It's HEEERE!! Unfortunately after I brought it in the house (met the Fedex guy in the driveway) I saw the bottom corner was bashed in. They put Styrofoam spacers in 2 of the top corners (to protect the handles, also gauge and single-weight regulator packed inside the foam) but nothing on the bottom corners! The PC isn't dinged that I can tell, just a little scuff but I emailed Walmart. And (maybe I should post this on the Bad Lids thread), the pint jars came packed in a very heavy cardboard box with dividers, wish they all came this way, the rings were barely screwed on so no grooves in the sealant. Somehow one outer row still managed to get dinged rings, but I don't care, I'll use others for processing and put these on for sale. I checked my stash and I don't have as many regular-mouth pints as I thought, 10 old salsa jars (fine for resale since I don't get them back but have sticky label residue), a dozen Ball pints with the letters/numbers on the bottoms (how old?), another dozen I think are from the 80's, and a dozen I think are really old since they are more square and have almost a frosted bottom with concentric rings. I don't really want to use those for things I'm selling, I haven't even used them for us yet since I bought them a couple years ago as part of a big lot on Craigslist. I also have 13 Ball/Kerr ones from the farmhouse basement (along with a lot more quarts) but those are definitely more than 30 years old. I do have some newer wide-mouth pints (2 dozen in cardboard boxes bought at Goodwill, 1 box never opened, and a flat I bought at Walmart or TSC) but those seem more suited to pickles than to apple butter.

Hi Jane, I am 66 and have used a PC for many years. I attended a short computer class once and worked on a Mac. The biggest frustration I recall is that it responded to a single click and I was used to double clicking. I decided that although it would take time to get used to, I wanted to set up my PC to respond to a single click. Since then, I have set up any new computer to single click. I have a very difficult problem because I DO NOT intuit anything. I have to read instructions and even then, I may not understand. I have to do a lot of searching for very basic things: most recently, "how to use a touch pad" after I bought a 10.1 inch netbook. I sometimes use a cordless mouse because I still hate a touch pad. Returning to my inability to intuit anything and everything that "normal" users do without thinking, the problem is very real, constant, and extremely frustrating. I have to be very motivated to struggle through learning new concepts. Case in point: I use a cell phone only to make and receive calls. I have been unable to figure out how to send or receive text messages, I can't program functions like the clock or the list of people whose numbers I want to call, I can bring up a list of missed calls, but I can't easily call the person back, etc. I can't download different ring tones even though I would dearly love to find Allison Du Bois' ringtone--from the "Medium." I can find this information online but I can't figure out how to get it into my phone and then select the new app for my phone. I am not stupid. I was first a teacher and then a registered nurse and I have two MS degrees, both with high honors. I am simply brain dead in the area of the brain that allows one to intuit while on a computer. I think it is absolutely imperative that your husband sees a patient tech in a Mac store and has a chance to experience the differences between Mac and PC. Good luck! Nancy

There's a lot of low-cost ISPs around. I've known a couple people who used PeoplePC and were satisfied but left for broadband. I think they're a bit "spendy" even, since I'm paying less than $5/mo. Let's face facts folks, this myth about "tech support" on anything is mostly a myth. I get free email support. Basically all most anyone would need. Otherwise you'll pay more, either pay $10/mo more and get it "free" or pay by the minute. Once set up, what more will you need? Even the "free" tech support will NOT teach you how to search for the best price on hemmorhoid creams or the like, nor will they solve your computer problems for you. It's limited, very limited. Most of the info you need will be on a website anyway and like I said, once you're going, what more will you need? Be sure to look at features and needs. Number of hours vary. Most will have an email account but not all. Personally I think you're better off using something like Yahoo or Gmail since you're not reliant upon the ISP if you decide to change. More reasons but I won't go into them now. BTW, IMO the "accellerator" programs are worthless and surely not worth paying for. Oh, and FYI, most all of the ISPs use many of the same modem pools for access. So frankly, paying AOL's ridiculous charges get you nothing more than a $4/mo ISP as far as internet access. (Although they have some of their own sites you can go to, whoopie-ding, never interested me). I would give a caution though. I'm amazed when I see people afraid to give a CC # to get a service, yet will give them direct access to their bank accounts! At least you have some control with the CC. And you also need to understand that for the low-buck outfits to make it, they can't be bothered chasing people for payment. That's why they require the CC payment. Even writing a check requires someone to process it which costs money.

Sherrmann: I don't know how to do italics either, so I'm just going to use the age old quotes, should I quote you. =0) The different systems were all listed on a website at one time, but it was several months ago, I believe it's "hillaries" plan that has the communist bent I mentioned (though I could be wrong on that....). Obama had one that makes a immediate "check-up" mandatory, though I don't remember what happens if you tell them to pound sand. "WHY ARE YOU NOT BOTHERED BY THAT?" Who says I'm not?!? Ok, I'm not as bothered by companies restricting the folks who choose to use their company, because each and every one of those folks have the choice not to give that company their money. (I also understand that those companies have made agreements with the doctors on their list, that they can only charge their people certain amounts, thus saving the insurance company and the consumer both money. Thus the reasons for the lists.... of course you can go outside your system, but the company will only pay the amount they have worked out with the doctor on their list... you will have to pay the rest.) Consumers seem to have forgotten that what they buy, they get. If there is not an option out there that they find ok, then they have the choice not to buy at all. We had a post either here or in the money saving forum that proves that point to the letter. Someone wanted to be able to pay their bill by phone without charge. At least 5 folks came on saying that they should just accept what the company offered, even if it wasn't what they wanted. Excuse me WHAT?!?!?!? Why the heck should we do that? There are too many companies offering similar services to settle for what one company offers. My dad just had a woman for a satellite company tell him that he had to either pay $70 for a service call, or pay a monthly fee to have them come out and fix their equipment, that there was no other choice. She was actually shocked to find out that HIS choice would involve a rival company and NOT paying this company's bogus fees. (they came out and fixed their stuff without charge) Yes, I know, just like that lady on the phone, many believe that they do not have a choice in the insurance company they choose. It's simply not true. You always have a choice. It may be between something bad and something worse, but it is still a choice. "I DON'T THINK IT IS OK FOR "SOME OF US TO FALL THROUGH THE CRACKS." NO ONE IS MORE ENTITLED TO GOOD HEALTH CARE THAN ANYONE ELSE." No, it's not "OK", but it IS going to happen. No matter how good the system it's still run by people, and people aren't perfect. There are folks in every system in the world falling through those cracks. Are wealthy people "entitled" to more/better care simply because they can pay for it themselves? As much as it seems to go against the grain, and that I hate the word "entitled"....... Yes. In the same way as they are "entitled" to better houses, better cars, and even better tvs. They can pay to fly to where ever the expert in their particular problem is, they can afford to stay as long as they need to in that area, they can afford the fees that the best can charge. They can also chase all over the world for the latest "cure" not available here, to the scientists and the wackos who they think can help. They can pay to have a private nurse come to their home and stay with them for 24 hours a day for months and/or years. And as much as many may hate it, those wealthy folks chasing the fountain of youth, allow the experts to volunteer their time helping those that may not have as much. Allows them to charge less if anything to those who can not afford to pay. And in the case of a home health nurse... pays a living salary for someone else. This does not mean that everyone should not be able to get some basic care. It does not mean that everyone should be able to get good care. And if you need me to pay for your basic health care, then you should be willing to go through the systems currently in place. They may be broken, but they are in place. Somehow it seems to speak to the "throw away" society we have become that no one is interested in fixing what we have, they just want to go out and buy "healthcare 2.0". Kidney cancer (hopefully you are doing better now) is not a minor ailment. I believe that the comment was directed at those who could not be bothered to take a few hours off work to take a kid with a cold to the regular doctor. Anyone who has ever been in an ER has seen the number of folks with routine care concerns that are filling up the seats and bogging down the staff. Each and every one of those folks are going to be charged ER rates, which is probably 2-3 times more than a regular office visit, even including the time off work. Which may have something to do with Americans "paying twice as much" for care than other parts of the world, if in fact we do. If we do it is probably the ONLY thing we pay more for. I believe that I am intelligent enough to make my own decisions, and am old enough to take responsibility for my own actions or inactions. Whatever they may be. I wonder how many folks will be thrown into financial trouble by these plans (even those without a communist bent). With many living paycheck to paycheck and that's without insurance... how much worse off will those that we are supposedly trying to "help" be? How many will tank out and go under with the additional tax burden? Yes, it sounds good as long as you do not scratch the surface. So did ARM's and IO loans not too long ago......