Um...where's the gecko? I made it all the way through and instead of a gecko got a lawn mower with duct tape on its wheel (though I have to say, my father-in-law would be proud, very very proud, of your achievement. He, however, would recommend that you salvage the blades off your perfectly functional machine, find some gears and gerry-rig yourself a perfectly good manual mower from the parts. Cause to do otherwise is dang wasteful!) I grew up with a corded mower...and several mowed over bright orange cords. I do love me some self-powered, fossil fuel burning mowing machines!

As for the bank...yeah, we have one with a dude dressed up like a cardinal (the bird) -- thinking "bird brain" and "banking" at the same time is also probably not the best marketing strategy.

Um...where's the gecko?

Which part of "no promises" did you not understand? ;-)

Patience, grasshopper. The path to enlightenment is narrow and crooked and oft leads through dysfunctional lawn care equipment.

dressed up like a cardinal (the bird)

Glad you clarified that. I thought the Vatican was expanding its banking reach. But, still, a banker dressed up like a bird? Yowza. Makes our local superhero seem, well, plausible.

Which part of "no promises" did you not understand? ;-)

I'm guessing it was the "no", actually. ;)

Glad you clarified that.

I actually modified the bird/bank thing b/c I initially had put Cardinal (stunningly - that's the name of the bank) and consequently pictured men in mitre hats out on the street waving and gesticulating at the bank building. Very amusing mental image. But also probably not what they were going for.

Why bother mowing at all? ..... this is the ultimate in geek yardstuff

http://www.friendlyrobotics.com/

Yeah. That's what I'm talking about! Although for $999, I could probably hire someone for a couple of years to do it for me.

Talking of TV...Have you watched any All Blacks games? (I'm referring here to the world cup!).

Rachel, while I haven't looked for them, I'd be surprised to find that the games are being shown on any of the channels we receive. Plus, once (American) football season starts, everything else pretty much fades into the background.

So, have you been watching any of the Dallas Cowboys' games? ;-)

After a couple of months, I have finally gotten to the point where I don't yell and scream at that ****ing cord during the mowing process. The machine is definitely quieter than the 6.5-hp gas mower it replaced, not a whole lot slower unless you're cutting very deep, and I enjoy getting out in the yard on days when they've called an ozone alert and warned everyone about the evils of lawn equipment.

They (meaning Black & Decker) make a cordless model of this same mower, but it weighs 30 lb more (batteries, no doubt) and costs an extra $150 or so.

30# isn't an insignificant addition. I get plenty of exercise apart from mowing. I'll probably stick with the cord.

Do you have fox sports Eric? Just doing some research for you since the world cup will be over soon (I know deep down you really want to watch one hehe). I'll watch a Dallas Cowboys game when it comes on if you can find an All Blacks game (we do have the channels hehe).

Rachel, Fox has a number of different sports channels, and the one we get (Fox Sports Southwest) focuses on regional events, as its name implies. They do carry an occasional international sporting event, but not during primetime (at least, I couldn't find anything about the All Blacks matches in this week's new program guide).

However, you might find this interesting. One thing Fox Sports does broadcast is an occasional high school football game (like you went to when you were in Midland). A week or so ago they broadcast a game between Odessa Permian (remember...you did some shopping at Pee Wee Dalton's, which is in Odessa) and a team from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That latter team is well-known in the state for performing – get this – a haka before their games! Cool, huh?

They still lost, though. ;-)