Welcome to Charlotte. If you live in town, one of your best resources is Wing Haven Gardens & Bird Sanctuary in Myers Park. It's a three-acre garden of densely planted bird-attracting plants and trees with formal and informal garden 'rooms,'and it's open to the public. Been there 80 years. Many of us learned to garden in this region by becoming volunteers there. You can also be a member without volunteering; you get a regular newsletter and discounts on their popular symposiums. Also,there are two big plants sales there, in April & October, and members get to shop on members-only day. Take a break from packing and visit there, hours are Wednesday 10-12 and Sunday afternoons. Info is available on www.winghavengardens.com There is a Charlotte Hosta Club. Sponsors a garden tour, heavy on the hostas, every summer. For info, e-mail royal2227@aol.com

Vrie, that's absolutely positively not Queen Elizabeth. QE is a Grandiflora-class rose, which blooms both in singles and in low-numbered clusters ...and tends to have a hybrid-tea's long-ish stems below a bloom. Your rose is blooming in higher-number clusters and the buds are on *very* short stems. My area of rose-knowledge is mostly limited to Hybrid Teas and Grandifloras (I grow about 80 varieties of them - including two Queen Elizabeth bushes), so I can't be much help about your non-HT/non-GF mystery-rose's name. All I can do is note that its bloom-color is indeed very very similar to Queen Elizabeth (which may help you in your quest) ...but it's definitely not QE. Regards, JohnReb

Thank you for letting me vent and for the tips and your experiences. Cynic you made me laugh. LOL So I call my brother today so he could give me a ride to the computer shop. I've just about had it with all this stuff then he says "you don't need an Ethernet Port" Blah, blah, blah. Not again! LOL He says he has dial up and he just uses his phone line. He said he wasn't going to take me just so I could waste my money. Geez Louise, I can't take anymore. LOL So I made some more calls - they are really getting to know mw in old India now - the guy said he could see it was about my 10th call. I told him if any of you could give me a straight answer or the correct thing to do I wouldn't have to keep calling. LOL I told him I wanted to cancel the "tech" that was coming to my house on Friday since I won't be home. He said he had no record of any tech arranged to come to my house. Not again! I told him he had better give me a number of who I can call because I won't be home. After asking me to wait on hold for 2 minitues (they all say 2 minitues) I get a Canadian number. I called them and finally got a cheerful person and they cancelled the tech. I called the Bell Shop again and asked if I really need the Ethernet Port (to confirm this for my brother) and he said yes. I asked if I should use another type of modem since I have a desk top and don't really have the need for wireless. He said no. I unhook the CPU and call my brother to pick me up. He still doesn't believe me but he said "its your money" I take the computer into the shop which was extremely busy and when I finally got to talk to the compuer repair tech he told me yes I did need the Ethernet Port but he said even though I will have DSL not to download anything - just use the computer for research. He also told me not to install Bell's security system because it will just shut down my computer. Great. He said to download the free AVG. He then didn't think I had a wireless card in the computer. Me, I know nothing about computers so it was kind of hard to comprehend all the things he was telling me not to do or what could happen. I am glad I didn't sign a monthly contract with Bell. Who knows how long this computer will last. I won't do anything on it like banking or shopping. I am worried about someone outside getting access to my computer just because I am wireless. Now that I can't install Bell's security I am kind of worried about that. I don't want someone sitting outside of my house watching child pornography or something like that. I know one year at the Election Office we turned on one of the laptops and hooked into someone elses system. We found out who they were and told them the next day to fix their security. Good thing it was us and not someone else. I think after I talk to the computer repair guy and see what he says I might call Bell again (wawa I don't want to) and see if I can just take back the wireless modem and get a hard wired one. I found out today I do have a USB port whatever that is. LOL Isn't that where I would download pictures from my camera? I wish I had bought the new computer like I was going to before my friend gave me hers. I was so excited - now not so much. Still I am grateful she was kind enought to think of me. I still have my Webtv thank goodness. LOL I just might forget about going online and use the computer for typing and playing Scrabble. LOL Better than nothing and I won't have to worry about viruses and trojan horses, etc. LOL I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. Rhonda, I am going to call the Executive Office of Bell and complain. I do want something for all the aggravation and their incompetence. They can at least give me 3 months free for wasting my "precious time" like good old Dave from India said he didn't want to do. Anne

Personally, I've found non-HE powders work best with the hot wash and heavy duty loads. I gradually reduced all my non-HE detergents and powders last year before we moved and I got my new Duets. Since I purchased the Percil liquid for the 'powder' loads, I haven't invested anymore in detergents for my HD loads. A bottle marked '60' loads will probably do 90 or more for me due to the water softener.