Reminds me of the old joke:

How many (insert targeted group here) does it take to change a lightbulb?

CHANGE??? CHANGE?!?!?!?!?!

Seriously, you'll love it -- we used to be in a Mon/Thurs neighborhood, but while Monday is of course such a logical time to have stuff collected over the weekend disappear, you miss so many Mondays for the various federal holidays that the benefits were highly diluted.

Why, yes, it IS scary that I've spent time thinking about this, isn't it?

It could be worse. We're a Tuesday/Thursday neighborhood. Seriously, who generates enough trash between Tuesday and Wednesday night to need trash pickup? Oh, yeah, that's for the overflow generated between Thursday and Tuesday that didn't fit in the trashcan Monday night. *sigh* (Of course, it never bugged me until we started having diapers to deal with.)

I didn't know there was a "snake season". I think, perhaps, that is now my least favorite season ever. Be careful, Abbye!

Bret, how can you possibly interject logic into such an inherently emotional issue? What kind of cold, calculating individual are you? Oh, that's right: you're an engineer! ;-)

The Monday holiday thing does make sense, though.

Beth, Tues/Thurs does seem a mite ridiculous, even for a governmental decision.

We never worried much about snake season until we relocated to somewhere that it actually occurs. Still, it's better than "Black Widow Spiders Crawling All Over Your Pillow" season.

Dude,

Where you puttin' all that sand?

All I'm sayin' is that my neighbor seems to experiencing roughly twice the Barrow Scale conditions as us. ;-)

Re: trash day. Husband uses his Tungsten T5 to set a trash alarm. Think "General Quarters" and man your trash can.

Trash day is a big one. It's when we get rid of the evidence.

Well, as long as he is down wind of you...wouldn't want to keep moving the same grains.

Also, thanks for the link the "trial" article. George did a great job.

Well, as long as he is down wind of you

And which direction might that be? ;-)

I'm pretty sure I've shoveled some of that dirt multiple times!

You get TWO trash days a week? We pay good money to have only one, and it's Monday which doesn't mix well with government holidays.

I'm not sure which is worse, snake season or tornado season, but I know I wouldn't feel safe letting the dog outside during snake season. Poor Abbye! Can she learn to use a litter box?

Gwynne, I think you win the prize for the saddest trash pickup story. I'd send it to you, but I think I accidentally threw it away.

Can she learn to use a litter box?

I kind of doubt it, but we never let her out unattended anyway. Besides, our backyard is much less vulnerable to invasions of the snakey kind than the others in our 'hood. If I can find something suitable for sealing the bottoms of the gates, the critters would have to either parachute in or learn to pole vault. Not saying that couldn't happen, of course, but the odds are pretty low. ;-)

Snakes: You could keep a goose in your yard :)

I remember 1986. That was the year Cindy and I "transferred our place of residency to" this fair city.(Yikes! your blog guard doesn't like "m*o*v*e*d t*o") The rain that year made me think people were nuts when they told us we were moving to a desert. I remember being greeted by a huge sand storm and then the rains started...and it hasn't rained since!

Still, it's better than "Black Widow Spiders Crawling All Over Your Pillow" season.

Though not as exhilerating as "Herds of Tarantulas on the Move" season.

I'd like to request the addition of one thing to your Barrow Scale... If any NOA weather site records a gust 50 MPH or more, the day's wind deserves a name.

And thanks for the mental image of a pole-vaulting snake.

Eric, thanks for the kind words about the trial coverage. It was quite an experience, and judging from the number of visitors to the site during that time I know there was a lot of interest in the trial.

Now about that sand. I may have commented about that previously, or maybe I just thought about commenting. My parents moved the family to Midland just prior to a very dusty era. At school we learned about the "dust bowl," but the photos looked just like home.

My parents had a heck of a time putting in a yard, too. Dad put 1x12 boards along the edge to form a wall to try to keep the sand out. But sand banks would form just outside the wall and eventually push the walls over. So it was just a temporary fix.

Anyway, I'm sure that with your ingenuity you'll figure out how to conquer nature.

But good luck with that garbage schedule!

How is your yard less vulnerable to the snakes? I need to make mine that way. Do tell.

Sherry, drive down the alley behind our house. I think the answer will be self-evident, as well as the challenge of doing the same thing at your house. ;-)

Lyle, you're always exaggerating. I distinctly remember a rainfall in 1992. Well, maybe it was '93, but still, you just can't say that it never rains here.

Jeff, I understand that last year they did, indeed, have the Herds of Tarantulas out in this neighborhood. Not a pretty thing to contemplate.

Deborah, I didn't know that geese were snake deterrents. But then you have to deal with, you know, the geese. Not sure which is worse.

George, I can see how putting up boards like that wouldn't be a permanent fix. That sand is heavy! I'm guessing each wheelbarrow load is 100-150 pounds.

Les, there are only so many names in the world. I'm afraid we'd run out using your suggestion. ;-)

ah... got it.