Jeremy Herndon

I’ve always had a soft spot for our feathered friends.  I keep a pair of binoculars and a bird identification book close at hand so if I spot a bird I haven’t seen before I can get a closer look and try to figure out what it is.  From time to time I’m thrilled and blessed to spot a few American Bald Eagles near our house!  But sightings like that are few and far between.  I mostly see hawks, blue jays, robin red breasts, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, doves, nuthatches, finches and cardinals.  Once in a great while I see a Northern Bluebird – what a thrill that is to see that!  I see way too many turkey vultures and buzzards for my liking, though, if you know what I mean.  I understand that they are a protected species and I know that they have a job to do, but they give me the creeps! 

I’d like to put a few Quality birdhouses and birdfeeders in our yard to help care for the birds in our neighborhood.  I suspect that if I did that I’d see a lot more of them in the yard a lot more often.  I’m just not really sure what is the best kind of birdhouse.  I love the colorful and whimsical ones, but I’ve read that the plain ones are more attractive to the birds.  What do you think?

I’ve seen pictures of the Smart car on the Internet, and on television, but not “for real” very often.  I was waiting to pull out of a parking lot and a large tractor trailer passed me by, followed by a Smart car.  What a huge difference in size that was!  It was a cute little thing, a bright red, but it brought back memories of many years ago when I saw the results of a little car being in an accident with a tractor trailer and it made me shudder.  I don’t know how safe I would feel in such a little car!

In my campaign to save money I’ve been thinking about replacing our exterior back door’s deadbolt lock with a remote control keyless deadbolt.  There are many times when one of the family members goes out at night and leaves lights on out by the door simply because it makes it easier for them to see the lock to insert their key to get into the house.  There are plenty of other lights around that area to help them see their way to the door.  (Those are motion sensor lights.)

I’m thinking that it would be really nice to have the remote because there are a lot of times folks have their arms full and can’t easily unlock the door with their keys.  Pushing the remote button on their keychain would let them enter the house more easily.  It would also let them into the house quicker if they felt threatened in some way.  I’ve been looking around on the Internet for price ranges and styles and it seems that they will cost about $100.  I was glad to see that some of the systems have additional remotes available so that all of our family members can have one.  Naturally these locks will also work with a key if necessary.

Guest post written by Derick Burks

It’s a girl! I can still hear the nurse saying those three wonderful words some twenty-one years ago. Pigtails and onesies have been replaced with trips to the salon and the mall with her mother, and let me say that I think my wallet misses the old days just about as much as my heart does. Nonetheless, that blonde hair and pretty blue eyes that she got from her mother have never changed. As much as I want to keep my little girl close, I know that she has grown into a strong, independent woman and now has to strike out on her own and find her place in this world. But how does a father say goodbye to his sweet little girl? That’s right, by making sure that her new home has an alarm system. Luckily, a quick internet search for Security systems St. Louis allowed me to find just the right system for daddy’s little girl. Now rest assured that this is one daddy that will be tearing up the road between our house and hers but at least I feel safer knowing that when I’m not there with her, she at least has a security system installed.

I was reading an article on a news website that I found called livescience.com that states that many schools have decided to stop supplying trays to their students.  They think that this will save energy, by not having to wash the trays.  The article indicated that they students are not very happy with the decision, as it makes carrying their food to their tables a lot more difficult.