Decades ago, someone planted kudzu on our farm, and on thousands of other farms throughout the American South, to combat the erosion that had resulted from generations of improper farming practices. I'm not sure of the exact year kudzu was introduced, probably ca. 1900, or possibly earlier than that. I seem to recall reading that kudzu was a star attraction at the Great 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia. At any rate, we all know that vigorous Oriental vine has swept the South during the following century. The vigor of ivy and wisteria pale in comparison to the vigor of kudzu. We fight kudzu, Japanese honeysuckle, wisteria, and ivy on a yearly basis, but, simultaneously love, enjoy, and respect these exotic vines--akebia, or violet vine, too. Gardening is a never-ending struggle. There are successes; there are failures. _C'est la vie._ Over the years, I've made my peace with these and other vines. At present, I'm allowing kudzu to have its way with the plot of ground that includes our septic tank drainage field. It grows luxuriantly and forms undulating waves of lush, large-leaved greenery for months on end, with beautiful, fragrant wisteria-like racemes of purple blossoms in late summer. This sea of green provides an above-ground canopy for the groundhog, or woodchuck, colony that lives underground in a maze of tunnels. The groundhogs are kudzu connoisseurs (sp.?) who relish the leaves as a dietary staple. A bamboo grove provides a fine backdrop to the kudzu "lawn." No mowing required.

Same story here. I purchased a VERY EXPENSIVE Charmglow Chef's Island version from Home Depot. In less than a year, about a half dozen parts had rusted out. I ordered the replacement parts, which took forever to arrive. Here I am 1 year later, and all of those parts are in need of replacement AGAIN! Fortunately, my husband has skills and has now made several of the parts that had rusted out with stainless steel replacements. However, some of the parts he can not make, and I am having a difficult time finding replacements. The parts that have needed replacement in two years of use are the cooking grids (twice), the heat idicator (thermostat), the collector boxes (twice), all of the heat tents (twice), all of the burners (twice), and some heat plates (separating the burners from the searers), and the ignitor switch. I might as well have just trashed the entire grill, but after spending over $1,000 that was not an option. Never again Brinkmann

Just last year my Step-father bought a $300 Harmony all in one remote for his entertainment toys. The battery died and he went to buy a new one at Future Shop and Best Buy and they don't sell that model or battery anymore!!! If you will Google Battery for xxxx (insert brand and model # in place of the xxxx) you may very well be able to find a replacement battery. On my cell phone I did that and found a battery supplier (Ebay) that sold the batteries for just $1. Another time I got one for a neighbor and it was just $5, probably still cheaper than buying the original equipment cell phone battery. Sue

The Wax is actually a nice deep green and is greener than when I got it by far. It is the darker green of the two, but has a lot more of these thin spots on the leaves. It gets partial sunlight.