Grandpa Warned Us

I know Wal-Mart gets a lot of static in the media, like many successful companies, but I heard a commercial on the radio today claiming that Wal-Mart goes out of the US for its meat and produce products. Being a former farm kid, that can’t be a good thing. Grandpa Miller never liked the way Wal-Mart would come into a town and run all the local shops out of business, I can’t say I disagree.

 You can see more about Wal-Mart and the Country of Origin labeling here.

Read the Bible in 1 Year – Online!

I know a few people who have done this the old fashioned way, but I was thinking about this in church on Sunday and was happy to find that you can read the Bible online too. This site is pretty neat, there are several different versions of the Bible and you can choose to read it as it was writeen, or in chronological order or in historical order as the books were written.

…I’d better get started.

TiVo Tips…and stuff

Found a few TiVo-related tips that I’m going to try out on some rainy day. Might be a while before it can actually rain though, since it’s about 23º here right now.

TiVo Decoder – 1.1
Convert TiVo Series 2 .tivo files into plain MPEG-2 (DVD format) files.

Follow this handy tutorial at Mac Geekery to get the .tivo files into your Mac.

Another Mac video converter.

I might take a few rainy days to get this done–I’d better go check the radar.

1080what?

So we finally upgraded our old 400 pound tube TV a few months back and entered the world of High Definition. These TVs are a bit more complicated, and there are a bunch of different formats that can be used when viewing 480i, 480p, 720i, 720p and 1080i. The bigger the number, the better the picture-and most stations don’t broadcast anything better than 480, which has been around for a long, long time. Well, a few weeks back, I’m listening to a radio segment with someone from Traviss Audio and Video, where I purchased the new TV from and I heard him mention something about “the new 1080p”…my ears started burning. What? My TV is out of date already? Time to do some research…as it turns out, noone broadcasts in that format right now, and the difference between the 1080i and 1080p would only be apparent on super-big TVs in the 60-inch range. As you may guess, they’re pretty spendy too, which have pushed the prices of some of the 1080i models down to a somewhat affordable level. Anyway, all is well, and the new TV looks great!

Fall Lawn and Yard Work

Mother-in-law Barb visited last weekend for her Annual Fall Backyard Blitz. We built the firepit I’ve been itching to do, and we moved the swingset from the bizarre, sort of middle of the back yard, position that it was in–only to discover that there was a complex root system interwoven under the black landscaping fabric that surrounded the swing. Aha! Now we know why the swing was there–a tree or bush used to be in that spot and I don’t think they wanted to deal with digging up the roots to seed grass. Well…we tilled the area, dug up the roots, and if it would quit raining for 5 minutes, I’m going to rake the area flat and seed some grass in the next few days. What do I know about seeing grass? Not much, so I did a little homework and found that it’s best to seed Kentucky bluegrass from mid-August to mid-September, but to use a 60%-40% mixture of Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass after mid-September. It wasn’t recommended to seed after October 15, but I’m going to roll the dice.

I also found a nice article on overseeding your lawn, which I plan to do as well.

Wish List

Well, the Holidays and my birthday are right around that corner and it’s been quite a while since I’ve had any real birthday or Christmas gift ideas for anyone in my family who has asked, but with the recent move, ideas are popping up all over the place. To make it easy, I’ve started a list at Amazon.com, and I’ve found one special item for the basement TV room that can be seen here, I’d like at least the 48″ black and white version of the photo, if anyone is in the mood for some early shopping. Another item is a telescoping flagpole for our front yard, I’ve found the perfect flagpole here.

Leave it to Beaver?

Busy week, in fact, I guess you could say I’ve been busy as a beaver–which leads me to the critter Brandy spotted in our back yard last weekend. Pretty exciting, I was hoping he might build a dam in our creek. Upon further review, we think it may not be a beaver, but rather a lowly groundhog–which doesn’t sound nearly as fun. See what you think.

Building a Fire Pit

Now that we’re mostly settled into our new home, aside from some scattered boxes here and there, we’ve had a bit of time to think about those little improvements that would add a nice touch around the house and yard. I’ve always thought a fire pit would be a neat addition to any yard, especially if you enjoy cooking out or entertaining friends, which Brandy and I both like to do. After a few quick web searches, I found a nice set of instructions at bhg.com. I thought I’d save them for possible use later on this summer, and pass them on for anyone else who has considered this type of project. Anyone have a shovel?
Build Your Own Fire Pit: Step-by-Step Instructions

Where’s the Popcorn?

When we moved to our new home, one of the first things we noticed was: no “popcorn” ceilings. We weren’t exactly sure what the bizarre, textured, but kind of smooth, surface was called–but after a few Google searches, I found that this is either called a Knockdown or a Skip Trowel technique. Some people may also call it Orange Peel. Anyway, here’s a link that shows you how to do it, just in case you’re looking for something to keep you busy this weekend.

Remodeling : Other : Drywall Mud Textures : Home & Garden Television

Pay Up Sucker

When you work for yourself, you’re bound to eventually end up in small claims court attempting to collect on a deadbeat account. My lawyer gave me some advice on an old account I’m considering filing some papework on, but I found a nice site online detling the
debt collection statute of limitations listed by state. In Iowa, it costs around $75 to file a small claims case against someone. Maybe we should all just do business like Jesse James, the renowned custom chopper builder, and just accept cash.