Just make sure the plastic is tight enough that it won't collapse onto the sprouts under a heavy rain. Martha

well, some of my CDs have other functional pieces of paper--the lyrics, for example. I have a frustration with people always saying "get it on the Internet." I think this is often specious. My husband tossed his clips from his old publication, because he figured he could always get them off the company's website--nope, they purged. Someone once suggested I could save money by reading the newspaper on the Internet--yeah, sure, I can do that on the train, and can tell SO quickly (not) that a story is not interesting to me. W/ print, I can skim an ENTIRE PAGE of 4 stories (I read a tabloid-size) in about 3 seconds. Not true if I have to download them story by story. Headlines aren't often enough to tell whether I want to read them. And when I'm wondering if this is the same backup singer, or who it was that wrote the song this artist is covering, I don't want to have to go INTO the bedroom, and turn on the computer, and wait for it to boot up, and then call up a website, and search through several layers until I find the information I want on that song. Folks at my last publication wanted us to put the style book on the intranet. Sure, so I'd have to do lots more work w/ technology I'm not comfortable with, just to update it. And I have to switch from the window I'm working IN, to some OTHER window, and then back--I wouldn't be able to have them both open at the same time. And it would probably be longer--certainly not faster--than grabbing the paper, which is always in the same spot on my desk, and flipping to the fourth page. Phone lists, too--I use a printout here. I don't have to leave Quark for IE, clip on the menu, scroll down to the phone list, type in the name, hit enter, and wait for the search. There are times the intranet phone list is useful, but lots of times it's slower. And, we have dial-up, and it takes a while. Even if we had DSL or cable, or even a T-1 line with instant access--I don't keep my computer on all the time, and I don't want to go to TWO places to get stuff. That's why I won't ditch all my recipes "because I can get them again on the Internet." I'll ditch the ones I'm pretty sure I won't ever use, but I'm keeping America's Cookie Chips in paper version, because I may not be *able* to find them on the Internet in a year when I decide to make them again. And, I'll keep them in paper, because it's less work than going to the computer in a year, booting up (tap, tap, tap, tap...), opening of the folder, then the file (and Word, tap, tap, tap...), then printing it out. i figure, if I only keep the recipes I actually think I'll try, they won't take more space than the stuff I often use. I get frustrated when people act as though storing something on the computer is automatically more wonderful than storing it in real space, real time, the analog world. I'm sorry if I took it out on you, blazedog. And Marie26, we're not helping you w/ much practical advice or product-finding, are we? All I can do is commiserate, and to suggest againt that you give a serious look at the idea of trimming the edges off those sheets so they'd fit--you might be surprised to see how little you need to cut off. I figure, if you did resell them, you're selling them used, surely the buyer won't care much?

If you have major fall going on under your project like 3' in 6' its a good idea to make sure the gutters are chanled way down hill and any strong natural drainage has been delt with to keep the water from washing away the deck foundation. Placing stone/rock if these things are not done is going to have little effect. Placing it after the work has been done will have little effect. Your foundation in areas like that needs to be installed way below the low point of the pier and in line with local codes. Otherwize I just leave bare dirt under the deck. John

I have the SR Smith dual post backboard. We poured the deck before I could order it, so I bought two bronze sleeves at the local pool store and bonded them to the grid. The backboard can be ordered without the sleeves. No regrets going with the deck mount. It works great and looks very cool. I got mine from Pool Supply World. If you sign up for their newsletter they will send you discount offers. Here is a link that might be useful: SR Smith backboard at Pool Supply World