An Anti-Rant About Toro Products

Okay time for Toro product anti-rant.

I have a Toro string trimmer. I wanted the instructions for it but apparently they haven’t ever been scanned. Knowing exactly which buried box the manual was in, I decided instead to attempt to find one online.

I searched Toro and the model number on my favorite search engine.

First link up is the page for that trimmer on Toro‘s own website. I expected that would have a bunch of specs and that finding a manual would take a fair bit more searching elsewhere.

I was pleasantly surprised that on the page with the specs is a link to the PDF of the manual. Right there, on the manufacturer’s website.

I promise the next time I need a power garden tool it will be made by Toro if at all possible.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Jul4

Happy Independence Day to all Americans everywhere!

Especially to our service men and women serving here and abroad! Thank you for your service and all you do – to those serving today and those who have served!

Fireworks from our backyard by Springwolf © 2008-2013
Click to enlarge image

School’s Out For Teacher

Jun19

Mission Code Name: Final All Hands Debriefing

The Prince left 4th Grade behind today for the last time. Which meant he simply had to see his great 3rd Grade teacher one more time before he left for Early Dismissal. As we were walking back up off the 3rd Grade hall they called the bus riders out and a cheer went up throughout the school as all the kids rushed for the buses. It occurred to me that the teachers were cheering too and I had an epiphany. I know what happens after the last bus pulls away at 1pm.

It goes like this:

As the bus clears the stop sign at the parking lot edge the intercom comes on. It’s the CO, codenamed Principal, “This is the Principal. All hands! Set condition One Sierra Ohio throughout the School. Lock down all ports and rig for ultra party!.”

Teachers rush back into the building to their party stations. Exterior doors are sealed and locked, codes changed for security. Designated crews sweep the halls clearing them, the classrooms and closets to make sure that no kids remain. Continue reading →

Happy Father’s Day Weekend

Jun15

To All The Dads Out There!

fathersday

But Especially To My Dad!!
You’re the best Dad ever and I love you!
~ The Prince ~

Happy Birthday to the Queen!

May31

I hope this works, it’s supposed to be animated. It’s fireworks… duh.

E.W.

I want to find and beat the person who first used the phrase: It’ll just take five minutes.

Happy Memorial Day

May26

We Remember With Honor

To All those Veterans Past, Present and Future.

Produced by The U.S. Air Force News Agency

Happy Mother’s Day

May12

To all the wonderful, supportive and beautiful Moms!

Especially my Mom and my Wife!

The 2013 Grizzly Games

May10

Games and Aspirin!

If you’re Scottish, don’t get too excited at the title. It’s an elementary school thing. Their mascot is a grizzly bear. There is no bloodshed in the Grizzly Games. Well almost none, turns out the top of a two liter soda bottle is pretty hard if it hits you in the eye after being nailed by a 2nd grader with a Frisbee.

I volunteered for this today. Which, in this case, meant that I was working the Frisbee toss. Kids lined up to chuck foam Frisbees at a two liter soda bottle standing on top of a long PVC pole. And thanks to the weather for the last few days, instead of only one grade, all of them came out. All nine hundred kids, all day long.

Speaking of weather, it definitely cooperated. It’s been cold here since the end of February. But not today. No, today it’s pushing 90. My bald spot took so much radiation today, that I may have superpowers now. I know that, like the rest of my old body, it super hurts.

And speaking of pain. My brain had an interesting internal conversation with some muscle groups in my shoulders. It went like this: Continue reading →

New App Review & An App Update

Apr24

Compass Apps

Recently we had an opportunity to watch the Antares Rocket launch from Wallops Island in Virginia. We needed to know the exact direction from our viewing position and Evil forgot his nautical compass. Well there’s an app for that! There are a lot of apps for that. Be careful though, some only display information in their home creators language. I found many for Chinese and Japanese that don’t have options to translate to English. Not all compass apps are accurate, so read the reviews others have left. I downloaded three apps and checked them out. Here’s what I found.

Compass by Catch.com – ☆☆☆☆☆
Works great on my Galaxy Nexus. We put this app up against my husbands nautical compass when we got home and it’s matched up in accuracy perfectly. It’s great whether you’re standing still in your backyard for star gazing, or on the move in the car driving down the road. I really like it. The free version has several themes that can be used, and there are more you can purchase. Frankly I’m a big fan of the wood/antique look one which is part of the free version. – The only thing I’d like to see added is for the latitude and longitude to be displayed under the address that’s displayed at the top of the screen. That’s very helpful when you’re star gazing.

Smart Compass by Smart Tools Co. – ☆☆☆
If you have Samsung Nexus anything, don’t bother. In its current state as of 04/2013 its erratic and not as accurate as Compass. It has some nice features, but it also has some that are rather annoying. Although you may turn the phone into portrait or landscape mode, the heading is fixed. I don’t want to read sideways. For me, it was kind of useless.

Tiny Compass by Nikolay Ananiev – ☆☆☆☆
No frills! Accurate within 10 feet. It lacks information that is provided by Compass by Catch. But if you’re looking for nothing but a compass where you can derive other information on your own, this would be the app for you. I like a little frill, so I wasn’t impressed with this one. But for what it is, it’s good.

Update: Screen Saver Apps

Photo Slides (Photo Frame) by Softick Ltd. – ☆☆☆☆☆☆ – Yes, that’s 6 stars..I like it that much!
In a recent update Softick has provided an option to display the status bar of your phone while the screen saver is running. I really like this, because some of my alerts for news or weather don’t take over the phone, they display as an icon in the status bar. So I really like this update…especially since it’s one I suggested!

You can see all my Long, Continually Running Android App Reviews on my Android App Review page.

First Time in the Tardis

Apr9

The Tardis I’m a big fan of Doctor Who, ever since the 80’s. I watched every episode that Tom Baker did, I must say I miss K-9. The other night while watching the latest one on BBC America (shut up you Brits out there, no spoilers!), his new companion was asked, “Where do you want to go?”

The Queen paused the TV and put that question to me. Her answer was to go see Saturn’s rings up close. And the Prince had the same idea and to go to Titan. It would be pretty interesting to see a hydrocarbon lake.

Here is my idea. I would like to go to Earth, a thousand or two years in the future. I would like to find out what information that all of us collectively know now that is so wrong that in a thousand years it will be laughable. Consider this: it was a simple fact two thousand years ago that the sky was a bowl shaped cover over the world and that the sun was a hole in it through which the heavens shined down. A thousand years ago the Earth was flat and it was well known that anyone going to the edge could fall off.

To everyone of the time, these were simply facts, known to be true and without doubt. I am positive that there are things that we commonly know now that in another thousand years will be just like those other facts: so wrong that even school children will be awed that anyone would have even thought it.

E.W.

The little head says that number two on the Tardis itinerary would be a trip to meet Caligula, cause he knew how to party.

Kepler 47 from Space.com

What I said was:

It may sound trivial, but I want to see the rings of Saturn up close. Then I want to visit a planet that has 2 suns and watch the sun rise.

~ The Queen

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30