I only have 2nd leaf peach trees, and it looks like any possible fruit buds were killed. Not a big deal as I was going to remove all but one or two fruit anyway. One that might have fruit is Indian Free, which is ironic since it needs a pollinator. It's possible my nectaplum has viable buds, and could pollinate. If that happens, I'm keeping the seeds, And Indian Nectaplum sounds like a cool tree! Both trees are starting to show some bud growth. My other peaches are leafing out. Which concerns me in the future. I may need a late blooming peach to pollinate Indian Free. A strange year, so hard to tell, young plants too, so time of blooming may adjust as they figure out the local climate. I have seen that with other plants. My cherries are at my cottage and I have no idea as ferry services are late due to lake ice. I have not been up there yet. During the last 10 years I would have the place open and running by now! I'm going Thursday to connect the water, and other opening procedures.

I lived in Sydney for most of my life, and it's a good starting point for seeing a lot of the East Coast of Australia. Sydney itself has a lot of historical and interesting sites - to mention a few: The Rocks (near Circular Quay, on the harbour) Parramatta (Elizabeth Farm, Parramatta Park) Fort Denison (near the Harbour Bridge) Darling Harbour The Botanical Gardens (and nearby the old library) Taronga Park Zoo the Opera House There are buses in the inner city which take you all around the place, showing you this at this. You can get off the bus anywhere at one of its stops, and explore further, then hop on the next bus that comes and go onto the next spot. Great for tourists, and quite a reasonable cost. You MUST hop on a ferry from Circular Quay (easily accessible on the train system) and take a trip across the harbour to Manly Beach (or the Zoo). There are harbour 'taxis' and tourist mini-cruises and hovercraft, too. From Sydney you can do day-trips to the Central Coast (Gosford), to the Blue Mountains (Katoomba, Jenolan Caves, Hill End), or to the South Coast (Wollongong, Kiama) and lots of other places in between. Take a couple of days and go to central New South Wales for the Open Plains Zoo near Dubbo, or the Observatory at Parkes. From Sydney, fly down to Melbourne and do day-trips from there. Or fly north to Brisbane, take a trip along the river; and from there go down to the Gold Coast or up to the Sunshine Coast. Do day-trips to Toowoomba or the Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's place), or the Big Pineapple, Buderim Ginger. Travel further north for a few days to Hervey Bay and do a bit of whale-watching and some of the islands; go right up to the pointy bit on the map to see Townsville and Cairns and some tropical rainforests and the Great Barrier Reef and some beautiful island - some have holiday resorts. Travel west to Mt Isa, Emerald and other mining towns. Really experience the Outback and visit Birdsville! (one of the hottest places in Australia!) Fly up to Darwin, then travel down to the Centre to see Uluru (Ayre's Rock) and other sites of the outback. Fly down to Adelaide,capital of South Australia, the City of Churches, visit Kangaroo Island. Go north again to the desert to see an underground city, Coober Pedy (opal mining). Time permitting, you shouldn't miss going from Melbourne across Tasman Strait to Tasmania, a truly magnificent place for tourists, with stunning scenery. Melbourne is a city of restaurants! Back up to northern Victoria or southern New South Wales and take in our highest mountains and ski resorts. There'll be no snow in summer of course, but the scenery is fabulous. Fly (or take a 4-day train trip) across from Melbourne or Adelaide to Perth, then across to Kalgoorlie (largest gold mining area in the world.) Do some sightseeing tours for the wildflowers. Fly up to Broome and see some pearl-diving. Call in to Exmouth (where there was recently an airbus incident.) My son is in charge of the investigation into that incident, and he said it's a truly beautiful spot for a holiday. Don't forget places like Kakadu, a huge national park, owned and run by native Australians. January is our hottest month of the year, and she can expect flies wherever she goes. It's the Wet Season in the north, so some places might not be accessible, and they'll be stinking hot and humid as well. Perhaps keep those places for a winter (Dry Season) visit! Don't be too concerned about safety. Just take the usual precautions (like not flashing your money around!), and remember than very few people in Australia have guns! Private ownership is forbidden unless you can convince the Powers That Be that you have an excellent excuse for having one. Never, never go into the Outback or bush without having a knowledgeable escort. Take a visit to Cabramatta (known locally as Vietnamatta!) in company. It's just a suburb with a large population of Vietnamese immigrants. It has a bad reputation, and there are some nasty types there, but also some decent people - but it's interesting because it's hard to imagine you're in Australia - most of the shops and street signs etc are in Vietnamese! Interesting. Best seen in daylight hours - perhaps take a taxi ride around the place. Redfern is similar, except that it's an enclave of a large population of Aboriginal residents. Again, take a taxi-ride - it's only a short distance from the inner city. Actually, it is undergoing a sort of transformation, and has a place on the list of Desirable Suburbs to Live. King's Cross - well, it's the red-light district sure enough, but it has some interesting sites (including the local residents and businesses!) - including the Alamein Fountain, some great restaurants, a waxworks museum etc. Find a tour-guide to take you there, and you'll be safe enough. You don't HAVE to enter the naughty shops and theatres!! And yes, avoid dark alleys. Remember that Australia is an entire and very diverse continent - HUGE, the distances are vast - and you could spend a life-time seeing all of it. But I hope I've given Meredith some ideas.

someone in the business told me Sony had a heating problem with their desktops before this happened or before they found out what the problem was. sony used to be one of the best in the TV world, but they don't make their own flat screen panels anymore, contract them out. the place I bought my TV didn't recommend them anymore.

Me too. For reference, I'm the one who very quickly received a replacement a couple of weeks after registering in December. They just sent the wrong blade. There was a flurry of correspondence in the first week of January with a written promise to send the correct blade when it became available. Today, (six months later) I was e-mailed the following update: "Valued Customer, "Thank you for your inquiry. According to our records, your blade won'"t [SIC] ship out until after June sometime. Now this is just an estimate and you could be receiving it a lot sooner than that. If you have any further questions please reply, with all previous correspondences attached, to this email. We invite you to call our Customer Service Department at 1-800-726-0190. Please keep in mind the Customer Service Agent will not have access to your e-mail information. The hours of operation are 7 AM -11 PM EST Monday through Friday and 9 AM - 5:30 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, excluding major holidays." FWIW, my original blade is still fine apart from seeming to be starting to dull a bit after 15 years use. Otherwise, I might be more annoyed about the length of time it is taking to get the replacement.