If I watered 1-4 hours per zone on my system (I have 6 active zones) I'd have water puddled and streaming into the street and neighbors like crazy. My lawn just doesn't soak up water like yours does apparently. How many inches of water do you put down every week? My combination of water pressure, hose, and sprinkler put down 1/8 inch per hour over an area of around 900 square feet. Everyone's situation will be different. Furthermore everyone's soil, humidity, and grass will be different. The idea is to put all your water down at one time and not spread it over 7 days. If you water every day you are asking, no BEGGING for weeds. You can wean your lawn off of frequent watering. You can also spray it with soap to help the water soak in much deeper and remain in the soil longer. Another method to stop runoff is to water for 15 minutes and wait for 30. Then water again until you see runoff. As soon as you see runoff, stop and let it soak in for 30 minutes. Letting it soak in is important. It is exactly like wringing out a sponge. The water will eventually drain much deeper in the soil and retain that moisture much longer. Also, I see you discourage Scotts Weed and Feed type products. Why? Weed and feed products sound very good and they are easy to market. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Here is the problem. Weeds die best when they are well fed. The take up the poison more completely and die. When they are not well fed, their uptake is weak and they might live through the poisoning. When you apply weed and feed, the weeds get fed from the fertilizer right away and the weed killer starts to deteriorate right away. By the time the weeds are healthy enough to be affected by the poison, the poison is gone. A better idea is to fertilize and then wait 2 weeks. After 2 weeks sometimes the weeds will be gone simply because the healthy grass pushed them out. For those remaining weeds, use a spray product like Weed B Gone to spot-spray each weed. This method is much more effective and helps keep the use of poisons to a minimum.

Nice looking mower. Appears to be in good shape, particularly the reel. Appears to have been sharpened with a relief grind in the past. Only the leading edge of the blade is bright, rather than the entire edge. Looks like it could use a back-lapping, however. That being said, let me focus on the engine. First, the Honda GX is a great engine. Your mower is 24 years old, and a new Honda GX would last at least as long. However, the Honda is a serious piece of change. The Briggs 9 CID "Classic" is also a competent engine, and unless abused should have plenty of life left. Here's what I would do: 1) Remove the carburetor, and then separate the tank and carburetor. The long plastic tube is the main pickup, which lifts gasoline from the tank via diaphragm pump and spills it into a small well directly underneath the carb, The second pickup is a casting projecting into the small well in the tank. The long tube has a screen on the bottom, and it must be free and clear. You should be able to blow gently on the tube, On the other hand, if you suck lightly on the tube there will be no flow as one of the flapper valves has closed. The cast tube has a metering jet pressed into ot and it must flow gasoline. I normally use a set of welding tip cleaners to gently ream out the metering jet. 2) While yo have things disassembled, you should replace the diaphragm in the carburetor. You can only do this when the carburetor off of the engine as the muffler is in the way. The diaphragm is inexpensive ($2 to $4) and widely available. 3) Lastly, while the carb and tank are off, I would check intake and exhaust valve clearances. The valve chamber is directly below the intake and exhaust ports and has a cover held by two screws. Proper clearance is .008 intake and .015 exhaust with the piston is 1/4" beyond TDC with both valves closed. Use a feeler gauge to measure. Usually exhaust clearance is OK because Briggs used relatively high quality steel. The intake, however, is little better than a nail and will stretch causing the valve to lose clearance. If clearance is OK, close up the tappet chamber and proceed to reassemble the engine. 4) If you have insufficient clearance in either valve, you will have to remove the cylinder head, and pull the valves out. Additional clearance is obtained by grinding the end of the valve stem. Remember, you can take metal off but not replace it. Grind slowly and measure often. Reinstall the valves, springs, and retainers, and remeasure with a feeler gauge to insure clearance is correct. Now you can reinstall the cylinder head, put the carb back on the tank, and reinstall on the engine. You should now be good to go.

Google family movie reviews. scroll down to the one put out by "PLUGGED IN.COM" This site is great! Several friends told me about it. This site reviews movies in depth so that parents know ahead of time exactly whether it is appropriate for kids. It will tell you what cuss words are in the movie, if their are any sex scenes, and if so, what it shows, what is positive in the movie and what is not. It also gives you ideas for conversation with your child about the movie. for example, if kids lie in the movie and are rewarded for it on screen, it gives you ways you can talk about that with your child. I have not seen blades of Glory, but check out this site, and it will let you know whether it is appropriate and what to expect. I see many kids in very inappropriate movies, and wish the parents knew about this site. There are a few other good ones too, if you google family move review, but Plugged in seems to give you the most information.

What wonderful advice in this thread!! I will agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment that you should decorate in a way that is true to who you are. If you're not quite sure who you are, you should take some time to find that out first. My approach is to look at decorating in parallel to fashion. My wardrobe is not the least bit trendy, I tend to buy clothes that may be colorful but are neutral, in that they don't represent any specific time period, I struggle with fashion a bit so I have some outfits that are matchy-matchy but can easily be broken up by adding or subtracting one thing. These elements are completely reflected in my decor. When I look at outfits in fashion magazines, I stop and think about WHY I like the ones that I like. Is it because of the colors? Is it the shape of the garment or the shape of the model? Is it the material? And then I think about whether those things would transfer to me and my figure. Some things I will always love but never buy. Again, these are the things I think about when I'm looking at pictures of rooms that I love. Will that look still be dreamy in a room with just one window, no lake view and 9' ceilings instead of 14'? I do not have an open concept home and all of my rooms are different colors and are styled for their function but they all rhyme with each other. You don't feel like you're in a different house just because you're in a different room. I think of it like a professional family photo. You wouldn't have a photo done with one person in a jogging suit, one in a ball gown, one in a business suit and another in a Halloween costume. Lastly, I'm not one of those people who gravitates toward dark clothing so none of my rooms/furniture is dark. I am not one of those people who flips out if I get a ketchup stain on my blouse and it doesn't come completely clean. My sunny yellow sofas with the ghost soda stain will attest that I am the same with my furniture. I love sparkly jewelry so every room in my house has some accessory that sparkles! Instead of fighting the fact that I'm short and curvy, I buy clothes that compliment that frame and avoid tube tops and other trendy items that won't make me look my best. My home is over 125 years old and while it's far from being Grandma's museum house, there is a definite nod to the age of the home in every single room. Take your time. You've been given a lot of really good advice in this thread and it can take a minute to digest it all. One GWer used the phrase "visual emptiness" for living with a blank space until you find the right piece and I am completely on board with that concept. I am so in love with my home because I feel like it really reflects who I am and I think that speaks to my guests, making them feel at ease. Now, if I could just get some of this construction done, I will also be at ease!!