jubileej, you make me laugh! My DH is a computer guy by profession, but also plays guitar/sings, and performs at some local street fairs, farmers mkt, animal shelter fund raiser(s), as well as some local restaurants/bars on occasion. He hasn't had a chance to even pick up his guitar in ages (as this semester of school winds down), so I know that's what he will be doing every chance he gets when the semester ends. If he lines up any gigs, he'll be practicing nightly to get up to speed. Maybe I should tape that "honey-do" list to the inside of his guitar case so he'll be sure to see it! LOL!

So much misinformation, so little time... "At the price of those bulbs..." I paid about $1 each for CFLs purchased in the last 8 years or so. Have some and haven't replaced for so long I don't maintain a watch on price but often see them for $1 or less. A decent incandescent is not much less than that. It'd be far more ethically accurate to say they cost "a few cents more" rather than "many times more". The savings on use is something you can calculate easily. The less you use it, the less the savings. I still have incandescent in the hallway lights because one is seldom used and the other is on and off a lot, on for only a very short time, sometimes seconds only, and that's not good for CFL. Otherwise I've converted my whole house to CFL inside and out for the most part. In 10-12 years of use, I've had 3 bulbs die. I'm not going into detail on the math, but I could see the savings on the electric bill when I put the first 4 CFLs in. LED is a tougher sell for me. Here the price is still over $20 for a bulb and the cost savings in use between CFL and LED is not as significant as CFL to incandescent. So I'm waiting until LED cost drops and for CFLs to die before I'll consider going LED. When someone uses the criteria of costing many times, not much difference, and the like, well they're not going to be able to see a savings. Without doing some basic math you'll never know if there's a savings. And I suspect you don't want to see a savings either. Some people are just plain paranoid about energy savings and logic won't change that. Fine, it's their quirk, so be it, but don't try to tell me that I'm not saving money with it. I'd be happy to compare electric bills with you and maybe that would be as good as the consideration that 76% is only "saving a little power". I should also say that for reading I use less CFL lighting than I required for incandescent adding to savings. The original fluorescent tube bulbs I put in are over 30 years old and going strong. Some of the original CFLs I put in are 14+ years old. I have probably 25+ CFLs in my house. I replaced the outdoor bulbs a few years ago and though they're not supposed to be for outdoor use, even incandescent are not always for outdoor use and I've never replaced them and they work fine, even at -40°F which is about the coldest I've been here with them on. I replaced the outdoor ones about 5 years ago, and none have died. I also have CFLs in swag/globe fixtures since they run cooler. Also use 4 of them in my ceiling fan light fixture (52 watts instead of 240). So 60%-75% electric savings on 25+ bulbs - well, you can do the math on what I've saved. Or not saved. For $1 a bulb, investment lately too. Granted I paid about $5-$6 per bulb on the first 4 or so bulbs. I have no doubt I've recouped that cost many times over. The problem is I have a box of the incandescent bulbs sitting in the basement because incands needed constant replacing in certain areas here. I suppose I could sell them on ebay to the paranoids. I'm willing to bet that people who have these bulb dying prematurely are mishandling the bulbs. Are you cranking away on them by the spiral glass part? If you do, NO WONDER they die early! LOL Secondly when you put them in, are you running them for a while or just start flipping them on and off? Even incandescents die prematurely when you don't give them the "burn in" they need. Jannie hit it on the head. Much of the hatred is because they're different and some people cannot deal with change. I bought one of the conventional "bulb shaped" types for the shade that clips onto the bulb. Maybe that would appease the paranoid. There's also the hysteria over CFLs containing mercury. Yes you should not throw them in the garbage, but you do NOT have to take them to a "hazardous waste facility". That's just more hysteria and misinformation being sent out in emails along with the Nigerian General and the $250 cookie recipe. All you have to do is take them to a recycling place usually or take them to your local hardware or DIY store. They send them in for recycling. And people should do a little research on the mercury scare rather than taking emails for gospel. Do you live near a coal-fired power plant? If you do, that plant puts more mercury INTO THE AIR, in one day, (or is it one hour?) than is contained in all the CFL bulbs in the world. You're breathing in the mercury in the air but that doesn't concern people. Mercury in a contained bulb scares people into hysteria! Why are people so scared of mercury? It's probably in a lot of the fish you eat. It definitely is in many headlights on cars, thermostats and thermometers. Have you ever heard of mercury vapor lights? Many streetlights are mercvaps. Are you afraid to go outdoors? Pilot light sensors in gas appliances, thermostat probes, gauges, relays, switches, clothes irons, children's chemistry sets, vintage toys can contain mercury. Some batteries and paint contain mercury. It's in some children's shoes for cryin out loud! LOL Oh and when you go into a store you probably have fluorescent lighting shining on you. Guess what they contain! Come on now, you get 3 guesses! (Sniff, sniff), I think I smell red herring. In fairness, they do advise caution on cleaning up a broken bulb. No caution on breathing near power plants though. I remember in school (and at home) breaking thermometers and handling the mercury. The little silver balls. Anyone else remember fever themometers? Did you ever break one of them? Did you call your house a "hazardous waste site" when it was broken? I'll bet not. BTW, I still have mercury thermometers in my house and I don't run scared from them.

Out of all the responses, I think about 5 of you don't mind, like or have husbands who like toe cleavage. So I find out finally that I am not alone in disliking it, yay! lol I don't really care what other people wear, I'm only concerned about my shoes. Mush- those pointy red boot/clogs were too pricey for me, like $300, and like I said- they just looked freakishly long on my foot, even with the open back. How come they look cute on others but not on me? My friend Iku had just gotten a pair as a gift from her DH and they looked adorable on her. Of course, she's way tiny and wears probably a size 5. Gosh, Ron- sorry to lure you in here with high hopes! I hope you got over your disappointment. Do YOU like toe cleavage? On women, I mean? lol

Well....let's see.I have a laundry basket under the counter in DS and DGD's bathroom,then there's the floor in front of the washer in the laundry room and the garden tub in my bathroom,which I have never used in the 9 years I have owned this house.The tub is for DH's and my laundry only and I do only our laundry.When there's enough for a load I do it so I only do a couple of loads every couple of days.DGD and DS do their own.My kids were all doing their own laundry by the time they were 12.I have several rubbermaid hampers but they seem to collect out of season stuff and even bags of dog food!LOL For some reason the dirty clothes never seemed to make it to the inside of the hamper. Ninos-One reason I started making my kids do their own laundry was because I couldn't get them to turn their socks (especially the boys) right side out! Told them if they couldn't turn their clothes right side out before putting them in the laundry room,they could start doing their own,and they did!LOL For some reason trying to turn stinky, stiff as a board socks right side out just doesn't set well with me!It was time they learned to do laundry anyway.LOL