DD, I got the twigs with the lights at a store called Kirkland's Home. It's a chain. I saw them "on sale" when I was in the store and was told they were the last ones, had no box and I could have them for 19.99. So I said I wanted them. When they rang them up, the bill was for over $40, as there were two in the display. I could really use another one, but not at that price! I got them for New Year's decorations, but like them so much that I've left them up. I was in the store again last week, and guess what? I saw another one on display. Hmmmmm. These are real twigs and they are very, very, very fragile. Indoor use only and they can't be moved or rearranged easily, as I am afraid I'll snap one. A couple of years ago I bought some indoor/outdoor ones they were on a wire wrapped with brown tape, They could be bent and arranged easily. They had lights at the tip of each branch. I stuck them in pots outside, in with other bush-like plants and they blended well. HOWEVER, they were LEDs. My husband hated the lights, as he believed the white lights to be too severe, so out they came. They were by Phillips. As I said, I didn't have a box with these, so don't know the manufacture. The next time I'm in the store I'll check to see if they still the "the last one" and will probably get it, as I think the arrangement is too sparse. Hope this helps.

Do Ctrl-Alt-Del to bring up your Task Manager, click on the Processes tab, and click once or twice on the CPU tab at the top of the listings: this will show what process is chewing up the most resources (which will probably be the culprit). Also, look at the CPU Usage line at the bottom of Task Manager and see what the % Usage is. Then report back here on what you found out.

Making a phone list was the first thing I ever used Excel for, about ten years ago or more. I quickly discovered instead of listing name first to list the ten digit phone number since that column will always be the same size. And it is easy to keep alphabetized since a new entry can be inserted anywhere. I've never re-typed the list once. Just add or delete to the original. I print copies and three hole punch to put into a folder by our phone. Shrunk another copy to half size for the glove compartment of my car. At some point I started using the tabs at the bottom of the page to make new pages for: medical, school #'s, stores & restaurants, car info (insurance & parts & mechanics) and at least 5 or 6 more catagories. It is probably the most useful thing (even though it is fairly simple) I've ever done on the computer. The other very successful Excel file I started ten years ago was for medical appointments. I made a few columns that I fill in each time I schedule and complete an appointment. When I get the Explanation of Benefits in the mail weeks later and wonder what THAT was for I can check my own notes, in laymans terms. I also cross reference if I had a copay or needed some kind of follow up. It has helped me at the end of the year when I've had to claim Flexible Spending Account money. I have a medical condition so it has also been helpful to track my meds. The most helpful book I ever read on organization discouraged the use of PDA's. One of the common negatives that people fed back to her was the inevitable loss of data through a dead battery or "accident". I would never trust my dayplanner, medical history or address book to a PDA. At least on Excel you can have a hard copy printed out. I also have a copy on a flash drive. And I'm not that computer saavy!

cynic, We have factory installed built-in GPS in both of our cars. Both units allow the user to choose the type of route they desire. Ours allow for 'Maximize Freeway'; 'Minimize Freeway'; 'Direct Route'; or 'Easy Route'. The four different routes will all take you to the same place. Since you mention "exit", is it possible your friend had a route programed that did not maximize freeways? Mary, We love our GPS units & would never voluntarily purchase another vehicle without them. We've been using marine GPS since the government released it (2001, I think?) with WAAS. IMO, there's no better company than Garmin for GPS. We've got their marine flagship model on our boat & it's wonderful. It's got radar, GPS, weather imaging, 3-D, sonar, & ties into our auto-pilot & VHF radio. We still chart our course the old-fashioned way as a precaution but truthfully it's more just an exercise to keep our navagation skills sharp. The GPS pilots our boat much more accurately than we could ever accomplish with charts. Garmin, IMO, makes the best GPS navigational equipment available & they've been at it for a long time. Best Buy is having a sale on Garmin today. The sale was just for yesterday (Friday) & today (Saturday). /tricia