Lunch at Pine Hills Park This Tuesday

Tuesday some of our neighbors are meeting at Pine Hills Park at 1130 for a picnic. It's the Thatchers, Ianiello's,Ellis',Gazda's and Oslers. Please feel free to bring a "sammich o' sumptin' and join us!

off at night!!!

Yes - the water will be off at 8 PM ... they thought this would be less disruptive. Pass the word ... it is not a typo.

water off again

Hey neighbors ...

As a part of the Western Row Road Widening Project, water to Mason Fields will be shut off on Monday, July 28, 2008 starting at 8:00 p.m. for about 6 to 8 hours. This shutdown is necessary to install a shut off valve on the existing 12" water main as required by Greater Cincinnati Water Works. This Valve will allow future work on this water main without again shutting off water to Mason Fields.

In case of rain the proposed work will be done on Tuesday, July 29, at the same time.

Kids and Cars

I am all for driving under the speed limit in the neighborhood and I have advised my sons to do the same (please let me know if you see them going too fast). I also remember playing tennis in the street as a kid and dashing to the curb when a car was seen or heard. That being said...twice on the same trip (leaving and coming back from dinner) Mike and I noticed kids on the side of the street, looking right at us and then one of them darts across the street, in front of our car. We were going slow and making eye contact. Both times we stopped and rolled down the window and said, "Hey, don't do that." in a nice, but firm manner. Am I out of line? I know when I was a kid a reprimand from an adult in the neighborhood made me think twice. I do not want to step on toes, but I am trying to help when even driving slow gets scary.

Fire Levy August 5

Yesterday in your community paper you received an insert called "Mason Matters". It goes into detail about the fire levy and what it will cost/cover. I was surprised by the day of the vote. It's not election day, but August 5th! Not much is being said about it. I anticipate low voter turnout. It doesn't say WHERE to vote. I am assuming the place where we normally vote? If someone hears any more, please update us. Thanks.
http://www.imaginemason.org/home.php?ID=158

time for weeds to be gone

Ortho Weed B Gon

How to Use
Spray weeds until they are thoroughly misted, but not dripping.

When to Apply
Spray when weeds are actively growing. Rain or watering 1 hour after application will not wash away effectiveness. Spray when daytime temperatures are above 45° F and below 90° F.

How often to apply
Apply to actively growing weeds as needed. Wait 2-3 weeks before reapplying to same weeds. Some difficult to control weeds may require additional applications to achieve complete control.

Where to Use
Use Ortho® Weed B Gon MAX® Plus Crabgrass Control to kill the toughest weeds in these lawns: Bermudagrass, Buffalograss, Fescues, Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, and Zoysiagrass.

Where Not to Use
Do not use on St. Augustine, Centipede or Bahiagrass lawns.

What it Controls
Weeds: Kills over 225 weeds, including: Barnyardgrass, Broadleaf Signalgrass, Bur Clover, Carpetweeds, Chickweeds, Creeping Charlie, Cudweed, Curly Dock, Dandelion, English Daisy, False Dandelion, Field Bindweed, Filaree, Florida Pusley, Heartleaf Drymary, Henbit, Junglerice, Kikuyugrass*, Large Crabgrass, Oxalis, Pennywort, Plantains, Purslane, Red Sorrel, Sheep Sorrel, Smooth Crabgrass, Giant Foxtail, Green Foxtail, Yellow Foxtail, Torpedograss*, Speedwell, Spurges, Spurweed, Thistles, Toadflax, White Clover, Wild Carrot, Wild Geranium, Wild Onion, and other broadleaf weeds. *Make 2 sequential applications at 14 to 21 day intervals to control.

Desired Results
Should see twisting, curling, and yellowing of weed leaves in 24 hours on most weeds.

cow appreciation day

Visitors to the Neighborhood

We had a special visit from TITUS a Cincinnati Police Dog. The Thatchers and the Oslers got to watch him do some search and recovery. Unfortunately it was mid-day and no one else was home. Sometimes when you watch the Cincinnati news you will see Officer Neal and Titus. This may be our neighborhoods' only brush with fame. The boy in the photo is our friend Zach Neal, who we count as a brush with friendship. Our dog tater Tot merely got to watch Titus get petted and mark his territory. Tater Tot did not appreciate the visit.

reasons

Four reasons (and there are many more) to drive slow through the neighborhood.

speaking of weird

This guy was spotted practicing for the new roller baseball team ... basically traditional baseball blended with roller derby.


It was hard to get a clear shot of him ... he was movin' real fast - probably over the speed limit.

neighborhood geeks

The neighborhood is getting a little weird. While many neighborhoods have to deal with "punks" causing a variety of problems, it seems ours has a growing number of outdoor computer hackers. Is no one safe anymore?

hands-free driving laws

I'm sure many of you think you are great drivers ... and a few of you are. But when my kids are in the street or I'm out driving also, I want your full attention none-the-less. So while it may not be a law to stay off your phone while driving in Ohio, you will still get a dirty look from me if you are on the phone when you go by.

And while I'm at it ... speed and cutting corners.

1) The legal speed limit is 25 mph through our neighborhood. But there are about 6 million kids in this neighborhood. If the street was a mile long (it's not), at 25 mph it would take you 2.4 minutes from end-to-end. If you went 20 mph, 3 minutes ... and 15 mph is 4 minutes. Net, the difference is negligible yet hitting a kid will change your life (and possibly theirs) forever. Knowing that you went the limit won't make you feel better.

And as noted in an earlier post, some are even going above the limit.

2) What's with cutting the corners on these turns? I actually have tire prints in my yard between the sidewalk and street. Please, this is not Formula 1 and you are not that cool. If you have to follow that arc in the turn you are likely going too fast anyway.




Thanks for your help ... signed, the grumpy guy on the corner.