entropy lawn care service

The cat got me up this morning. This cat is getting too comfortable around me now...it got me up to the:

“meow meow meow....meow...” cat tune....

I thought, “wow this must be important...major cat issue...maybe a cat burglar is trying to get in.” I mean you can't count on a dog to catch a cat burglar...right? It takes a guard cat, trained to kill...amped up on cat nip!

No cat burglar but I open the door for the cat and...

“wheeeeeeeee.....wheeeeeee”

I set off the alarm for the damn house...I paste post-its to the door i normally open but the cat wanted out a different door...

“stupid cat!”

I ran one way, the cat the other and the dog just sat there...peeing on the floor i think...

Welcome to the world of house-sittiing...where just letting the cat out is an adventure!

The current house sit gig I am on is in Florida. So I've gone from California to Florida. I'm now on the west coast of Florida and going to Miami for another house sit and a temporary cash flow situation. Which will be very useful to rebuild some of the cash cache...

Which is very nice now that I have been motivated (by lack of 'dough flow') to move further down the road to voluntary frugality and self-sufficiency...(free lessons from life..so great...)
Then a return trip to California...

The house i am in now requires a hundred dollar a month lawn care service paid for by the homeowner. (That doesn't include picking up the dog crap...in case you were wondering...)

What does an individual actually get out of lawn care? Does a well manicured lawn really make one's life better? I think the lawn represents entropy. A well kept lawn indicates you are keeping entropy at bay, and therefore a worthy system member.

“Social security number 123-45-6789, move to the head of your system class. Your lawn looks impeccable!”

Just about everything that people see is an entropy indicator.

Your car.
Your clothes.
Your hair cut.
How young you look.

We as humans have a tendency to respect the 'entropy tamers' out there. The business man dressed to the hilt, driving a brand new 'beama' without a speck of dirt on it. There is something primal of our respect for order. We just can't help it. No matter how anti-system you are, a part of you says,

“that guy looks sharp!”

We all want to be anti-entropy.

Thing is...maybe that doesn't jive anymore.

I think desire is connected with an anti-entropy concept.

Primitive man has not a choice in the manner...He has to think, “my life is so on the brink of blinking out. I need to desire to survive. The more I have, the more buffered I am from the ups and downs of this crazy world. The more safe I am.”

We have outlived the usefulness of desire. It's an outdated function of your survival mechanism, much like the appendix, or primitive, violent aspects of your brain. Just like the gill slits and tail that exhibit themselves in your development as a fetus, these traits exhibit themselves in the development of your spirit. The fetus of your spirit...these traits too dissipate much like the gill slits and tail...reabsorbed and redeployed in a more sensible manner as we grow.

Looking 'anti entropy' today just means looking 'system'. Your life can look well ordered, like you have everything together, but your 'real life'. The 'real you' could be a alcohol drinking, Prozac popping, 'shrink' visiting....wreck. The need to keep up anti-entropy appearances, can tear us apart...

When you think about it, the system is one big, anti-entropy aiming machine. That's really what it wants. Order on a mega-scale...

The purpose in your life is coming to terms with the contradiction that is this life. Wanting and needing order and yet accepting that the universe is moving towards chaos. And as a modern man or woman, we have an additional challenge, accepting that the system wants us to be part of its machine like, anti-entropy ways without concern for our personal development.

We are to find meaning and some fun in that mission. I put the emphasis on fun...and keep an eye on the damn cat!

One footnote...

Funny, the 'TruGreen ChemLawn' guy just came to the house to spray. It is amazing how whole industries have evolved to keep your lawn green! Very nice guy...just a guy doing his job...

The TruGreen ChemLawn division of ServiceMaster had over $1 billion dollars of revenue for 2005. A billion dollars spraying lawns! That's just one company and just the lawns they spray. Think about how insane that is...

ServiceMaster has other divisions that specialize in these niche markets. They will spray your lawn, fix you plugged drain, and spray for termites. Maintaining a house is a very expensive undertaking, emotionally and financially...

There's aslo the alarm service industry that I experienced this morning...