Linda, a foodsaver is one appliance I would not be without. I can buy tenderloins, shrimp, ground meats, etc, all on the "cheap" and not worry about freezer burn or icky flavors six months later. I have dinners ready after long days at work or when I am too tired to cook. My home grown produce is packed and ready to go. A double batch of something is no longer a leftover a month or two later. A freind has a baby or is ill and I can send dinner over in minutes. Why are some of you using paper towels for moist items? Freeze them first! Annie, return yours to Kohls, and grab one at Costco/Sams or at the FS site. I have known several people that bought the Kohls ones and they never worked. No clue why though. Make sure it has both the dry and moist setting for sealing. Moist does not squish the items as much. And our dinner tonight? A brochole that Annie made at my house at the end of February last year. I froze it first, vac'd it, defrosted it this morning, warmed it up and we had dinner with great memories attached. Thanks my friend.

Bob, Sewing machines have evolved quite a bit in the last 25 years. She might see the new machines on TV or see what her friends have now and that is a valid reason she might want a new one now. The computerized machines are amazing as to what they can do: one-step buttonholes, decorative stitches, beginning and ending tacking stitches, needle up/down functions, free motion quilting, etc. etc. The dealer that asked your wife lots of questions about her needs sounds like the best bet. They need to know what she wants to sew and how she will use the machine in order to show her the models right for her needs. Also, their long history in the business and good tech support is a plus. Sorry, I can't help with the Baby Lock/Brother question as I have Viking and old Singer machines. A number of my friends have the Baby Lock quilter's machine and they all love them. Please realize that most any machine will benefit from a yearly tune-up with a service person that knows sewing machines and remind your DW to clean out the sewing lint from her machine on a regular basis. They really do run better when they are lint and dust free. If your wife enjoys sewing, she will love having a newer machine and you will be one Dear Husband! Teresa

Pitch for Lutron 1. The company has been around for quite a while now and their products are generally considered to be the market leaders - in terms of performance, reliability. 2. They have active development in wireless comms/ control and control more of the ecosystem than vendors like SmartHome (Insteon). 3. They have partners (Control4, ...) Zigbee at this point in time is an IEEE (802.15) standard that hasn't been curated / tended to with as much attention as 802.11 Wifi. That will change with time as chip vendors figure things out and finally put more effort into ensuring an industry wide standard that works reliably. If you're going with Zigbee, imo, it would be prudent to stick with Control4 as they have been actively pushing development in the HA side even though it has been more proprietary than open. FYI, Control4 uses a sub ghz band (~900 Mhz) for signaling using ZigBee protocols while a bunch of other vendors are using the 2.4Ghz band for ZigBee. Both are allowed in the 802.15 specification. To reiterate, the controls you purchase today should 1. Last and be supported for (by the manufacturer) at least 10 years or more. After all, all HA controls cost significantly more than the plain old manual decora / toggle switch. 2. Work as well as non connected controls like the Lutron Maestro dimmers - similar dimming performance, durability, ... 3. There should be a means of interoperating with other vendors' systems (eg - Chamberlain garage openers, GE alarm panels, ...) Conclusion - the top 2 choices are still Lutron RadioRA2 or Control4.

Bry911... I believe the post is referring to the fact that if sellers do collect more rent from the tenant that is above the market rate, some contracts are written that the monies that are above and beyond the market rent will be put into escrow, and if this is the case, (the seller offering money back so the buyer can use towards a down payment), then these monies will have to be verified by the lender. For sellers... remember to legally and ethically treat the person as a tenant for the term of the tenancy. They need to be reminded that they are tenants until the deal closes as a sale. Too many of these renters go into a rent to own situation and then customize the home to their tastes w/o the owner knowing it. There should also be two separate contracts... one being a lease agreement for the tenancy, and an Offer To Purchase Real Property for the sale part of it. Just think of the sales agreement as one with a very delayed closing date. Inspections and all due diligence is best performed up front, even before the lease agreement is signed. And, the sales price needs to be agreed upon up front too. And any wording as to what the consequences are for a tanking economy during the lease agreement term. Really, I don't understand, from a renters view point, why they would want to trap themselves into a purchase of one particular home, when during the lease term they are renters if they sign a Purchase Agreement or not. Why not just wait until your lease is close to being over, and THEN making the decision that this is the right property for you.