I am reading The Stolen Child right now. It is very good so far. I recently read a Christopher Moore book, A Dirty Job. If you were raised a Catholic and have a good sense of humor, you just must get Lamb by the same author. You will wet your pants laughing. Also recently read Paranoia by Joseph Finder. I would highly recommend it. And a few Dean Koontz books (I never was a fan of his) that I really loved--Odd Thomas, Odd Fellow, The Watchers. And, I read my first Nora Roberts book. I alway sneered at them, thinking they were dumb romance novels. A co-worker gave me Northern Lights, which I put in a drawer at work and forgot for at least 6 months. I loved it! A mystery and romance in Alaska. I think she writes quite well. So there. I confessed my guilty pleasures. Kathy

While I'm not totally indifferent to the nutrient values of various kitchen scraps, when I trench compost I regard it as attracting and feeding the worms so anything they eat has value. It's the worm castings that have the high nutrient value IMO. I doubt any table of nutrient values could be 100% correct as there will be different amounts of nutrients in veggie scraps depending on where and how they are grown. I eat mostly organic, altho buy it, so I *hope* there is high nutrient value but there are few guarantees of that. The following link has nutrient values of some foods we eat and one might get an idea of which nutrients may be higher in one veggie over another. However, apparently veggie skins have higher mineral values than the inside of the veggie so that may not be reflected in the table. I'm supposed to eat the skins but won't unless I grow it. It's known that bananas are high in potassium which is why many people bury the peels near their roses which require potassium to thrive. Here is a link that might be useful: nutrient value of some foods

"You get what you pay for...dragged out to justify the price"... I disagree. Sometimes you DO get what you pay for. Sometimes spending a little extra on something that is built or engineered a little better is actually worth the money. And sometimes, you're spending money on just the name or a look. If you choose that knowing that the item isn't really built better than a less expensive counterpart, then that's your choice. And sometimes you're taken in by the price, thinking that it's better when it's really not--and that's where you have to put in due diligence researching. The information is out there, you just have to find it. "I think sometimes we get a little carried away with trying to find the best of the best..." For most of us, I'm not so sure that it's wanting "The best of the best" vs. wanting to get the best value for the money we are willing to spend on any given item. I'm totally willing to spend money (within budget) in order to get things that simply do what they are supposed to do, do it well, have a good track record for reliability, and are appealing to my eye--pretty much in that order. I chose where to spend to get a few 'extra' functions to feed my TKO tendencies and my passion for cooking, and where I can save on things I really don't care all that much about. I'm not sure anything that I have in my house could be considered the 'best of the best' in general. But for the most part, I bought the 'best', according to my parameters, that I can afford. That's good enough for me, and I am willing to let others make their own choices according to their budgets without judgment. That said... $10K for a faucet in the kid's bathroom....holy WOW! LOL. Just my $.02, Cj

what a wonderful article to have and cherish... when i was little we lived in hollywood and right next to a restaraunt that was a hangout for a few boxers...but always got the feeling it was pretty risky (gangsters), from listening to adults...maybe that's one reason your dad headed home...