I didn't tell you what I saw, Pam. First, the only reason we could reach Bay St.Louis going the Hwy.90 route was because they've finished the new bridge over the bay, although only on one side, so the traffic is one way - I just heard that they might open the other side in the next few days. The bridge is HUGE and higher than the other one. Nearly all the beautiful homes along the beach are gone, with a few of them havin been rebuilt - I don't know if they started from scratch or repaired what was left. There are a few homes whose shells are still pretty much intact, the stucco homes, or at least, they have the stucco look. Maybe they're really painted concrete - if that's what they are, then that's the best building material for coastal areas. The more inland areas are a mix of what you used to see and empty lots. One of the most striking things is all the dead (from salt water) pine trees that are still standing! Some of the more inland areas of Hancock County look pretty good, others still look horrid. It's amazing how far inland the water came there - we'd be driving along Hwy. 90 in Waveland, far from the water, and the friends we ate dinner with would say, "This was under water during the hurricane" - incredible! Sherry

I think my computer has caught some kind of creeping cybercrud! I deleted 5 or 6 pages of photos from my PB account and was able to upload only one pic before it crashed again. Now all I have to do is click on "browse" and it automatically throws me back to the desktop before I even try to open anything. Or it gets stuck with the browser window open and the hourglass icon going, but you can't open or close anything. Somehow I don't think starting a new account will help, but I could be wrong. My email browser, on the other hand, works fine, but I don't want to email them to anyone to post, I'm too much of a control freak for that. ;-) And besides, I want to FIX IT. *sigh* (banging head on desk) BTW, Bob, my apologies for hijacking your thread!

Yes, you just have to hunt for it. I've linked to a couple where you can use your own photo. (Were it me I'd select a checkerboard floor pattern, whether linoleum or tile, and use that to see how you like it.) I've used this kind of software eons ago, the best thing you can do is start with a good photo of your kitchen. Straight on view (not from a side angle). No tilt to your pic, plenty of natural light, bright and crisp. Otherwise you'll get a funky end result. Oh, and check with major flooring manufacturers (Shaw, Mannington, etc.). Pretty sure the one I used is a freebie Mannington lets you download to your PC. You might not be using virtual paint, but I'd bet you can get a pretty close idea of what works & doesn't by using their floor colors and pattens in your room. Meanwhile: http://www.diylife.com/2007/12/04/flooring-selection-a-snap-with-virtual-design-tools/ Oh, here you go, this person posted an entire list: http://www.city-data.com/forum/home-interior-design-decorating/557883-virtual-interior-design-tools.html The other option is use a photo edit program, and Copy/Paste other floors you like into your room. Start with your own good photo. Then via Google images search for a floor ("black and white checkerboard floor"). Once you find an image of the floor style you're going for save it to your PC. Have both your own pic & sample pic open in your photo editor. (You might have to resize one or the other, both photos should be the same size so the floor pattern isn't too tiny or too huge in your photo.) Then in your room photo, use the Select tool and outline your floor area. Jump over to the sample floor picture that you like and select a comparable size area. Then Copy the sample flooring section, go to your photo and 'choose Paste into selection'. Your editor might have a different command, but you want to paste to selection (your outlined floor) otherwise it will paste over the entire photo or go haywire somehow. ;) Every photo edit is similar but different, so the commands are there, it's just a matter of finding them. Hope that makes sense!

There are a number of free antivirus programs that perform just as well as ones you pay for. I paid for antivirus for many years and switched around between Norton/Symantec, McAfee, etc. But I got tired of all the changes from year to year with new interfaces, the way some versions would slow down my computer, and having to hunt for the best price annually. I finally decided to take the leap about 5 years ago with the free version of Avast. I have it on three different computers and have yet to have one virus make it past even though I am all over the Internet every day for more hours than I want to admit. It has a very clean interface, is simple to configure, and even has a password manager built in if you want to use it. If you really have your heart set on paying for software, Avast also has a paid version with a few more bells and whistles, but for me it is unnecessary. Here is a link to the free download: Avast - free download