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| garage, painted |
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| sidewalk behind house |
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Yesterday was a darned nice day. I headed outside and ran the lawnmower over the leaves that had accumulated in the yard fairly early in the morning (about ten am). Only about half of the leaves on my trees have fallen, but I wanted to mulch up the ones that were already on the ground about as much as I just wanted to be outside enjoying the weather. Just as I was putting away the lawnmower, the guys showed up to finish up the landscaping around the new sidewalk. Since it was beautiful out, I spent some time supervising while they worked. I’m really happy with the results.
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| step on side of house |
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| front steps |
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In addition, I got out the paint and painted the wall of the garage where the shed had been attached, and apparently I’m pretty good at matching colors, because I couldn’t really tell the difference between the old color on the garage and the new one. That surprised me, frankly. I also got out and took pictures for you to look at. Don’t I just rock? There’s still a little work to be done. They’ll be out later in the week to put in the railing on the front steps, and hit the patches of bare dirt with some grass seed. By spring, things should be looking pretty good, just in time for more stuff to get torn up as I put in a patio on the back corner of the house and a retaining wall across the front of the lot.
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| front sidewalk detail |
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And I’m not the only one who thinks so. I got complimented a few times over the weekend by neighbors and the pizza-delivery guy. More compliments yesterday while I was outside working. It’s pretty neat doing a project like this in a neighborhood where everyone stops by to check things out. I haven’t met any new neighbors in the process, but I’ve had a chance to talk to the ones I know a lot more lately.
Finally, remember that today is election day. Here in Minneapolis, it’s just local elections on the ballot, but I see that as a bigger reason to get out. At the local level, you might actually be able to help keep someone bad out of office. I do wish our mayoral election wasn’t just a case of tweedledee and tweedledum, but hey, what are you gonna do? The people have spoken.
- In Saints news, Olow Back For Fourth Season, along with Kris Cox and Charlie Ruud (the kid from Luther Seminary). That’s five players signed so far. Still only nine teams in the league, though, and exactly one week to renew the season tickets.
- Want a cool glowing blue stream of water coming out of your faucet? Then the Faucet Light’s just the thing for you. I’m not planning any work in the bathroom just yet, but this just screws onto an existing faucet. [boing boing]
- The Publisher of Capitol Hill Blue is apparently An enemy of the state. It’s just part of how USA-PATRIOT is proving to be bad law. Heck, even Congress is finally getting around to complaining about it, but they should be the ones most subject to its provisions since they passed the damned thing. I’m still sticking by my pledge to myself of never again voting for anyone who voted for USA-PATRIOT, and have repeatedly told my representatives as much. Someone needs to hold those bastards feet to the fire, especially since Congress is trying to extend it, while the American Civil Liberties Union points out problems. Schneier has more on how the FBI is spying on us. [claire and schneier]
- I had another of those Why did it have to be guns? moments the other night. A friend was talking about Bill Maher’s claim to be a libertarian, and I disagreed, mostly because Maher’s in favor of gun control, among other views in direct conflict with libertarian philosophy. The discussion turned to why I thought guns were so important. Rather than wreck a good evening of playing cards with talk of politics, I dropped the subject. But I think it’s worth noting that a lot of LNS’s points are important. It’s not just about the guns. It’s just that if someone doesn’t trust you to have a gun, why should you trust them to make laws that affect you? Isn’t trust supposed to be reciprocal? If someone doesn’t trust me with guns, be it a politician or overrated talk-show host, why in the name of John Moses Browning should I trust them with any power over me? But it’s not just about guns. It’s about what I think libertarianism really means, which is
My life, not yours, piss off!
Bill Maher wants to meddle in my life and won’t piss off, and theX-Ray machine
of gun control makes that clear in an instant.