I don't think either society is superior to the other. They model one way and we model our life a different way. Even though a few US cities have attempted to model after EU cities. The city centers in Europe are major train hubs and usually highways do not enter directly into the City Center. In most US cities - highways are the major route and excluding the NE & Chicago (which can offload to public trans) - most US cities are plagued with severe traffic problems as there is no alternative. Most EU cities - have very old small cars and limited pollution restrictions so they have poor air quality even though they have less cars. Most EU highways - do NOT have the amount of traffic we do -as the number of cars encountered on the AutoStrade (Italy) or AutoBahn is VERY VERY low in comparison to any interstate in the US (80, 95, etc.) NY state is probably larger than most EU countries so there is NO comparison - but EU cities are heavily populated (unlike our spread out nation) so Paris with its 2.1 million locally and 10 million in the surrounding far exceeds the most of our metropolitan areas (exclude NYC, DC+surroundings, Houston, CHI, LA). We agree - there is NO comparison! I think as a nation we can regret that we didn't focus more resources on trains (criss-crossing the nation) instead of highways in the past 5 decades which might have reduced the number of cars on the road.

I spent months contemplating and researching new machines. My 10 year old Frigidaire FL was dying. I narrowed it down to the LG WM3885 or the Miele W4842. I went with the Miele (plus matching dryer T9822) and am REALLY happy with them. Trust that I read everything (and every review) out there. While I can't speak to the LG (although my parents have a brand new LG pair) I can say that the Miele is something you need to own to appreciate. It is very solid and runs very well. It definitely uses higher temps. Everything seems to come out so clean and soft. While the dryer is touchy - when you figure it out is works beautifully. These are the temps for each machine: LG (WM3885) Extra hot 70 C (158) Hot 50 C (122) Warm 40 C (104) Cold 25 C (77 F) Miele W4842 Sanitize 70 C (158) Hot 60 C (140) Very warm 50 C (122) Warm 40 C (104) Cold 30 C (86) Only the Miele will use it's on board heater in all programs (except Normal) to guarantee these temps. LG will only engage the heater in Sanitary (Extra Hot). If temperature is something you are big on - you should consider this. I also decided on Miele as I received a free upgrade for a 10 year warranty (Canadian promotion) and I am confident that service from them will be excellent. Already my experience with delivery and set-up was top notch. Good luck with your decision - I appreciate how hard it can be.

Good luck on the test, Joyful, I'm sure you'll do fine. Accidents are a pain. Figuratively, and all too often literally. I'm going through my own vehicle woes. Several years ago I bought a van from a friend's son's estate. Since then I've put about $5,000 into it... (heavy sigh) Transmission & starter ($3k) and about $1500 in brakes several times and different parts and many same ones over and over. The brakes would drag and last summer finally got it cured (a brake line believe it or not). About a week ago the pedal was going to the floor. So I was hobbling home putting fluid in at several stops. Both wheel cylinders in the rear were bad and leaking and soaked the linings so my recent full brake job had to be done again to the tune of another $300. But then I think that I've gotten what 2 1/2 or 3 years out of it and so all things considered, it's not been as bad as it seems. The things that made me put the money into the transmission were: 1) It starts SO well in ANY weather, even sitting outside for days in sub-zero temps 2) It runs SO smooth 3) It drives great (when it goes!) Front end is tight, drives nice and straight down the road 4) Reasonable gas mileage and doesn't burn any oil 5) Quite comfortable and these days what's very important 6) Comfortable to get in and out of. Since getting busted up, that makes a big difference. It's got a few problems, a/c doesn't work and I won't spend $800 to fix it, the blower fan now only works on high, and the vacuum hoses must be leaking because it'll only work on defrost, gas gauge doesn't work, one of the speakers cuts out now and then... yeah a few other minor problems, but all of these I can live with. But I was kind of bummed out at the last expense. So I'm looking for a decent deal on something. I asked the owner of the shop if he knew anyone who had a good used vehicle for sale, preferably a mini van, SUV or a mini to mid sized pickup. Well he has a mini van that he might get from a customer. The oil light came on and they kept driving it and siezed the engine. He'd charge me nothing for the van, only what it would cost to put a rebuilt engine into it. It's a 2001, in very good shape from what I saw and I started thinking that a rebuilt engine, I'd have essentially a new engine, the biggest problem point could be the tranny, but would be worth thinking about. He said it'd run about $2700 for an engine. It's got many more bells & whistles on it than I have with mine. But I haven't heard from them whether they got it or not. Guess I need to call them or stop by and ask. I'm kind of leaning toward buying it and keep using the one I have until more problems develop. Then I'd have a spare and since I have to drive for an income, I need reliable transportation. I was even kicking around whether I could turn around and sell it for a little profit. The book value looked like it has some room. But that wouldn't make a lot of sense I guess. Argh! For me, a vehicle isn't a status symbol. It's to get me and my junk from point A to point B and back again, reliably and safely. So if anyone knows of a good used vehicle at a reasonable price, let me know. I was kicking around the idea of a new vehicle, with the Kia Sportage going for less than $12k... But there's extra costs in a new rig too. My head is spinning! Keep us posted OJ. Oh, btw, on the popup windows you're getting and especially on an older machine, if you use a browser like Opera or K-meleon, they have a built in popup stopper and both of them use far less resources than does Internet Explorer. Easier on your system, faster and stops the popups in their tracks!

Yup, just basically replace the basil with arugula. Also, walnuts work well with it in place of the pine nuts. But if you love arugula, try this pasta salad, it's fantastic and so easy!! Even my kids love this one. Smoked Gouda and Penne Pasta Salad Ingredients 1 pound penne pasta 1 garlic clove, halved 1/3 cup mayonnaise 1/2 pound smoked Gouda, cut into 1/4-inch cubes 1 (7-ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil, drained and thinly sliced 2 cups arugula Preparation 1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. 2. Rub a medium nonreactive bowl with garlic halves, and add next 4 ingredients and cooked pasta. Mix well, and chill 1 hour before serving. I need a new food processor. I used to have this Oster thing that had attachments to make it a mixer, blender and a food processor all in one. It was big and ugly and I never wanted to keep it on the counter but it was such a pain to drag out. I finally got rid of it. Now I just have one of the old fashioned Oster beehive blenders. It only has two speeds and I LOVE it. It's powerful enough to crush large ice cubes and we don't use a blender that much anyway. And it was cheap and it's cool looking. My sister has one that's copper, very cool. I also have the slicer/shredder attachments for my KA stand mixer and the little KA chopper thingy, so haven't felt the need really for a major food processor. But making pesto in little batches in the chopper thing kind of stinks. Never really thought about making it in the blender. I'd probably end up with pesto puree that way! Uh, claybabe, honey, if your blender smokes...er, ya might want to think about gettin' a new one! ;o) Robin