10.15.2006
(off-site links open in new windows)
Don says:
Well, I'm sitting here trying to decide what I've done lately that warrants a mention. I've traded emails with all sorts of people but much of that was simply idle babble. Hugh Davis, one of our readers, gave me a computer motherboard with a 380 MHz processor on it and some extra RAM cards he had but I've become a real snob about RAM so I probably won't use the ones he sent. I think his are 32 MB and I have several 64 MB cards but 32 MB cards are worth next to nothing on ebay and 64 MB cards are only three or four dollars apiece. 256 MB cards jump up to between $40 and $60 (with shipping) but 128 MB cards are the bargain at around $10 each, with shipping. Most motherboards have three RAM slots and three 128 MB cards add up to 384 MB of RAM. That's more than enough for the average Windows computer and gracious plenty for most Linux distros. I spent about a half hour on ebay and bought four 128 MB, PC-100, RAM cards, from three different sellers, for just under $40. I did try to buy a couple of 256 MB cards but the bidding got too expensive for me.I've always checked our website in as many browsers as I could lay hands on; that's why I've got Firefox, Opera, and OffByOne on my Windows computer, along with the 'default' Internet Explorer. Actually I use SlimBrowser but it runs on Internet Explorer's dlls so there's no real difference in the way they look. Getting Linux computers to go along side our Windows computers was a terrific boon for me because it let me check our web pages in Konqueror, Mozilla Navigator and Epiphany. I was thus able to identify and fix a few more errors in my code so that was a good thing but something else I've learned bothers me a little. This website looks a lot better in Firefox, on my Debian computer, than it looks in Windows 2000 Pro with the same monitor and both computers are using default settings (I never fiddle with the defaults). In Windows, the site looks very nearly the same in Firefox as it does in IE but switching to Debian and comparing it to Win2K Pro, the site looks a littler better in Epiphany, better still in Mozilla Navigator and better yet in Firefox. My first thought was that maybe the Win2K box has a 'challenged' video card so I fired up SIW and checked. My Windows box has a 64 MB video card while the Debian box has a 16 MB video card and, because I'm using a KVM switch to go from one computer to the other, they both use the same keyboard, mouse and, more importantly, monitor. Go figure.
Lisa says:
Each year, the Texas Department of Transportation, the nation's biggest wildflower gardener, buys and sows 5.6 billion seeds (33,000 pounds) of 30 different varieties along state highways. When I came to Texas 2 years ago from a lush, (boring) green Florida, I was knocked out the first spring. The natives told me the wildflowers weren't that great because it was a drought year, but the flowers were spectacular. A gardening friend was making recommendations as to where I could sow wildflowers and suggested the strip of weedy grass between the rock wall and the street. Perfect, I got to work.I started by ordering a wildflower mix from Native American Seed, highly recommended by the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. Scraping back the sand and grass in the road to a uniform line 8 feet out from the wall was the toughest part, then mowing, mowing shorter, then raking the clippings and thatch. Then I loosened the dry, compacted soil to a depth of 1/2", smoothed everything out and watered. Must've had my gardening mojo working because that night it rained heavily for the first time in over 3 months. The seeds arrived the next afternoon; overnight delivery, how about that? I mixed them with some seeds given to me by friends, sowed and watered them in. Now all I have to do is keep them watered for a couple of weeks until they germinate, then wait 6 months... Now, the instructions say in the Spring you don't have to water, just wait for the rains. Uh-huh, I've got my little wildflower farm out there making more seeds and I'm not taking any chances.
The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center was co-founded in 1982 by First Lady Ladybird Johnson and the actress Helen Hayes, both, fascinating women. Its mission is to educate people about the environmental necessity, economic value, and natural beauty of native plants. I'm planning to integrate more native plants into my landscape as time and conscience dictate.
There are lots of interesting little tidbits you come across when reading about plants and wildlife. Did you know that the yucca, of which there are many varieties, and the Pronuba moth have such a symbiotic relationship that one can't exist without the other? The female moth, which visits no other plant, lays her eggs inside the yucca and in doing so, pollinates it. Here's the whole story.
Yucca Pronuba moth
Will Work For Flowers
