Marcia, Please help me find out what kind of snake I came across today. While I was at the local dog park (near Orlando) I came across a yellow with black stripes snake. It looked to be between 3.5-4 feet long and did not appear at first glance (that was all I gave it out of fear) to be shiny. I was about 3 feet from it and didn't know it until my dog almost stepped on it. She obviously didn't see it either. The snake seemed a pit peeved about the whole thing but it decided not to attack and to slowly slither towards ME to get away from my dog. Needless to say, I took off in a different direction real quick and hollered for my dog to follow. I am not like you or others on this site. I am not a fan of snakes and am extremely afraid of them. Although, I don't mind the black racers that seem to have taken up permanent residence in MY back yard and they love to procreate often (or so it seems). I have seen a lot less field rats since the racers moved in and that makes me very happy. Anyway, can you help me figure out what this snake was? I have spent hours and hours online tonight trying to find it and just can't seem to find anything that looks like it. I am guessing that it is not dangerous to me or my dogs??? I am scared to take my dogs back through those woods that they so dearly love. As soon as I told them, "No more woods until the snakes are gone again," they "told" me to find it if it was dangerous or not and if it isn't that they want to go back again. So that is mostly why I am asking you for your help. We all love the walks but I am afraid of the snakes. Please help me feel safer about going back. Thanks in advance for your help.

Yes, the snake was a black snake. I contributed to his capture by screaming a lot and keeping an eye on it while my husband looked for something to get him out with. Actually, the first thing he did was to try shooing him out, you know, flopping his arms and saying "shoo, shoo, little snakey". When that didn't work he brought in a garden tool,like a rake but three pronged,and carried him out to the vacant lot next door. He killed him because he knew I wouldn't rest until he did. He said he apologized to the snake first for his pitifully phobic wife. And I apologize to you snake lovers and I'll be sorry when the mice and rats visit. Anise

It very much depends. Automated readings are, I think, far more common in electric utilities than in gas - some gas metres have no data transmission capability at all. So actual physical readings by an employee are not unheard of, and some utilities do annual averaging because customers don't like their bills fluctuating. At any rate, your monthly bill should at minimum indicate the meter reading and cubic feet/meters/therms used. It may also have a statement somewhere noting the basis for the bill - most recent reading, estimated usage, historical usage or some other term, although the specific meaning may not be obvious unless you look at the small print or footnotes. At any rate you do not need to monitor daily (can't hurt of course) - you should be able to compare your recent gas bills to the current reading. I've had this happen (I thought the info was being reported to the utility by a family member and instead they were just using estimated usage). It should be immediately obvious - i.e. the utility bill might show 50,000 units on meter on estimated basis and your actual current reading is substantially below that. (Obviously allow for your usage in the current month). On the positive side if this is the case you can ring up the utility and ask them to adjust based on numbers you report or ask to have the meter read by an employee, if you've overpaid in previous months you'll have a negative balance and get a month or two with no bills. Unfortunately this may make estimating how much the new efficient unit is saving you a bit more difficult.

As usual I am LATE to the party, but BF and I made the BEST applesauce date bread tonight. He loves dates. This is going to be quite the keeper, since I think it could be used for all kinds of dried fruits like raisins or dried cherries for example. The original recipe was for figs. I very often have applesauce and yogurt in the fridge to use up. This bread is YUM! Date, Applesauce and Almond Breakfast Loaf (original recipe was for Figs) Recipe by Barbara Estabrook, for "Cooking Light" magazine, October 2010. Makes 2 8 inch loaf pans. Struesel topping (I left this off) 2 1/2 TBSLP brown sugar 2 TBLSP all purpose flour 1 1/2 TBLSP coarsely chopped almonds 1 TBLSP chilled butter, cut into small pieces 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon Bread: 1 cup dried figs (or dates) 1/2 cup boiling water Cooking spray 1 TBLSP all purpose flour 2 large egg whites 1 large egg 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce 1/3 cup fat free yogurt 1/4 cup canola oil 1/2 tsp. almond extract (I used Amaretto liqueur instead) 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 1/3 cup chopped toasted almonds (no salt) 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. baking soda Preheat oven to 350 degrees Prepare struesel topping ingredients by mixing them together in a small bowl and setting them aside. Spray or grease the two 8 inch loaf pans and then shake the flour around in them until very lightly coated. Combine wet ingredients Add flours and baking powder, soda, etc. Drain dates and mix in Add almonds. Pour batter into pans, top with streusel. Bake for 55 min. or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Not the best photo, one of my bread pans was too large.