What is up.
Last night was my last meeting as a board member for my neighborhood's home owner's association. I've been serving for three years and am a bit burned out. I won't be running again next month. Maybe down the line.
Update (9.10.03):
Results from tonights annual HOA meeting election for the three 3 open seats
Fred Goff - 189
Alan Ceskher - 162
Jim Burgeson - 105
Pat Wade - 48
Will Sawyer - 33
Jim McDonald - 39
Found this article from Bill Mahr's blog
If you could actually speak spanish well enough to give a complete speach in spanish, or to have a conversation in spanish, then more power to you, but if you think spanish-speakers will relate better to you because you can speak a prepared phrase in spanish, then you'll come accross as patronizing.
"For both parties, to grow the base of support is going to depend on their public policies," says Tatcho Mindiola, associate professor of sociology and director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston. "That is far more important than whether you can say a few phrases phonetically in Spanish."
Apparently, according to this site, I write like a girl. This site analysis your writing and guesses your gender. I even submitted an excerpt from a technical article for goodness sakes! Obviously a bunch of hooey. Excuse me now, I have to go do my nails.
I've always been bothered by the disparity between working parents and those that choose to stay at home to raise their kids. Stay at home parents should get child care tax credits as well. Go here for a nice discussion.
Nightline of all people, annoyed me enough for me to bother to send them an email.
I'm a big fan of Nightline on ABC. I don't watch it every night but probably more nights than not.
I subscribe to their daily preview of Nightline broadcasts, including special reports and new broadcasts, plus insights from the show's senior producers
Today their email included this text: "Clearly, this war is far from over"
They state that often. It elicited this email from me:
"I love Nightine and I love the email notices. Could you please stop saying "the war is far from over:"? Who said it was? Each time you say it, it seems to imply that after the last time you said it, the war should have been over. You also set the wrong expectation which is in direct contrast to that President Bush has set."
My dh and I recently bought our first home, and I have a question about bugs. We have a lot of spiders around the the outside of the house, particularly black widows. Everyone in this area has them, and they're not getting inside, so I'm not that concerned, but we're thinking about having a pest control company spray for them anyway. At the same time, I'm wondering if we should ask the pest control company to spray for termites too. My know-it-all MIL says *everyone* has termites and should have their home "tented" every 5 years. I highly doubt that to be the case, but would still be interested in any feedback on this. Is it worth it to have a pest control company come out? Does anyone know how much something like that costs? Is it something we would have to do on a regular basis, or is it a one-time thing?
I once read that for every spider you see, there are 10 OTHER critters you don't because of them. If they aren't getting in and causing problems then I'd leave them be and let them continue to rid you of other pests.
Why spray for termites if you don't even know if you have them? If you've got them then you must address the problem; but to just get the place sprayed with long-lived dangerous chemicals because you might have them seems pointless. And don't ask the exterminators if they think you should get the place sprayed . . . of course they will say yes. Get an independent inspection to determine if you have them . ... and treat for them as safely as you can; but only if you have them.
In case you have yet to get your termite issue resolved, NOT everyone has termites. I own a home inspection company and do termite inspections. When homes are built, the builders are supposed to take extra precautions to eliminate wood debris from remaining in the ground when backfilling, and they generally take other termite prevention steps as well. Treatment is not needed and never recommended (by me) unless I find signs of an active infestation.
A termite inspector SHOULD look at all accessible areas for any signs of infestation (termites aren't the only wood destroying bugs). For subterranean termites, shelter tubes will be present from the dirt to wood. You should have a minimum of 6" clearance between the ground and any wood siding/trim. Look and probe around door frames and exposed wood framing for deterioration.
If you use firewood, keep it stacked well away from your home (as well as any other wood). Good luck. Kevin
If there is no infestation in the house, I wouldn't worry. It sounds like your treatment is doing its job. Termites are very prevalent in many areas. That's why you should take precautions to keep wood away from the ground near the house so you don't attract them.
Termites don't just go for the house. They want food and look for the easiest place to get it. Wood contacting the ground is easy for them. The termite company is right. Just remove the wood. Keep an eye out for any new problems around the house. Basically, if it's not broke, don't fix it and you should be fine. Good luck. Kevin
References:
Discussion thread excerpted above
Controlling carpenter ants and termites
Termite home page
NY Times Article about improving kids writing skills using online peer reviews and blogs [via Randomize]
I've updated my site template to include an image that serves to "claim" this weblog.
This post serves to force a refresh of the weblog so the image shows up.
A “groaner” is a hackneyed, overblown, stuffy or just plain silly cliché that turns up time after time in news scripts. Groaners show laziness on the part of writers, disrespect for the folks watching, and a general contempt for lively English
Go here
Question "spam" emails that are forwarded by friends. If a story sounds questionable, verify it here.
You did know that "Hunting for Bambi" was a hoax, right?
A hotel manager sees two people playing chess on one of those couches by the elevator that no one is supposed to sit on. He walks up to the pair and asks what they're doing. "We're just playing chess dammit, and we're playing it very well!" says one of them. He notices that the other has a crazy look in his eyes. He walks away in a huff. One of maids, after seeing the whole thing asks "Why are you so angry?" He says "I just can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer!" [via Scripting News]
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
