Hello, I thought I might use this thread to keep a record of the progress the seedlings are making. Firstly, the sphagnum moss got a bit out of hand, so I tried a few different set ups but eventually just decided to trasfer the seedlings into trays where I probably won't have to repot them again until they are almost fully grown. I was worried they were still too small but they seem to be starting to grow steadily again. They are in peat moss/perlite mix. I took the opportunity to cull down to only the most vigorous growers, or those seedlings that had nice form (even though the differences are slim at this stage). These are my first crosses so it is nothing special. This one is DM F2 x (DM x Anoema minor): This one is Medowie Gift x DM F2: And here is a close up of a seedling startigng to get nicely shaped leaves: Sorry they are nothing special yet. Still little green bits of grass. My plan is to fertilise them until they get to a hardier size, then slowly introduce them to stonger light and stop the fertiliser. I have a few more billbergia crosses starting up, a few involving, Hallelujah, Afterglow, and Hana Hou. thanks Dan

One of the newer issues that has arisen is Palliative Care. Oregon has taken the lead in this area and the POLST form (Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment) is a general form that has been standardized and can be used for consulting with any doctor or HMO. Interestingly enough, the website specifies a very specific Wausau brand pink paper (#65 Cover Pulsar Pink, to be exact) although it says any color paper can be used; the CPP is specified so that the form can be easily copied or faxed. This form is to be used IN ADDITION to an Advanced Health Directive, not in place of it. Some of the newer Health Directive forms include the POLST section, but many older ones do not (ours does not, for example, although it was created only 2 yrs ago in early 2007). The form can be downloaded at: http://www.finalchoices.calhealth.org/polst-form.html (I've actively linked it, below) Other info about the form can be found at http://www.finalchoices.calhealth.org/polst-hcp.html, such as an FAQ and a POLST Consumer Brochure. Here is a link that might be useful: blank POLST form

US Bank is a business bank, it's not a good bank for individual customers. In a past job, I worked with them daily from a business standpoint and they were great. However, at the same time I had my own personal accounts there and they regularly messed things up. I moved to another bank for personal stuff and have not looked back. I was living in the Twin Cities during the business relationship period and, since they are based there, I mistakenly assumed that, at worst, I could walk into branches and resolve problems. Heck, we walked across the street to our business rep and resolved things all the time. However, adapting that assumption to the retail side was a big mistake on my part.

A couple of thoughts: I remember the last time I needed a copy of my birth certificate, it had to be a "certified" copy with an official government imprint. Merely photocopying a certified copy would not have been sufficient. Think about what you will need the birth certificate for and get the "right" copy. Better yet, take the video, burn it on a CD, make multiple copies and stash them in your safe deposit box, at home, and at your backup site. They're small, light, and hard to damage. While CDs or DVDs are easier to store and somewhat more resistant to damage through use than tapes, a looming issue is the future of digital storage. There already are reports of people who burned cheapo CD-Rs years ago who now cannot recover the information. Earlier this year, the company at which I work (a Dow Jones company whose name you all would recognize) had to employ four computer hobbyists to recover some legal-related information which someone had created on low-density floppies from a software program which is no longer produced. We recovered it, but the process of doing so wasn't pretty. And, even if the data is maintained perfectly forever, formats change. Seen an 8" floppy drive lately? Ever heard of a Bernoulli disk? MO? Zip disk? DC2000 tape? Does your current computer even have a floppy drive -- of any size? Do you know if you can open files you created in software that's three or four versions old, perhaps on a completely different operating system? I don't mean to be alarmist. And I'm pretty much as big a geek as they come. But, so far, the history of digital technology does not seem to offer the lifespan of simple ink-on-paper or silver-halide photographs or slides. People who want to store digital information either risk losing that information over time or must commit themselves to examining that information periodically and transferring the data again to avoid media failure and obsolescence.