I'm like Josh, my pots and pans (unless they are unusually nasty) are wiped clean and go in the dishwasher. We have not problem running it once a day. When I am here by myself, I just don't cook as much and once every two or three days. I have noticed a distinct decrease in common winter viral sickness since I got a dishwasher. I don't use the sanitary cycle, however, and find just getting them extra clean seems to be sufficient. I also don't use the dry cycle. I do use the energy booster on the unit, as our hot water tank is not kept at a high temperature. The dishes are hot enough one just has to open the door a crack and they air dry in minutes instead of running a heating element half an hour. BTW, we also have an energy efficient hot water tank. It's encased in ceramic and only heats up once a day on the off-hours. All my lights are flourescent or CFLs and I've been using the CFLs many years before they were mainstream. The old ones were ring shaped and tapered down to the standard base. Bizarre and also quite expensive. One major thing I do is to actually use my window coverings and windows. We do not have Central air. I realise this is not an option for everyone and there are certainly situations where they are needed and justified. Only not in a rural area and a big old stone house. Our house stays cool inside with the blinds drawn in summer and warms up from passive gain when I open the blinds on sunny winter days. I religiously go around each dusk and pull the blinds down to keep heat from escaping and shall soon be making window quilts for even more energy savings. Those electronics I use infrequently are plugged into fused outlets with switches on them. Anymore most of these devices have an instant-on feature. IOW, they are never really turned off, even if you turn them off. I'm not that impatient, so I turn the outlets off to them until I use them. I've switched to cold water laundry for most washes as well unless there is a specific reason to need hot water. And as much food as I can get locally or grow myself, I do. Also buy as many products as I can in bulk packaging. There is no reason on earth I need a new pump bottle of window cleaner each time I run out, or hand soap, or dishwashing liquid, or olive oil, or vegetable oil ad infinitum. So many people are afraid to even talk about these things for being considered goody-two-shoes. It's not that I think I am so great for doing this, I just firstly think it's the right thing to do and secondly need to be thrifty on things within my power to be thrifty on. It's the way I set aside my little mad money to spend on things I really want. I can imagine the culture shock of a family who had to make the transition to all these things. My parents were married in the depression and I've had conservation drummed into me since forever. My parents weren't afraid of buying new or nice things, but they wasted very little and took good care of what they did have. I was poor when I was married and that's an understatement. I did things this way because I had to. And then when I had options I found no reason to really change and it's just something I've always done...even when I worked outside the home, even when I was raising kids.

Cathy, thanks for the link. After I posted this, I started googling and found a lot of negative material on this company and this type of sales technique. There are a lot of complaints about the hard sell, the scheduling difficulties, and the poor accommodations (bunk beds! Yikes!). Even if the company is totally above-board and things go smoothly, it doesn't sound like the right kind of vacation for our lifestyle and our finances. Next time, I won't be tempted by the thought of doing something so inappropriate for us just because it's "free." I sent my kids the link to this post. My DD said: "Even if you don't drink cocktails or go to fancy shows, there are hidden charges, and you can bet on paying more than the base amount that's been quoted. Since you're on the boat every night, you will wind up going to the shows, because the state rooms are too small to hole up in. On the plus side, it's a readymade vacation so you don't have to do tons of planning to make it happen, and you deserve a treat for your 40th anniversary. If you wait to plan the perfect itinerary "someday," it might not happen... so there's a certain benefit to grabbing an available opportunity if it's good (even if not absolutely perfect). It's been a lot of years since your last vacation!" And my DS commented: "If you're prepared to spend any money at all for a trip/vacation, what do actually want to do? If not a cruise, then what? Would you rather travel somewhere else? Would you rather embark on some sort of event or activity? Also ... could you find a better deal without the obligations?" Wise kids! Thanks, everybody, for your thoughts! Sue

Rosewitch, England was definitely one of my favorite places I have ever visited. My folks took me there when I was 14, and I remember bits and pieces the Crown jewels, walking amongst the Stonehenge stones (roped off now, vandalism), Stratford upon Avon. Time for me to take my own 14YO. Im trying to think how I can get over there for a whole summer, LOL. Dlynn, I could have worked so much more. I didnt really look at night time stuff and there was loads to do. Greece: cant help you, but shoot Yasou a line, she went a few years ago. LOL Annie! Teresa, well go together. I wanted to explore more cooking and food shops/stores but didnt get to. Terri, here is more a link to Pictures of England, a website pointed out to me by Denise. I started it on Bourton on the Water, where we stayed for a few days. Thanks Sharon, I was actually thinking how can I even come close to posting her quality of travel guides, I dont do the pictures she does LOL. We might have sat at the same table in the Cheshire Cheeses dining room! Sawdust still there, but we didnt make it to the cellar. I missed a lot of the British Museum. It has changed.check out the new atrium. I couldnt keep up with DH and DS16. Afternoons, when I planned museums, I crashed. Next time! Pam, lots of people did more than we did per day! Theater every night, more attractions, I cant imagine. Gina heh heh yeah I need another vacation like a hole in my head. Speaking of whichDH has another week off in August. Nooooooooo! Kathleen, DH says he took an average of 200 pictures a day. Yup. Me, I just buy the post cards or Google the images, same thing (DARFC from the photo bugs here) Cathy, thanks for giving me the War and Peace moniker heh heh. Next time I go with CF friends! LindaC, I know. Im still exhausted. Speaking of the V&A, did you know there was a Dale Chihuly chandelier in the entrance room?

Cindy it wasn't that this troll/s had anything against the writer; quite the opposite in fact. As you will have probably found from your googling they started some sort of 'club' in her memory and were offering special deals/new info/bios etc at a considerable price. They also collected everyone's email addresses from the thread on the subject (much easier in those days) and bombarded them with stuff. It went from being funny to being infuriating. I think they/she (some of us think it was a one-man show, others that a couple of trolls were involved) are still out there on a mountain top in Central Europe.Their 'English' was slightly spy-like unt to be trusted not.