[QatzelOk]

a quiet push-mower

QUIET


..

LOUD

[Jarlaxle]

I mow about three and a half acres...how about YOU try that with a reel mower, hey? Shouldn't take you more than a day and a half. Much as Liz hates it, I'll keep my old Craftsman riding mower.

[QatzelOk]

a quiet way to sweep up leaves

QUIET


..

LOUD

I mow about three and a half acres.

Everyone should own their own private golf course.

[Pants-of-dog]

I mow about three and a half acres...how about YOU try that with a reel mower, hey? Shouldn't take you more than a day and a half. Much as Liz hates it, I'll keep my old Craftsman riding mower.

Try xeriscaping. it is less labour and resource intensive. Then you won't need your riding mower.

The quietest machine is none at all.

[Jarlaxle]

A quick search actually indicated that it would be EXTREMELY labor-intensive on my rocky, anything but level property. The issue is not water use.

[Pants-of-dog]

Which part is more labor intensive: the part where you don't water anymore, or the part where you don't mow anymore?

If you don't want to worry about mulching and plant choices, you can do a Third Landscape, as proposed by Gilles Clément.

[Jarlaxle]

I don't water most of my property now. What does get watered takes no more than ten minutes to water.

[QatzelOk]

QUIET

..
LOUD

The quietest machine is none at all.

[Jarlaxle]

Yeah, a cigarette boat is loud. It's also a hell of a lot of fun! I'd never own one, but they can be a blast.

[QatzelOk]

They're called "cigarette boats?"

It's amazing how every consumer product gets such a refined character with its own exclusive category.

Cars are unbelievably branded. As are cigarettes.

But boats? When propelled by wind and paddle, they are so simple and beautiful.

[Jarlaxle]

It's not a brand...a cigarette boat isa type of boat, like a Boston whaler. It was used during Prohibition (usually called a "rum-runner") for going to ships anchored in international waters...the Coast Guard couldn't come close to catching them. They were later used to smuggle cigarettes between the US & Canada, hence the name "cigarette boat". The same design is used for offshore powerboat racing & I think the unlimited hydroplanes are loosely based on the same tunnel-hull design.

[Dr House]

HARD


..

EASY


BORING

..
FUN

Fixed it for ya.

[Pants-of-dog]

Another interesting thing to note is that the machines that QatzelOk describes as quiet are also those which will actually make you healthier if you use them consistently, while those listed as noisy will just make you fatter.

There is something surreal about a person who purchases a car for transportation and then purchases a stationary bike for exercise.

Why not just purchase a normal bike and not buy the other two machines?

[QatzelOk]

Dr House, that you listed kayaking as "boring" means that you've probably never tried it.

It's a blast, no matter how non-athletic you are.

Have you ever raked leaves? It's about as hard as masturbating slowly.

[Jarlaxle]

Again: you can rake three-plus acres by hand. I'll pass.

[Pants-of-dog]

Why is raking your entire property so important? What's wrong with leaving the leaves on the ground?

[Jarlaxle]

Several reasons. One: leaves make great mulch. Two, they can kill the grass.

I don't rake, I just shred them with the lawnmower.

[Pants-of-dog]

I have never understood why grass (an inedible vegetable that requires machines to properly tend it) is considered so important.

If you need low ground cover, use clover. Wild strawberries will grow in it during the first half of summer.

[QatzelOk]

It's the golf course/countryside aesthetic that is so huge with middle class homeowners.

A golf course neighborhood will give us a high quality of life.

The thing is that all the cars, lawn-mowers, leaf blowers, and bored high volume car stereos raise the noise level really high, and there are no wall surfaces to limit noise to small areas.

The suburbs are barracks - low quality crap developed as cheaply as possible over acres of land. It has no character or charm, and it is badly designed and unpleasant. Plus, you get to be addicted to cars, and spend hours of fun with lawnmowers and leaf blowers.

I stopped watching TV about one generation too late to avoid a lot of damage to the earth.

Stopped TV and films (noisy) and switched to discussion forums and books (quiet).

[Jarlaxle]

More one-note trolling for the resident one-note troll. Never has someone managed to make 40,000+ posts while saying less.

The thing is that all the cars, lawn-mowers, leaf blowers, and bored high volume car stereos raise the noise level really high, and there are no wall surfaces to limit noise to small areas.

Most residential neighborhoods are much quieter than a major city, especially the teeming slums you want to cram everyone into. From my second-floor window, I cannot see another house, and except for wind in the trees (trees muffle sound MUCH better than buildings), it is silent.