In defense of the misleading photos on the HL... I would venture a guess that most (if not all) were taken by hosta lovers not professional photographers. The last digi I had was terrible at portraying colors accurately no matter how I fiddled with the settings. Blue hostas were neon blue, yellows were traffic light yellow and any subtlety in the coloring became screaming contrast. My new digi is much better, but it willstill distort colors if I take the photos at dawn or dusk. I try to stick to overcast days (sunny days are a disaster too!). In any case - it is a gorgeous plant and I hope you are enjoying it despite the color mix-up. Alexa

Yeah, not really my idea of 'living' either, dlm. I can't imagine spending all those hundreds of dollars a month for all this stuff. I used to pay $155 for internet/VOIP/cable tv. I thought that was an outrageous amount to spend on these things! I also have a cell phone strictly for emergencies that costs $25/mo. I've since switched to a landline $17/mo (only $8 for the landline but another $8+ surcharges). I need this for security system/fire, incoming calls, and power outages. I use Google Voice (free) for all outbound calls (usually works just fine though certainly not as convenient as just picking up a handset). Switched from broadband to DSL which is half the cost at $30/mo. It usually seems to be faster! As for the tv, it's not something I really enjoy or want to spend my time on. I will use the DVD player when I want to spend my time watching something really good (once I get it set up). Or read, play music or even watch select shows that are available on the net. I am however paying $22/mo for the antenna service at this point (the digital box and indoor antennas I tried aren't working very well). I think I'll be getting a roof antenna installed to rid the monthly fee for that expensive service. I am also changing over to a $100/yr prepaid phone card for the emergency cell (has a $1 daily access fee when the phone is used). So, $8-$10/mo for that instead of $25, reduced by $200/yr. So, down from approximately $180/mo (ridiculous) to $78. Hopefully $56/mo in the near future when I've got an outdoor antenna installed. Boy that sounds good. More like the old days!

It could be months before the investigators release a cause for the explosion, but the ammonium nitrate at the plant is notoriously volatile, so chances are this was just an accident. Could also be an accident caused by unsafe conditions as mentioned above.The Washington Post did give it front page coverage and more inside section A later. I suspect that the reason the bombing at the marathon gets more coverage is that it could so easily happen anywhere at any public event or in any public setting. The fertilizer plant, while terrible, was site-specific and not likely an outside attack. I don't think it means one state is getting preferential coverage. I certainly would prefer NOT to get that kind of coverage and I suspect those in Boston would agree. Years ago, there was an explosion at a fireworks factory. Awful, but there was an inherent danger just as there was in the plant in Texas.People are horrified by such tragedies, but people who work in those places realize they can be dangerous. I do think there should be a perimeter around such factories within which houses cannot be built, but again, many people would object to "Big Brother" deciding where they can or cannot live. I agree that regulation is a good thing and people forget what it was like when rivers caught on fire and food was not as safe as it is now, etc., etc. Pesky, just out of curiosity, I have never heard of regulators that weren't publicly funded-who funds you? If you don't want to say, no worries. You just mention it frequently and I really am just curious-it obviously isn't any of my business. I know of private places that monitor things-DH is on the board of one such environmental non-profit-but they have no regulatory authority. I think it would be great if they did!

I belonged to a pot luck monthly dinner club for about 12 years. There were 5 couples and we alternated so you had a month when you were host and 4 months off. The host provided the meat course and all drinks, alcoholic and otherwise, and the guests brought vegetables, salad, hors d'ouvres and dessert. And that also alternated. It was very interesting because one gal didn't cook....at all! But was willing to learn....sow e had a few interesting things in the first few years...until she learned to read a recipe! LOL! When wew ent to their house, they almost always served steaks that he grilled ( and very well too I might add!) and hordouvres were things like a big bowl of shrimp, or a side of smoked salmon, sometimes some nice cheeses and deli spreads....but the vegetables and salads were the adventure! Over the years we all learned some things. One gal never made desserts and had no idea how to make a pie or cake, but she learned that brownies and icecream were good as were fruits and bought pound cake. I am bad at veggies to take, I don't make veggie casseroles, but learned to take fresh veggies to be quickly steamed on site or a dish of veggies to be roasted. But I have never liked no list potlucks. Years ago I hosted a lot of cast parties for the community theater. Very often there were 75 to 80 and once I counted 120 people....sitting on the stairs and standing anywhere they could find a square foot to stand in! It was the custom for the host to order food and soft drinks and to tell everyone how much their share was and then everyone would bring something to share. The usual "cost" was about $5 per person...that covered drinks meat and buns for sandwiches. So I decided I could do better.....and made a gazillion buns with one other person's help and bought a ham and had it shaved and bought a big beef roast, cooked it and had it shaved and bought and roasted a turkey and had my DH carve it. And used my own plates and silverware. Costs for that amounted to about $1.50 per person. I counted on others to bring potato salad, and brownies and such....and got bags and bags of chips and commercial dip... So the next time I made coleslaw.... and provided a sign up sheet for chips and dips, raw veggies, desserts and specified cookies or bars, potato salad and posted a category for "miscellaneous"....and some idiot brought a frozen pizza that had to be cooked, watched so it didn't burn and cut and served....and it only served 8! I hate to be surprised when I am hosting a huge party. Linda C