Hi Beth, I used to have to do that when we lived in Orlando. Move them in the Garage for the winter went they went to sleep. Check to see if the one struggling, has soft wood. Also, are they getting full sun? Be easy on the water til leaves emerge. I still pot my up using Catus mix and then I bury the pot about 3/4 of the way. I always handwater at the base, never on the leaves. Full sun and well draining growing media are crucial for a plumies good health. I have no rust. I use Rose Pride, the granular, I sprinkle at the base but away from the trunk. Plumies can't be babied. I lost several when I first started out with them, because I babied them. Too much water and not enough sun. Check to see if the wood is firm and not soft before you do any cutting. How do the tips look? Is it getting enough sun? I had one that was soft,(beginning to rot) the trunk and all, I cut to just above the soil and about a month later it had resprouted. I had backed off on the water and it was getting full sun. This was during the summer too. -Cliff

Mortgage brokers, like independent insurance agents, generally have a wider network of resources available to them. When we bought our house, we used a broker and he shopped various mortgages for us, and we were able to chose the best fit for us. When we re-financed we went thru an on-line broker and that was even cheaper than the first broker. We had to pay a commission fee, but the interest & fees savings more than offset what we had to pay. And they handled EVERYTHING for us. We originally had a realtor looking for a house for us, but we hadn't signed a contract with her. We were not happy with her...she just didn't listen, and we ended up finding our house on our own, as a FSBO. We mentioned it to her and she called the sellers to work a deal with them...she wanted them to pay her a commission, but they refused, that was why there were selling FSBO. In the end, this realtor ended up lying to us by saying the taxes were almost double the actual rate, that the house had unpermitted work done on it, and other bogus things...she was trying to sell us a house she was the listing agent on. Needless to say, we ended our relationship with her. Just my advice, when you go to chose a realtor...stand up for yourself! My experience is that they're not like the ones on TV. Remember, they work on commission, so when you buy, they earn a paycheck, but YOU are the one having to live in the place.

I don't like earning interest. Interest results when one listens to the bank's promise that you'll get every dollar back ... but they never mention the reverse, that, apart from the agreed rent on the money, you won't get one dollar more, either. The only money that your dollar of principal will earn is earned now ... and it's taxed now ... at top rate. When I buy Canadian stocks, they pay dividends, that used to be taxed at a lower rate ... and they reduced the rate even more, a couple of years ago. As the number of dollars of principal can't shrink and can't grow, either, I need to hold some of the interest to put with principal to offset the shrinkage in value of each dollar each year due to inflation. Which much of the time leaves nothing for me. At age 70 I said that I wanted to fund my living till age 100 - 30 years, or 6 blocks of 5 years each. As each dollar of the first block that I ate would no longer be available to earn, as the value of the assets would be eroded due to inflation every year, and as I expected to have increased need of funds in my later years to pay for retirement and nursing home fees, I figured that I should avoid spending much of the first block in the first five years - in fact, I'd better stretch it to ten years. That meant that I'd want over 80% of the asset still present after ten years ... and I've been used to putting funds that I didn't expect to use for 10 years into equities: mainly individual stocks, as I don't like the management fees charged by mutual funds, as only the rare one of them outdoes the relevant market averages. Now, at 80, I had 80% of my assets in stocks, last year ... and have suffered a loss of 30% or so since. No - not a loss, or at least a realized one. It's only a loss if I sell when the value is down. I expect the value to recover, though I doubt that the recovery will be as fast or as high as after earlier recessions. The governments are deep in debt ... and going far deeper, every year. Plus, they're printing money. Plus, many of our high quality jobs aren't just suffering a temporary lay-off: they're gone. What would I do with a $50,000. maturing CD? How soon do I figure that I might need the money? If within the next five - ten years, I'd keep a good portion of it in stable-dollar asset. If I didn't expect to need it for some time, probably loan about half out in a CD or GIC for about 6 mos. - but not a bond, for there may not be a commission, but there's a spread of often 1% or more between buy and sell prices ... which is substanttial, given current rates. Figure to buy some stocks each month or two for the next year. As many advisors say, no one can tell when the bottom of the market occurs, and prices bounce up a bit, then drop, then up again, then down some, then up some more ... for some time. It's only after a year or so that one can see where the bottom was. By which time a fair portion of the increase has taken place ... which folks sitting on the fence missed out on. Advisors tell us not to try to time the market - no one has succeeded. Warren Buffet says that stocks are on sale, and he knows a lot more about how to manage money than I. Some said that when he said that last fall, he turned out to have been wrong, and a few days ago he said that he hadn't been wrong, that stocks were on sale then ... but that he was out by a few months. Stocks have turned out to have been on fire sale, more recently. In a couple of years, maybe three or four ... those who said Mr. Buffet was wrong may wish that they'd followed his advice. I'd bought some stocks recently, which have gone down. I expected a buyout that was planned just before the financial debacle to have put some fresh money into my hand ... early last year ... then mid year ... then fall ... then just before Christmas. Then the potential buyers' auditors told them that the deal was a bad one ... so they aborted. I'm still holding those stocks (Canada's biggest telecom) ... now saleable for about $24.00 ... when the deal was to have gone through for $42.75 - some difference! But the only way that I can have appreciable money available to keep buying through the bottom of the market ... ... is to take some of the certificates to the bank and borrow some money in order to keep putting the seeds into the ground ... for many of us figure that it's spring-time in the stock market: time to put seeds into the ground. Maybe some'll get frozen off (this is the north part of our continent) but one needs to plant over a period, to allow for some losses. In the stock market, however, usually a quality stock doesn't die, like a plant does after frost ... it gets delayed for a while, but recovers after while. It makes its owner feel pretty chilly in the meantime, however. I bought a bank stock 42 years ago for about $4.20 ... in about June 2007 I could have sold it for $107.00, and it had paid me about a dime dividend in the beginning, that grew to $3.48 in the fall of '07, which in Canada is taxed at a low rate. Now, due to the economic troubles and their being involved directly in the stinky mortgage game in the U.S. ... the stock is under $50.00 (was under $40.00 in late Feb.) but I'm not about to sell. Wasn't about to, at $107.00, as it had doubled 4.5 times or so ... but now it's doubled 3.3 times or so. That wouldn't have happened if I'd put that money into the bank. What's better, long term, than putting our money into the bank? BUYING THE BANK! I'm considering buying more Canadian bank shares (but not that bank) as some international agencies are saying that the Canadian banking system is about the safest in the world, right now ... and paying 5 - 10% dividend. Some oil patch stuff, after price correction, is paying over 20% (not dividend), these days (and they may be dropping their payout, oil prices being what they have been, lately). When you pay a high price for gas ... it doesn't hurt as much if you own some oil stocks. Good wishes for increasing wisdom in managing your income and assets. At 80 - I'm still learning. ole joyful P.S. Living frugally, by choice, I can save some of my pension income ... so do not need to draw on my assets for living ... and if I die next week ... there'll be tax to pay on unrealized capital gain ... but my kids don't need the money in the near future, either ... and know how to avoid cashing in the asset over the short term. o j

Here in the Pittsburgh, PA. area, we have lots of flood plains, and pains. There are many major streams flowing down thru numerous valleys, into the 3 rivers that meet in Pittsburgh. This past September, when the hurricane came here, we didn't feel many effects from wind, but the rains soon overwhelmed the area,s streams, and quite a few towns got major damage from flooding! This was all within a 10-20 mile radius of PGH.! In the immediate suburbs, the creeks had been hemmed in by walls, and close channels. Low bridges made dams when debris closed off the stream beds! After all was over, there was considerable damages done to everything! And, it was surprising how many families and home owners either didn't have flood insurance, or had let it lapse! Most who didn't, lost it all! The State and the U.S. Government sent fact finders in to help out! Some folks were offered loans to get back on their feet! At high interest rates! Some got nothing! And, what was their excuse for not having flood insurance? "Oh, it hasn't happened in these areas for as long as we can remember! And, flood insurance is too expensive!" This mindset kind of reminds me of those folks who rent an apartment or store front, move in all of their worldly possessions and then, the place burns down! Along with everything they own! And the owner of the property? His insurance covered his stuff, but not the renters! I live on the highest hill near Pittsburgh! If any flood ever gets up to me, the rest of you folks had better have an ark! So, i'll take my chances and not buy flood insurance, but if the flood ever reaches my home, it won't matter much! There won't be any reason to save it---- And, if you live near a river, lake, crick, stream, or canal---you'd better have insurance, no matter how much it costs! Remember--there's always the first time for everything! by: Rustyj