In the past we've only had one compost bin and late every spring DH would remove the fresh nondecomposed stuff on top and remove the dark decomposed stuff at the bottom. The top stuff then went back in the bin to be added to and the "done" or almost done stuff was put on the garden. Keep it simple is our mantra. LOL I'm complicating things this year as I have put in my "order" for 2 more bins. Luckily DH is "getting into" this composting thing also. Joanna, in your climate you definitely will have decomposed compost every year from one bin but more than one is easier and less work once set up.

Acrylic paint is usually considered non-toxic, and in fact, is often demonstrated to be so by the sales rep TASTING it. (ack!) Americana makes a lovely outdoor paint called Patio Paint (is that the one you are using D'Ann?) that wears extremely well. I've never used in on plastic, though. Mostly when doing decorative designs on terra cotta, etc. I do know that there are several brands out now that are supposed to be perfect for plastic, but haven't tried them myself. I would definitely look for the words "non-toxic" on the label, especially if I were growing edibles or it were coming in contact with fish, etc. Michael's does carry Americana brand "Patio Paints" in small bottles, and in pint sized cans. Don't know if they have bigger containers or not. Americana brand paints are my very favorite (speaking as someone who painted for a living for quite awhile and tried MANY brands). Another GREAT product Americana makes is called Sandstone. It is a textured paste that has grit in it and dries to look like..well...like sandstone! I have applied it to pots many times, and they look pretty cool. It comes in several colors, too, so you can make designs with it. Or you can use a solid color and paint a design over it with your regular acrylic paints or Patio Paints. You guys post some pictures of your painted products. I'd love to see them. Marcia

Snidely, Me??? Think what you may as I cannot speak to it. On this thread no one has brought up the concept of work environment so that perspective was not addressed. My home system is on 24/7. It has a collage of pictures of my grandchildren as a screen saver for my pleasure. For no other reason. No type of power management is used. In the past, the consensus of members here was they only use power management in the hopes of protecting the system to make it last longer. During my entire attendance at work my system is engaged even when not attended. It is the secured database portals which time me out after inactivity unless I do it manually. I have never seen anyone leave a laptop unattended in public. My recollection is they are actively being used, directly monitored, or shut down and stored. In any of these cases power management is not necessary. Finally, there are only two schools of thought that are certain for all; death and that politicians waste taxpayer money. DA This post was edited by damccoy on Mon, Feb 11, 13 at 7:43

Sorry, just a little more information.... When it comes up in safe mode, you still see all the safe modes in all the corners and the XP build number at the center top....the display is working. As soon as it boots up it comes up and asks do you want to try System Restore or do you want to continue in safe mode....I have tried everything before sending this message. I have rebooted into Setup and tried to get it to reboot to the default settings, but that didn't work either....