When one WalMart is bad, do not blame all of the stores. Period! I work at a WalMart store in Oklahoma and its currently the largest Supercenter store in the state. Yes, thats right, I work in the Pets department overnight. This is a really tough decision on my work hours. I like working at nights, because it pays more, but I want to work during the day, because I want to be around more customers to teach them more about fishes. I stock the Pets department, but I do assist customers with fishes. Its a real challenge, because of right now, I am basically deaf without the use of my hearing aid and all my life, I've been wearing my hearing aid and was able to hear great as other people can, but there is a problem right now in my ear, so its tough. I can speak to people very clearly and I try to read their lips and when neccessary, I have them to write down on paper. All stores that sells fish are bound to have a dead fish here and there... thats perfectly normal. One night, this customer was an idiot, actually very rude somewhat. He wanted the entire tank of a specific fish that cost 5, 10, or 15 cents each (cant remember at the moment), so I went ahead to net out all of the fishes, but let one fish in the tank, because it had some kind of fungus. I told him that the one fish is bad. I went ahead to prepare the fishes into the bag and while I was doing that, he went ahead and netted the sick fish out and I tried to tell him, but he wouldnt listen and he put the sick fish in the bag. I went ahead to tie up the bag and note the price and amount of fishes, but I did not add the sick fish to the total price. While I was doing that, he went ahead to net up 4 dollars worth of goldfishes that costs 15 cents each and I told him that I will do that. He wouldnt listen and by the time he was finished, I prepared the fishes into the bag and then he went and got some more and put it in the bag. I tried to count the fishes in total and estimated it to be 50 fishes, which came to about $7.50. He wouldnt listen to me and he wanted things his way. There was this one night, I spent nearly an hour educating a lady on fishes and tank care. She ended up on picking two fancy goldfish and the alage eater that sticks to the tank glass. After everything was done, about an hour or so later, when I walked by the fish tanks, I noticed two bags in the sink. I was shocked, she changed her mind at the checkout. Made me furious. Its alot of stress a fishes to net them out and bag them. Another night, this guy wanted several fishes, which was divided up into two bags. After all was done, he came back about 15 minutes later, saying the prices on the bags came off, so I wrote it on the bags again. Later that night, my coworker brought the two bags back and dumped the fishes back into the tank. What is wrong with these customers?! Anywayz, I still work there and I still enjoy educating people on fishes and tank care. Just because there is a lazy associate at a store, the entire company should not be blamed. Its very simple to talk with the store manager about whatever. PetsMart is a good place and they have much more selections. WalMart is good, but not enough selections. Petsmart is generally more expensive but there are some fishes here and there thats cheaper than WalMart. There are PetCo stores in this state, but I have no clue where they are. I've seen commericals, but they failed to show the locations of the stores. So, I have no clue about PetCo. Anywayz, all of these stores sell good and healthy fishes with top technology fish tanks. It all comes down to the services of each associates for each stores.

I don't know if this will work for you guys but I was having trouble with Powdery Mildew on my roses and on the advice on someone who is very knowledgeable, I started washing the roses/clematis off with water twice a week. Supposedly it washes the spores off and I have to say that it has worked. When I am watering, I just wash off the rose and clematis foliage (and everything else for that matter) and I haven't had any mildew on Rooguchi or any other clematis. It's worth a try.... Carol

Well, here's what I wish someone (hadn't discovered GW back in the "old days" in 1990) had told me about kitchen remodeling and managing the all-important "want" list: Certain parts of the kitchen are easy to change and certain things are not. Had I known, for instance, that one must measure the walls at 3 points to get an accurate in-between measurement, I would not, almost 20 yrs later, now be short 1/4 to 1/2" to fit in a pro-style 30" range. I would now have to move a minimum of six cabinets - remember, all of which are in perfect condition but more importantly, aren't made any longer so cannot be easily matched even by custom - in order to gain a lousy 1/2" of space. That's a slight exaggeration, mind you: I'm actually only short 1/8", but I figure some of those pro-stoves get pretty hot on the sides so I'd want a little bit of airspace, just in case. When we replaced our refrigerator in 2002, I found they had gotten bigger and bulkier (Energy star requirements needing more insulation), so instead of a 23 cu.ft. refrig I had to go down to 19 cu.ft. in order to fit in between the surrounding cabs. Thus, I know now that such things as light fixtures (not the wiring), floors, counters, sinks, faucets, venthoods and even DWs, aren't that difficult to replace. But it's a real pain when you're later limited to certain appliances only because you're lacking a few all-important inches somewhere. Once the cabs, electrical/plumbing/gas lines are in, it's costly to change those around. So Ive learned there's a reason for using a few filler strips. I could easily have planned for larger appliances by moving a non-bearing wall we installed in 1990 back another 4". I didnÂt, and can only regret it. I could have put in a good, middle-price stove (just as I did) and gotten 5-10 yrs of service out of it, then replaced it with whatever I really wanted to splurge on. ItÂs a lot easier to spend the extra a few years down the road, when youÂre just replacing one or two appliances, not remodeling the entire kitchen. When I started hearing about the Bluestar, I went to see one and loved it. Could have paid cash without any trouble. But it simply won't fit, unless I change out my cabs. But the Cormatin will fit much better, so I'm willing to give up a little of the BS performance for Lacanche's good looks and still better-than-average performance. If I were remodeling my kitchen top to bottom, and wanted a Cluny but couldnÂt quite afford it, thereÂs a few choices to be made. First you scale down as much as you can (the aforementioned easy-to-change stuff), and shop every sale like a fanatic. Sheet vinyl flooring remnant? Take it! Fight the crowds, serve your family cheap plastic-cheese pizzas, whatever it takes. Save every penny. No more Starbucks lattes, no more Haagen Daz. Bring your lunch, rent a movie instead of going out. Yeah, itÂs awful, but you (hopefully) donÂt have to do it forever. Ask your friends for help, whether itÂs watching the kids or going to the grocery store and taking your list along with theirs, while you stay home and tile your backsplash (after taking that free class showing you how at the local big box store). Promise to pay them back with half-a-dozen great meals cooked in your gorgeous new kitchen (and then be sure you actually do it). If you still canÂt manage the cost, plan properly. Arrange your upper and lower cabs, vent/wiring/gas or electrical, so that youÂll have enough room in the future. Remember my sad lesson of 1/2"  give yourself a skootch more room than you think youÂll need. Figure out what works best as a substitute. A 36" range with a small countertop convection oven as a second? Or maybe the Kenmore/Frigidaire 40" 5 burner? No, they wonÂt make your heart race, but they work, and work well. WeÂre in an incredible time right now, with a plethora of choices available at every price point. Then start saving for your Cluny. YouÂve got a bright shiny goal, itÂs either worth a bit of personal sacrifice or it isnÂt. In the meantime, at least youÂve got a working kitchen that has a better layout and is more beautiful than what you started with. We are all on budgets; some of them larger than others, but most of us cannot afford EVERYTHING we want, all at once. But if you realize that prioritizing your wish list between the "wants" and the "needs" can mean if you're patient, you may eventually end up with what you wanted  and sometimes, something even better than you originally thought.

SheriZ6, I thought of Netla and her post the moment I saw that bench in the store! Amazing how we remember people we have never met in real life. Netla, the book I am reading has a chapter on Iceland and one of Greenland, and discusses why one original settlement succeeded while the other eventually did not. I thought of you while reading those, too, wondering what you would say about the conclusion reached by the author Jared Diamond. Some of my antique rose forum people get together in real life. Well, gardening is such a hands-on thing. It would be great if more of us RP members could meet some time. I know some of us have met Jankin, Martin, and several other UK members when travelling. It would be fun to arrange regional get-togethers from time to time.