also about Prague.

Slow day on the Matty book. The Lucy Gothic is starting to pull at me again, but I’ve got other projects to complete before I can get back to it.

Have a great day!

Devon

I am on vacation from work but apparently this does not entitle me to be on vacation from noise. Leaf blowers, tree munchers and general garden killer noise was what woke me up this morning. Allow me to explain the complete illogic behind this particular noise this morning. It rained last night and this morning. What pray tell does this have to do with my slumber? A leaf cannot be blown around when it is wet; this renders the leaf blower entirely useless and the person operating it a complete douche bag. Why oh why would they use them after it has rained? Well, the gardeners in our hood either have completely fried all brain cells from inhaling the gas exhaust that comes out of the leaf blower or they just don’t give a fuck. Could be both…what I do know is that they have not the slightest clue about plants. 

They re-seed grass and then cut it the next week. They “prune” plants by chopping off everything but the base. They weed gardens by pulling every living thing out of them. These fuckers kill all things living. Maybe I am hostile towards them this morning because they woke me and waking me up is akin to waking a bear out of hibernation (let’s just say that last year my neighbors woke me up on the 4th of July at 3am with fireworks and what they received was a verbal assault so severe they are now scared of our household – I am fortunate that I was not arrested). It is not pretty to wake me up and I advise all not to try it. 

You may not know this but California is in a serious drought. Los Angeles County has restricted the days you can water, when you can water, will fine you $300.00 to start if you violate the outside rules and has asked all residents to reduce their water usage by 15%. So, what do the gardeners do??? They start to water. Not something they have ever done before. It’s kinda like a big fuck you to California. 

The irony in all of this is that these hostile plant murders from this morning are not even our gardeners. They are our neighbors gang of sadists for the sleeping. This disruption this morning has solidified two things: I need to live somewhere where I do not hear my neighbors flushing their toilet next door, where there is not a police helicopter flying over million dollar homes at 10pm, where people do not feel fireworks are a rite of passage and where people tend to their own gardens. 

Oh yeah …….one last thing: if you want to check out a very nifty way to sift through blogs – try http://alphainventions.com/   it provides you blogs that have literally just been created.