Spring is Definitely Here

Spring is definitely here. It seems like every year there gets to be a little less distinction between the seasons. That has the odd effect of making annuals (flowers and so on) into perennials and getting plants to bloom in more vibrant colors and at earlier times in the year. All that's really nice and the Spring is welcomed, but the early warm weather also has a less welcome side effect.

As an example, Maple trees need cold weather to allow seeds to go through the germination process. It has to be around 40 degrees F for about 70 days before the seeds are ready to sprout. Just think - if the weather isn't cold enough for long enough, there won't be any maple seedlings produced! That's not too much of a problem since we have all kinds of nurseries here that produce maple seedlings, but it leads one to wonder what other unforeseen consequences there might be.

We ventured into the world of tech again, purchasing an "Apple TV" box. It's an amazing little gadget, truly a "black box." The box synchs with one of the house computers, allows all of that computer's music to be streamed through the surround sound system, has movies available for rent or purchase, has something called "mirroring" which allows you to project what's on your computer screen onto your TV screen, and has apps installed for Netflix and a bunch of other commercial sites.

I don't know if I've told you, but I absolutely hate Comcast. Seems to me that they are ripping me off, charging me to watch TV channels like CBS, NBC, and ABC when I used to get them for free. TV was always free; all you had to do was put up with a couple of commercials every now and again. Now we have to pay to get any channels, and we still have to watch all of the commercials. Enough of that whining for now.

Since I've retired, one of the major worries I have is not being able to keep up. When working, I was always up on the latest technologies because they were used to advantage by my employers. Without an employer, I am on my own dime and have to stay abreast of the newest technologies by myself. Thank Him or Her for my iPhone 4 and apps like USA Today which has a Tech section that I can download every day to get the latest and the greatest innovations! (Did I just say that?)