All Posts Grouped by Category

Transporting a Lawn Mower by Myself
Nov 13, 2024
Reading Time: 4 min

My Honda lawn mower needed repair. My car is a hatchback, but I had no help getting the mower into or out of the car. Here’s what I did…

Late Fall Overseeding Case Study
Oct 25, 2024
Reading Time: 4 min

A neighbor decided to overseed their lawn – on October 20th. This is very late for growing new grass in zone 7A. Will they succeed or fail?

Fall Lawn Care Plan
Aug 31, 2024
Reading Time: 16 min

Fall is the optimal time of year to repair cool season grass. After suffering all summer, cool season grass needs your help to recover before winter! This post will show you how to turn your thin, weed-filled, struggling grass into a lush green lawn.

How to Disable iOS 18 Dark Icons
Nov 9, 2024
Reading Time: 5 min

After updating to iOS 18.1, many of my app icons became “dark”. Why did this happen, and how to I restore my icons to their normal appearance?

Easily switch directories in the Linux shell
Oct 24, 2024
Reading Time: 8 min

The Linux shell (bash or zsh) provides users tremendous power, but requires a significant amount of typing. This article shows several approaches to changing directories that minimizes typing. Along the way, we will learn about how the Linux shell finds and manages executables and even about tiling window managers.

Privacy, Longevity and Vendor Lock-in
Oct 7, 2024
Reading Time: 12 min

I follow three guiding principles when selecting which software to use:

  1. Privacy – Does the software (and vendor) value and guard my privacy?
  2. Data Longevity – What happens to my data if the vendor goes out of business? Or the vendor discontinues the tool?
  3. Vendor lock-in – how easily can I export my data and then import it into a different tool? Am I trapped within a single vendor’s ecosystem?

This article focuses on why I believe these principles are important when choosing software. But these principles also apply to many other purchasing decisions we make. Buying a car, a TV or even a lawn irrigation controller? You should consider these three key principles before making your choice.

The Return to Office Battle
Sep 30, 2024
Reading Time: 9 min

The “return to office” battle continues. Amazon recently notified their employees that as of January 2nd 2025, all employees must return to the office (RTO) five days per week. Many Amazon employees are frustrated with this change. Does the Retired Engineer have an opinion on companies requiring employees to “return to office?” Definitely!

Tire Tread Depth
Sep 20, 2024
Reading Time: 5 min

Most of my readers probably never think about the tread on their tires. Yet the depth of the tread is critical to your safety when driving. A tire tread depth gauge is an inexpensive way to monitor your tire’s health.