Otis

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Lately it's not even because I'm trying to lose a few lbs. (though there are some nice added benefits there), but more because I'm just too busy in my workday and too stressed about something I have coming up in the afternoon or something I need to get done.  So I just don't stop to eat lunch.

I notice some of these other slovenly folks wandering unhurriedly out to a long lollygagging 1-2 hour lunch, probably sitting back and chatting, enjoying a drink.  Spending some time walking to and from the lunch destination.  And I just work right through it.

It buys me another hour of productive work every day. If I feel like leaving a little earlier?  Hey, suck it, I worked an hour longer than you today pal.

Down with lunch.  Who needs it.  It's for the meek.

-Scroates

I love pasta as much as the next guy.  One of the great things about it is you can shape it however you want.  So why on earth did spaghetti catch on? There is no possible way to east spaghetti without making a huge damned mess and a ton of racket slurping and sucking.   Is there a worse design for a pasta shape?  Is there any other major popular food as poorly designed?

Look at pizza.  What a great design.  It's likely the best tasting food on earth, and beyond that it's got build in hand grips and you can pretty much eat it just standing up and walking around.  Spaghetti?  Terrible.

Yardnerds pls. check in.  I have a bunch of holes in my yard, about the size of a quarter or bigger, that look like this.  They appeared a few weeks ago.  Wtmf is causing this?  TIA

I need to plant a long (55' or so) evergreen hedge in our front yard to screen a new driveway from the road.  Needs to be at least 4' tall.  I'd like something that looks nice/neat, gives privacy, stays green year round, grows well in a little shade (in Zone 6).  Additionally, I'd like to hedge to have a "fence" strength -- in other words, not those flimsy evergreens you could just push aside and step past, but something that will grow into a thick hedge and keep children boxed in (it will serve a dual purpose of keeping kids from falling down a somewhat steep hill as they play in the yard).

What are my options here?  Best option by a mile seems to be boxwoods.  They look great and seem to fit the bill, but the only catch is they are crazy expensive.  Per plant I've seen them at about $175 for a 4' tall, and I'd need about 15-20 of them for just the front yard hedge alone.

Any other alternatives that will serve all these purposes?  I know I can consider something like a leyland cypress or other trees, but I'd like something that I can keep well trimmed at about 4-5', and leylands are sort of "thin" and flimsy feeling (won't keep the kids in).  Other suggestions?

TIA green thumb nerds

O