The Simpson Blog

Here's a follow-up to yesterday's post, Tech-Related Bandwagons I've Skipped . I'm not anti-tech. I'm not tech-obsessed. In fact, I'm perhaps slightly ahead of my time on a few things here and there. I'll save the mistimed technological pickups for the next post. Here's some of the appropriately timed adoptions. - DVR/PVR technology - A friend put together a homebrew personal video recorder a few years back, before most people had head of such a thing. I had a home theatre PC well ahead of the trend. And it's been one of the most world-changing things I've had in the house. Skipping commercials and pre-planning TV watching has been phenomenal. - Roomba the Robot Vacuum Cleaner - As close as I may ever come to living in the Jetsons world. Having the robot do the cleaning is a treat! Entertaining, too. - BlackBerry - I started using a BlackBerry for work back before they had model numbers ... back when it was just the RIM BlackBerry. It

Some people think of me as a cutting-edge tech geek. That just ain't true. I was, perhaps, an ahead-of-my-time nerd in the 1980s, but I've opted not to take part in many of the tech fads of the modern era. Here are the big ones that come to mind. - Facebook - I'm not on the facebook. It often seems like I'm the only one. Social networks sound like fun, but I've never been particularly social, so I've yet to see the use. One day I might. - Twitter - I honestly don't see the point. I know it's the big cool thing now, but I really really don't get the fuss. I'm neither a tweeter nor a follower. - Skype - I love the idea of it. Free long distance. Quality voice connections. Multi-party conversations. Videophone. Free free free. But I've never installed it because I don't know if anyone else I know would install it too. - Instant Messaging - Remember ICQ? AIM? MSN? What IM app is cool these days? Damned if I know. I got onli

The home has been invaded by insects. Above is one of the spiders that I've been finding in the basement near the back door . My kitty has been vigilant on spider-watching duty, although she's a complete slacker on spider-eating duty. What kind of spider is this? I'm not an expert on spiders. In fact, they kind of creep me out. The kitchen has been invaded by small ants. We've laid out four ant traps, but I'm running out of patience with this whole "oh, they'll take the poison back to their secret ant lair and they'll all have a fatal feast" method. I don't want ants on my cutting board, dishwasher, countertop .. anywhere. It's kinda gross. I've asked around and apparently this ant/spider thing is a springtime tradition in Halifax. The ants are just a little early this year. One feller told me that we'll be grateful for the spiders in about two weeks, when the blackfly invasion begins. That'll last about two weeks. And

Fall leaves raked in spring Originally uploaded by BigAssSuperBlog Mom and dad drove out to see the new home and help tick a big pile of things off our household to-do list. Now the upstairs toilet works, the deck won't fall down, the shed has power, the closet doors close without falling off, we have four smoke alarms and a CO detector, a working fireplace, electrically safe outlets outside, fewer cords sticking out here and there, a ceiling fan in the bedroom, a handrail going downstairs, a front door that locks, and tremendous peace of mind. I thank them enormously for the loving gift of their time, expertise and company. They also brought down some gifts from Amanda's Ontario bridal shower (thank you everyone!!!!!) ... and an assortment of tools, including a fan rake. I went nuts with the rake. The former owners clearly gave up on landscaping and yard maintenance last fall, so I commenced raking up the leaves. What you see before me is at least 30 (I can't count) bags f