First off, I've never ordered plants or seeds from overseas, so my experience isn't a direct comparison. My other hobby is high-voltage electronics, and many of the parts I need aren't sold in small quantities here in the US. No code here, just fun stuff like capacitors, diodes, and vacuum tube sockets. Thankfully, you can find pretty much any of these parts for sale on eBay originating from China, Taiwan, Vietnam, etc. The shortest I ever received anything was just over two weeks, and the longest anything ever took was just shy of two months. In both cases I believe the seller shipped immediately upon payment. I think the seller who said "Buyers will receive order in 7 days" is just being, lets say "creative" with his marketing. All the same, I'd wait probably a month before I rounded up the posse. You could send another customer a quick note asking how long it took to receive their order. There isn't anything unethical about that. Just be warned that they might not respond, as it may create the impression that you are up to something fishy. The certificate issue is a whole different can of worms. I could see the seller shipping a large package with proper phyto certificates to a partner the US, then having the partner re-ship them domestically. My totally honest advice is to just wait. You could send the seller an email, but I'm sure they'll say they were shipped right after payment. If the seeds don't show up a month or so after you ordered them, send the seller an email threatening to leave negative feedback. If you don't get a satisfactory response, leave the negative feedback, report it to eBay, then move on! Unless it was hundreds of dollars worth of seeds, you'll be better off just getting over it than trying to get your money back from some scammer in Asia!

mado - I love my F/P top loader (GWL 10 Ecosmart - they don't make this model anymore). When I got it 11/2001, they were touted for being "America's Most Energy Efficient Washer" (by the Consortium of Energy Efficiency - 12/1999). I don't think there were many machines out there at that time with 1,000-rpm spin speeds and a precise auto water level sensing system, but that's changed now and there are many machines that offer similar or better spin speeds - but not in a TL. They averaged 26-gallons of water while typical TL at that time were using 39-47-gallons. FL are using what, 16-25-gallons now??? I'm not real sure about that statistic. I doubt I ever use 26-gallons for a load of laundry. This was about this time there were rumors that ALL washers were going to go to front-loading for energy efficiency reasons. The service people I knew were bemoaning this move. They hated front loaders to a person because they didn't clean well and "gunked up" (that's a technical term - LOL). I researched everything and everyone I could about F/P and Asko (my second choice) before choosing the F/P. I also purchased it from a hometown shop that also services what they sell. Another hometown shop (a friend I went to school with) sold/serviced Asko - didn't think I'd be happy with the Asko and he didn't like repairing them. Since I line-dry, and only rarely dry clothes in the dryer, I've been glad the F/P has a SPIN HOLD cycle (designed for hand washables or when you line dry so that your clothes don't get super wrinkled from the high-speed spin cycle. Less moving parts: no belts, pulleys, gears, transmission or clutches mean there were less potential problems to begin with. They also had a great warranty - 2 complete years parts and labor and when I returned the warranty registation card I got 3 more years parts. That lengthy warranty is no longer available. BTW - I've never had a repair of any kind. I average 7 loads of laundry per week. I also took the washer apart at the store (with the aid of the sales clerk), so I felt comfortable with the fact I could probably make a simple repair myself, if necessary. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't bother with the extra expense for the matching F/P dryer. I rarely use it, and the "bells and whistles" difference between the inexpensive and the expensive, when it comes to dryers, don't justify the difference in price for me. -Grainlady

ebear1271 - We use humidifiers to maintain at least 40% or higher humidity in our home. I couldn't tell you if that affected clothes out of the dryer compared to lower humidity levels - using the anti-static dryer balls. The only time I've dried using the new anti-static dryer balls was the recent static test with the two robes and the blankets this weekend. But neither load was fully charged with static (as I expected it to be) and there wasn't any static in the robes when I hung them on hangers, or the microfiber blanket when we folded it. I did use vinegar in the rinse. Try taking out the regular dryer balls and see if there's any difference with anti-static dryer balls ONLY. If your clothes are stiff from hanging outdoors, then I suspect they have soap/detergent residue still in them. Usually a little breeze will help take care of that, just as tumbling in the dryer does. I switched to Charlie's Soap about 18-months ago - because of discussions on this board. Once my former brand of laundry detergent washed out of the fabrics after several washings, all my line-dried clothing (dried on both indoor and outdoor lines) were amazingly soft! Evedently, Charlie's Soap doesn't need some kind of soy-fat to coat fibers to "soften" fabrics. Which is essentially the same thing fabric softeners do to fibers. Charlie's doesn't build-up in fabrics to begin with, so they are naturally soft - even line-dried. I could even tell they were softer wet from the washer. The scent of "the great outdoors" on line-dried clothes is a common love it, or hate it, personal preference issue. Most people are so accustomed to highly perfumed laundry products they may not like the absence of it. While many people remember the smell of sheets dried outdoors as a pleasant smell. -Grainlady

I should have added... -If static in your dryer is your problem, you are over-drying your clothing - which is a huge waste of energy. -Avoid drying synthetics in the dryer to prevent static - they dry very nicely just hung on a hanger or a clothes line. -If you are drying a mixed load of natural fabrics and synthetics, pull the synthetics out before the load is completely dry. -If you find you have static in the dryer, then give the clothing a fine-mist spritz of water and give it a tumble on "air" only, no heat, for a couple tumbles. That will break the charge of the static. -Grainlady