16 was easy because they all came into their own right at some point. John Lennon (for his legacy and death), Paul McCartney (and Wings), George Harrison (While My Guitar Gently Weeps and other hits right up until the mid 1980s), and Ringo Starr who we all know starred in the Caveman movie (with Dennis Quaid! Hubby likes to say "Lana, zookzook" as Ringo did in the movie). 19 I knew right off, but I loved Candid Camera as a kid and always worried when I brushed my teeth, I'd end up on it. Why? Dunno. Ironically, I thought "a little dab will do you" was attributable to another old hair jelly, Dippity Do. Wonder how many of today have even heard of Dippity Do? That's an oldie too. Didn't know 4 or what Dylan said. I guess I am still somewhat young.

It is useful information. In my case, I HAD to strap the ceiling to get the ceilings nice. The manufactured trusses were very wavy, so I strapped and shimmed the entire ceiling, a long and tedious process. I found up to 5/8th's of an inch variation across my trusses. Our house in FL was not strapped, and the ceilings were horrible. Even with a heavy popcorn finish, you could see the waviness. I hate popcorn ceilings, so a really flat ceiling was important to me. There is another valid reason to strap ceilings. With trusses usually being on 2' centers, and more and more attic insulation becoming more common, the strapping helps prevent the drywall from sagging over time. I have 18" of blown-in cellulose in my attic. I've read plenty about strapping ceilings for the reasons above, and not just in New England. I was told that strapping was the best way to get a high quality ceiling, and I stand by that.

If you strike out at your store, does your area have any places like Smart and Final or Cash and Carry - non-membership stores that serve as restaurant and small businesses supply? Another option would be to order from King Arthur - the one pound is about $5 and the 2 pound ~$10 but I don't know what shipping would be. Possibly even with shipping it is cheaper to buy it in the bulk pack than getting the 4 oz jars or packets at the grocery store. to take the yeast right out of the freezer and put it in with the flour I take it right out of the freezer to use in the bread machine, mixer or by hand and it rises fine for me. The yeast mass is small enough compared to the water mass that I doubt it makes much difference to the temperature of the two when combined if the yeast starts out at room or freezer temp. Did you really mean that you put it in at the same time you add the flour? When I'm using the bread machine, the first thing I do is to add the water and then sprinkle the yeast on it. That gives the yeast a few moments to start dissolving while I get out the flour and anything else I'll use. I'm not sure that is necessary but possibly if you add the yeast and flour at the same time, the flour is grabbing too much of the water and the yeast isn't dissolving so it can start working. What kind of water are you adding? I always use the filtered water tap so there isn't chlorine which might interfere with the yeast. I don't know if that is as important for non-sourdough breads, but it might help. To get warm water for bread in the bread machine, I use about 1/4 to 1/2 from the instahot tap and the rest from the filtered water tap (depending on the time of year - I always check that it is not to hot - i.e. comfortably warm to the touch because one time my bread didn't rise and I think it was due to the water being too hot). It is probably better to err on the side of too cool than too hot for the water - especially in the bread machine which will heat things up anyway. I never cook the dough in the machine (or almost never - one time I forgot to select dough cycle and it cooked in the machine by accident). I prefer to form the loaves myself and cook in the oven. But depending on your machine, it may have different cycles or let you set up a custom cycle to allow for a longer time between kneading and baking to allow for a type of bread that needs longer to rise.

A Slip of the Lip (Can Sink a Ship) - Duke Ellington, 1943