Jeanette, so glad to hear the mascotts are both resting safely in the infirmary. I see that we can't send any more of these guys out on road trips. they must not be as tough as old nuts the squirrel... though he did get a bit beat up in his travels too. I have been reading magsfrom the box that Remy sent and need to send thanks for the goodies that were included in the box. The special fall Country Living Gardener is terrific is beautiful with so many good articles and the sunflowers on the front cover. Extra special, thanks. Peanut butter kisses are favorites. My brother worked for years for the company that makes them and they always bring happy memories. MMmmmthanks Remy, the watch is so pretty. Thank you so much. My watches are so totally functional and utilitarian it will be a treat to wear something Pretty for a change. Sue, did you make the soap? I want to make some too and have some questions. It sure smells good. I love stuff that smells good. The garden stake and pink glads will go out front in the spring. and the thank you cards are both attractive and practical. Love the old timey wheelbarrow and wish I could find one for my yard. What a treasure that would be. There are also recipe cards and stickers.... hope I didn't miss anything but there were a lot of goodies especially considering how much good reading material was in there too. I appreciate the Green Scene mags as they are close enough to give me ideas of things to plant and places to visit. I've been reading those and enjoying them a lot. I might decide to join PHS myself. When the birdie that is at Jeanettes finds her way home that will be the end of this swap at least until after Christmas. I figure most of us will be pleanty busy from now to then. Thanks everyone for playing. This magazine RR is one of my favorite GW activities. BB

Hubs and I each have a Kindle, and we both love them! We are both avid readers, so our Kindles get a lot of use. When we travel, we always take books with us, and the books that Hubs reads are generally hard-bound, so bringing three or four of his books along makes for a heavy and bulky carry-on bag. But our Kindles will hold at least 1,500 books (each) in a nifty device that weighs about 8 ounces. It's so easy and convenient to have the Kindle with you at all times. If you have to wait at the doctor's office, you aren't stuck reading really old magazines that aren't of any interest to you (sorry, but Field and Stream isn't on my "must read" list); if you're stuck waiting for the bridge (in Sacramento, we have the Tower Bridge, which goes up/down, and the I Street Bridge, which turns) to allow river boats to pass, you've got something with you to read to pass the time (waiting for the I Street Bridge is at least a 15-minute wait), etc. When you're reading a book, and you turn off the Kindle, when you turn it back on again, you're right where you left off. If you leave that book and go to another, when you return to the first book, you're right where you left off. You can add your own notes/annotations. You can subscribe to magazines and/or newspapers, and they'll be automatically downloaded to your Kindle. You get a free 14-day subscription to the newspapers and magazines, to see if you want to continue with a paid subscription. (You can even get international newspapers!) Now, I'd like to respond to a few things that were written above: "Yes, books cost the same as in store. if the book is available in paperback- paperback price."" Not exactly correct. To tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, the cost of Kindle books can vary widely. Some books actually do cost a little more in the Kindle edition than they do in a print version. But that's relatively rare. Most books are significantly less expensive in the Kindle version, and most of those are less expensive in the Kindle version than in the paperback version. There are a huge number of Kindle books that are $9.99, there are a lot that are more than that - depending on the cost of the print edition; and there are a whole lot that are less than that. Some Kindle books are free (all of the old classics are, but many new ones are, too); some are $1 or $2, some are in the $4 to $7 range, etc. I recently purchased the following: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - $6.77 The Girl who Played with Fire - $7.59 The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - $9.99 By the way, those prices are the same for the Barnes & Noble Nook. "You can share books/magazines with up to 6 other Kindles or PC's. PC app is included." Yes, you can "share" books/magazines with up to 6 other Kindles or computers, but only if those other Kindles are registered to the same account. My husband and I each have a Kindle, but mine is registered to my Amazon account and my husband's is registered to his Amazon account. We cannot share books/magazines between our Kindles. The PC app isn't exactly "included" when you get a Kindle. You can download - for free - the Kindle application for your computer/laptop, BlackBerry, MAC, Android, iPad/iPhone; but, again, your content will only show up in your account so you can't transfer it to a Kindle registered to another account. But, I can take our laptop and read anything of my husband's just by going to his stuff on it. :-) If you read a few pages of any book on, say, your BlackBerry, then you go to the Kindle, the Kindle will be automatically set to where you left off reading on the BlackBerry. "Back-lit for easy reading, even in direct sunlight -- only reader with this feature." Yes, the Kindle can very easily be read in direct sunlight. Absolutely not correct that it is backlit. If you want to read your Kindle in the dark, you will need an accessory light for it. Regarding text-to-speech on the Kindle -- it is not available on all Kindle books. But, when you look at the description for any of Kindle books, it will tell you if the text-to-speech is enabled. So, if you have a book with the text-to-speech feature and you want to use it, you simply press the Aa key (this is the one you use when you want to change the font size). You will then get a window which, in addition to allowing you to change the font size as well as the screen orientation (portrait to landscape), allows you to turn the text-to-speech ON, and you can also select whether you want to use the default male voice, or the female voice. You can also accept the default speed, or make it faster or slower. There are little speakers built in (look at the bottom of the back of the Kindle), or you can plug headphones in (port is on the top). You can adjust the volume level by a toggle switch on the upper right side of the Kindle. When you are using the text-to-speech feature, the "pages" of the book are automatically turned. You can also load MP3 songs on your Kindle and listen to them, but I haven't done that because if I want to listen to music, I'll use my MP3 player...

I just got my first Android (LG Utimate 2) through Tracfone on a QVC Today's Special. It is a CDMA which uses Verizon or Sprint. This TF uses Verizon. Note: GSM phones use ATT or TMobile. Love the phone and it came with 1200 minutes talk, 1200 text, 1200 data. If you use it in your home or elsewhere that has wifi, as long as you turn wifi on, you are not charges minutes for calls or texts from the appropriate bucket/pool stated above. Also, I can transfer my current # and minutes to the new phone. All transferred minutes (I have 1550 on old phone, will be tripled for each call/text/data bucket. So, 1500 mins is now 4650 in each bucket, then add the 1200 that comes with phone for total of 5,850 minutes each bucket for a year plus whatever time was remaining on the old phone. I paid $130 for this GREAT 3G phone that does all the things the big boys do, and the size measures up too. The 1200 minutes that came with are good for a year and rollover. I am not a heavy cell user, but now I can check work email when I'm away or price compare when shopping, etc. The only drawback is it does not roam, so if you don't get a Verizon signal out in the sticks, you are out of luck. But, Verizon is the best covered company, so I suspect signals are vast, though there will be spotty areas. PS: I have always had great experiences with Tracfone cust. service contrary to all the negativity out there. I've been using TF for 4 years coming from an old Verizon contract. I'm a sensible person that prefers to keep money in my own pocket especially if my lifestyle isn't keeping my eyes on my phone practically 24/7 like a lot of people I know, plus I work from home so another reason not to pay an astronomical monthly cell bill. Here is a link that might be useful: In case you didn't know: CDMA vs GSM

This isn't a phone brand issue ... this is a battery issue. I've had a Macbook battery that did a partial melt ... my ipad battery is having issues ... my sister had a macbook battery that also charred ... so you should all probably get rid of your Apple products too! My son was also recently having battery issues with his Google phone overheating. Again, this is a battery technology issue. My husband is into remote control planes and he charges most of his batteries in special heat/explosion resistant containers. Just the nature of the technology. I'll continue to buy ipads and I'll continue to buy Samsung phones. My son will probably buy another Google phone. When you look at the total number of phones that have sold worldwide, the number of defective products is very small. I even owned the infamous Samsung Note 7, mine had no issues, but were still recalled. I've owned the Samsung Galaxy 7 without issues and will probably upgrade soon to a Note 9 or Galaxy 10, or wait for the Note 10 later this year.