Lawnbots - More Than Meets the Eye

The one I saw was like the second one from the left

Yesterday, after I finished mulching the front yard and pea graveling a very small section in the backyard, I decided that I needed to go over to Walgreen's because both Cha Cha and I both needed medicine refills. So, I went to the garage to put air in the back tire of my bicycle. It would not take air so I threw my empty backpack on my back (it is right in the name of the product) and headed east. I arrived at the store and filled my backpack with eight rolls of toilet paper and four prescriptions (after paying for them, of course). I also got a small bag of cashews that I ate on my hike back.

On my way back from Walgreen's I saw something that I found very amusing. I had heard about these but had never seen one. It was not a UFO though it looked like one except for the F part - it was not flying. I saw one of those lawnbot things mowing a lawn. In case you are not familiar, a lawnbot mows your lawn while you make dinner or take a nap or write a blog or whatever else you would rather do than mow the lawn. From what I understand you just enter the GPS (global positioning system) coordinates of the areas you want mowed and away this thing goes. The one I saw was not going in straight lines like you and I might so it probably wasn't as efficient as a human but who cares? It is mowing the lawn for you - who cares how long it takes. It doesn't get tired and it doesn't have a game to watch. From the looks of it I believe it was rechargeable not gas powered. I wrote down the address if you want to go back and gawk at this thing next week.

After my lawn-mower gawking  and fantasizing I continued my trek west and stopped at the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner. We already had potatoes so I figured mashed potatoes, gravy and meatloaf would be great for dinner so I got three pounds of ground turkey (always get extra meat because meatloaf sandwiched the next day are an awesome lunch), a jar of gravy because it is better than what I would make, a jar of giardiniera and veggies. All of the ingredients did not fit into the backpack so I had to carry a bag of meat. urns out that eight rolls of toilet paper take up a lot of room. I invented the easiest meatloaf ever which is the reason for the giardiniera. I take three pounds of meat and mix in an entire jar of giardiniera - it is the best, moistest meatloaf you will ever have. You do need to watch and drain the excess juices once in awhile while it cooks. I don't imagine I am the first person to do this but I had never seen it so I can say I invented it. I cooked it at 350 degrees for about 90 minutes.

As I approached the house I got the mail. We received our property tax bill yesterday and it is just about the same as last year which is good and bad. It is good in that it did not go up but it is bad in that it did not go down. When I saw the $6,600 last year I thought it was high and now it is $6,600 again this year. I am not sure what the numbers after the second six were last year and, since I cannot remember that and I am too lazy to pull the taxes out from last year, I will assume they are the same. I guarantee they are within $99 of one another. They steal our black dirt to sell to some other developers or fill bags for Lowe's and Home Depot and Menard's... to sell back to us and than rape us in taxes anyway. I think, when both kids are gone, we are just going to get a small townhouse on water somewhere and either sell this monstrosity or rent it out. We like this house and it worked well when there were four of us her but we are ingrowing it. Is ingrowing the opposing of outgrowing?

This morning I renewed my At Bat subscription on my phone. If you have a favorite baseball team and you don't live in the broadcast area it is awesome. Many know that I am a St. Louis Cardinals fan as I do not try to hide it. I love that the Rams are the NFL football team in St. Louis now because it grew tiresome having to distinguish which Cardinals team I was a fan of. The Cards have won seven games in a row now. Anyway, At Bat allows you to listen to the local broadcast of any MLB team. It is only $19.99 per year which I find reasonable. It's fun listening to people like Vin Scully broadcast The Dodgers and Bob Uecker call The Brewers games and all of the former players I remember growing up call their various games.

I used to work with one of these two guys (not Uecker)

Man, with all of the free plugs I give in the blog every day I should start getting some kind of residuals. I wonder if there is something like that. I bet there is. I would not want to be dictated by money to write what somebody else wants me to write though. I do see, on television shows and in movies, that advertisers are having to get more clever with their product placements and such. It sure took them long enough to figure that out. I suppose with everybody DVR'ing (digital video recording) shows now they have to place products in the shows a lot more. The best at this is The Amazing Race with that Travelosity gnome and the Fitbit. Maybe Cha Cha and I will get Fitbits before our European cruise? See, it works on the simple-minded like me!

I am so happy that it has rained the last couple of days. The sod and the grass patch that I put down over the weekend look like they are really enjoying the moisture. And, I got all of the mulching done yesterday morning and the traipsing across town done before the rain began.

I have to get some more things done around the house. I fixed an electrical issue this morning and I am, as always, doing laundry. I have to do my other daily job of cleaning the kitchen (specifically the dishes) too. I have to get it all done before 14:00 so Fabio can drive us to watch the new Avengers movie in 3-D. He has already seen the movie but wants to see it on 3-D. I think he asked me because he doesn't know ho to get to that theater and he wants me to pay. Thank you for stopping-by. I appreciate you a great deal and continue writing because I feel like you are depending on me and that I think the writing is great therapy plus, if I forget things, I always have a place to come back and check my time-stamped writing. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!