We spent the whole summer with a thriving meadow of clover and weeds out front because we didn't own a lawnmower yet. (Our previous one was so bad that we left it when we moved.)

When it was time to look for a new one, Craig did a ton of research and decided that a robomower might work for our small area of lawn.

This is Oscar--outside happily mowing the lawn while I type and Craig has a well deserved beer. Craig spent today laying out the wires that outline the boundary of the mowing area. That's the worst of the job, though. Once that's done, you just drive it by remote control from the garage to the lawn, and turn it loose. It's very quiet and it will go until its battery runs down. (We have a recharging station in the garage.) One charge should be enough to do our whole lawn, but this is its first time out. We should know for sure in a couple hours.

I'm not sure exactly how it works. It's got gyroscopes and compasses and all kinds of cool gizmos. It also makes amusing noises. My favorites are the screeching brakes sound when you push the stop button, and the *boink!* it makes when it hits something.

To our credit, I'm only kidding about it being all that pricey. We got last year's model, which wasn't a whole lot more than a regular mower. The time and sweat it will save should make up for that.