Toots, how are you doing with your tuna? I picked up my annual 75#s of loins last weekend, but my BIL is taking his share of that, I won't be canning all of it! My MIL used to bake her tuna whole before canning (she'd then add a little olive oil to it) - I didn't like it at all, it's just like I could buy at Costco cheaper than I could can it at home. I didn't have any interest in canning tuna for a long time until I had some a friend had raw packed....yummmm, so much better. Everyone I know cans tuna raw pack; maybe my MIL did it precooked because that's the way they do it in the commercial canneries and she had worked in canneries to help out the family (the dear lady had 10 children). I use wide mouth pints, but will can a case of 1/2 pts for my mom, and I do add salt.... scant 1/2 tsp 1/2 pts, 1 tsp pts. I've done it with garlic, but anymore I just look at that as an extra step...garlic can always be added to whatever recipe you're using the tuna for. Let us know how you did - it's a lot of work but worth it.

I have the Bissell POwerfesh steam mop, it's perfect - you can set it to high medium or low amount of steam (for example for wood you can use low to keep them dry, and for tile or dirty textured vinyl, high) and no pumping to produce steam. Previously I had the original Bissell steam mop it was also good but you had to hold the trigger to release steam, and only at one rate. I didn't mind that much because I would pulse the steam so the hardwood didn't get too wet, but some people didn't like it. Better than the pump action sharks though. But the new Bissell continuously produces steam when set on - you switch to standby when you want to pause the steam. There is no fishy smell with either steam mop - that could happen with any steam mop if you use non-pure water, of course! Heat up water to the boiling point and if you have gross smelling water with algae or something, of course it will stink. I use distilled water - and I would do that with any steam mop - because it will both make the appliance last longer and because it will leave no residue on the floors. If you have hard water, you may leave a mineral residue on your floor which could look hazy, and of course you'll get limescale inside the steam chamber. Distilled water is cheap - way cheaper than buying cleaning chemicals. As for streaking or haze, that's not caused by steam mop brand - that's residue which can come from: 1. previous cleaning products that left buildup 2. minerals and contaminants in your water 3. residue of detergent or softener on your mop pad -always wash mop pads with a residue-free detergent and never use softener on them. I think the brand/model of steam mop you prefer will depend on your exact floor and cleaning style, but in general steam mops are awesome!

Lowe's is $219 with 6 year warranty, Sears, 84 Lumber, and an independent offers 6 year warranty at $279, going to a 9 year warranty jumps the price about $100, 12 year another $125. Gotta check what the warranty covers, last I remember, that was only on the tank, thermostats, heating elements, etc. NADA past the first year or 90 days whatever. Ev

aarrgghh, scanmike, I just got back from the kids' new place and forgot to take a pic of the H2ahh! I even took my camera for that express purpose. Unfortunately, I took the dogs as well and the ensuing chaos with the three (our 2 and their 1) caused me to forget completely! Really, everywhere we went, all three were right there at our feet. Too funny. Anyway, the color reads blue/green to me. I really didn't pick up grey with it. I will try to run back tomorrow to get a picture of it. I thought it looked wonderful. When I was in the room, it read blue, but from the hall and bedroom, the green was more apparent to me, so it looked blue/green. I didn't feel it was too light and it most definitely isn't too dark. Just about perfect, imho.