I'm in Central New England and last year (2010) we installed a new trellis system. We suspended Burpee trellis (purchased at Home Depot) perfectly supported from conduit and every single trellis failed exactly as OP described, or worse, part way through the season. It would come apart like paper with the slightest tug as described after just a few months use in a northern (5a) garden! I had nylon trellis before and it lasted for many years until the mice got into it and chewed it into nesting material while in storage. Maybe it was a bad batch. Or maybe they've just cheapened it. Either way, I was very disappointed.

I had about 6 wasps making a nest under the eave of my back patio for the past month or so. My patio is enclosed with windows so I didn't feel the need to disturb them and enjoyed watching them built their next and seeing it grow bigger each day. Last week, by the time they had about 4 little eggs in the holes of the nest, I went out in the morning to see the nest gone and laying on the ground! The landscaper for the hoa found it and knocked it down sometime that morning. I even saw some spray residue on my window. I was pretty pissed and upset for those poor wasps. Now a week later, there's 3 wasps left and they've started a new nest, but only a very tiny ball...much smaller than the original nest and they seem to be just hanging off it. They're hardly moving at all and I feel so sorry for them. Are they dying because it's late in the season and they don't have the energy to start a whole new nest? I feel so badly for them. They're just clinging to the tiny new nest and each other and hardly moving at all. Are they grieving? Dying? I wish I could help the poor little things. I have another nest in the front on the inside the porch light. Landscaper obviously hasn't seen that one (hopefully never does!) and I pass it pretty close when entering and exiting my house daily. They never bother me and I don't bother them.

I don't see how a DW is chipping or breaking dishes - this is almost certainly operator error. Rinse Aid is necessary in all Euro dishwashers and domestic ones that do not use a heating element to dry the contents. - You don't have to buy/use Miele tabs or Salt. Cascade works fine and any salt with a similar grain size no anti caking agent will work. Unless you have extremely hard water - you won't be using much per year anyway. Our experience has been that dirty dishes in a Miele are usually (note I did not say ALWAYS) traced back to two things. 1. Improper loading. You cannot just throw things in willy nilly like people are used to with domestic washers of the last 3 decades, if a pot/pan is tightly nested on a tray or another bowl then it won't get clean in a euro washer- even a Miele. 2. The setting are not dialed in properly which os supposed to be taken care of by the "certified" installer. Too often the fella just has no clue or is just plain lazy - though Miele makes an effort to train and monitor the program. Once the water quality issues are dealt with and proper detergent are used almost any DW will clean dishes. Re: should this be so complicated at this price? I'd say no also.............. BUT.............. the reality of today's technology driven world is that there is little correlation to price and ease of use. A $50 stereo will play my $4 CD with the press of one button. My $72,000 concert hall stereo is simply a pile of metal and silicon without another $10-$15,000 of programming to allow me to just turn the silly thing on. If the guy had a bad day - when I choose to listen to a CD, I might get the local AM gospel station to listen to. Same with computers: an iPad is pretty simple to operate - many 3 year olds can run it. Cost:$700. Think that same 3 year old is going to be able to do anything on a million dollar Cray Supercomputer ??? It's just like anything else. No product will meet the needs of everyone or make all buyers happy- there are disappointed Benz and Rolls owners out there too.

I have been thinking about obsessive organizing and decluttering, so that article caught my eye. Our FR is getting a big makeover & modernization, so the FR furnishings are scattered between the LR, the DR (now a temporary office), and our basement playroom that we've turned into a TV den. The house has been in a bit of disarray. Now I've got 7 college friends coming in next week for a reunion, but the FR won't be ready in time. So I've been in overdrive for the last 3 weeks, reorganizing & decluttering & redecorating to accommodate a crowd in rooms that weren't intended to be on display, so to speak. With the dumpster in the driveway, I've been throwing out like mad whatever can't be sent to the thrift shop. I'm trying to simplify & streamline so the house is easier to clean & tidy up. I'm trying to keep the house in perfect order. And I can't do it. DH just doesn't want to live that way. He can't. He's too wound up at work, and when he comes home, he uncoils like a too-tight spring, scattering things, not cleaning up. He's a wonderful man, and I don't want to turn into a nag or to try to make him into something he's just not -- an anal neatnik. He is supremely organized at work, but when he gets home, something turns off and he wants to relax. I can understand that. I worked in a library -- talk about supremely organized -- but when I got home, the last thing I wanted to do was to file & organize. Plus, I find the never-ending effort to keep things in order & clean is starting to get depressing. I WANT TO READ A BOOK!!! I want to get back to my photography & biking! Cleanliness & order is nice to a point, but beyond that, the constant vigilance is taking time away from more nurturing activities. At first I thought those shirt folding boards sounded like a good idea, but now I think do I want to spend my time maintaining military order for a drawer of t-shirts? No way! Rant over. Wish me luck when my company comes. Hope they don't mind the floor varnish fumes too much, lol. Lots of wine and we'll be fine...