I absolutely enjoy going to these events and have been faithfully going for many years now. I find it truely awesome to find 'gardens' magically appearing several stories beneath street level, and in the middle of winter. What a scene. Tall trees, pools and waterfalls. The displays are meant to be trend setting and thought provoking. In reality some blooms that are used wouldn't naturally come out at the same time. So seasons are suspended. Imaginations are encouraged. I guess the designs may not be to everyone's tastes. And unfortunately the show does tend to get very crowded given the limited space. Plus we could do without the very expensive and mediocre food. I wish we could be a CHELSEA garden but that's outdoors and that woulnd't be possible in Toronto. Yes in some years, the displays have been disappointing - and I have to admit that last year, some show backers weren't there and I felt they were essential to the show. Sometimes the displays are rather repetitive - several showing the same trellis etc.. - all that. Perhaps given the limited space the organizers can be more demanding on display originality. Anyway, I feel that the more participation from garden centres, the more interesting it is for people like me. New plants are introduced, new ideas on gardening, new products. The displays are not the only ones I look for but it's really the market place I enjoy greatly. Ianna

Snidely, perhaps I did not clarify my thoughts well enough. I submit that exorbitant pricing, for an inferior product, is a form of immorality. The demand for the type of entertainment created by the film industry is a very shallow form of hero worship. It is manufactured and driven by purposefully-perpetrated cultural cues from a powerful Public Relations empire. An entire era of humans shammed into commercialized hype. It is the power of peer pressure used to enrich a few - to the unconscionable cost of many. If the industry produced entertainment at a reasonable cost, then consumption of the product could be considered a fair exchange. However, aside from the type of mass marketing I described above, and the natural mechanisms relating to assimilation to the group most often felt by overly-trusting and unsophisticated youth who are too immature to have well-developed capacities for good decision making, entertainment offered by 'movies' also includes the expectations of courtship. The entertainment industry panders to, and plays on, the weaknesses of human nature. Urges meant for the up-building acculturation of a the most vulnerable are funneled into financial profit for the most unscrupulous. You appear to be a very fitting example of this unscrupulousness. Above, you recommended that I financially profit off of activities that I condemn. Sorry, but no thank you sir.

Thank you everyone for the great ideas. I will be getting him a bottle of the Lagavulin scotch (it's a favorite of his) and am researching other great ideas mentioned here. The turn signal gloves are for cyclists, but they led me to look for other motorcycle items. I just ordered him a heated warmer bib for his winter commute. It looks great and my brother who also rides motorcycles approved. I love the idea of a coffee roaster and may hold off on that one for his birthday. He mentioned a great restaurant in Philly that he just went to that I may try to get a gift certificate to. It is called Gran Caffe L'Aquila. Seems to specialize in gelato. My kind of place. As far as concerts (great idea!) and weekend escapes, that will all have to wait til next year after my youngest heads off to college. He also has superb headphones and great knives. I'm not sure he would appreciate law books, but he does have a "Atticus Finch, Attorney at Law" tshirt (bought before "Go Tell a Watchman.") I may add more, or not. But at least I'm not in a tizzy anymore. Thank you all--I love how everyone here tries to help everyone else. :) Jo

A few thoughts - --I had to cancel an American flight last year, and I think the fee was $200 or $250. --Typically you have one year to use the credit from a cancellation, but it's one year from when you made the original reservation, NOT one year from when your original flight was. So pay close attention to the expiration date, since it's likely earlier than your original flight date. Also ask to make sure whether you have to fly by the expiration date, or just book by the expiration date. --I don't think I had to fly to the same destination as the original flight (even though I did), but I think it did have to be the same person taking the replacement flight. I'm not sure about that because I was planning to use my credit anyway, but I seem to recall the agent saying something about that. It's worth asking if you're considering trying to combine both your and your husband's flight credits for one flight for one of you or something like that - they may not let you do that. --Cancel before the day your first flight takes off. If you wait until after your first flight leaves, then you're considered a no-show and I think your options may not be as good? --When I cancelled my flight, I found the way they worded the credit confusing. If you pay $1,000 for a flight (just to keep the numbers round!) and the fee is $200, I expected to be told that I had an $800 credit. But they tell you that you have a $1,000 credit, and the fee will be deducted when you go to re-book the flight. So it amounts to the same thing - you still have $800 of usable credit, I just found the wording confusing. I think maybe they phrase it that way in case they decide to increase the fee before you use the credit, and then they'd be deducting the new higher fee from your credit instead.