Last night I worked for another hour on my lawn, and couldn't believe how much work and time this machine will save me, compared to my old Husq/Honda push-mower. Tackling my slopes is so much easier now. I've got another 1/2 hour or so to do, so roughly 2 1/2 hours to do the lawn with the new mower. Previously, it was taking me five hours.(3.5hr for the slopes/ 1.5hr for the "flats") Another point; With the light-weight aluminum body, I figured that the center-of-gravity might be a little higher, and that this might cause the machine to want to roll over, when mowing across a slope. This was not the case. Also, I used to remove the bag when mowing slopes with my Husq/Honda. It was wayyyy too heavy and awkward, and the machine actually flipped over on me, on several occasions. With this new Toro, I have no hesitation to use the bag on slopes. Even with the bag nearly full, the machine easily deals with the added weight, and remains stable. The machine has created one problem for me however; I had just ordered a fairly heavy-duty garden-tractor from John Deere (X-500/ 54" deck). The JD rep was here on Monday, to take a look at my slopes, and he says the tractor would do "some" of my slopes, but downhill only. He felt that even a 4wd tractor wouldn't be able to climb the slopes. A Kubota rep who came later the same day, said the same. Now I'm thinking that I should cancel the X-500. I'm torn, but it's hard to justify the expense, if I'm only using it to mow the "flats" of my yard, when the new Toro takes care of that area in less than an hour. If I relegate the mower to slopes only duty, and use the tractor for the flats, the tractor would see only 15 hours of work per year. For snow-removal, I'm using a "tracked" Honda 11/32, and I'm entirely happy with that machine.

Programs that block urls, either outgoing or incoming via the restricted sites lists, the privacy lists, and hosts files(host file blocking really can grow huge) ... they all seem to make an overly bunch of entries which is good for blocking the bad and pesty stuff ..but it adds time for the browser to load webpages because it has to build an ip list for all the url names, then compare each incoming and outgoing ip against that list and then its subnets too to decide to block or allow things both in and out. Some of those programs seem to always add sites, but seldom delete any that no longer exist. It takes time to process that stuff. I've had to deal with a few computers that over time the users had run too many of those blocker programs and paused/slowed down web page loading ... although I gotta admit,, the biggest thing I seem to run into with slow internet is when people have multiple browser tool bars from google/yahoo/aol, etc. Why do you have all these tool bars... I dunno how they got there, but dont delete them. heh, too late. 4 oz chilled cola, 1 oz Vodka, 1 oz Cherry Liqueur = one Connie Cola

The Personal Pace rear-wheel drive mower has steel wheel gears. Tilt the mower up on its right-hand side wheels (carburetor up, always) and see that the belt is on the crankshaft pulley and feels like it's attached to something on the back end. My guess is you need to adjust for cable stretch and belt wear and perform what should be routine yearly maintenance. Set the mower down on four wheels. Get a can of spray White Lithium Grease with the straw for pinpoint application and a spray can of CRC Electronics Cleaner. Remove one rear wheel at a time and spray the cleaner on the spur gear on the end of the axle. Also note the hole in the end of the axle which is there for cleaning and greasing the ratchet assembly inside each spur gear. Shoot the cleaner in there with the straw and rotate the spur gear. By cleaning it like this you will free the ratchet so it only will turn one way and clicks when you turn it the other way. When you think it's clean, shoot the grease into the hole until it comes out clean. Notice that the axle bolt and wheel hub bearing (sleeve) need to be cleaned and greased, also the wheel gear. When finished, put the wheel back on and do the other side. When done with that, see if the drive works properly. You need free play on the handle so you can pull the mower back to you in some cutting situations, but if you have too much it won't keep up with your walking speed. Adjust the drive cable by loosening the clamp bolt on the fixed handle and sliding the cable housing one way or the other. Check the adjustment - with the engine running, raise the back of the mower off the ground to make sure the wheels are not turning. Now push on the handle and the wheels turn. See if the mower continues to drive at your fastest walking speed. You're done until next year when you should do it again.

My parents put modern high gloss slabs in their kitchen when they remodeled several years ago (replacing a 1991 honey oak kitchen). I don’t think they were thinking of what was a future trend, they just went with what they liked (and it looks fantastic still). My mother is gone now, but my 65 year old stepfather still enjoys his very modern kitchen :) I went with white (Alabaster) shakers in my kitchen. In all the homes I have lived in over my many years, I have never got sick of white cabinets, or simple shakers. The two together is my perfect cabinet. I would do the same thing in five years. But any grays in my home are warm, and we added in lots of blonde, creams, light taupes, rich teak, soft browns, in finishings and furnishings. The cool white and gray look never worked for me. I like earthy naturals, and warmth. Small cozy spaces and books versus large sparse spaces. We are in our late 30s and early 40s and plan this to be a very long term home so we went with what we liked, not worrying about what might sell five years away. What is next in trends? I don’t know. I am seeing more euro style slabs, be it a wood like bamboo, a walnut veneer, or a gloss. Or mixes of gloss with wood/veneer. I personally find the mix of super modern “man made” with natural elements a wonderful look. If I was not worried about longevity for my own taste and working with a budget I would have been tempted a mix of acrylic and bamboo (latter was $$$ when I priced out!). Like Sophie said though, quality matters for woods and veneers. I have been seeing a shift from gray and white kitchens back to wood. Millenials are susceptible to trends too but they have generally a more limited budget and may be wise to choose quality and longevity versus trendy.