Lass, of course, I'm not recommending leaving roses in band pots for extended periods, but I must tell you about Etoile de Mai, a tiny band I bought from Ashdown last September. Due to one thing and another it stayed in the band on my patio, in the enclosed porch during the freezes and back on the patio getting water catch as catch can and getting smaller (it was minute when it arrived!) and smaller until it became one "cane" about 2" long. I thought sure I was killing this rose that I really wanted (and paid good money for). In early April when I dug my new Niles Cochet bed I planted it. Etoile de Mai is growing and has buds on it. What can I say? They're tough. But I did lose a mini this way but it didn't last anywhere near as long as EdM under similar abuse. Sherry

This is how i see it. This forum is to educate and discuss,perhaps this should go to the discussion side,but,there are those out there,who,do not know that chippies will gouge out their own eyes to stop the burning sensation from the red pepper.So, some may find this information to be very helpful,as no one really wants to be cruel to animals.We have all done things in our life,that,later, we found out it was the wrong thing to do,therefore,we change what we were doing,right? When you know better,you do better. I have had red pepper in my eyes when canning,and believe me,you do want to gouge out your eyes,so,if one does this ON PURPOSE,then, it is cruelty to animals. We do,as Lainy said, all need to learn to coexist with creation. I do not own,all the hosta i have in my yard, i may have bought them with money,but,i am only the caretaker of them,they will become some one else's when i am gone,it is my responsibility,and great joy to have them for awhile.The same with chippies and other living things. We have a pond,there was a time that i was furious with the coon getting into my pond,but,hey,they only do what is natural to them, and they were here first, so i learned to do better,and accept them,we live in harmony,and it is nice,fun actually. I was at my neighbores one dy last year,she feeds the chippies,we were sitting on her porch,and the chippies actually climbed up my pant leg,over my shoulders,to get to her and some sunflower seeds she was feeding them,it was totally awsume.They very gently took the seed from her,way cool!!!!! Carol

I usually try to avoid commenting on these situations but I couldn't bite my lip here. I guess I have a few other thoughts on it. First a disclaimer: I have problem with the way divorce has become so commonplace and people have chosen to re-write their vows (remember them?) to be "till irreconcilable differences do we part". To me, divorce is acceptable in a very small percentage of cases so perhaps it would taint my view. I'm bothered when someone questions how a person can live with themself for not walking out, yet no problem living with themself as a liar. And now that I've offended 2/3 of the married populace, I'll move on. That said, IMO you gave wise advice to think it over and she surely should consider all points, and not just the financial. Is she using the term "revenge"? If so, it says something. No, revenge won't make you feel better and if you're leaving for revenge, you'll likely only hurt yourself. Just as he's damned by his non-denial (but with this limited info, he didn't admit to it and we don't even know what the allegations are), she is equally damned by acquiescing to and thereby condoning his alleged discretions in the past. Now she wants to go back in time and change her mind on her decisions made way back when. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all go back and change our minds? I surely would have invested in Microsoft, bought an oil company, not dated ____ and well, needn't say more. That was then, this is now. The allegations are important. And by the sound of things, they're probably relatively minor and to blow it out of proportion isn't sage advice. Let's face facts, if he raped the co-worker, there'd be a termination and criminal charges. Likewise if he grabbed her inappropriately (as in assault/battery), yet no mention of charges so likely there are none. Actually, he KEPT his job and that says a LOT. What does that say? In today's society, with the fear of legal liability, political repercutions and otherwise, few companies would stick their neck out to keep an employee that would be a liability. If it was something truly serious the boss wouldn't have just said "don't do it again". If the boss said not to do it again, it sounds like it was possibly something lik a verbal issue, possibly something that could have been taken wrong or was tasteless or whatever. The term "sexual misconduct" is an explosive term as evidenced here. But it's also a blanket term. Emailing someone a cartoon of a vision-impaired caterpillar propositioning a french fry can be construed as "sexual misconduct" and would probably result in someone being similarly disciplined as what happened here. So to everyone charging forth with the torches, pitchforks and nooses, I'd urge some calmness before selecting the tree. The consensus is that the lack of sex is because he's been fooling around. Interesting. She had nothing to do with it? It takes two to tango and again, we know NOTHING and what we do know is clearly one-sided. Perhaps there's more to this story. Perhaps a LOT more. I'm not going to go on, I'm sure I've ruffled enough feathers. But I will say she needs a good friend and you are that. But she also needs to confide in someone trusted to give her counseling while knowing as much as possible (perhaps both sides), and very possibly it takes a professional view. Clearly so with the legal issues if she should decide to proceed. Without knowing what the situation ACTUALLY IS, there's no way to give sound advice other than what she's received. I think the best advice is to be there for her but be careful on advising without knowing all the facts. My best to her and her husband and I hope I have caring friends like you who I can talk to if I have a troubled situation.

LOL Loon! Are you in MN per chance? We've got a couple Bison ornaments, but I'll have to get more! In our stores' tailgating area, there's a stud 6' x 4' painting of 4 large Bison standing shoulder-to-shoulder. DAMN...I'd buy the thing, but it's $700! There's a cool NDSU-Logo hd Weber-Genesis grill cover for $100. Also for a Genesis grill, is a $100 custom laser-cut brushed stainless-steel NDSU logo-cutout, to bolt on the lid! Getting pumped for Sat's game with UNI @ the Fargodome @ 11am CST. It's on the national ESPN Main channel!!! So...if you've got ESPN, you can watch us win! Hopefully....we can crank-up the db's in there to 120+ !!!!!! Faron