Thanks Islandbreeze! Plumerias are one of my favorite tropicals, I definitely recommend them. And I think I am confusing the oleander in this pic with my pink one which is a Calypso. Thanks for catching that! My home depot carries crape myrtles a lot lately so you can check yours and maybe you'll get lucky. They are great trees, I'm sure the hardier varieties would do well by you in a good spot. Crapes are really commonly sold here now, they are one of the few trees that can be grown as street trees in NYC (since you need to get your street trees approved before you plant them here) which I think is pretty cool since they are so synonymous with the south. Thanks for looking! -Alex

My usage is probably similar to yours Nancy. 95% of the time I spend on this computer is spent browsing the Internet, checking email, shopping, and researching. I don't play games except Mahjongg, which is not cpu intensive. This computer does have a quad core but it just happened to be the cheapest on the shelf when I walked into the store to buy one. At the time, I was too impatient to shop around. It fits my needs fine though. It's an Acer with a 3.1 GHz 32 bit AMD Athlon(tm) II X4 645 Processor, 4 gig ram and a 1 terabyte drive. It cost about $399(?) at Walmart without monitor. My other desktop is used as a personal server. Using a high-def TV as a monitor, its time is spent mostly streaming videos from the net and playing my old TV/movie collection. It also runs a web server but it's mostly for my own light use. Such as serving video to my bedroom netbook-TV setup. It also serves a single public Shoutcast stream. It's an old(?) Compaq with a 2600 MHz 64 bit AMD Athlon(tm) Processor LE-1640. It does fine for what it's used for. I suspect my bottleneck is my ISP so even though I run a cheaper computer, I pay for the fastest connection I can afford. Personally, if I were looking to buy another right now, I'd probably be tempted by something similar to this. Not necessary that one but something along that line.

An appraisal for insurance purposes is based on retail replacement. If your stone is lost, stolen or damaged it's what you'd pay to purchase an identical piece at full retail. It's not what you would be able to sell it for. You pay retail when you purchase it but if you try and sell it yourself you won't get what you paid for it. The price you pay includes mark ups by the mining company, cutter, broker, wholesaler, retailer etc. That's the nature of the jewelry business. A complete appraisal contains not only the replacement cost but also a detailed description including: size, color, clarity, cut and even the grading of the cut. Additionally it would state if the stone was natural or had been enhanced by chemicals or heat. You can fill a fracture in a diamond or irradiate it to turn it yellow. Colored gem stones have been subjected to so many different treatments that it makes a huge difference in value if it's a natural emerald or one that's been color enhanced. The average jeweler in the Mall probably won't have the expertise or equipment to make those valuations. A reputable jeweler should allow you to return the piece within 30 days if you have it appraised elsewhere for less. You can always use an independent appraiser who isn't attached to a store. I have GIA appraisals which give a detailed description but don't list a monetary value. Stones with a GIA certificate sell for significantly more money than those without a GIA. The stones sold on Blue Nile come with a GIA certificate so the prices listed there usually are higher than what you might find elsewhere. I simply linked to that site because it's easy to use.

If the stone is round, its probably a SRB (standard round brillant) with 72 facets, a table facet, plus 16 girdle facets, a lovely stone. If the stone should loose some of its sparkle, its dirty. The shine can be restored with a good cleaning. A clean pavillion (the bottom part of the stone) is important. The pavillion is the "mirror" that redirects light back up through the stone. If the pavilion becomes grimy, its reflectance will be reduced. Recommended cleaning agent is rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs with tooth picks. Que tips work but may not get into small crevices. Eyeglass cleaning wipes work, too, but some may leave an undetected film.