Vicki, Thanks for jogging my memory! While we are discussing the good and the bad about the south let me add an important off-topic subject. Those who experienced winds from hurricane Katrina as she moved north should be very aware that the Formosa termite is often carried inland by hurricane winds. It is a very tiny termite with a voracious appetite which has caused the loss of many trees in the New Orleans area. There is tons of information on Google for you to read. Learn to look for the dirt tunnels around trees and structures which are an indication of its presence. Also, when carried on winds these tiny termites land on roofs and start eating a building from the top down, beginning with the shingles. Those with attics and upper crawl spaces should check for sawdust signs once a month. This may be the only clue that you have been invaded. The termite is already in various parts of the country, so everyone should educate themselves on the subject. Note: This would also include the east coast, Cape & Islands which will receive Ophelia's winds shortly out of the Charleston area which also has Formosa termite. It survives cold weather.

"Posted by lindac ------------------- Sorry...I was confused...hydraulics has to do with the mechanical properties of liquids not the expansion co-efficient of a liquid. " Hydraulics: many thermostats/thermometers inside an oven use the expansion of a fluid to mechanically actuate control systems to adjust/limit oven temperature. This is similar to the thermostat in your cars radiator in action, or a self-powered vent in a greenhouse. "A BTU is a measure of energy....specifically the energy needed to heat a pound of water one degree...Farenheit. It is not a measure of heat. Someone with more of a physics background than either of us, please weigh in here? " It has been a long time since Physics 101. I may be terminologically incorrect in the precise definition of units. You have said exactly what I was trying to convey, a measure of energy, as you indicated. The energy contained in the specific heat of whatever metal the thermometer is converting to the specific heat of the meat it is trying to measure. No, it is not a measure of heat. We all know the unit to measure heat is degrees in C or F. "But I do feel qualified to state that "calorific value" is a term applied to things that produce energy not store it as a hot probe may....and "irregardless" is a "non standard word"....that is to say not considered good form nor standard usage. " 1 calorie = 0.00396566683 btu. I agree "irregardless" is to be used in informal wrting only. I am sorry. Just curious, shouldn't there be a hyphen in "non-standard"? Or spelled "nonstandard"? "I know...I am quibbling...but so did you with the whole business of the conductivity of the metal used in an oven temperature probe. " I believe I have mostly been answering questions you have raised all along because I respect your wisdom and knowledge. "The conclusion (if I may be so bold) seems to be, that a plug-in thermometer may be less than spot-on exact, but in the grand scheme of food preparation it doesn't matter a whit. For the most part they work just fine, they are standard on many appliances and accuracy depends largely on the placement of the probe." I have said it, I will say it again. I was only inititally answering the question raised by plllog . I dont believe I have said that mechanical oven thermometer can never be made functional. I have point out some inherent limitations possibly manufacturers will need to address. I have pointed out that my concern is only for food safety in low temperature meat cooking with mechanical thermometers, because, as far as I know, none of them are required to be calibrated to be accurate. If you are off by 10 or 20 degrees in low temperature cooking, you can be in serious trouble. And I apology to all you experts here who find this thread to be boring and excessive. I believe many of us are not as knowledgeable as your are, me included, and we are all members of this fine forum. dcarch

In a town with lots of old houses people know who you are not by your last name but by which old house you live in. Setting mouse traps, wrapping windows in plastic and digging out draft stoppers are part of the "normal fall routine". Quilts, wool blankets and curtain rods of various sizes and shapes and condition have been hung over least used hallways,doors,windows. Down comforters are on all the beds not because they are fashionable but because they are required to keep the chill out at night. The idea of a heated toilet seat now makes sense to you. You gladly share your bed with the cats and dogs you have. That extra body heat comes in handy on those cold nights. The phrase "making do" takes on a whole new meaning when you are going thru a major project and either the bathroom is shut down or the kitchen. Hopefully not both at the same time. You know more about the house's history and PO's than you do your own family tree. You treasure every little tidbit of information you find on the house. Be it a pic, a mention in a book or just someone you know who knows someone who played in the house when they were a kid.

Actually breastfeeding is a great time saver. No formula to buy, no bottles to wash and prepare. You can do it anywhere and once a mother and baby are in the groove it is easy to multitask. I ate dinner,shopped,cooked and read to my DD while nursing. Plus cuddling your child is the most important job you will ever have. It's funny. My DD were talking just last night about this. She is having some pretty strong pre-labor contractions so we are on the phone a lot. She said "mom I am so looking foward to having this baby and I feel so empowered". "I'm glad I'm breast feeding too cuz I'm feeling too lazy for bottles" LOL I told her I felt the same way when i had her and her brother. Natural childbirth with minimal intervention is keeping it simple and breast feeding is a no brainer IF you ignore the advice of anyone who hasn't done it for at least a year themselves. Now I know a bunch will chime in and say they tried but couldn't. I'll be blunt -- 99%+ of failing to breastfeed are due to poor advice or not going with your own instincts. Many breast fed babies are leaner than formula fed ones. Many lose a bit of weight in the days following birth. Some nurse frequently but for short periods of time and others are titty monsters. LOL It is not like bottle feeding. there is no right schedule other than demand feeding. You cannot see how much the baby is getting so young mothers panic. There is almost always enough milk unless the mother has an underlying health condition. Doctors and pediatricians have mixed advice and are not the best ones to listen to. (unless they themselves have breastfed for a least one year) I was told I couldn't breast feed through mastitis (milk fever), I did thanks to a wonderful book I'd read with real advice from nursing mothers. I was told to give it up when I got torticollis due to the drugs I would have to take. I found a c doctor who offered an alternative treatment with drugs that wouldn't enter my bloodstream and milk. I had a pediatrician who wanted me to stat solids early. I didn't and after several visits of being told by him that DD must be eating very well and to keep adding more, ignoring my telling him she was exclusively on breast milk I dumped him. I threw away the pacifiers (gift) and dumped the formula the hospital sent home with me. Had I used them maybe things wouldn't have worked out as well . Who knows but I wasn't taking any chances of anything coming between me and my ability to breast feed.