Thank for all your nice replies. Even with those crappy pictures I took. They really do look much better. We've had some warm days and cool nights, around 50 degrees. About two weeks ago I finally experienced what the lack of water can do to a potted brug. OMG! I walked outside and the leaves were as wilted as can be. I panicked like crazy. I came in to get water as fast as I could. I have never seen a plant react so fast to getting water. I went in to get more water, and by the time I came back out I could already notice a difference. It was amazing. I am so hoping that I get to see the other bloom. I already seen one bloom earlier when I bought these, and they looked bad in my opinion. However, it still produced one single fully opened beautiful white bloom. Now it has about 15-20 buds/pods on it, and the one I haven't seen bloom has just as many. I hope we'll get enough warm weather so I can at least see what it looks like. I think when I purchased it the tag said pink, but what color pink I don't know. The white was beautiful. I walked over to it each day and just admired it. I was in heaven. I only wish I had gotten around to getting these in the ground. They looked bad to me when I first got them and even with all the advice I got here I just didn't think I could do anything to make them look any better. In my zone with enough time to get a good root system they could have survived the winter. However, it's to late for that now. I just have to hope that I can continue to care for them in their dormant state and keep them going. I am so proud of them. Thanks to everyone here who offered advice. Some of it I took, and most of it I forgot. *LOL* I have taken in so much information about brugs since August I feel my brain is overloaded and cannot remember half of it. Either way, Thanks to all and especially Karyn. I hope you'll all guide me through the winter as well with these potted brugs.

It depends on the phone and the carriers. There's a number of different types of service out there too. For instance different carriers use different frequencies (CDMA, PCS, GSM, etc) SIM cards are suggestive of GSM technology used by Tmo and ATT. If you're looking to use prepaid service you can sometimes use the phones but won't always have all the features. If you're looking for a contract service, then as cautioned before, beware of costs to change. Often the smallest thing will extend your contract. For instance, if you get a new phone, you generally get a new (extended) contract with hefty cancellation fees. You'll have to get more info from the companies, but generally speaking, Tmo will not be interchangeable with Virgin and Verizon. Tmo & AT&T are more likely to be options. Probably not answering your question, but not an easy question to answer!

Wait, you agree that "those that use their cell phones while driving are risking the lives of many people" but you say you will answer the phone when your family calls? I don't really understand this. I get that sometimes there are emergencies but those are very rare. The problem is when everyone gets to create their own set of exceptions to when it's okay to use the phone that we get into trouble in society as everyone has different risk thresholds they are willing to take. Unfortunately it's usually the innocent ones who aren't doing anything who have to pay for those exceptions and choices, far too often with their lives. It's a good idea to pull over if you must take a call. If I need to take or make a call I usually go into a parking lot, or will pull over depending where I am. I do see far fewer people on their phones while driving compared to a few years ago though so hopefully people are realizing how dangerous it is. In my area they are really cracking down on it though. I was pulled over for glancing down at my GPS once, and the officer asked to check my phone to look for texting or calls. He let me go when there was nothing recent on it but I imagine they catch a lot of people and it's not a cheap ticket.

I started off something is changing or about to and then you answered that question later in your post -- the providers are outsourcing the towers. It is a cost saving measure -- not only do they put maintenance in the hands of specialists who can work on any provider's towers, they are moving to combining towers so the hardware cost, the land rents, the need for number of people and locations are all reduced as well. Why can you not do the deals directly? Economics. You have one tower. You are inexperienced and are going to be in over your head. They won't want to deal with you on solo terms, They either have to stop and explain everything or you will be run over. It will take them far more time to deal with you than it is worth to them. It is also likely to cost you more time than it is worth to you. A good attorney in a specialized area would be cheap at $500-600/hr and could be $1000/hr or more (top guy -- who probably has associates and paralegals at a lesser rate doing some of the work and also billing). Every time you talk to them, they talk to the tower lawyer, read documents or do any work, you get billed. You would likely burn up years of the rent you are currently getting and it may outweigh the increases they would be offering for years to come. And that's not only the original deal, but wth any questions or problems down the road. My DH was involved in some licensing deals 7 or 8 years ago and they are still dealing with disputes on those. Not using experienced, specialized lawyers who know what issues to spot and forsee would be against your interests. Stupid in laymans terms. But again, it would cost them more money to deal with you as someone outside the game and they might not even talk to you. They have likely set up a system to have all their contracts the same and want to keep it that way for simplicity and efficiency. My guess is that you would get nowhere. They will wait for you to give up and come to them or find another spot and leave you out of the deal. What I would look at is whether you are willing to have the tower on your property for as many years as they need it? Does it limit your use, interfere with anything? Would it prevent you from leasing or selling the property down the road (a buyer might like the income, but depending on their purpose, the tower could get in the way and nix the deal -- but the income might also lessen the interest you have in selling the property). I get the frustration -- you don't seem to know enough to understand what is happening and what it should be worth to you. You want to make sure you get a fair deal. Your negotiation position is limited. I just entered cell tower lease in google and the first hit is for a group that says it works with property owners, government agencies, etc in negotiating leases (steelintheair - I know nothing about them, so proceed with some caution). I'm sure the will want to sign you up and claim a fee or possibly a percentage of the rents you would recieve. You could start with talking to someone there or a similar group. I would expect a strong sell and some pressure to sign up -- not unlike the personal injury lawyers on TV. But stand your ground and get questions answered first and make sure you understand what the will and won't do for you. Read carefully any contract they offer and consider having another attorney look it over to make sure you don't sign away something without realizing it. Know exactly what it is going to cost you to have them represent you and why it would be a benefit over not using them. Perhaps this group or another had contacted you or your neighbor. Compare notes. Your taller tower is likely worth more, so don't focus on dollars so much as concepts and rights in the deal (how add-ons are treated, whether rents increase over the years or with inflation, etc.). Don't be rushed into signing anything. Make sure you understand everything before you sign. Sleep on it, get away from it and make sure you don't have any forgotten or unrealized questions (you probably will at some point -- the pros get into years of disputes because what they thought was clear isn't so clear years later, but you want to minimize those issues). The values aren't likely to decrease in the short term. There is sometimes a premium for the last folks who sign -- but you risk them finding a way to go around you and having nothing at the end of your current term (maybe sooner if there is an out under the current lease). I've just scratched the surface and this is long. Haven't seen or read anything -- can you see why it could cost a small fortune to try to go it alone? On the other hand, for no real time or effort on your part, you could wind up with a nice stream of income -- but it isn't likely to replace your day job. Enjoy it, don't be run over, but don't get thinking greedy if you want to stay in the game. And that's about all I can tell you -- keep in mind I know nothing about any particulars and my answers are intended to be common sense replies to general questions, not particular legal advise. As my mom always said, it may be worth exactly what you paid for it. But I hope it helps at least a bit.