Lotus Update

There isn't a lot to do in Michigan from January to March, so this has given me something to keep from going insane. If i lived in Florida it wouldn't be this difficult. Down south the hot and humid air allows the plant to grow almost all year round. The problem is that my house is cold and dry. The first thing i learned is that i can't just put the growing seed in an open bowl of water like people online suggest. Once the shoot reaches the surface it immediately dries out and dies. The air in my house is way too dry and instead of the shoot reaching the surface, unrolling and becoming a lillypad, it reaches the surface, dries...

Potholes 1 : Me 0

I'm not sure if it's true or not, but the potholes this year seem worse then ever. While driving on Big Beaver Rd by my house i hit a huge one. When i got home i went over to the tire and heard a hissing noise. I had hit the pothole so hard that it compressed the tire and put a slice in the tires sidewall. You can't really see it but there was a cut in the ribbed area.So the next morning, the day i was leaving for Arizona, i changed the tire.While changing the tire i noticed that the swing arm link was not attached to the shock. The pothole not only popped the tire but broke the rotating bolt that attaches to the link.After putting...

Spring Training - 2011

I went Arizona again this year for spring training baseball. I was there with Adam and John, John's uncle and his buddy Opitz. We saw 4 games in three days between March 11th -13th. I think the teams we saw were the Mariners, Diamondbacks, Angels, Padres, Rockies, and Reds.Here's us waiting to go into the Angels Stadium.I tried taking some panorama pictures of the fields. Like before i took 3 to 5 overlapping pictures and combined them using the program AutoStitch.(click to enlarge)View from right field. Empty batting cages.The second day in between the 2 games there was a car show going on outside of the stadium in a parking lot.It's a...

$30 Mower

Last week i bought a lawnmower on craigslist for $30. It runs, which means it is already better off than the old Snapper riding mower i bought last year. It can also mulch or attach a bag to collect the grass clippings. The one downside is that it isn't self propelled. That's not a huge deal because i will only be using this to mow in tight corners where i can't get with the riding mower.So i got it home, cleaned it, sharpened the blade, sprayed it with WD-40 and then oiled everything. The motor is a Briggs & Straton just like the Snapper mower. It's 5hp and seems to run well.One problem it had was the throttle cable was jammed....

HTC Freestyle

It's been 2 years and a few months since i got my last cell phone. I was thinking of joining the rest of society in 2011 and getting a smart phone with GPS, Google, E-mail, apps and everything you can think of. The problem with those phones is that they cost around $200 even with the rebate, plus you have to pay a monthly data fee. For AT&T that meant another $25 per month. It seems like a good idea and i'm sure i would have loved one of those phones but i decided against it.I waited for a few months and then i found the perfect solution. The HTC Freestyle. It looks and acts like a smart phone but it isn't. Through Amazon.com it only...

Las Vegas

Last week i flew to Las Vegas with Karrie and her mom. We stayed at Imperial Palace which is right in the center of the strip.The last time there i walked the whole time because it was 80 degrees. This time it was around 50 so we rode on the monorail. I never knew that Las Vegas had a monorail but it was great, you could make a 2 hour walk turn into a 10 minute monorail ride. The first morning, while waiting for everyone to come down to breakfast, Karrie went to get a new players club card. They give you a book of coupons to use and one of them was half off breakfast. I signed up too and since i was getting a card for the first time i...