The Darling of Lawn Mowers via Consumer Reports

Well, here it is - the one and only Cub Cadet CC550SP self propelled push mower. The trouble I had getting it is a story in itself. After going through three mowers in 5 years my wife and I decided we'd had enough of the Wal-Mart cheapie Murray/Brigs & Stratton push mower at $165.00 a pop. When the last one threw a bearing after just 18 months that was the final straw.

We decided to head for the library and take a look at Consumer Reports and what they had to day. In their Nov. '07 issue they rated and had a nice review of the current riding and push mowers on the market. Thier darling of the push mowers was the Cub Cadet CC500. After reading their review and deciding the price seemed right, from $259.00 SMRP (sale price) we decided to take the plunge with its 3 yr. warranty. The problem was one could not be found in Jacksonville, FL. The closet one we could locate was in Yulee, FL nearly 30 miles away. I gave them a call and they indicated they had two at $289. I said Cub Cadets website said otherwise with a sales promotion. They agreed and said I could have it for that price. I would be by next morning.

Upon arrival they were a little taken aback when I came in. A gentleman had been in an hour before and bought both of them. They thought that was me who called. Since they were out they offered the CC550SP (self propelled) to me for $10.00 more - $20.00 off Cub Cadet's web site promotional offer. I took it. They were awesome. Since they didn't have one on site they had to get one from there other store twenty miles away. After waiting for an hour and a half they arrived with the new mower out of the box and ready to go in hand. It started to rain right then, really hard, and then it would not fit in the Mercury. So I picked it up the next day in Martha's (my wife) Ford Freestar van. I took a photo once I got it out because it looks so damn kewl, well, for a lawn mower anyway. I will give my citical reivew once I take her out for a spin and see what all the fuss was about at Consumer Reports.

New Blog Design Blues

As you can see I'm in the process of redesigning my blog. I'll tweet the world when I'm satisfied with the new look. Its really harder and more time consuming than I anticipated. I wanted the header to really reflect the dynamic and feel of the site and I'm still wrestling with it.

I've been over at BTemplates where they have hundreds of new blogger 3 column blogs and I'm still sorting out what looks best and has the right fit for the Static Existentialists needs.

I'm almost overwhelmed with the variations available and the possibilites they all offer. One can only marvel at the capabilities of human creativity and the potentials it offers for all of us. While I'm still slogging through the redesign I'll be posting on a regular basis. Btw, hat tip to KU's Medical Sciences university web site for there little under construction image which I borrowed for the post. It's funny they mispelled "Siences" in the header. Guess they need to check that.Here's to the existential lifestyle and the future ahead...

Tick, tock...

For the existentialist, the passing of time can be one of the deep anxieties of human existence. Whenever I'm in a contemplative mood reflecting on my mortality this deep anxiety can be quite troublesome. Most of the time I can look into the eyes of my beautiful little daughter of three, whose entire life is spread before her with an infinity of possibilities, and this troublesome anxiety gets put back in its box until my next reflective mood.

Recently my wife and I were able to see the last eight minutes of the final episode of our favorite HBO series about a family owned funeral home "Six Feet Under" where the young Claire strikes out for New York to make a life of her own. As the epilogue begins you see Claire (Lauren Ambrose) on a lonely stretch of desert highway somewhere in the west. Set to Sia's beautiful harmony "Breathe Life" the viewer is shown a close up of Claire as the song begins. Her image then melts into a video montage of her entire life from the show's end to her death in a span of six minutes and ends with the show's standard opening of an epitatph of a person whose funeral will be handled by the family business. The beauty is striking and emotionally cathartic for the show's followers and for me it was the most beautiful ending to a series I have ever encounted and likely will ever again. That last eight minutes so defines what a life represents you are all at once struck by how short life is and how truly fulfilling it can be for many of us. It is also a beautiful metaphor on mortality. My wife and daughter demonstrate to me on a daily basis that beauty and fulfillment though every once and awhile that old deep anxiety of how life is slipping away intrudes and gives me pause.

For the existentialist it is a burden that is a price of that fulfillment.

JPL's Kepler mission getting needed attention

Willaim Borucki, Ames Research project manager out of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California was just on C-Span doing a pretty cool interview segment about the Kepler Telescope project. I hope C-Span has it up later today so I can link to it. He was discussing the mission goals and what he hopes Kepler can accomplish. This mission's main goal is to study a chosen secter of our galaxy for exoplanets in an attempt to discover if we in effect are "not alone." I am looking forward to followning this project and seeing what kind of results it produces.

Sighting the ISS from the ground

Found a nice amateur video taken from the top of a garage in the U.K. with a privately owned observatory of the ISS during three orbital passes overhead. Nicely done I might add. I'm still trying to figure out how to read NASA's web site tracking the ISS so I can get an observation date for an overhead orbital pass here at home. For some reason I think it is to close to the horizon here where there are a lot of trees with light pollution that will surely make it impossible to spot. But I'll keep trying anyway.

Space.com is a nice web site that has just about any information you want to know that has to do with space. The site also have a pretty cool calender of all launches into to orbit around the world with links to live video covering the event. There is supposed to be a launch this evening from the Air Force Base at Cape Canaveral as you can see here. It is tentatively scheduled for 8:32pm this evening. If the launch goes off and the sky is clear I should be able to get a nice view from my front yard. Discovery STS-119's night launch gave us a spectacular view here a couple of weeks ago. I should have shot some video. Next time I will.

Doing the blog thing

Ok. Now is the time for me to get my weight loss program in full swing. Tonight I'll do a start off weight in and then start tracking my weight loss activities. I really want to get slimmed down before the school year starts next year. Something tells me I'm going to need all the physical ability and stamina I can get. It is a relief I still have my job after the program of cuts taking place throughout the state of Florida regarding education. I'm not out of the woods yet though. Something tells me we will have to go through one more round of cuts before its all over. Just have to stay tuned to that one....

Its not a diet, but a lifestyle

Well my weight has finally gotten out of control here and its time to take some action. I'm not going to go on a "diet" per se but make a radical change in my eating habits. My back problems have not been solved by repeated visits to the chiropractor or a massage therapist. So it looks like I had better take the weight off now. I'm going to do a weight in tonight and make a habit of Monday weight checks. I want to add a walking regimen to this new eating habits routine. I'm not going to deny myself certain foods but I am going to use will power to monitor how much I eat. I've also discovered how much I miss salads. Right now I can't seem to get enough.

Later tonight I'll get the ball rolling with a weigh in after an evening walk. Adding a morning walk tomorrow when I get up should get the ball rolling here. Next week I will ease in a rowing machine routine to help kick in the cardio vascular variant and see if I can't get some weight of here.

George Carlin, 1937 - 2008

He was one of the first stand up comedians I have a distinct memory of. The man was simply eloquently silly. That was the first two words to pop into my mind as I am writing this small elegy. He was kind of the silly side of the beat generation. A sort of Allan Ginsberg of silliness with a bent of acerbic social commentary with a smile and a "its ok if you are square. Just as long as you and I both know it."

Naturally he is most famous for his 'seven words you can't say on television or radio." But I remember him for his irreverance. His "why do they call it a parkway when you drive on it and a driveway when you park on it." His other famous line was "why do they call it a shipment when carried overland and cargo when its over water." And finally, "what do they call those two parallel lines under the nose leading to your top lip. What is that?" This is what I thought he was great at. It's what I remember the most about him.

His humor and his stinging barbs at prudish sensibilites and religious hyprocracy will be sorely missed. So long George, we hardly knew ye.

Weightloss & Fitness Journal

Tomorrow is my Monday weigh in day for this low carb diet I'm on. I strayed a bit last week but I'm back on in earnest now. I have to lose this weight by August 4Th and get as close as possible to my target weight of 210 lbs. I did pretty good today only eating some cheese and celery until dinner time when I had a pork chop and my usual salad. Yesterday I went out and bought me a brand new pair of Wal-Mart sport shoes (tennis shoes for us old school guys).

I'm trying to hold the line here on the diet and exercise. I've started to walk a mile plus each day starting around this past Thursday. I will finish this week out with this very light regime and then I hope to pick it up with a regular added regime of pool laps. With this huge in ground pool in my back yard I should try and make it work for me health wise any way. I'm convinced this weight is the cause of my asthma and the pain I'm experiencing in my left buttock and right calf and part of the thigh. Today was a very good day as it hasn't bothered me that much. And I finished mowing the front lawn today as well for even more adds exercise. It was between 80 degrees and 85 degrees today and it provided a nice sweat laden workout. By next week I've got to get that garage cleaned out so I can weigh my options on that rowing machine.

Update: Ugh! Today my weigh in was 252 lbs. So in one month I've managed to lose 7 lbs. That's what I get for the diet with no exercise. Hopefully I'm already on the road to more weight loss as I've started my daily walk again in the past week. Hopefully I'll be able to fit in a swim routine to for the sake of my lower back (or should I just go ahead and say the right cheek of my ass.) Hopefully by next Monday I will have dropped below 250 lbs. Actually a realistic goal would be to weigh in at 248 lbs. Who knows with the light exercise regime thrown in it might happen.

Hypermiling

With the price of fuel now getting out of control my wife and I did a little investigating into the availability of electric motor vehicles over the weekend. I got a little excited at first because of a web site called Green Vehicles. This dealership located in San Jose California offers four vehicles that are electric only autos. My excitement was short lived because only one of the four vehicles is able to go faster than 35 mph. The one vehicle that go 80 mph is a three wheeled vehicle that seats only two. That means its out as far as our daughter and her car seat is concerned. After looking around all weekend the only one that satisfactorily met our needs was a vehicle called the Phoenix SUV which at his point is a cost prohibitive auto at $54,000. There is a buzz about the Honda Prius Hybrid getting 94 mpg.

Until then I am going to try something called hypermiling. I've been doing a bit of research on this as well. The different sites I've visited looking for tips and guides all say about the same thing. The first three things it says to do is optimize your tire pressure, make your car as light as possible, and track your gas mileage. Today I spent the afternoon doing just that pulling every thing out of the car that is simply not necessary. I also made a customized driving / fuel & mileage Journal for a 1" three ring binder. I'll check my tires again tomorrow and stop by nearby tire garage and make an appointment for tire rotation. I'm anxious to see how I start out with these hypermiling techniques. My initial goal is to top 35 mpg.