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- posted by Seth @ 8:04 PM    

 
John has written up a nice review of his lawn mower, though it's a little more horsepower than I need to mow my lawn. Our lot is just a little under 13,000 square feet, and I use this rechargeable electric Black & Decker CMM1000 mower to cut it.

It's nice to not have to mess with gas, oil, or extension cords to mow your lawn, and I'm sure the neighbors appreciate how quiet it is, since I tend to mow at 7:30 on Sunday mornings. It's not the most powerful mower in the world, so if you're one of those people who likes to put off mowing your lawn until it could be harvested as hay, this isn't the mower for you. It's a snap to start it, you just push the lever forward, and the unit has enough battery capacity to mow my whole lawn on one charge. I usually use the bag, though it has a plug you can put in to use the mower in mulching mode, though I find that decreases my battery life. The mower comes with a 2 year warranty, but the only authorized service center in Iowa is in Des Moines, 100 miles away. So, hopefully I won't have to get it fixed...

It can take up to 12 hours to charge the mower if it's completely run dry, and Black & Decker suggests leaving it plugged in all the time, which I would endorse too, as there's nothing more frustrating than wanting to mow the lawn before an impending rain storm, only to find your mower doesn't have the juice to do it. If your grass is really thick, the mower will bog down on it quite a bit, it simply doesn't have the horsepower of a gas model, so you really need to stay on top of mowing your lawn. I think that this is a feature, personally, as it gives me motivation to mow my lawn every week or so, because I know it'll be a real hassle if I try to cut it when it's longer. And, of course, using an electric lawn mower is good for the environment, here's what HGTV has to say about it:

Tillers, mowers, blowers, weed-whackers and other lawn-and-garden power equipment are all sources of pollution. These gas-guzzling gizmos account for 5 percent of U.S. air pollution overall, and for that reason the EPA is requiring manufacturers to increase their efficiency. New regulations are expected to reduce hydrocarbon emissions and carbon-monoxide.

In the meantime, however, there are two excellent alternatives to traditional mowers, especially for those of you with small lawns. One is the old-fashioned, human-powered reel mower, for which sales have increased in the past five years. Another is the cordless electric mower. These rechargeable machines will cut the average lawn on a single charge, and they cost about as much to run as a toaster. They also don't require much in the way of maintenance.

Given the cost of lawn mowers, it's important to service yours regularly as a means of protecting your investment and keeping it running at peak efficiency. After all, a 3.5-horsepower lawn mower, if it's poorly tuned, will emit the same amount of pollutants in one hour as a new car driven 340 miles. Mowers should be serviced on a regular basis, ideally at the beginning or at the end of every mowing season. A typical lawn mower tune-up is much like a car's, including installing a new spark plug, belts, hoses and filters and inspecting all the parts. Also, remember to drain the gas from the tank before you put your mower away for the winter. Old gas left in the tank can gum up engine parts and cause all kinds of problems. And speaking of gas, the EPA claims that 17 million gallons of fuel, mostly gasoline, are spilled each year just fueling lawn equipment. That's more than all the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez, in the Gulf of Alaska.

- posted by Seth @ 6:50 PM    

 
I received a free copy of Web Design In a Nutshell from O'Reilly today. Flipping through it, it seems to be a pretty good book, I'm sure to keep it near my computer when doing web work. They sent me some nifty little coasters too. I like that the animal on the cover is known as the Least Weasel, as it reminds me of one of my favorite Homer Simpson quotes:

"Marge, don't discourage the boy! Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals! ... Except the weasels."

- posted by Seth @ 1:00 PM    

 
Apparently, Friday is System Admininistrator's Day, so give your friendly neighborhood Sysadmin a hug, or at least some pizza.
- posted by Seth @ 10:07 AM