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Sprinklers To Keep Grass Green

Now that we are getting into the height of summer, there are certain things that you can count on. Barbeques will start firing up, pools will be full and the grass on your lawn will start to turn brown. How can you avoid that last problem? Well, watering is the obvious answer, but what is the best way to keep your lawn lucious and green without wasting water? Sprinklers.

And if you live in the Denver area, consider investing in a Denver sprinkler system. This company has been serving Denver, Englewood, Littleton and Centennial for over thrity years. They specialize in Drought Tolerant Drip Systems and Xeriscape Landscaping. They can help you figure out which system is best for your lawn and your budget.

You have already invested a lot of time and money in making your lawn the best it can be. Why not find the best in sprinkler systems to keep it looking green and beautiful all year round without making more work for you? Don’t drag that hose out, invest in a sprinkler system so that you can spend your time in other ways.

As summer rolls on, think of what your lawn is going to look like if you invest in one of these systems compared to your neighbors. Buy one and sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of the summer.

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104 Athletes Test Positive for Performance Enhancers - Who Cares

Count me among the not in the least bit shocked, dismayed, or even among those that give a rat’s ass that Sammy sosa is among over a hundred players to test positive for performance enhancing substances.  I have a hard time understanding why anyone gives a shit what professional athletes do to their bodies.  Baseball is no longer the pastural game that bound so much of this country together, it is simply one more mega-corporate conglomerate that cares nothing for America nor your average American.

Professional baseball is an entertainment industry with no more substance or altruism than the movie or music industry.  The players are paid to put on a show that sells tickets, advertising and merchandise. So long as they do that no one should give a damn about what they put in their bodies.  So long as their pay is based on how well they do that job, no one should be surprised that they will put anything and everything they can into their bodies either.  Color me not so shocked Sammy Sosa is among the many other names even non-fans know is among the list of those who tested positive.

It is time to give up on the notion that sports stars are good role models.  They aren’t now and never have been, and the same can be said of all other entertainers.  While I can’t and won’t say no entertainer is a worthy role model, I do say it isn’t their prowess in their chosen occupation that makes them one.  Hitting, Catching or throwing a ball doesn’t mark you as an extraordinary human being anymore than singing, dancing, or delivering quotable movies lines.  If these are the type of people you are encouraging your kids to look up to the  you have obviously failed as a parent and a person.

Take a moment and ask yourself why you care about this subject.

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Shooting at Jew Mueseum - BFD

Yesterday lifelong White Supremacist and Holocaust denier, James von Brunn, opened fire at the Holocaust Museum killing one guard and wounding others. That is the story we have heard almost constantly since it happened. Big Fucking Deal!

Because we are dealing a racist, a holocaust denier, and the Jews, we seem to care an extraordinary amount about this situation.  This is a large part of what is wrong with this country.   Yesterday, Holocaust Museum Security Guard Stephen T. Johns was just one of roughly forty five people murdered in the country. It was only news because of where it happened. While tragic for the family of Mr Johns, I am sure they would rather you remember him because he was a good guy doing his job to support his family rather than as the victim of a Jew hater.

Take a moment and think before you make a big deal about the wrong parts of this story. Every day 45 murders, 261 rapes, and 1153 robberies are committed. Each one of those crimes has a victim who is just trying to make it through their day. It is fine to take a moment to regret the death of one security guard. However, if you can’t take a moment to ask yourself what you can do for every other victim who didn’t make the news or to prevent future crimes then you are as unenlightened as James von Brunn.

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Stump The Novelist

I have stumped myself when I started writing a companioin piece to my current novel.  The situation is 50 fith graders, 2 teachers, 2 student teachers, 4 four parents and 25 acres of mostly wooded suburbia are thrown back in time.  The location is the same, an area north of Dayton, Ohio, called Huber Heights.

Primary Characters (so far):

• Jim is in his mid thirties and a landscaper/urban forester under contract with the city and school district to run the “land lab”.  He has a masters degree in forestry. He is an army reserve medic since the age of 18 has multiple active duty tours in Iraq.  He is also an Eagle Scout and Scout Master.  His daughter is in the class.
• Rene is a teacher in her late twenties, and Girl Scout Troupe Leader.  She is also former military medically retired after losing a foot to a road side bomb.  MOS undecided.
• Jane has taught fifth grade since 1968 and more than ready to retire.  Despite being old, out of shape with multiple medical problems she was farm raised and not squeamish.
• Cecelia is a young parent whose only real skills are blackmail and finding sugar daddies.  Afrocentric to the point of alienating her half white fifth grade daughter.

Land Resources:

• The piece of ground they have is an outdoor ecology lab owned by the school district.
• Connected to the Ecology Lab are a large open grass field with one tractor sized garage, two fenced baseball diamonds with concession stand, and a 1 acre parking lot.
• Soil has high clay content with many large claybeds that at least one person knows about and how to work.

Vehicles:

• 2 school busses
• 2 illegally parked cars both large American gas guzzlers
• 1 mommy-mobile SUV
• Jim’s work truck and trailer.
• 1 back hoe parked in the lot
• 1 John Deere tractor with various attachments in the garage.
• 4 bicycles chained to a bike rack

Supplies:

• each student has 2 twenty ounce plastic bottles, their lunch, a backpack, and the clothes they are wearing.
• The mommy mobile has been to Sam’s Club early in the morning known items are non-perishable bulk food, 2 boxes of printer paper, 2 large variety packs of garden seeds and another of edible flowers.
• Landscaping tools from shed and Jim’s
• the rest of Jim’s crap

Jim’s Crap:

• Jim has been to the fine woodworking store and liquor store prior to field trip.
• Truck boxes include 2 chainsaws with different bars, limb cutter, brush cutter, 3 different reels of chainsaw chain, caged 60 gallon gas tank.
• Jim’s Trailer is used for work, camping and Scouting.
• Known items in the trailer are homemade rope twister, large tent, various camp cooking items, variety of corded power tools, extension cords, power inverters, generator, small battery bank, four 10 watt solar panels mounted on the trailer, large rolls of wire suitable for snares, extra clothes.
• Laptop Computer
• .45 caliber pistol 58 rounds
• 12 gauge shotgun 36 rounds double ought 20 rounds bird shot.

Situational Problems:

• Current location besides being sent back in time is more than a mile from nearest water source
• People are thin on the ground so no likely help from the Indians.
• Animals including predators are abundant and not afraid of people
• It is spring (early April) which means there is little food to be gathered yet and animals are lean
• Early spring is notoriously rainy in Ohio.

With these things in mind my characters have two goals in mind, survive the short term, followed by prospering in the long term.  The biggest problem to their survival is I have no idea where this story is going.  I would love to hear thoughts and opinions from my friend s and readers.  Just leave a comment or question below.

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The Non-Vacation Vaction is Over

As I said the non vacation which has happened both for technical difficulties and rewrites on a novel I hope to have circulating the publishers later this year is officially over.  Prepare for the return of attitude, insight, and intelligent questions.  Thanks to everyone who has been working to keep this blog alive, especially @katyhart.  We have some new and exciting features coming up soon to include a regular column dedicated to book reviews.

Keep on Reading

Brad

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Dealing With #Spymaster and Twitter

Two phenomenons have recently appeared on Twitter.  One is a new game called SpyMaster.  The second one are all the whiney people who complain about all the people playing Spymaster.

The first thing everyone needs to realize is people are developing all sorts of games and other FaceBook like aps for Twitter.  Secondly, we have just entered into the school kids paradise called summer.  The kids will run wild with these aps all producing hashtags filling their timelines.

This is life and it does no good getting pissy over.  For all those who advocate unfollowing and reporting users as spammers, quit your fucking bitching.  You act like little kids having a tantrum because the popular kids you chose to follow around have a new toy.  If you don’t want to see #spymaster, other hashtags, or any other word filtering it is out with Tweetdeck is much easier and more productive than throwing a tantrum.  It also makes you look like less of dick!

Here’s how you do it.

1. Download and install Tweetdeck.  If you follow enough people to be annoyed with massive amounts of #spymaster actions you should be using this program anyways.
2. Install a filer in your All Friends Category with the following steps:

• 

  Tweetdeck filter icon

• Select the type of filter you would like to use.
• 

  

  Choose the minus icon to exclude a specific term like spymaster. You should leave off any hashtags.

• 

  Last but not least type the term you wish to filter.

Just a side note to those who play Spymaster.  The game is fun and addictive, but it is also a pain in the ass for some of your followers.  If you play be considerate of the people who follow you and don’t rely on them to filter your #spymaster hastags out.  Just because I have put up a tutorial on how to filter it out, there are a great many assholes out there, some of who actually Tweetdeck, who wonwould rather bitch and moan to the powers that be rather than filtering your #spymaster actions out of the stream.  One other thing to remember is with tweetdeck it is easy to track #spymaster tags via the search feature.  This makes you a prime target for assassinations.

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Dance Dance Revolution

After nine days of no home internet access I return to you with my second season of blogging So You Think You Can Dance.  For those of you who haven’t been watching I am currently at a count of four previous Las Vegas week dancers making their return. We also have three pair of siblings including a very hot pai of twins.  Tonight we have Las Angeles in the first part with Adam Shankman as the special guest judge.  My LA question is will we have another Kerington Payne out of LA.  Lets get ready to rumble…

Our first Dancer Bianca Revels was in Las Vegas last year.  Tapping her way around the stage was good but will it be good enough.  Nigel Lithgoe Tuffnel loved it.  Mary liked it but no shout.  Shankman thought she was incredible and she is through to Vegas.

The next couple are brother and sister pair. The Blanton kids look uncoordinated and awkward, but I think it is supposed to be that well.  They need more training.

After an interesting start we get more horrible ones including a Fat Girl who should not where a dancer’s outfit.  She at least knows why she was there.

After some serious disappointments  we get Calico Sequeria doing swing dancing.  She tempts Shankman to dance with her after a dare.  We get a visit from Katy Sheen and Joshua Allen.

Asuka returns with partner Ricky for some International Ballroom.  She is hot and he moves well, lets see if we can get the through.  Everyone loves them.  No doubt that Mary Murphy keeps looking at Ricky.  The both go to Vegas.  A rally of great performances comes after them.

Seventeen year old Nathan impresses until they see his age.

Sammy Ramirez has some great body control, but will it be enough.  He gets choreography.

Stacey House has interesting moves with great control but is severely over choreographed.  It was too strange according to the judges, but I would have liked to see what she could with proper choreography.

Amanda Kerby is a fabulous dancer and my favorite pretty blond so far tonight.  Nigel has a huge smile.  She goes to Vegas.

Philip and Ariel are both going

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