I got the pot at my local Meijer store. It isn't a brand name, label says "Dist. by Wholesale Merchandisers, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI". I looked at the Meijer website, but they don't show my pot. I paid $39.99 at the store. The straight sides of the pot measures 10" from the bottom, then there is a raised edge, that is slightly larger than the body of the pot, that the lid fits into. It is a dome lid, as opposed to flat. Wonder if this makes a difference? I forgot to take a tape measure to the store, but thought for sure the pot would be around 12" high. I was a bit surprised that it was only 10". But I have measured it several times & it is surely 10" high.

Fantastic ! I am so glad you are going to get started. The other thread was "treading water", linked below. There really are only a few things to keep in mind. Don't over do being the first and foremost. No better way to hurt yourself or learn to hate an exercise than to do too much. Just put on the belt and get in the water and in a relaxed way , to start, move your arms in a gentle circle toward each other at shoulder height ...like you are scooping the water. Gently. At the same time pretend you are walking. That is enough. Do 10 minutes...not more. If you want to go every day and do 10 minutes that is great but I would not do more than that the first week at each session. Add 5 minutes each week. If you really do feel fine at the end of the first week you can add 10. You can do your arms and legs in a swinging motion as if you are cross-country skiing. You can march your legs while moving your arms. Anything goes...just don't over do it. After 2 weeks you can add a little buzz to it by doing a faster pace for 1 minute. You will really feel it and get a great workout. Do not be surprised if your skin itches ALL over !! It is the increased circulation. This is a really great calorie burner and no strain on your parts :) As for the kick board I haven't ever used one so that is something to look up. Again go slowly. 10 min. each day. Good Luck and please post back . Don't get discouraged !! You will do great. c Here is a link that might be useful: old thread This post was edited by trailrunner on Wed, Aug 14, 13 at 18:56

Scyrn, Are you talkin' about my house? Our basement is just like yours and we have 4 Stairmaster machines down there in the winter. In the summer we haul them up (it takes a tractor and a chain-hoist to do so) and put them in the middle bay of the hay barn. It would be cooler (temps, not style) to keep them in the basement year round, but the view and fresh air are better in the barn. We move them in in October and out in May, as they need to be at least at 50F for the lubrication to work. I'm not going to tell you to paint anything (we haven't), but there are a couple of issues, primarily moisture and potential radon to think about. The radon you can test for. Keep in mind that when you are exercising you are spending more time there and also breathing more, so I wouldn't do this in any marginal situation, unless the radon was below the danger point. The moisture is another issue. Even if you have a poured concrete floor, if wasn't installed with a vapor barrier, you're still going to have rising soil moisture issues, in addition to the moisture from the undoubtedly unsealed basement walls. Moisture/humidity can be hard on the machines and also breeds its own problems with molds and mildews, which again, when you're exercising you'll be more exposed to by time and by the fact that you're breathing more. We have no vapor barrier under our concrete (yet), so we park the machines on rubber-backed mats (HD or Lowes, they look like that curly polypropolene doormat stuff, but are larger than door mats and have rubber --or more likely plastic -- backing), which protects their feet from rising moisture. It does nothing for the rest of the floor, though. We're in far northern NY, so we also have to heat the basement a bit to keep the machines happy in the deepest winter. We use quartz heaters or small box heaters. We figure the heat rises to the underside of the floor anyway (what isn't shed through the side of the exposed foundation, of course), so it's not too bad. Now, for the human experience: it's really great to have ex. machines so convenient to the living space. My husband works out on them before anything elese in the am, and all he has to do to go to the gym is walk down a flight of stairs. Beats getting in the car any day. If we kept the machines there year-round I would want to look into installing some of those tricky light wells to capture daylight and throw it around the room so it isn't so cavern-like. He has a TV and VCR there so that's what he watches. The other thing, is that even if we had the space, I would not want the tremendous weight of the machines upstairs. They're happier down on the concrete or out on the barn floor, which is made of hand-hewn oak 4 X 16 's that don't even shiver when we plunk the Gravitron down. If we ever did get good concrete down, I would consider painting that surface a light color, though. You also can buy snap together grids of a subfloor material which would allow a vapor barrier to be laid on top of the concrete, and in turn support the substrate for a finished floor of something like vinyl sheeting. We've considered it, but are still planning on removing the old concrete and having a modern floor poured, perhaps with radiant tubes to handle the heat needs of the machines. HTH, Molly~

Hi, original poster here. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice about the hamster! Just to clarify, I had no intention of removing the hamster's wheel! And I didn't remove his shavings, either -- the sand is in a small container within his cage. Also, I don't wake him up during the day to play with him or move around his nesting material. To update, he has been peeing exclusively in the sand box! Even after I changed the sand and washed the container, he goes straight to the sandbox when he wakes up, lifts his little tail and makes a puddle! He still poops wherever it's convenient, even in his sleeping nest (although he does make half-hearted attempts to toss the poops out of the sleeping nest sometimes). Following some of "dances_in_garden's" advice, I have gotten him to climb onto my hand and eat his treat while I hold him! That's coming a long way for this hamster! (BTW, to those of you who suggested I leave him alone since I'm just babysitting him, I'm trying to save his life. His young owners are hoping he'll die while they're on vacation so they can get a replacement hamster that doesn't bite. Their mom is hoping I can work a miracle on him, since I have some animal behavior experience.) About the wheel, I'm wondering if there are any ADDITIONAL activities he might enjoy (that I can suggest to his owners when they get back), such as climbing a little ladder, monkey bars, a swing, tunnels, a slide... basically, hamster-sized playground equipment! When I was a kid, my dad made a 2-story cage for my hamster with a swing, and the hamster often played on the swing and climbed up the ladder. At the very least, I wish I could give him a choice of exercise wheels, so he could pick his favorite. The one he has is solid with metal bars for traction, and the first week that his owners had him, his feet were bleeding from small snags on the metal. Their dad filed off the snags, thank goodness, but maybe he'd prefer a different footing. Or maybe a different diameter wheel, just for variety. I'd think he'd get "carpal tunnel" syndrome from the repetitive motion! Maybe I'll teach him to dance for cross training. (That one's for "Gammyt"!) ;-) JoePyeWeed mentioned that he tried an exercise ball that just seemed to terrify his hamster.... I've always thought it seemed like a risky idea at best! This hamster is so fearful naturally, I wouldn't want to do anything that might terrify him, and his permanent home has dogs and cats that would love to play "ball"! To Alison, the idea about getting some non-toxic wood toys to chew on/play with is great. He does have a little wood stick that he's chewed on once. It was store-bought; probably balsa. Maybe it would be more interesting if it was dangling from a string? I tried Deb18's idea about toilet paper rolls, but so far, he's not interested. Honestly, I'm not sure the pudgy little guy could fit! Also, I don't have room to bury it and make tunnels -- his cage is less than one square foot. But if his owners ever get him a bigger cage, I'll suggest deeper bedding with TP rolls to tunnel through. As for whether his nippiness is from being inbred, I can only say he was bought at a major pet superstore, and his owners told me horror stories about the hamsters there -- sick and bloody diarrhea but still out on display, and being dropped on the floor by the employee.... I'm guessing he probably didn't have an ideal childhood! Bumblebeez' idea about scratching/tickling with a small paintbrush is cool! I'd have to get him comfortable with it gradually, of course. Would a toothbrush be okay? Or is that too prickly? He did get a look of bliss on his face once when I rubbed his ears. Thanks again to all of you who have read this far and who offered me good advice. I have the hamster for two more weeks, and so far it's all been good progress. He now peeks out of his nest when he hears me coming, which is so cute! Especially when he "peeks" with his eyes still closed! And today I saw him yawn, and his two bottom teeth flexed -- came apart and then back together! His teeth can move independently of each other! Now that's a superpower! And it must make flossing him so much easier! (Just kidding, "Gammyt.") Thanks again, everyone! Say hi to Sparkle for me!