For the record, a “day”, for NaBloPoMo purposes, begins when I wake up and ends when I go to sleep. So this counts as Sunday’s entry.
I spent most of today (the parts that weren’t spent at Ellen’s, anyway) out in the back yard raking up leaves. Okay, I took plenty of breaks, and really, I only raked up what was on the brick patio. That alone came out to eight yard waste bags. I have a lot of trees.
I’ve decided that the leaves on the lawn are going to stay on the lawn. I have a mulching lawnmower, and it seems to do the trick admirably. We’ll see how the lawn turns out. I’ve got a few bald patches, and I have a feeling that my overseeding in September didn’t take. Apparently you’re supposed to water new seed. Every day. We’ll see if any comes up in the spring, but I’m not entirely hopeful.
I’ve still got lots of leaves clogging up the eaves troughs. After last year’s roof leaking adventures, I’m definitely going to get someone in to do it. I’m just a little bit too terrified of being up on ladders to do it myself. I was up there doing a little bit–clearing out where the leaves clog things up the most: at the downspouts and at the one corner. This really needs to get done properly, though.
Speaking of buying stuff, when iRobot announced their gutter-cleaning robot, [the Looj](http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=354), I was all over it, putting in a pre-order. It came in about a month ago, and I put it together and tried it out shortly after. The leaf-spewing spinny front thing works really well, spewing leaves all over the place. However, it appears that my eaves troughs are slightly too narrow. The Looj’s tank treads couldn’t get traction.
I’m planning on writing them a letter. I’m not going to ask for my money back, because I honestly think it’s a fantastic idea. I’m just sad it didn’t work out for me. So I’ll have to hire someone instead.
Hiring somebody isn’t that bad a deal is it?
You make it sound like defeat.
Sure, years ago people might have done all their own around the house tinkering, but the world’s a fair bit different now than it was.
Priorities have changed, and people appreciate the value of both specialization and handymanedness.
At the end of the day, no leaves and no leaky roof makes for greater happiness, doesn’t it?
I’m kinda neurotic about phoning people.
It isn’t a principled thing about how I should do everything, nor is it about the money, really. I do get a bit worked up about whether I can trust them and about being ripped off (moreso for contractors than gutter cleaners), but it mostly comes down to not liking having to phone people I don’t know and putting it off until it doesn’t happen.
That’s why you ask friends & co-workers for references. No brainer!
Who’s Ellen?
Ellen’s someone I’ve been seeing for about a year now. I just haven’t posted anything on account of my “don’t talk about other people” rule.
It does make posting about what I’m doing a little difficult, so I’m working on adjusting the rule slightly… 9_9