No need to apologize. Things can be confusing when merchants supply information that isn't accurate. Fuchsias are shrubby and they live from year to year. However, plant merchants sometimes refer to fast-growing plants that bloom on new wood as "annuals" because people in climates too cold to overwinter them can treat them as such. They freeze to death and that's the end of that. I would also suspect that your Fuchsia is probably relatively short, to be used in annual bedding. Now, this is confusing too: Fuchsias are naturally upright, but some have been bred to have weak stems so that they cascade out of a basket. The type that would work best for a basket would be referred to as a "trailing" Fuchsia. Yours might work fine but don't be surprised if it doesn't cascade down the sides of the basket. Palo Alto is very mild and with irrigation your "annual" Fuchsia will live from year to year indefinitely. Now, as for what to do with it; what little frost you ever have, you probably don't even get every year, and when you do get it, it's probably not enough to kill a Fuchsia even exposed in a hanging basket. If you are in a hard frost area (for example, in a cold air drainage pocket, or at some elevation), you could still overwinter it by just planting it in the ground and mulching it a bit. Don't be surprised if it looks a little tired in the winter. It is fine, and will perk up quickly in mild weather. Fuchsias respond quickly to fertilizer, being especially fond of liquid types, and will usually reward you with a flush of growth and blooms. They bloom on new wood. You can clip to train them. If they get senescent (the wood starts looking like it is dying of old age), you can start them from cuttings and start over again. Fuchsias are extremely easy to root from cuttings--as easy as old-fashioned Coleus were. Fuchsias like mild weather. Not too hot, not too cold. They like bright open shade. They can stand a few hours of sun as long as it's not too hot (morning sun better than afternoon in that regard). Dry heat is very hard on them--possibly fatal. In dry weather you will probably have to irrigate your basket daily. If you like Fuchsias, keep your eyes open for Fuchsias that your friends have that you like--they can probably be talked into a cutting. Also consider contacting a local Fuchsia society--they will have hundreds of varieties, probably with bigger flowers, in more variety of colors, than Lowes. Mine are all uprights that I plant in the ground. Easier to take care of than in a hanging basket, which in my climate, that is colder than yours, I would have to protect for the winter, not to mention water it daily in the summer. I grow them along the north side of a fence, open to the sky but shaded from direct sun. They sit on a bank, and so their flowers are close to eye level. It is a very popular feature for my neighbors to look at. Some of mine are wild species--not hybrids. They have some variety of form--for instance one of them in habitat would clamber up a tree almost like a climber. Another one has dainy fern-like foliage and tiny but brilliantly colored flowers, and one has berries that are considered tolerably palatable (usually Fuchsia berries are bland). Another one gets big as Fuchsias go--it can hit about 7 feet tall (and perhaps even wider) or so before its weak wood bends under its own weight. You can grow some I can't--like the beautiful Triphylla types, such as the popular "Gartenmeister Bonstedt". Much too tender for me.

to actually answer your question you can buy several brand computers with xp installed on them instead of Vista if that is what you really want. I was just looking at buy.com and tigerdirect.com and found several listed there that come standard with xp. Also if you choose to go to a site that does custom builds you can pick what ever operating system you want, not all charge you to downgrade, some can come with xp rather than vista you choose your operating system. XP is going to be supported till 2010 is what MS is saying currently, that can change it can be extended no one knows what MS might do. However if you would want to go to Windows 7 when it comes out in about a year just know that you can not do an upgrade from XP to Windows 7 you would have to do a wipe clean and full install of Windows 7. You could check your local area for shops that do custom built computers and get exactly what you want on your pc. This site is a custom build site that has high ratings if you click on any one of the ones they show there is a customize button there which opens up the customize feature where you pick an choose what you want you can pick your operating system too. What ever you feel strongly about then go with that you will be the one using that pc. Welcome to Cyberpowerpc.com this is one example from buy.com Lenovo ThinkCentre A57 Desktop - 9702-A5U when you look there for desktop computers on the left you can narrow your search and choose your Operating system they do have xp options. If you go with one that has Vista installed I would just stick with the Vista and do the changes that make Vista look more like xp did, you can get it downgraded to XP but it cost too much.

Not a dumb question at all! I just barely can reach my top downs with no furniture in front of them. In another room I have been debating cordless/corded/tdbu/bu with 6 windows where I DO have furniture in front of one of them. I have been wondering how to deal with it, when I recently had an epiphany. I was visiting my sister after her hip replacement surgery and she had all these interesting implements for various tasks. As soon as I saw her sock puller, I had a vision of a DIY cordless TDBU implement. Here it is. It works great. The L-shape was actually more useful than the cup-hook but it varies depending on direction I was going. My existing cordless tabs have a hole in them. Not all will have this hole, but I think that is ok. The hook can still grab as needed. I could do mine w/o using the hole.

I agree also. Sometimes I have thought that annual rebalancing was just another form of "churning" although not so blatant. Chisue, brokers make money from your portfolio through sales commissions (when you buy or sell), account fees, and/or management fees paid directly by you to them; and also get some money from the mutual funds themselves for holding your shares -- paid indirectly by you through the fees that the mutual funds deduct from the funds' earnings. I have not been impressed with paying a percentage management fee either. That adds up to quite a lot of $ over time, and generally what you get is a computer generated "plan" and computer-triggered rebalancing ( sometimes to your tax detriment, if not in a tax sheltered account) -- not a real live person looking at your account and maybe noticing that your funds are performing worse than the average and need to be changed. There are "fee for service" financial advisors out there, you pay a set price one time for a certain amount of planning and/or advice. The idea is, they will not be influenced by needs to meet sales goals, generate continuing income, commissions etc. I have no experience with one. It is pretty easy, with a bit of reading and perusing Morningstar and the companies' websites (like TRowePrice), to figure out which funds have been consistently better performers with low expense and management fees. Index funds make it even simpler. Morningstar has easy to use search tools and you can compare funds. I would check out a book from the library to get a basic understanding of all this. Get one that explains what different investments are, different kinds of stocks, what brokers do etc -- not one that is out to tell you a path to riches. Read Money or Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazines. And also call your broker and ask him to explain it to you. He should be willing to give a quick assessment of your portfolio and recommend any other purchases, if you are going to buy through him. Tell him you have x$ to invest and ask for a recommendation based on your current holdings. The danger is, some firms have in the past made a practice of "pushing" certain funds and investments to meet sales targets without regard to the needs of the client. It all depends on the firm and broker. I prefer to have accounts directly with Vanguard and TRowePrice (Fidelity, wellsfargo, and CharlesSchwab are among others I would consider) and just choose and buy myself. I use an on-line tool to decide how much should be invested in bond, or stocks, or cash. Their yearly fees are not very much, some companies are less than others, and if you have enough invested they waive the yearly fee. PS "nearly cash equivalent" funds might be losing your money through inflation. They should not be a majority part of your portfolio unless you don't expect to live that long.