Very interesting discussion. I think someone said it best earlier on, but the world of Hybrids is just too big and too confusing to someone who only has the space for a few dozen orchids. Also agreed about the ease of culture...not that species are easier to grow, but rather that there is far more easily obtainable information on the culture of specific species (ie: Baker cuture sheets). My collection is about 80%/20% species/hybrids. When wading into the (for me) uncharted waters of a new genra I generally pick up a couple inexpensive (~$10) hybrids to see if they'll grow/flower in my conditions. If that works out I'll move on to the species. I think I myself would be more interested in the hybrids if I was also interested in hybridizing. I'm just not at that stage in the hobby yet, and certainly don't have enough room to raise the potentially hundreds of seedlings that could result. Tyler

LOL! Writersblock, I think "plain" including mayonnaise must actually be a local oddity. California hamburgers normally come with mayonnaise or hamburger sauce (akin to 1000 Island dressing, but with different proportions, sometimes idiosyncratic to the chef), but plain means no condiments, and the vegetables on the side if you don't specify. Rusty, I only heard about burgers not having mayo/sauce when I was lunching with a friend from Boston. I think mayonnaise is common throughout the West. Which drives her nuts. :) When I was a kid, the lack thereof--in kid lore--was a telling point as to why McDonald's weren't "real" hamburgers. :) (It was probably the moms who first said they weren't "real" meaning that they weren't good quality food, and the kids were just trying to figure out why.) I ran out of ketchup, a few days back, in the middle of making Sloppy Joes. I compensated. The resulting mix was very tasty, and did have some ketchup, not to mention mustard, hot BBQ sauce, onions, parsley, S&P, bell peppers, jalapeños, and even some carrots and other odds and ends. That's what's so fun about Sloppy Joes. You can put anything in. It's like a salad. It was very tasty. Reaction? Needs ketchup!

A couple of things. I usually don't notice what someone else has in their carts. I have a 10 year old that talks non-stop so I cannot get easily distracted. Now, I have been miffed at friends that could not pay phone bills, electric bills, etc and were going out to eat every night. One family has 4 children and none of them like the same places so they drive around and pick up from different fast food places. At one time, I needed WIC and did not have the heart to abuse it even though some friends even encouraged it. I do get frustrated to hear someone complain that they are barely able to buy groceries, but they buy prepackaged hamburgers, etc, don't care what's on sale. I guess they are not too bad off. Someone mentioned thinking people were idiots because the assumption was that if they were driving nice vehicles that had on average $7k cc debt. I do drive a Tahoe, which is nice. I do use a cc, but it is paid off every month. We pay for everything we can with it and write one check. I hate owing people money. To me, it puts me at their mercy. I guess I figure I save in check costs anyway. I make extra principal payments on the mortgage. Other than the vehicle, I am fairly frugal. I never was a big spender, but going through several years as a single mom without child support and low wages has made me have a fear of being in that position again. Those days, stew and biscuits was a fancy dinner for DD & I. Now that DH & I do pretty darn well, I still cannot get past that. Besides, I just don't want to pay any more than I have to. I actually get excited by great deals. Weird, I know. I heard a preacher say one time-If you have a pantry or a freezer, you have more food than you can eat today. You are not poor. That stayed with me.

I think it's pretty important in this discussion to recognize the OP is dealing with a concrete slab. So am I. Everyone is universally telling me that I am limited to engineered hardwood if I want wood. Most of which aren't really great for refinishing, honestly. And, have the same kinds of realities as laminate in terms of underlayment and moisture exposure and the hollow feel and noise of floating floors etc. I'd love to have solid hardwood, preferably stained on site and nailed down. But, that's just not viable for me. Apparently, it's not for Dana, either. With solid wood, dents and scratches seem to just add character. That's not really true with the engineered samples I have checked out, though. When I mar them, there are these ugly plastic-like, white marks. I understand that it is because of the newer finishes on off-site woods or something. It's been consistently true in my testing. And, I have a bevy of local sales people telling me I am going to regret the engineered hardwood in six months and spend a lot more for it. They recommend LVT due to our climate/moisture or laminate for durability/resilience/minimal scratching. So... it gets tough to justify going with the engineered hardwood. I went through a brief period in which I became convinced strand bamboo was my answer - but then I started seeing severe cupping in climates like mine and that scared me off.