so tired!

I just got done spending a few HOURS weed-whacking my yard.  My arms hurt so much, I can barely hold them up to read or type.  Looks like I will be spending the rest of the afternoon lounging about and watching DVDs.

It wouldn't have been so bad...but last year I tried to save money by buying a huge reel of weed-whacker cable, rather than pre-loaded cartridges. It did not work very well, ran out fast, and was hard to get to stay in place.  I was frequently discouraged, and ended up not keeping up with my edging very well.  But last weekend I went and got regular refills, and today went through 2 and a half of them.  I even did a bit on my neighbor's side of the fence...since he was nice enough to mow the bit of my lawn outside the fence this week (I hope we can work out an ongoing arrangement...he always mows his lawn much shorter...makes me look terrible ;)

Anyhow, relatively speaking, it is still cheaper than hiring a service, and I got a work out.  I was going to hire a service to come out and do this, plus aerate the lawn...but eh one I called never called me back.  And with all the asbestos and furnace expenses, its probably for the best.  But it feels great to have those things finally taken care of!

Tourist Attraction Meme

New entry titled "Tourist Attraction Meme"
via rebellibrarian

This is the list of the 50 most-visited tourist attractions in the world. They left out pilgrimage stuff like Mecca, but put in Notre Dame because it's usually visited by tourists as an architectural wonder, not religious pilgrims. Bold where you've been, italicize where you WANT to go, and name one place you want to go that is NOT on the list.

1. Times Square, New York City, NY: 35 million visitors every year
2. National Mall & Memorial Parks, Washington, D.C. (Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the war memorials): About 25 million
3. Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.: 16.6 million
4. Trafalgar Square, London, England: 15 million
5. Disneyland Park, Anaheim, Calif.: 14.7 million
6. Niagara Falls, Ontario and New York: 14 million
7. Fisherman’s Wharf/Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, Calif.: 13 million
8. Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea, Tokyo, Japan: 12.9 million
9. Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, France: 12 million
10. Disneyland Paris, Marne-La-Vallee, France: 10.6 million
11. The Great Wall of China, Badaling area, China: About 10 million
12. The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina: 9.2 million
13. Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan: 8.5 million
14. Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre, Paris, France: 8 million
15. Musée du Louvre, Paris, France: 7.5 million
16. Everland (amusement park), Kyonggi-Do, South Korea: 7.5 million
17. The Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China: At least 7 million
18. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France: 6.7 million
19. Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando, Fla: 6 million
20. SeaWorld Florida, Orlando, Fla: 5,740,000
21. Pleasure Beach (amusement park), Blackpool, England: 5.7 million
22. Lotte World (amusement park), Seoul, South Korea: 5.5 million
23. Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Japan: 5.4 million
24. Hong Kong Disneyland, China: 5.2 million
25. Centre Pompidou, Paris, France: 5.1 million
26. Tate Modern, London, England: 4.9 million
27. British Museum, London, England: 4.8 million
28. Universal Studios Los Angeles, Calif.: 4.7 million
29. National Gallery, London, England: 4.6 million
30. Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY: 4.5 million
31. Grand Canyon, Ariz.: 4.4 million
32. Tivoli Gardens (amusement park), Copenhagen, Denmark: 4.4 million
33. Ocean Park (amusement park), Hong Kong, China: 4.38 million
34. Busch Gardens (amusement park), Tampa Bay, Fla.: 4.36 million
35. SeaWorld California, San Diego, Calif.: 4.26 million
36. Statue of Liberty, New York, NY: 4.24 million
37. The Vatican and its museums, Rome, Italy: 4.2 million
38. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia: More than 4 million
39. The Coliseum, Rome, Italy: 4 million
40. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY: 4 million
41. Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Calif.: 4 million
42. Empire State Building, New York, NY: 4 million
43. Natural History Museum, London, England: 3.7 million
44. The London Eye, London, England: 3.5 million
45. Palace of Versailles, France: 3.45 million
46. Yosemite National Park, Calif.: 3.44 million
47. Pyramids of Giza, Egypt: 3 million
48. Pompeii, Italy: 2.5 million
49. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia: 2.5 million
50. Taj Mahal, Agra, India: 2.4 million
51. Angel Falls, Venezuela
52. Pyramid Kukulcan in Chichen Itza, Yucatan Mexico
53. Temple of the Descending God in Tulum, Quintana Roo Mexico
54. Dunns River Falls in Ocho Rios, Jamaica
55. Star Trek: The Experience, Las Vegas, NV
56. Space Needle Seattle, WA
57. Visit the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo.