LOL Thanks Donna and Heather for letting me know about Ginger's post. My sister went home today so now my time is mine but I did try a few times to get into the KT since Heather called but I couldn't get the pages to load and it took me almost 5 minutes just to get the THS homepage to open and after 10 minutes of trying my webtv reboots itself so I have to start over. Hi Ginger! Were your ears burning?? I really can't believe this because I was just talking about you to my friend after I told her she should read the Menopause forum. I told her how you had gotten banned by Spike and that you started your own board for a while. I did read there but then I lost the link. Thank you for all the nice things you said about me. I really appreciate it. I sure did have to "pull up my bootstraps" after my Mom passed away but I had lots of help and support from my forum friends and from my real life friends. I was working for a bank for a couple of years until they downsized their staff big time and because I was a casual worker I was laid off but I had put enough into savings to keep me going until I find something else. I have to be very frugal with my spending but I pet sit for neighbours and babysit to make extra cash. My brother rents a house that I inherited from my Mom so that helps a bit too. I took the mortgage off my house and put it on the rental house so Paul's rent pays my mortgage. LOL I don't really consider it my house because I haven't stepped foot in it for over 10 years - Paul is responsible for the upkeep. Per my Mom's will I can't sell the house as long as a family member lives in it. LOL That house is my retirement fund. Ginger, I have had wonderful good things happen in my life that I just can't explain since my Mom passed away. Unbelieveable kindness from strangers, from friends, from my forum friends and from neighbours. Overwhelming kindness that I hope one day to forward on to all who have touched my life. Ginger, I am happy and I experience joy every day of my life. I haven't found the love of my life yet, no Mr. Right but then I am not out looking too far for him. I am waiting for him to come to me! LOLOL I've got my eye on someone though. My friend's Dad who passed away last year always told me to pray to St. Ann for a man but so far that prayer hasn't been answered - yet. LOL Enough about me, Ginger how are you and how is your life and are you happy? I have thought of you many times over the years and wondered how you were doing. I am still so surprised that we thought about each other at the same time! I hope you come back to post with us now that Spike is no longer here - not that I know of anyway. I used to like reading your posts. You can email me anytime through My Page above if you would like. Thank you again for thinking of me and saying the nice things that you did. Anne

Ed got home about daybreak on Sat. I-75 northbound was under construction, they sent us via I-275 toward (Ann Arbor? and) Flint, then to take I-94 from Chicago, meeting by the airport, to the bridge, with everything being torn up in the vicinity of the bridge, as well. I hadn't gone off of one of those roads to look for a library - stopped to pull a substantial chunk of retread tire off of the driving lanes ... that a truck hit and kicked around ... then a car hit, moving it over into the lane by the curb, so it was not difficult to get to it, when there was a pause in traffic. I got just past the middle of the Ambassador Bridge about 7, then had to crawl toward immigration clearance ... first in one line, then two, after while a third, then 4 - 5 ... appraching 10 green lights. It took something over an hour, part of the time I had engine off, I thought most of that time with lights off, also ... but when I got next to talk ... the engine wouldn't start. I pushed it forward ... slightly past the door of the booth, and the occupant suggested that I might like to stop to talk to him. After I was cleared - a short interrogation, engine wouldn't go, he wondered if I needed help, I said not just yet, pushed car out of booth area, then pushed some more ... down a slight incline (so water wouldn't puddle in a rain, I expect) ... ... and the car started when I flipped it into gear, let out the clutch ... even though it was travelling quite slowly. It was slightly after 8, I figured likely hard to find a library open, visited the other cousin than the widow of the one that recently died, that I'd visited on the way down ... they'd both been at the reunion, with families. Needed milk, to feed my addiction, didn't see store as I left Windsor, tried in Tilbury (freeway skirts town, accessible at both ends) ... cost was $4.79, which gave my wallet the chills. Usually buy for $3.99 at Shoppers' Drug Mart ... one along the regular highway route near the edge of the city wasn't open ... got 4 litres (3.78 litres to U.S. gal.) at $4.59 which, though it caused some wallet-chill, was not serious enough to scotch the deal - so, at around midnight, my needs were filled and I was ready to head home. A few blocks up the street, several police lights flashing ... when I got there, it was RIDE ("Rejecting Drunk Driving Everywhere" ... or is that "Reducing?). When the guy asked where I was coming from and I said, "Georgia", he was somewhat surprised. Their checkpoint was visible for some distance, so I imagine that a driver approaching it still possessing some residual brain function would think that he heard a call from A side street. A few miles farther along the regular road, about three towns away, I felt rather tired, so pulled into a side street for a nap. Or so I thought. When I awoke, wondered where I was ... then decided that I was in the car ... with seat belt on ... to keep me from fallng out of bed, I guess. Looked at watch: 4:30 ... so it had been an extended sleep. Arrived home about an hour later, just as dawn was approaching. A couple of heavy digging machines in front of the house ... landlord's planning to build a third pond between the barn and the road, just in front of the garden. When I went out to check the garden ... I found that the (quite large) pond's already dug. He wants to irrigate the sod - has a bunch of aluminum pipes and a large reel with a spray gun on the end of the hose. Cucumbers are dying - again, as they did in other years. Corn is in silk stage, tomatoes are large and setting fruit, there are peas and beans, beets are large ... radishes are going to seed (many of them split) and lettuce, having been neglected, is spurring up, ready to go to seed. There are some zucchini ready to use (some rather large) and (large quantity of) round green squash are starting to bloom. Need to go pick some peas, beans, etc. to take to churches tomorrow. Glad to be home: think that I'll stay for a while. ole joyfyul

I'll play devils advocate - When adult children take advantage of their elderly parents however that may be defined, I do wonder what kind of an upbringing did they have - were the children given love and guidance or were they neglected in some way, were the parents themselves neglectful and/or did they abuse alcohol or drugs. Some elderly parents become verbally abusive as they age and become unpleasant to be around and their adult children may not have the knowledge or emotional stamina to deal with that situation on an on-going basis. Let's not put all the blame on the adult children. Stealing SS checks and starving people tells a good story but I hope that it is a minute part of the population where that occurs. Nursing home abuse is a different category. It is really hard to find a good one that doesn't cost a fortune and with government funding cut-backs for everything over the last decade elderly care has suffered. With us baby boomers coming into that age it is only going to become worse. The only person I can count on to take care of me is me. My DH and I figured that out years ago and all our financial planning is geared to that situation. Even the OP's post, I'm only reading one side of the story.

They don't have a GoFundMe account, since Gates, Monsanto, Syngenta and others are on the hook for financing the goodwill and social responsibility portion of their financials, the Norway project is approximately $1 billion financed by grants. Since there has been only one withdrawal from this I wonder about tomato seeds, what is there, who owns it, and its renewal now that the project has matured a few years. Even under the best of preservation these seeds need to be grown out and renewed. Maybe there is an opportunity to raid the seed bank if we can slip in the burocracy and get seeds, like wily people used to do all the time with the USDA, in pre-internet years. Anyone wants to "do the right thing ... and be part of the legacy", and join the movement closer to home, Boyce Thompson Arboretum, which prides itself on being the third US seed supplier to the Norway Bank, has an urgent opportunity with impending plant death happening on July 1, 2017, they need us now! GoFundMe account needing $2 million to save the plants (2000 of them from the wood chipper, of which only 10 plants at $21K are funded so far). At $2K per plant paid directly to the movers, maybe send them your resume now that it is crunch time: "We all have heard about climate change, the scarcity of food and water and that one third of all plants may be extinct in our lifetime. We believe that arid plants may hold the key to these global issues and we must preserve their germplasm before it is lost. We are affiliated with the University of Arizona and Arizona State Parks, so these plants can be studied by reseachers [sic] and enjoyed by the public. Without your help, a plant collection that was collected over 25 years and may hold the key to crops that use less water may just end up in a chipper. Help us do the right thing and save these plants. Thank you so much for taking the time to understand why gardens and plants are so important to our future. Be part of the legacy. I support these virtuous efforts, though not with my poor beat up old wallet, and think they are worthwhile endeavors: some targeted projects are pretty exciting and free trips to Ecuador and Peru could be included. That does not change the fact that my mind wanders wondering about all this money in the air for these timely causes. For $30K maybe I'll get a degree at Haaaaaarvard. They joined the online degree mill now, and here's my first course in my spare time from GardenWeb, to go through the online materials, a bargain at only $2,550 considering the amount of money available for the asking. Harvard MGMT E-3310 Grant Proposal Writing Any of our young members who want careers and enjoy tomatoes may want to check this out. Worrying about feeding the children is most definitely an easier and more lucrative area than laboring in a field or greenhouse to feed hungry mouths today, where you can lose the farm in a single season, and no one is there to throw you a lifeline or save your plants! Cheers PC