Existential Musings on Business and Law
1. Anyone who's willingly alive wants to survive (by definition).
2. There's surviving, and then there's surviving.
3. To get a softer berth, you have to take some responsibility. Make promises. Promise and perform repeatedly.
4. The softer the berth, the bigger the promises you have to make.
5. To reap the benefits, you need people who will keep their promises to you.
6. You own things and you have income. Income from work and income from letting others use what you own.
7. Some of the things people own are businesses. Businesses own other things, make promises, and pay people to perform those promises.
8. Someone who owns a business may want to sell it. Maybe he made income from the business by working at it, but now he's decided to make all his income from letting others use his money. He wants to swap his business for money.
9. In selling a business, there are two forces to be controlled: uncertainty about price and exposure to liability. Uncertainty about price: I want to be sure of coming away from the deal with this much money. Exposure to liability: I want to leave the promises of the business behind; keeping those promises is not my problem anymore.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Re-Weeding
The speed with which Bermuda grass clumps grow in our rose bed amazes me. It seems as if, in two or three weeks, the bed goes from clean to splotched with lush, dense, 12-inch-across crowns of this grass. The biggest crowns, moreover, invariably appear in the center of the bed or in among the canes of the roses. In either place, they are hard to reach without damaging the rose plants and getting scratched up.
Joined with the Bermuda grass are two weeds I haven't identified. One is bushy with leathery, dark-green leaves like jigsaw-puzzle pieces. It seems to come out readily. The other is our common low-growing weed, each of its round, dark-green leaves bearing in its center a dark brown spot. That one wants to snap off at ground level.
The speed with which Bermuda grass clumps grow in our rose bed amazes me. It seems as if, in two or three weeks, the bed goes from clean to splotched with lush, dense, 12-inch-across crowns of this grass. The biggest crowns, moreover, invariably appear in the center of the bed or in among the canes of the roses. In either place, they are hard to reach without damaging the rose plants and getting scratched up.
Joined with the Bermuda grass are two weeds I haven't identified. One is bushy with leathery, dark-green leaves like jigsaw-puzzle pieces. It seems to come out readily. The other is our common low-growing weed, each of its round, dark-green leaves bearing in its center a dark brown spot. That one wants to snap off at ground level.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Weeding between Pavers
In previous summers, we've used Roundup to kill the weeds between the brick-sized pavers in our front walk. I've never been crazy about that method, however, both because I'm concerned about its possible effect on the toads, birds, and beneficial insects we'd like to see in the garden, and because we need to be very careful not to get any spray on the perennials that crowd much of the walk.
This year, I decided to try pulling the weeds by hand. It was not as bad as I would have expected. The entire task took about five hours. Most of the weeds came up with a good amount of root; it helped, I'm sure, that they were growing in sand rather than soil.
Not surprisingly, it's easier to bring up the root of some species than that of others. I would rate the weeds in our walk as follows, starting with the easiest to pull root-and-all and working up to the most difficult:
1. Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) -- the trick with bermuda grass is to gather all the leaves of the plant into your hand before you start to pull; it also helps in some cases to shift your hand lower once the first sixteenth inch or so has come up.
2. Wood sorrel (Oxalis corniculata) -- wood sorrel is easy to grab, since it grows upright, but the stem will snap if you don't pull slowly and steadily.
3. Carpetweed (Mollugo verticillata)
4. A weed I haven't identified yet. It clings to the ground and spreads in all directions. The numerous leaves are almost round, medium to dark green, and each leaf has a brown spot in the center. We have a lot of it.
5. Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) -- I've found that the stem of purslane snaps readily when it's growing in anything other than mulch.
In previous summers, we've used Roundup to kill the weeds between the brick-sized pavers in our front walk. I've never been crazy about that method, however, both because I'm concerned about its possible effect on the toads, birds, and beneficial insects we'd like to see in the garden, and because we need to be very careful not to get any spray on the perennials that crowd much of the walk.
This year, I decided to try pulling the weeds by hand. It was not as bad as I would have expected. The entire task took about five hours. Most of the weeds came up with a good amount of root; it helped, I'm sure, that they were growing in sand rather than soil.
Not surprisingly, it's easier to bring up the root of some species than that of others. I would rate the weeds in our walk as follows, starting with the easiest to pull root-and-all and working up to the most difficult:
1. Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) -- the trick with bermuda grass is to gather all the leaves of the plant into your hand before you start to pull; it also helps in some cases to shift your hand lower once the first sixteenth inch or so has come up.
2. Wood sorrel (Oxalis corniculata) -- wood sorrel is easy to grab, since it grows upright, but the stem will snap if you don't pull slowly and steadily.
3. Carpetweed (Mollugo verticillata)
4. A weed I haven't identified yet. It clings to the ground and spreads in all directions. The numerous leaves are almost round, medium to dark green, and each leaf has a brown spot in the center. We have a lot of it.
5. Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) -- I've found that the stem of purslane snaps readily when it's growing in anything other than mulch.
A Grand Day Out
Today was the first temperate, clear weekend day we've had in ages. It's not unbearably hot and humid, as the previous weekends have been. At the moment (2:30 pm), the sun is quite intense. But until about noon, we could work in the sun comfortably.
Kay took the time to deadhead her dahlias and hoop some that had begun to lean. She also helped me to pull trumpet vine that had worked its way among the perennials alongside the garage. I spent most of the morning pulling weeds in the front walk (managing to clear about half of it before lunch).
Today was the first temperate, clear weekend day we've had in ages. It's not unbearably hot and humid, as the previous weekends have been. At the moment (2:30 pm), the sun is quite intense. But until about noon, we could work in the sun comfortably.
Kay took the time to deadhead her dahlias and hoop some that had begun to lean. She also helped me to pull trumpet vine that had worked its way among the perennials alongside the garage. I spent most of the morning pulling weeds in the front walk (managing to clear about half of it before lunch).
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Homemade Nocino
Nocino is a liqueur flavored with walnuts. Last summer, my oldest brother harvested 30 nuts from our black walnut trees and made his own nocino, by soaking the quartered nuts in grain alcohol and adding spices and simple syrup.
In northern Italy, as I understand, the nuts for nocino are traditionally harvested on Saint John's eve (June 24), and the finished liqueur is consumed at Christmas. Here in southeastern Pennsylvania, we have nothing close to nuts on our trees by June 24. We don't have sizable nuts until early-to-mid July.
My brother came to visit this week, and yesterday evening we harvested about 100 nuts. He is going to make several batches (for gifts). He talked me into making my own as well.
There are a lot of nocino recipes available on the Web. The nuts need to be immature (ours were a little too developed -- some of them were very hard to cut). Cut them into quarters and put them in a pitcher with the alcohol. You should have about 30 nuts for a liter of alcohol.
Nocino is a liqueur flavored with walnuts. Last summer, my oldest brother harvested 30 nuts from our black walnut trees and made his own nocino, by soaking the quartered nuts in grain alcohol and adding spices and simple syrup.
In northern Italy, as I understand, the nuts for nocino are traditionally harvested on Saint John's eve (June 24), and the finished liqueur is consumed at Christmas. Here in southeastern Pennsylvania, we have nothing close to nuts on our trees by June 24. We don't have sizable nuts until early-to-mid July.
My brother came to visit this week, and yesterday evening we harvested about 100 nuts. He is going to make several batches (for gifts). He talked me into making my own as well.
There are a lot of nocino recipes available on the Web. The nuts need to be immature (ours were a little too developed -- some of them were very hard to cut). Cut them into quarters and put them in a pitcher with the alcohol. You should have about 30 nuts for a liter of alcohol.
Add to the pitcher one stick of cinnamon, 3-6 whole cloves, and the peel of one lemon. Cover the pitcher tightly with plastic wrap held by rubber bands and place it in a warm place, preferably where it can get some sun. Once a day, shake or swirl the contents. After about eight weeks, strain the contents of the pitcher, through cheesecloth, into a bottle with a stopper; add a cup of simple syrup (2 parts sugar dissolved in 1 part water); put the stopper in the bottle and store in a dark place for 60 days. Then it should be ready.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Where Are the Toads?
For some reason, we seem to have far fewer toads this year than in previous summers. In earlier years, if I went outside after dark, several toads would almost always be sitting under the light in front of the garage, waiting for bugs. But this year, while I've seen a few toads off and on, there are none in front of the garage.
I have no idea why. There seems to be precious little information about garden toads on the web; Amazon doesn't offer much in the way of books on toads. I'd love to know what happened to them and whether we can get them back.
For some reason, we seem to have far fewer toads this year than in previous summers. In earlier years, if I went outside after dark, several toads would almost always be sitting under the light in front of the garage, waiting for bugs. But this year, while I've seen a few toads off and on, there are none in front of the garage.
I have no idea why. There seems to be precious little information about garden toads on the web; Amazon doesn't offer much in the way of books on toads. I'd love to know what happened to them and whether we can get them back.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Favorite New Tools
In a previous post, I mentioned one of my favorite new tools, the CobraHead Weeder. Another favorite new tool is the Smith & Hawken Garden Tool Caddy. I first saw this in Horticulture magazine last year and finally bought one a few months ago. It's wonderful. It holds all the tools we tend to need in one compact, portable stand. It has a ring about three feet off the ground to hold long-handled tools (we keep our small-bladed shovel and narrow spring rake there) and a bucket with a canvas liner whose pockets hold small tools (for us, the CobraHead, two hand spades, pruning shears, a long serrated knife, a dandelion tool, edging shears, and a few other things I'm probably forgetting). The back of the caddy has a removable waste-basket, which we toss weeds into while working.
The caddy saves us the trouble of gathering together our usual tools whenever we go into the garden to work (or leaving them in the big garden cart, which then needs to be unloaded when we want to use it for something it's more suited to). I can just grab the caddy and be sure I'll have the tools I'm most likely to need.
In a previous post, I mentioned one of my favorite new tools, the CobraHead Weeder. Another favorite new tool is the Smith & Hawken Garden Tool Caddy. I first saw this in Horticulture magazine last year and finally bought one a few months ago. It's wonderful. It holds all the tools we tend to need in one compact, portable stand. It has a ring about three feet off the ground to hold long-handled tools (we keep our small-bladed shovel and narrow spring rake there) and a bucket with a canvas liner whose pockets hold small tools (for us, the CobraHead, two hand spades, pruning shears, a long serrated knife, a dandelion tool, edging shears, and a few other things I'm probably forgetting). The back of the caddy has a removable waste-basket, which we toss weeds into while working.
The caddy saves us the trouble of gathering together our usual tools whenever we go into the garden to work (or leaving them in the big garden cart, which then needs to be unloaded when we want to use it for something it's more suited to). I can just grab the caddy and be sure I'll have the tools I'm most likely to need.
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