Please explain this to me

[catherine]

DH, having been a professional lawn jockey, used to expend a lot of effort on our lawn. Now he is too busy to do that, some bare spots and weeds have taken over, but it still looks just fine. It keeps the mud out of the house and sets off the flowers.

Perfect.

[razz]

As I have a neighbour to the right of me with the perfectly manicured lawn, built in irrigation, chemicals, watering every other day and mowing every 3rd day using a gas lawn mower, a gas trimmer and a gas blower each time, I can comment with some insight. Said individual is retired, complains if a neighbour's ball lands in his back yard, calls the fire department if there is smoke visible in his yard from a neighbour's fire-pit, complains at the proposed paint markings of my new fence until the fencing company using rope indicates the surveyor's rods, front and back, that are being used. This dear man is well known and avoided for his nature. That said, he waves cheerfully at me whenever He sees me, washes his car every weekend or oftener and their property always looks neat.

I think these men are smart capable, OCD and just bored out of their skulls. Busy people are doing volunteering, golfing, fishing, mentoring children, cooking, walking dogs, etc. Lawns are not as important to them it seems.

I suspect the same might be said of the women who choose the very carefully manicured look mentioned above.

There is one house not far from me that is the very opposite in maintenance, plantings, repair, pests, triggering complaints to the bylaw officer from several people; I will take the bored OCD lawn maintainer each time.

[pinkytoe]

After living here for a few years , I must admit that after a while the persistent white of snow and/or the brown of the prairie start to get to you. You have three months of summer and you want to see green. I get that. Also, these guys would probably have nothing to do if they weren't out tending their lawns. I spent most of my years in TX living with drought and restrictions so my perspective on saving water is ingrained. It just amazes me how much effort goes into these big green boring squares.

[iris lilies]

After living here for a few years , I must admit that after a while the persistent white of snow and/or the brown of the prairie start to get to you. You have three months of summer and you want to see green. I get that. Also, these guys would probably have nothing to do if they weren't out tending their lawns. I spent most of my years in TX living with drought and restrictions so my perspective on saving water is ingrained. It just amazes me how much effort goes into these big green boring squares.

Mow-it-and-forget-it Midwestern lawns are not irrigated. Irrigation systems are pretty unusual there in normal houses although I’m sure out in the toney Macmansionland they have irrigation systems all over the place.

In Hermann we have 1 acre much of it in grass lawn and DH mows it, trims it every other mowing, but no chemicals, certainly no crazy expensive irrigation system.We complain about the moles and stomp down their tunnels,but have not done anything about them. I suppose if they start in on Iris I would have to change my mind about that.

[Teacher Terry]

We never had irrigation until we moved to Wichita. Definitely needed it at times. Here we have it in our garden and bushes.

[iris lilies]

There are lots of ground covers available now to provide that strip of green--and you don't have to mow or fertilize them. You can even walk on those known as "stepables."

I have Aguga and ivy and vinca in several places as ground covers, but those do not hold up to heavy foot traffic no matter what the eco warriors tell you. But they are perfectly fine for many of the tiny yards around my neighborhood where people seldom step. They are easy to maintain as well and I think they look nice.

[beckyliz]

Our lawn has lots of non-grass stuff. As long as it's green, I'm fine. I do pull the occasional dandelion. I don't want a bunch of chemicals. We don't water. If it dies back during the summer, oh well.

[Yppej]

I hear the question clearly-as someone who has buried both parents, a brother and a BIL. And I was with 3 of the 4 when they died.

As a RN, and understanding the critical nature of PPE and current scarcity of PPE (yes it is still scarce so ignore what you hear from the President) and the fact that staff are reusing it, dressing the family members down is a tremendous use of those resources. And that puts the staff at even higher risk as they will have to reuse even longer.

Imagine going to work a 12hour shift: don a gown, gloves, hat, a tight fit-tested mask with tight elastic straps around your head, another mask over it to attempt to prevent splashing on it, walking into the COVID unit and not coming out for 12-16 hours? No food, no liquid, no bathroom break.

Now wear all that even longer because a bunch of PPE is consumed bringing in family.

It's horrible-I can't imagine not being present with my family members. However, protecting the lives of those who WILL live, takes priority. And I have no doubt they shed many tears for those family members as they are present at the deaths.

I am taking it from your response that as I have asserted elsewhere masks that are not N95 are feel good measures that do not protect against covid. I totally get why you would want to save what actually works for medical personnel. I also appreciate that you get that the wearer of PPE dons it to protect him or herself from sick people, not necessarily to avoid infecting other people. Some others seem to miss this point. Why else would medical personnel who tested negative at the beginning of their shift wear PPE? They are not protecting others, they are protecting themselves.

Thank you for your response.

By the way, I have had the opportunity to try both a homemade cloth mask and a KN95 at work, and the former is far less restrictive, but I would imagine much less protective. The bandannas I would think are of even less utility, not to mention how often people take off random face coverings and let them dangle below their chins.

Wearing a cloth covering is hard enough, full PPE must be truly daunting. It is not some minor inconvenience and in my opinion covering up shouldn't be mandated when it is of little to no benefit, such as with ill-fitting, amateur coverings in non-medical situations where one is not within 6 feet of the same person for 15 minutes or more (the standard for contact tracing).

[Rogar]

Here's a few questions I've pondered.

Why do you saute onions first when they will go into a dish that is going to cook anyway.

Why do celebrities who most likely are well set with millions and millions endorse cheesy products. Like William Shatner, former Commander of the Starship Enterprise promoting CPAP cleaning machines machines, or Joe Namoth selling reverse mortgages, or Alex Trebek and life insurance.

Is forcing some businesses and public areas closed due to CV-19 risk really against the constitution, or is that just something the protesters totally fabricate.

[pinkytoe]

Another thing I wonder about is why bazilllionaires buy/live in massive-sized houses?