Hello, I saw your post on GardenWeb and wanted to help. I'm a landscaper in Texas and would like to help. To protect yourself, I recommend you do a little homework and find out what is involved in the various aspects of the landscape such as the retaining wall. Then you can interview the landscapers and see who is competent and who is not. Once you've sifted out the Gargoyles you will basically have 3 sets of landscapers left, the Ferrari, the Chevrolet and the Hugo. The Ferrari guy probably showed up in Gucci shoes and threw out numbers that sounded like a new house. The Hugo guy probably had a pickup truck that was falling apart and throws around numbers that sound like peanuts. The Chevy guy is the one you want, he was in a nice truck or car (not a cadillac but not a junker) and his prices are not cheap but they are not outrageous (unless you are a cheapskate and figure a landscaper business should only get $5 an hour). Make sure he has General Liability insurance. Ask if he hires illegal aliens. If he hires illegals he is a corner cutter and willing to "bend" the rules to get things done. Ask if he guarantees his product. Ask to see pictures of his installs, get references. YOU are spending a lot of money so don't hesitate to pre-qualify the guy. Pre-qualify them on the phone if you can, ask them if they have GL and will they provide you a copy of it (everybody SAYS they have it, few of us actually do). If they hit a gas line and have no insurance, I GUARANTEE they will disappear as your house bursts into flames. Ask questions on the phone. Remember, time is money; if I have to drive out to your house and do the dog and pony show, I am not making a dime. Don't call 30 landscapers out to dance on your front lawn, 29 of us are going to be wasting our time; narrow it down to 3 and have them come out, let them know you are looking at 3 total. That is good, it helps them understand they are competing (which we know already). If I discover that I am one of 30, I am not interested. If I am one of 3, I am confident that you will make a good decision and I hope it will be me. If you want to get a basic idea on pricing, here is what we do in Texas. Trees and plants for a multiple install (not just a single tree or plant) are two times the price of the tree or plant to install, price based on nursery prices, not Home Depot or Lowes bargain prices. This includes the amenities for the soil, staking the tree if necessary and a guarantee that the plant will survive the install. Remember, the landscapers reputation is on the line, he isn't going to use questionable rootstock, he is going to use something from a nursery that he has dealt with for years, not the bargain basement homeowner cheap stuff. When I hire subcontractors I have benchmarks that I use, I know if he sasys he can do cement for $3 a square foot he is probably not competent. If he says $9 a square foot I know he is subcontracting it out himself or he is wearing Gucci shoes. Retaining walls. If the wall is more than 4' high it must be engineered, that is, it has to be designed by an engineer or else it will certainly fail. Soil type is also very important, if your soil is loose you may neeed a concrete footer. If your soil is hard you can simply install an aggregate base. Don't forget to put drainage behind the wall or else it will hold water and will push out or even fall over in the rain. Roughly figure on 2 times the cost of the material for simply installing the blocks plus the price of your footer ($7 a square foot for a cement footer and about half that for a compacted aggregate footer). You should come up with a budget though but I understand that you don't have a point of reference yet and that is why you have posted here. I hope this helps, remember that my prices are for Texas and may not be relevant elsewhere. Al

I had a couple of pink flamingos in my yard for awhile. I named them 'Tongue' and 'Cheek'. They finally died. I think of,embarrassment.

Hi, I came across your fairly old post while searching similar info for myself on becoming an MG. I am scheduled to begin MG training in Jan 2011. Like you, I also have a four year degree in psychology, but did not complete advanced training in it for a variety of reasons. I am looking into horticultural therapy (an area you might want to google and explore if you are not familiar with this field). I am also interested in historical horticulture, such as working on gardens for historical sites. While I certainly don't expect to a huge immediate career change for myself after earning this credential, I do plan to use this certification as a stepping stone for personal exploration, increased knowledge, and who knows, maybe a career change down the road. Because the MG programs are volunteer-oriented, your biggest benefit will be your increased knowledge of something you love, and networking, both of which could eventually land you a job or perhaps a business of your own in some aspect of horticulture that appeals to you. It's not a huge time commitment, nor a lot of money as compared to graduate school, so if you are looking to do something different, in a field that interests you, just go for it, and build upon it as you can or as you see fit down the road. I would love to hear back if you did decide to complete the program and where you are at with it in your life.

Hi owbist, Thanks for your note. I must say I would have no idea how to make changes to the BIOS...and only a vague idea of even how to find it. :) This morning everything still seems normal. I was reading your message and did a search via the START button for "live update" to see if I could see what is different, if anything. My notebook when into sleep mode and when I pressed the button to wake it up, there was a window titled: ASUS Eee LiveUpdate. There are tabs at the side for Update, Event, History, Configuration, Setting, Help and About. I clicked on the History tab and there is one entry that has three headings....File Name, Version and Size File name: 1005HA BIOS Version: 0905 Size 389.3KB At the bottom it gives me the option of two buttons...Remove and Exit. When I clicked Update, it says "Update complete! There are no new updates. Last update 2009/12/8 So, maybe when I chose do the "Live Update" yesterday, it installed the LiveUpdate program and I'll get periodic reports? I have googled ASUS Eee 1005H + Live Update and find very little. So, whatever I did, it does seem to be all right at the moment and I will watch for any messages about fan speed, heat problems or anything else that looks odd. Many thanks again. Pam p.s. As I'm writing this note, I keep looking for things online and I came across this at Asus Eee PC 1005HA The unofficial blog for Asus Eee PC 1005HA New Asus Eee PC 1005HA BIOS Friday, September 25, 2009 Asus releases the new BIOS version of Asus Eee PC 1005HA supported for Linux, Windows XP and Windows 7 that will be launched on October 22. The latest BIOS version, BIOS 0905, will improve battery performance of Asus Eee PC 1005HA. Link for download the file : Asus Eee PC 1005HA BIOS 0905 Remark: You can use Asus Update, a utility that allow you to manage, save, and update the Eee PC BIOS in MS Windows Environment, to update the BIOS through a BIOS file and see the procedure in Asus Eee PC 1005HA UserÂs Manual on page 3-3. Do you suppose this is what it was all about?