You can see the quick division here between storage crop growers and the rest! Those of us that have been growing and storing traditional crops know two things: they are pretty reliable regardless of weather vagaries, and they require attention at critical times. An example from this season: I planted my dent corn crop for bread about a week ago. The weather had become dry before hand and it still has not rained to speak of. The soil is light and getting very dry, but probably still there was enough residual moisture to sprout the seed. If so, and we don't get a good soaking rain soon, those young spouts may suffer serious damage. However, I can put a corn planting in as late as June 20th here and still get a crop. So if the first ones look very poorly by around that time I can inter-sow a second crop and if comes along better I can hoe out the first planting.

I love eggplant and grow quite a bit (although this year weather kept them from being terribly productive). Here are the things I have done so far: Frozen Eggplant Parmesan (I know you said no more EP, but just want to let you know that it does freeze very well). Frozen eggplant slices, as you suggested. I peel, slice, spritz with olive oil, salt, and bake at 375 for 15-20 each side. Freeze slices between sheets of waxed paper. It does become somewhat mushy, but works quite wonderfully in pasta dishes. Frozen baba ganouj. I just made it as normal, froze in 1-2 cup aliquots. I thaw in the refrigerator and "freshen" it with a little lemon juice and olive oil. Works great. Madras Pickled Eggplant, recipe can be found on the thread linked above, I believe. If not, let me know and I'll post it. Ann

You wouldn't like random, but you can achieve it by using a random number generator. They have them on the web. Or you could roll a die. You might also try using the Fibonacci series as a way of spacing the tiles. That describes a great many structures in nature. To the human eye it looks random but pleasing, even though it's not random at all. Your Post-It method should work. Just make sure when you put them up that they're spaced correctly, not so much for the grout lines, as to have the right number of them up and down. Make sure you measure your tiles because nominal 4"x4" are often not that exact size. Instead of the papers, you could use a chalk line (string filled with chalk) to quickly draw where the grout lines will be (remember to include coves, bull noses, etc.), and then just use your 1x1's. If you have a better imagination for positioning than color, you could arrange the actual tiles on the floor as they'd be on the wall. If there's some color variation in the tiles, that's worthwhile anyway. What I do, is start with the view of the whole and put in the first 3-4 to break it up into sections, then start filling in. Sometimes move one this way or that to keep the harmony going. It's much more wholistic than using a numerical rule, but more fun. :)

My friend's well windows, just like yours, flooded last week. If I were you, I'd put the electronics far away from the window wells. In forty years their basement had not had one drop of water, but last week they lost it all. And if you haven't carpeted yet, I'd use tile and area rugs, too. I like your basement, but I wouldn't risk losing it all to a once-in-a-lifetime flood. Let the fireplace stand alone - it's beautiful!