Karen, I am having to add planting medium to some so that is why I said it may be Monday before I mail out. I want to make sure they are happy before going BACK in a box for a trip home. I am trying to make the extra effort to make this a good swap for all of us. Please everyone remember, some of these plants MAY loose their leaves BUT with love and attention I am sure they will thrive in the long run. I would like to suggest if you live where it is HOT to cover them during the hottest part of the day for a few weeks to help them out, any thing you can do to help bring them along will ensure their chances, remember you can't just stick them in the ground and say LIVE these need to be cared for for a little bit! I know now if I do this again that I need to put them in a starting medium as soon as they arrive and to help me do this I may have everyone mail to me in stages so I can keep up with the plants as they come in. Also, remember I did say no TINY plants and they must be a nice size, well a few very small ones did come in with hardly any roots, these I will be keeping because those are NOT looking happy. I am trying to be fair about these and give some credit BUT this is not fair to those who sent in the required sizes. Someone and I will NOT say who even measured their plants to make sure they were the correct size. Not complaining I am just pointing this out for those who may have requested the plants in question this is the reason I didn't send them to you, because they are way small and one has already lost all the foliage and I am hoping it will come back from the roots, the good thing is that IF it does and you all join the swap again these questionable plants may be ready to share then :). I do hope you all will be happy with your boxes, I am doing the best I can to send things I am SURE you really want. Again I want to stress the some things will lose their leaves but should have no problem coming back from the roots. The phlox 1 offerd is one of them my mama assure me you can not kill it that if the root is there it will make it. I am sending a fair amount to those of you who wanted some so it should be alright. Ok, well break is over I need to get back to packing and sorting the boxes. :) Fran

I was going to put my blood type on the helmet too, but an EMT told me he would never pay attention to what someone claims their blood type to be, he uses universal plasma and at the hospital they use a quick blood typing test. The risks of infusing an incompatible blood type are too high. Medical insurance information sounds like a good idea. Although [rant] have you checked what your "insurance" actually covers, lately? Our family of four pays about $16K/year in employee contribution. And our total family deductible is around $12K/year. We have not consumed over $12K/yr of medical care in at least ten years, probably not since the last child was delivered. Basically we pay $16K/year - and my company pays at least as much - for catastrophic coverage. On a day-to-day basis, every doctor visit and every prescription is coming out of my pocket. I'd rather we had the system they have in France. Everyone, rich or poor, has basic, no-frills medical coverage. Those who want nicer, fancier, more sophisticated treatment - private rooms, cutting-edge technology, $100K/yr drugs - have the option of buying commercial insurance policies, if they can afford it and want to. But everyone, rich and poor, has a basic and decent level of care. We may get a version of that in the US, starting in 2014. Maybe. "There's many a slip, 'twixt the cup and the lip." Who knows if it will actually happen. [/rant] After reading this http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/technology/bicyclists-using-cameras-to-capture-accidents.html I got interested in wearing a video camera, so you see on the helmet my initial experiment. It is not the $300 GoPro that a serious biker-recorder wears, but a $38 micro-cam from a Hong Kong mail order hobby shop. Meant for use in radio control aircraft, helos, etc. After experimenting with this cheap camera, I'm putting a nicer videocam on my Santa list. Aside from the "evidence" aspect, it is instructive to view a recorded ride and think about what dangers I did and didn't perceive at the time. I've been riding in traffic since I was a 7 y/o boy riding in downtown Vancouver B.C. on my Peugeot ten-speed, but I still make mistakes every day. Just like we all make mistakes driving, even though we've been doing it all our lives. I'll post a link to some video later. Here is a link that might be useful: NYT Story

Answer https://www.amazon.com/Hubbell-Bell-SPLED2Z-Spike-Light/dp/B00FN6PCPE/ref=asc_df_B00FN6PCPE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198082911489&hvpos=1o16&hvnetw=g&hvrand=18375686974074019368&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9004191&hvtargid=pla-318351581926&psc=1 John

As someone who doesn't like design shows, I'm really looking forward to a new cooking channel! I can't tolerte most of the cooks on The Food Channel. I don't like how they use film for the shows instead of tapes, it makes a big difference. Paula Deen's show uses tape, the others are film, I think. The Bark hotdog sounds like fun...coming from a hotdog girl! Just no low talkers like the Contessa or whatever her name is. lol