I got to the line about the cat on the picture frame and burst out laiughing. Don't taze me, bro! This is especially funny because I actually DID something like this to myself. Many years ago we lived in a sketchy part of the city and there had been some serious personal crimes all around us. My husband gave me a tear gas pen for protection. It was the size and shape of a large fountain pen and had a cylinder of tear gas on the end. Of course this new toy was very tantalizing and we were very curious about it. We decided to open the window a little, stick the pen outside and shoot it. What we forgot was that in the dead of winter, the cold outside air was rushing in with a vengeance. The tear gas blew back in the apartment and nearly blinded us both. It was awful! Boy did we get educated in a hurry!

You are probably well aware of what YOU'D like to receive as a little gift, Stacie... your hubby no doubt has favorites, too, and probably a list of "Oh, no, not another one of THESE!" LOL!! Here are some ideas for you... Great Gifts for Teachers Special Gifts Ideas for that Special Educator Better than apples! A+ gifts for teachers Great Gifts for Teachers After you read through these ideas, you will see that most teachers like something they can actually use... at home or in the classroom, like a gift certificate, cookies, homemade breads, a supply of pencils, markers, a tote... Bet you'll find something that is just what your hubby would like to receive! So probably his colleagues would, too!

I have included a link to a URL that has a comparison chart for various water heater types. They add the install cost to the annual operating cost to give a lifetime cost. This gives a high cost of operation for oil fired hot water. For some reason they only give a 55% efficiency for oil fired hot water. Not including a heat pump option, they have "demand gas" as the lowest cost followed by a "condensing" gas storage. I question the 55% efficiency number they have for oil fired. One unit I found is a demand Toyotomi Oil fired hot water unit. This is rated at 88% efficient. Isn't that the best of both worlds? High efficiency, tankless, and oil fired? I also see the wisdom in oil fired tank system because I do see some down-side to tankless. The concern is that the water temp varies over time on output, and if you have a sudden multi-use condition it can be overextended. Anyway, lots of options but I am curious about the "condensing" water heaters. Here is a link that might be useful: Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings

I have kind of a cute story. In 1982, I was a recent college-grad, newly moved to San Francisco, and during the Christmas season, I walked past the SPCA's adoption event on Market Street at lunchtime one day. I've always been a huge dog lover, and impulsively decided I wanted to buy all the dogs chews for Christmas, so I stopped for a few minutes to talk to the woman in charge to find out how many dogs there were in total, where I could drop the chews off, etc. We had a good 10-minute conversation. During our conversation, I was slightly aware of a youngish man standing off to the side of us, but Market St. is a busy street with lots of people around, so I didn't pay him much attention. Anyway, after I made a plan with the volunteer, I walked quickly away, because by now I was a bit delayed getting back to work after lunch. Half a block later or so, I suddenly, I felt a bit of a tug on my arm and turned to see the young man who had been listening to my conversation with the SPCA volunteer walking quickly as if to catch up with me. "Excuse me," he said, with a heavy Eastern European accent. "I sorry to be nosy -but I never see this before. You are buying shoes for all the dogs for Christmas?" It just cracked me up, to think of him sitting there thinking, "These crazy Americans, they buy shoes for their dogs!" I think I got him straight, but the funny thing is now, nearly forty years later, it wouldn't seem all that bizarre to buy shoes for dogs!