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I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

nytimes.com

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Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#241

Post by toasterlovin »

robomartin wrote: post #130
pg wrote: post #68

It's so true. I can do routine work with noise, but not the kind that requires insight. The sad thing is that noise is yet another example of the phenomenon of "the tragedy of the commons." Which means things tend to get noisier and noisier. In fact, what has surprised me most about living in Palo Alto is how noisy it is. You'd think living in the suburbs would at least be quiet. It is on weekends. But the problem wi…

I hate front lawns. With a passion. But, guess what, I had to fall in line and make mine "pretty", put in some sod and match the rest of the neighborhood. For now I have the greenest and neatest front lawn on the block. Why? We have a culture where you lose value if you adopt arid climate landscape when people expect grass and flowers and that's what everything around you looks like. We had a nice arid climate front…

Do banks really do this? I thought they were primarily concerned with the ratio of owner equity to market value...

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#242

Post by hvidgaard »

asdasf wrote: post #213
hvidgaard wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of what you add is entirely optional. It is possible to keep a "nice lawn" around your house, without use of fuel and chemicals. Water however is mandatory if it's not raining enough.

Water is not mandatory at all. Grass with a healthy, deep root system will survive extended droughts just fine. It just turns brown and people don't like that.

That was the point. You need water to have green grass in dry climates - all the others are optional.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#243

Post by gruseom »

arethuza wrote: post #173
jacquesm wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a little farm-house at the end of a dead end street. No traffic, nearest neighbor 100 meters and he's doesn't own a leafblower. Clear view of the fields in three directions for the next 5 miles or so, 20,000 sq ft lot. It's been up for sale for 2 years, if you're interested ;) http://www.funda.nl/koop/oudezijl/huis-4510315-oudezijl-1/fo... Ideal spot for quiet hacking and that new YC EU headquarters!

If anyone is looking for houses in quiet locations I can recommend mountain bothies in Scotland - these are open houses (they are completely free to use) in some amazing locations: http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/ Power and internet access are slightly problematical but to read and think they are great.

Remarkable! Thank you. And that site is very well written:

If all this sounds rather rough, you are beginning to get the picture. Your comforts have to be carried in.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#244

Post by shoover »

asdasf wrote: post #213
hvidgaard wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of what you add is entirely optional. It is possible to keep a "nice lawn" around your house, without use of fuel and chemicals. Water however is mandatory if it's not raining enough.

Water is not mandatory at all. Grass with a healthy, deep root system will survive extended droughts just fine. It just turns brown and people don't like that.

I get a nice mix in Indiana. In the spring the lawn is green and thick. I have to mow it once a week. In the summer the lack of water slows and eventually stops the growth. After early July, I mow only one more time the rest of the year. Copious shade overhead keeps it from getting too terribly brown. In this situation the grass is less work than anything else I can think of other than letting trees and bushes go wild across every square foot. I like the open space. It takes about 2 gallons of gas a year for a double lot in the city.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#245

Post by shoover »

hvidgaard wrote: post #145
robomartin wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate front lawns. With a passion. But, guess what, I had to fall in line and make mine "pretty", put in some sod and match the rest of the neighborhood. For now I have the greenest and neatest front lawn on the block. Why? We have a culture where you lose value if you adopt arid climate landscape when people expect grass and flowers and that's what everything around you looks like. We had a nice arid climate front…

A lot of people actually like it - they like to have a well kept lawn, and if they want to use their time or money to do that, why not? But I don't like that you're expected, if not directly asked to, to keep it as society wants it to be. However, I can understand that the bank is concerned about the value of the house if they're financing it. Personally I'm looking for a house well outside the city and any far from…

Growing up I wanted a smooth, green lawn for playing sports. Then I grew up and realized what that entails. Now my lawn is as weedy, hard, and bumpy as anything out there!

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#246

Post by asdasf »

hvidgaard wrote: post #242
asdasf wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Water is not mandatory at all. Grass with a healthy, deep root system will survive extended droughts just fine. It just turns brown and people don't like that.

That was the point. You need water to have green grass in dry climates - all the others are optional.

Everything under discussion is equally optional. You need water to have green grass just like you need to mow the lawn to have short grass. Neither of those things are required by the grass, they are purely optional things society expects of us.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#247

Post by shoover »

nnq wrote: post #110
pg wrote: post #68

It's so true. I can do routine work with noise, but not the kind that requires insight. The sad thing is that noise is yet another example of the phenomenon of "the tragedy of the commons." Which means things tend to get noisier and noisier. In fact, what has surprised me most about living in Palo Alto is how noisy it is. You'd think living in the suburbs would at least be quiet. It is on weekends. But the problem wi…

Leaf blowers used by homeowners or the people paid to take care of their gardens are one of the most "typically American" and absurd and annoying things. You almost never hear/see these things around Europe, except some similar contraptions use to take care of very large city parks, for which they probably make sense, and even then they are used at reasonable hours. I mean, using a powered leaf blower to help clean u…

It makes sense in a large park but not for personal use? Sounds like you're ok with scaling the noise to the size of the job? It's really not a marginal 15 minutes if you're dealing with any number or large trees. Then there's the removal to deal with. I use a walk-behind mulcher. The machine is running for the same amount of time a blower would (or less), but at the end the leaves are mulched in a bag that I can dump along the edge of the lawn to compost. The material disappears in less than a year. I don't like that I'm making noise for several hours every fall, but it would actually take four times as long to rake and bag it (I'm serious about that number).

I have deferred for years pulling the trigger on a blower to clean the interminable tree cruft off the driveway, though. In light of this thread, I will have to think even harder before going that route. I do appreciate quiet.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#248

Post by moeffju »

jacquesm wrote: post #143
pg wrote: post #68

It's so true. I can do routine work with noise, but not the kind that requires insight. The sad thing is that noise is yet another example of the phenomenon of "the tragedy of the commons." Which means things tend to get noisier and noisier. In fact, what has surprised me most about living in Palo Alto is how noisy it is. You'd think living in the suburbs would at least be quiet. It is on weekends. But the problem wi…

I have a little farm-house at the end of a dead end street. No traffic, nearest neighbor 100 meters and he's doesn't own a leafblower. Clear view of the fields in three directions for the next 5 miles or so, 20,000 sq ft lot. It's been up for sale for 2 years, if you're interested ;) http://www.funda.nl/koop/oudezijl/huis-4510315-oudezijl-1/fo... Ideal spot for quiet hacking and that new YC EU headquarters!

If I had the money, I would buy this. A friend of a friend just offered to give me a house. They have several in depopulated areas that are basically worthless for sale and decaying if no one lives there. Some areas are so deserted, there could be hacker villages. I wonder if this is my midlife crisis…

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#249

Post by anigbrowl »

mahyarm wrote: post #137
anigbrowl wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

West Coast houses are made not to hurt when they fall on you True, they're junk. In most places it would be smarter ot make them out of brick, and the chances that they'll fall on the occupant are very low indeed. Some of the oldest (pre 1906) houses in SF are made of brick, ditto in Oakland.

Even pacific northwest houses? Houses around there in my experience do keep out the bad weather and are far better made than most californian houses.

Oh sorry, I just meant California.

Re: I’m Thinking. Please. Be Quiet.

#250

Post by philwelch »

asdasf wrote: post #246
hvidgaard wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was the point. You need water to have green grass in dry climates - all the others are optional.

Everything under discussion is equally optional. You need water to have green grass just like you need to mow the lawn to have short grass. Neither of those things are required by the grass, they are purely optional things society expects of us.

Though if your grass is both long and dry, that presents a bit of a fire hazard.
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