TW, in Zone 10 Los Angeles they don't have cold weather. They also don't have hot weather. I used to live in Hawthorne just south of the airport and had to carry a windbreaker or sweater every day of the year. Now is perfect for starting St Aug. In your area you can probably have it green all year without ever going into dormancy. Water it once a week and mulch mow at 4 inches and you'll be good to go. When it does rain (Christmas week and all of February) you don't need to water. DO NOT TILL in preparation for turf. All the books and magazines are wrong on that advice. Tilling might fluff the soil for the garden but for lawns it results in a bumpy surface three years later. In your area, since you only have one season, you should plan to fertilize at about 1/2 the bag rate on the 31st of every month that has a 31st. If you want to try an organic program (hard to find the cheap stuff in SoCal), then fertilize at 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet on the 31st's. Continuing to think about watering...if you live in the zone where they have "late night and early morning low clouds near the coast, burning off at 11," then you might not need to water once a week. You can probably go to once every 2 weeks. Let the grass tell you when to water. For establishing the new plugs, water 3x per day for 10 minutes each. After the grass gets up to 4 inches high, then start backing off on water until you are doing it every other week.

Thanks to both of you. I'm beginning to suspect my deck is different. There don't seem to be any handles on it at all. What the book tells you to do is: "Put a 15mm closed wrench or a socket on the idler sheave nut (A) and rotate clockwise to move idler sheave toward front of tractor and hold to release belt tension." I tried that, but it doesn't give nearly enough tension release. I'm begining to wonder... I bought the new belt from Alexander & Duncan in Leominster UK, and while I was at it I bought a second one as a spare. The second one has "John Deere" on its outside face, but the first doesn't, and it's the first one that I mounted. Both these belts came in an identical thin card sleeve, but they weren't coiled quite the same way. I'm wondering if someone "made a mistake" and put a non-original belt in a John Deere sleeve. But be that as it may, is it possible that your 48" deck and mine aren't the same? I bought the whole thing less than a year ago, so maybe they changed the pattern. Passthegravey: does your manual talk about slipping a wrench over the left-hand idler sheave nut?

Posted by ruthieg__tx: "Most of us who read the joke...read the whole thing ...we didn't skip the "chip monks" line..." Neither did I. The collection plate chips being cashed in by church representatives was the only part of the "trivia" that made any sense so I did not address that. Posted by lindakathy: "Maybe DD didn't see the punchline either." I had no idea that that was a "punch line". The post was titled *trivia*. I take it that no one here has ever been to Vegas and been on a tour. "People misread or misinterpret a post. Sometimes, even, people jump all over someone just for the fun of it." Yes, I see that now. Another 'pile on'. Just for the "fun" of it. Geeze. Have fun people. Posted by jenni_ca: "Dilly Dally did you actually think this was anything other than a joke? Chipmonks....you believed that!! Oh my! Um yeah. Why don't you read this link about the Chip Monks of Las Vegas: Here is a link that might be useful: Chip Monks of Las Vegas

Hi Have been going to Costa Rica for many years and always wanted to move there but wife hates the "jungle"lol. Usually go for Scuba in the Pacific at Manuel Antonio as well as the orchids While sitting at a bar on the beach I counted 80 Hummers within the confines and the bar tender apologised for there being so few lol Another memory was getting a 10 second view of a Quetzal at Monte Verde as well as a Toco Toucan both in full color. I'm planning a trip to Colombia as I wanted to see the high altitude forests plus I have a friend who lives there as a guide A bit apprehensive and wife has already refused mainly because of the drugs which I find amusing as we live in florida !! Oh well thanks for the pics!!! gary