I am going to start bringing the chickens into the vegetable garden, 2 at a time so they can be supervised for a period each day. Hopefully that will at least reduce the bug load. Right now, the grasshoppers are too little to make it worth eating (not to mention, I would really rather not try it). We have never had this many before and I do not think it was a function of planting the wrong things because they are eating beans, too. Albuquerque had swarms that were actually visible on radar earlier this season and that should have been a hint for me to take pre-emptive action and get bait then. Hopefully between the Nolo, the chickens and the natural predators (lizards, mantids, birds, blister beetles, etc) I can get the population somewhat reined in. A cat would not help much as they are pretty much coyote chow out here and ducks unfortunately are more work in this climate. Thank you for the ideas and the reminder I need to rotate the chickens into more areas.

Whirlpool has a good rep for refrigerators. You'll find them sold under the Whirlpool, Roper, Estate, Kirkland, and KitchenAid names. Keep in mind that newer refrigerators use considerably less power than older fridges -- depending on the cost of electricity in your area, it may make sense to spend a little more on the fridge to get a newer one rather than pay more for an older one every month through the electric bill. You don't say how long this fridge has to last, but: - I'd stay away from anything with dents, especially around the door or the compressor (likely on the bottom); - It's possible to test the quality of the seals by seeing how tightly they hold a dollar bill placed between the seal and the door; - Avoid fridges with patched insides (good ol' duct tape) and with rust and lots of dirt (some folks never clean the outside of the fridge, so it works much harder than it has to). Pull the drip pan on the bottom to make sure there's no rust/dirt/junk in it, either. Another option is to buy from an appliance dealer that sells used appliances or scratch-n-dent. It will cost more than buying a fridge from a private party, but you can be confident it's not a total lemon or they wouldn't be selling it/offering a warranty. And they likely will deliver it -- which may not be a bad thing for people not used to moving refrigerators properly.

My son studied on his own, so did most of his friends. It depends on what type of student your child is. Have your child do anearly test to get a baseline and see how well he/she does, and what areas they need to work on. The ACT will send you a break down (or have it on-line) so you know which sections your child needs to work on. My son got a 33 on his first test so he was pretty much done. The prep classes worked best for kids who initially scored below 28. Kids who scored higher than that on their initial test did not see any significant improvement using the ACT class provided by the school. A few students who scored 28 and then took the class lowered their scores. After taking the baseline test, try for one of the tests in the fall so there is plently of time for a prep class or independant study, go over the results with your child to see what they need to work on. It really isn't worth investing in the class until you know if it will be any help. Most kids felt the class helped most with the math or science sections, with their reading speed (for slower readers), or just with little tips on how to handle stuuf you don't know how to answer. It does seem like there is not enough time to answer all the questions, but there is. My son is a meticulous reader so he is a bit slow when he reads. I had him get a practice book from the library and do a practice test from each section, timed to see if he could finish. He finished every section with time to spare. The same happened when he took the test. I hope this helps. Sorry if it is rambling, it is 6:30AM here and I have not had any coffee yet! Oh, I forgot about the new writing section. Some kids did feel that the class helped them with the essay. My son did not score well on the essay, nor did most of his friends who take honors or AP language arts classes. The kids who took the college prep level classes scored better on that part of the test.

I hope this person is found soon. I don't blame the women. I do think sometimes they make poor choices that allow a bad situation to escalate. I think maybe we need to educate our children more (both boys and girls) that there are a lot of people out there who are willing to take advantage of them. Tell them...you have to be careful and look out for yourself at all times. Don't do drugs. Don't have more than one or two drinks at a time. Make sure that drink doesn't leave your sight. Our parents used to teach us not to talk to strangers. We don't usually apply that in social settings when we get older. I think caution here would be don't get too friendly too fast. You just met this other person. It is ok to be a little standoffish. If that other person starts getting friendly maybe you need to step out of the situation for a bit or remove yourself completely. Yes, respecting others needs to be taught. We can only control what is taught in our own homes. I think if we taught our kids a bit of self control and self respect then it would alleviate some of the other problems.