Jim G's Profile

Another vote in favor of North Coast Brewery's Old Rasputin. A fine brew.

For Chicago people not on the north side, don't forget the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.

www.mortonarb.org/

Originally founded in 1922 by the founder of the eponymous salt company, it's 1,700 acres of forest, savanna, prairie and planted gardens (including a great set of kids' gardens) are worth visiting. Lots of kids classes and nature camps, as well as year-round adult education (nature photography, botanical art, landscape design etc).

My family has a membership, which is fairly-priced (and essential for repeat visitors because it gives you free admission and free parking whenever you want to go).

Look, I don't want to be "that guy", but the packaging says "100% Midwest Wildflowers". In fact, Queen Anne's Lace, Pot Marigolds, Baby's Breath, Globe Gilia and Chinese Forget-Me-Nots are native to Eurasia. California Poppy (and Godetia, I think) are native to North America, but to the west coast and not the Midwest. Etc. etc. These plants are "Midwest Wildflowers" only in the sense that they now exist here as introduced invasive weeds that displace genuinely native plants that are the natural ecosystems for native bees, butterflies etc.

Larkspur and Indian Blanket are native to the Midwest, but it's clear that by and large this seed mix doesn't offer what it promises. May as well buy a cheaper package of echinacea, rudbeckia, yarrow, bee's balm, etc., which are widely available and genuinely native.

Charcoal is also natural and renewable. Besides, there's no such thing as "solid ethanol." What they have here is something like sterno, the blue-flamed cans you see under chafing dishes. I.e., denatured ethanol jello.

Cordless Dremel. Good for cutting, polishing, carving, reshaping and deburring. I find I don't need it all that often, but when I do need it I really NEED it.

Soldering pen. Just since last XMas, I've fixed two broken electronic kids' toys (a lightsaber and a talking/musical game) where the only defect was a simple failure of a single solder point, easily accessible after opening the toy with mini screwdrivers.

Plants use CO2 and create O2 as a byproduct of photosynthesis, which obviously only happens during the day, or at least when the plant is in full-spectrum light. Plants also use O2 and create CO2 when their cells respire, and that goes on more or less constantly, but especially when they're expending energy on growth. It's a chemical cycle driven by external energy input.

In any event the amounts from a typical houseplant are trivial compared to the amounts humans breathe.

Nice looking. But please, manufacturers/retailers, stop selling things made of "plastic" by calling them "resin", as if that makes them more upscale.

With apologies to the true believers out there, I think the benefits of raised bowls (for the dogs, that is) are imaginary.

As with most pet gizmos, it's designed to appeal to the owner, not the dog. You, the owner, might find it convenient if your dog is less likely to tip over or play with its food & water bowls when they are part of a large stand. You might also find it a bit easier to fill or clean the bowls b/c you need to bend over less. But from the dog's perspective, I doubt whether 1 in 20 would care.

This would be great if you need somewhere to store your collection of assorted Star Wars toys and figures (etc). Otherwise, the only three words I can think of to describe this are (1) clutter, (2) dust and (3) um, 'more clutter'.

This post cracked me up, thanks. I hardly need to rain on anyone's parade given that these things are so expensive no one reading this blog will ever buy one (The smallest one costs $5000 without accessories or fish, add more for installation). And yet, I cannot resist mentioning how impractical they are.

Don't forget that the weight of the water alone is at least 490 pounds for the smallest model and 616 pounds for the largest (plus the glass, tubing, lights and so on), so it's a lot like hanging a glass piano from your ceiling joists. Then remember the negatives of the skinny tank shape. With more surface area, water temperature will fluctuate more than with a regular tank. Fish don't like that. Also, fish tanks look really bad when they get too much algae, which you'll be wrestling with constantly here b/c these flat tanks admit more light.