apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

You've hit one of my top two most hated technologies. The other is jet skiis.

My nominee: industrial meat production.

I realize that a push mower is hard to..er..push...but I hate those horrible, stinky, loud gas powered lawn mowers. Yet another way to ruin a lovely sunny day.

Home powerwashers. My neighbor has one and spent 4 hours cleaning his gas hogging truck. *sigh* I haven't done the research to find out how much carbon dioxide they emit, but they're loud and imho unnecessary! What about a hose attachment?

Other hated technologies... I agree with ChzPlz... Jet Skis! ATVs, Snowmobiles, snowblowers, motor boats in general....

Car alarms. Specially, the overly sensitive car alarm on the BMW parked on my street, where... oh... I dunno... ZERO cars have been stolen or broken into during the past EIGHT years.

washing your paved driveway/sidewalk with a hose

Yes, I too cannot STAND leaf blowers. Not only are they lazy inventions, and not only are they horrid at adding to the air pollution, the noise pollution just gets me. We should be creating a society where people walk more to get places, and I usually encounter these on my walks around town, which totally destroys the peaceful happiness of the walk.

My leaf blower is electric and runs off the longest extension cord in the known universe. It has a reverse that functions like a vacuum cleaner so that I can mulch the leaves.

You can call it a lazy invention, but I appreciate the time savings of using one. I'm not giving up my electric weed whacker, either.

hahaha I agree, leaf blowers are pointless.

So I'm not the only one who gets extremely frustrated at the existance of leaf blowers. For all the reasons listed above, it's one of my pet peeves. It's amazing how seeing someone using a leaf blower can stress me out. Especially since they use it at my apartment complex. I'd be happy if they just took away that "service" and lowered my rent instead.

I agree with the power washer/cleaning with a hose.

There is renewable energy... but only LIMITED WATER PEOPLE!!!!

Hummers and you don't want to see me around a Hummer limo.

I'm with you, Aldyth. My electric leafblower is a great time saver, so long as you're not one to stress out about the few leaves left behind. And it's not loud. Sure, it pollutes, but I use it maybe 4 times in the fall and once in the spring. I may be lazy, but if I had to rake it would never get done.

I hate to be a voice of dissent - but at proper times and places, leaf blowers aren't a worthwhile evil to go fighting against. At my university there are thousands of deciduous trees which coat the sidewalks with leaves. I was heartbroken to watch them blow away all the gorgeous leaves until one rainy weekend - I slipped. On large, heavily trafficked public areas I find the safety of leaf removal outweighs the ills of the removal method.

I HATE leafblowers. Snowblowers I sort of dislike, but can accept, because shoveling snow can be difficult (I know, I shovel) and because the chances that someone will clear a wide enough path for a person with mobility disabilities to get through is higher with snowblowers. Otherwise I can't stand ski-doos. There's nothing like cross-country skiing through the woods, enjoying the quiet and stillness and then hearing those things roar by. Leafblowers, though I hate them, are at least functional. Ski-doos are just recreational for the lazy.

"I hate to be a voice of dissent - but at proper times and places, leaf blowers aren't a worthwhile evil to go fighting against...
...On large, heavily trafficked public areas I find the safety of leaf removal outweighs the ills of the removal method."

Brooms and rakes work equally well - and have done so for thousands of years...

I HATE those dammmm things. In So Cal where you aren't likely to slip and fall on the wet leaves, use a RAKE!

I remember someone suggesting to my grandma that she get a leaf blower to help with the leaves from the four acres of trees on her five-acre property.

She replied, "I have six grandkids and six rakes."

A snow-blower was necessary, though.