zackey: I've been investigating the use of nettle for such conditions. However, I'm not convinced because I think my observations are tainted by the fact that some allergy seasons are worse than others. It gives the appearance that nettle helps allergies when, in fact, it may just be a milder allergy season. If you want to be a part of my experiments, try a short decoction of nettle. (Simmer in water 2-3 minutes, turn off fire, cover and steep for 15 minutes.) Let us know. Other than that, I can't think of anything proven to help unless you try Claritin D or some other equivalent. (Sounds pathetic coming from an herbalist.) theherbalist

Finally I have determined that the hard drive is failing. I suddenly had the boot disk message appear several days ago, and when I checked the boot order in BIOS, noted that no hard disk is listed. In attempting to use recovery disks, got a message "No hard drive detected." I then opened the tower and checked the connections, which were good and tight. Did a little dusting while I had it open. Finally, today I went into BIOS setup and saw the hard drive listed and decided to run the SMART test from there. It failed with a notation of "7" and then something about "no read." Since I just bought this drive about a year ago, I checked Western Digital's site and found out that it has a 3 year warranty. I started filling out information online and hit a stone wall when I could not get the page for RMA instructions to load, so I ended up phoning. Once I gave the serial number and was asked the problem, I was offered a replacement using either of two choices. I chose to receive the new drive and then return the old one within 30 days. For this, I had to give them a credit card number so that in case I did not return the old drive, they would charge my credit card $45. I didn't want to have to ship the old one back and then wait for the new one; also I don't have a proper box to ship it in. This way I will ship it back in the box the new one is in. By the way, I did a full backup on Friday, so hopefully putting the OS and all my programs etc. back will not be such a hassle as using the rescue disks. I used my Acronis program to clone the entire hard drive to the external drive I have. I may come asking for help when the time comes to reverse the operation and put things back on the internal hard drive. Thanks everyone for your help and support.

For sinus sufferers, there was a bit on NPR about lactobacillus sakei and sinus infections...seems to be a strong connection to the good bacteria fighting off the sinus infections. Only thing is, it hasn't been studied yet in humans, but thought I'd mention that there has been some early signs of success with it. Also GF suffers with allergies and she has found that taking OTC antihistamine before or as her allergies begin really helps to control the situation as it keeps it from getting worse and setting up vicious cycles of misery. Though I have no first hand experience, I hope this helps.... what causes sinus infections Acutally this whole human biome business is just beginning to get hot and scientists are just beginning to understand that we shouldn't think of the body as a pristene place with viral and bacterial invaders that need to be wiped out....rather we need to think of the body as a garden where we want to grow the good bacteria so it can keep the bad stuff in check....fascinating stuff. Here is a link that might be useful: What works for chronic sinusitis

OH....and did you fall off your porch in front of anyone? No, my only witness was the cat whose escape out the front door I was trying to prevent when I fell. He just kept going and didn't even ask if I was okay. Alisande,,how long has it been since you have had a tetanus shot? They are good for 10 yrs. I'm pretty sure it's been less than 10 years, but definitely more than five. Five is the deciding number following an injury. My DH knew someone who died of tetanus after somehow getting injured from a cast iron frying pan, of all things. Have you tried any nasal/sinus rinses for your nose? Yes, I use a neti pot. I just realized I've had this same one for 27 years! This is the first year I've been using it with distilled water. Plus you got a tick bite last month, wasn't it? Heavens--how could I have forgotten about the tick bite?? I got another bite after that, earlier this month. This latest one was a nymph, so small I couldn't tell it was a tick until I looked at it under a strong magnifying glass. I'm still dealing with tick issues. Based on symptoms like night sweats, which I have every night, and others, I'm fairly certain I have Babesiosis. Babesia is a parasite that invades the red blood cells. It is not familiar to most of the medical community, but it has invaded the Red Cross blood supply in the northeast, which is a serious concern and indicates how prevalent it is in our area. Tests for it are not only wildly expensive (my doctor ordered them, but I was quoted $3,000) but unreliable as well, so unless another way is found to deal with the problem it is likely to get worse. Babesiosis is related to malaria, and the treatment includes a drug related to quinine. This, too, is wildly expensive ($1,030 for a small bottle), so I'm going to try a Chinese herb the folks at LymeNet recommend as an alternative. Anyway, my immune system was already battling this, or something like it, when the chest cold (?) came along. I was already dragging; now I feel dragged out. :-) One more thing about the ticks: It's increasingly clear that the deer tick situation bears more than a passing resemblance to a plague. Yet we have no vaccines, no cures, not even a consensus on how to treat it. Medical science is really going to have to step up to the plate. They seem to have their heads in the sand, and want the public to stick theirs in too.