Susan, Owbist is great, knowledgeable, and always helpful, so please don't take my response as disputing his obliging and useful advice to you. I have no doubt there is a memory issue that correcting will prove beneficial. What you describe sounds like an overloaded cache directory. This may also be referred to by some programs as the program's scratchpad (or whatever Photoshop Elements calls it). Any program that works with graphics (most programs, actually, whether they work with graphics or not, especially Word), utilizes this area for temporary storage used by your computer's memory. Everything you do in PE creates these temp files, which are an integral part of forming/creating/modifying while in the program. Just opening a graphic in PE prompts the program to automatically generate these cache/scratch/temp files to help it remember the graphic and everything you do to it (such as lightening, sharpening, applying effects, etc.). In other words, PE is creating and storing copies of the information it needs and makes easily retrievable while you task. It is one reason undo is possible, for example, but has many other uses. The program automatically created this area/directory on your hard drive during installation, and some programs build them more heavily and more rapidly than others. That would depend on the size of these files and how many it builds for each individual graphic. Some build only one, but some build quite a few. I have no idea how many PE creates or how big they are. Additionally, there are other temp files the program may be creating. Even though it's finished with those files and has discarded them to the cache/scratchpad directory or to your Temp directory in Windows, it still accesses them. Or, in the very least, they are sitting there in the way, interferring with the program's functionability (is that a word? LOL). This explains your sudden decrease in efficiency. Therefore, adding memory will certainly help but only for the length of time it takes the cached/scratched files to build beyond RAM's ability to manage - which is what actually just happened. Now, your task is finding its location so you can clean it out and be able to clean it periodically. I'm sorry I cannot help with that because I don't have PE. I do have Photoshop but couldn't find its scratch folder doing a quick look. Once you delete all the *junk* in there, PE will resume normal function at a maximum rate of tasking speed that your amount of memory will accommodate. As Owbist indicated, the more the merrier. :) Start another thread for someone with PE to help you find that folder. Incidentally, clean out your Temp directory. C > Windows > Temp Bet you find a bunch of stuff with a .tmp extension. You will likely find files with other extensions, but I wouldn't touch those. Good luck

chisue asked: "Do potatoes ever freeze in the ground before they are harvested?" No. Potatoes must be harvested befoe the ground freezes. However, on farms south of the Illinois/Wisconsin border, the potato plant dies and dries in September and should be harvested by the time the vine dries. Harvesting can begin as soon as the vine dies. Potatoes can be stored outside in a thick potato mound, but the mound must be constructed in a way to keep the potatoes from freezing and elevated a bit above the average gound level; They should not experience standing water, but at the same time, they need the earthern atmosphere to preserve their moisture content. Potatoes stored in a mound are good to about mid-March following harvest. If the frost depth is 18 inches, then the walls of the mound must be thicker than 18 inches.

This thread has got me thinking (dangerous, I know). There are many, many mushrooms available, both fresh and dried. Further experimentation is called for. For instance, dried porcini mushrooms are available. Porcini are one of the most prized, most flavorful mushrooms on earth. I'm pretty sure they would work well in Rachelellen's, Linda's or Ann's soup. Several dried and canned mushrooms are available in Asian markets, notably the dried Chinese black mushroom. Black mushrooms are used in hot and sour soup, but would they be good in Rachelellen's, Linda's or Ann's soup? Maybe it would be the wrong taste. I don't know. The ordinary white mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) and the portobello (also Agaricus bisporus, just a different strain)are nice, but very mild in flavor. For those craving more mushroom taste, different species may be an answer. Jim

Volts * Amps = Watts 6,000 watts / 120 volts = 50 amps @ 120 volts A small residential electrical panel is 100 amps. Each appliance has a name plate with the amperage and voltage - you need to add them all together. It should be less than 50. IMO - it's not practical - you will have to store 5? 10? gallons of gasoline, it will run constantly and be very noisy - you will need some long extension cords rated at 15 amps. Save the money and go to a motel for a day.