Home » 2006

Year: 2006

The Rabbit and the Ring – Part II

The neighbor kids rabbit was running amok again today. So once more into the breech I went. Using my recently acquired rabbit-wrangling skills, we herded the little guy into a corner of the neighbor’s backyard and threw a dirty sweatshirt of mine over him. Lucky for me, I picked him up by the end that doesn’t bite and into the cage he went.

And, this time, prior to engaging the elusive hare, I took off my ring and put it in a safe place…right next to my recently acquired metal detector!

I hope he never gets loose in my backyard…the “Terrible Terriers” would run him down in a “New York Minute” and make an appetizer out of him.

The Rabbit and the Ring

GMU RingTwo days ago, the the neighbor’s’ kids came knocking at my door. One of their pet rabbits had escaped and they asked if I could help corral it. Nice guy that I am, I said sure and joined the posse. Well, we finally caught the rabbit and all was well again. Or so I thought. During the chase, I lost my college class ring. The ring always was a bit loose on my finger and it slipped off during the chase. And of course, with all the fallen leaves covering the ground, trying to find it was like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack.

I seached both their yard and mine to no avail and was about to give up when it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to try using a metal detector to find the ring. Well, I went out and bought one. Armed with this technology, I began sweeping the neighborhood. This went on for two days. And lo and behold, today I actually found the ring.

So, I guess the moral of this story is “Never chase a rabbit without a metal detector.”

What Can Brown Do For You Today?

Well, they did something for my wife yesterday. She had the unpleasant experience of getting her car bashed by one of Brown’s‘ trucks. She was about four blocks from home when she collided with a UPS Truck. Fortunately, it was a low-speed encounter and nobody was injured as a result of the accident. The truck ended up with a few dents on its bumper. My wife’s car (a Ford Escape) ended up with the front left side bashed in and had to be towed to the local body shop, where it now sits awaiting its fate at the hands of the insurance adjuster.

Mad Cows

Mad CowGo Ahead…Make My Day! Click on the arrow!
[audio:cows_with_guns.mp3]

We are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore!

The Locust Tree

The locust treeA guy who does tree trimming and removal stopped by a few days ago and asked me if I had considered getting the old locust tree to the right of the shed in the picture cut down. The tree has seen its better days and I have indeed thought of getting it removed.

So I said maybe, depending on what the price was. Well he looked at it for a while, mumbled about it being close to the power lines and and finally said $2,200. I was taken aback at the price and asked if that was the best he could do. He mumbled some more and said $1,800 was the rock bottom price he could do it for.

Now here’s the catch. This same guy took down two maple trees for me last year for about $950. Granted they were both smaller than the locust tree but the two combined probably involved just as much work as taking down the locust tree would.

So, how much would it cost for someone to do a job like this where you live?

The State Bat?

Virgina, like other states in the U.S., has an official State Bird, State Flower, State Tree, etc. I wonder how many other states also have an official “State Bat?”

va_state_bat.jpgThe Virginia big-eared bat is a medium-sized bat, about 3.5 – 4 inches long. It’s characteristic features are the large ears (more than one inch long) and the presence of two large lumps (glands) on the muzzle. Their color ranges from pale to dark brown on the back and light brown underneath and found exclusively in limestone caves of Highland, Bland and Tazewell counties. With a lifespan of about 16 years, the Virginia big-eared bats are designated as state and federally endangered mainly due to their small population and limited habitat and distribution.