I have found this sight invaluable for figuring out how to plant things. I also have luck googling "Germinating (what ever plants name you are looking for)". It has a lot of plants listed in the germinating tables on this site and his philosophy of germinating is very simple. I am a girl who shies away from propagators and I fall sow and let the out doors do my cold stratifying. I do find a sanding of hard shells to be a good thing. Here is a link that might be useful: The Seed Site

I think you are so going in the correct direction. You may change paths but the direction is right on and correct. Correct meaning viable. Especially for a homesize easy maintenance, low cost vermicomposting system. One that should be in every home. So I support you 100% (and others) and thus took interest and commented extensively. Also I am a certified quality auditor. Give me a clipboard and I can tell you the most likely place for anything to fail, or is holding them back. And where they are doing very well, way above their competition. Anybody can cheer. But you don't want cheering, you want somebody to mention where the leak is in the boat so it can be handled. We are not as popular as those who cheer. :-) I think free is the way to go. I think flowthrough is the way to go. I am not convinced the purchased worm cans or factorys have any advantage (other than prettyness) over small homemade flow thrus. Especially once we all perfect them a bit more. I am also convinced it will beat the inns but they will be runner up due to their non durability only. I could be wrong. A newbie I would suggest the inn instead of the can or factory due to its ability to handle lots of waste and non shuffling of trays. I don't think they are engineered to last years or even a few years. But they have many things going for them that us small plastic flow thru designers should try to copy.

i have had to really control myself when discussing issues with the builder because I know it can backfire. learned that from reading many posts on GW. the way i have approached it is that i bin things into 3 buckets a) gotta be addressed right now, b) needs to be addressed - but wait for the right time , and c) address at the end - cosmetic issue. Very few things make it into the A bucket. And when an items does pop up, I am very careful about how I approach the builder. I am always pleasant - even when I am fuming mad. I try to figure a way to let the builder save face "oh, the electricians kinda let us down here" even if I knew it was his direction that caused the issue. If I am steaming, i wait until I cool off before I call the builder. This is very hard for me - I got 1/2 italian and 1/2 german oil in me. Had to do the same with DW - when she get's frustrated about the house progress. So far - it has worked very well. I have only had to pull on the handle twice. The first time was at the beginiing - after a 4 week delay in the foundation being dug. I had to wait until there was no reason for excuse (we had all the permits, we had good weather, we had all the plans - everything was in place). I waited long enough - then I called. I explained to the builder that we were concerned that something was wrong. Was there anything we needed to do to help? Within 3 days after that call - digging started. The second time I pulled on the handle was when the siding started - then the guys disappeared for a week (my limit). This was after the electricians had been pulled away for 2 weeks - back again for 1.5 days - then off again - then back on again (drove me nuts!) and we were a month behind schedule for drywall. Again - I waited until there was no room for excuse. All of my work was done (I did some wiring), the electricians were done, we had all the inspections. Called to ask the builder if he knew that his subs were not on the job for a wekk (like he would not know why) and was he ware of that. "I love the work they are doing - great job - but the Tyvec is starting to rip away from the wall" Day later - siders were back on the job. I think timing for raising issues and the approach to interacting with the builder is key. If you pull on the handle to often, or yell and scream - you will go further down on the priority list. My builder always answers my calls or emails - because I never yell or scream at him. I am always very calm about working through issues. It's a very professional working relationship. But I have had to work very hard at it too. I have learned, and finally accepted the fact, that we are not the only project the builder has (even though we think ours is the most important of course) and that stuff happens. There are a lot of dependencies in the many tasks required to build a house - and if one thing slips on any job - it can have a big ripple affect on everyone. Builders like to use the same subs they have counted on for years - these subs have schedules to. There are life issues (builders mom passed away), weather issues, car accidents - crap happens. This has been very mentally and phyically draining. Learned a lot about diplomacy - which is not my strength. I know it will get done in time.

Hi figittts, A beta blocker is a drug that blocks the various beta receptors in our blood vessels. They are in our arteries in our brain and also in our hearts. (I'm no expert, so I'm just saying what little I know). When something activates our beta receptors, it causes our vessels to constrict, our BP and heartrate to rise. There's something about the beta blocker that prevents the spasming of blood vessels in our head, which is what causes the aura and the migraine. Supposedly, we get auras because the vessel spasm is in the vicinity of our optic nerve. Beta blockers are not without their side-effects.......like listlessness, lack of energy, motivation and for those who already have low blood pressure, it can make you feel dizzy. I'm on the drug Toprol XL and take just a smidgen of it. I'm not sure it keeps me from having migraines now, since the headaches really started easing up when the further away I got from having periods. I have the auras about every 6 months now, with just a very mild headache. How long have you had them? I'm almost afraid to say this, in case your's just started up, but they say that if you've had them your whole life, you tend to get over them during menopause. But if they just started up at menopause, then you're likely to keep them. That happened to my sister-in-law. she's on Topamax. I think it made her gain weight.......but most drugs that affect the brain do. You may have to try several different meds for migraines, until you find one that works. Are yours around the time of your period (or when your period usually is)? Look up Migraines on the internet and you'll find places that tell you things to modify, to help reduce your liklihood of getting migraines. when mine were really bad, I had to give up chocolate, nuts, MSG, and others. And I absolutely positively couldn't eat ANYTHING after 6:30 in the evening, or it would cause a migraine in the morning. I've heard that people with sleep apnea can get migraines, and once they start using CPAP, their headaches improve.