I wonder if they were actually "overheated"... It makes sense that they did not have enough time to recover from transplant shock though, as they were planted too late in the season. Trees that size will be tough to protect, and they better be planning to cover/tie the fronds this time, not just the trunks. They need to do at least what the Iowa palms guy does/did to winter his larger palm(s). If he can get washingtonias through an Iowa winter, the trachys should be doable. Big job though! By the way, thanks for posting the follow-up dln949!

AnnPann - I have read that book Go the F*** to Sleep, and laughed out loud about it. It seems to sum up the desperation that new parents may feel when their lovely little darling won't sleep... However, I read an interesting article that asked if the book would have been so funny if it had been written by a mother/woman. Would people still think it was funny if the mum had written it or would she (the author) be considered whiny? Quite interesting to think about, really. It seems that a lot of new fathers in this day and age are patted on the back for being "involved" and taking their kids to the grocery store, when, in fact, this is an everyday occurrence for many of the mothers. Just an interesting point to think about. I still liked the book tho.

chisue. We vrbo a place for our family vacation once a year. WE pay $221 cleaning fee for the week on top of the over $3000 rent. There is no one that comes in every day to change our towels, make the beds, vacuum, clean the bathrooms etc every day like in a hotel. I am getting no special service other than a clean place when I get there. And we always leave the place clean. If a cleaning person for a vrbo feel they need to make more money they just increase there rate and that is passed on to the renter not the owner. . An hotel employee can't do that. You are getting away cheep with the $400 a year tip. That only comes to under $8 a week tip. During the winter hubby and I either go to Aruba or St Maartens all inclusive hotel for a week. . The hotel we always stayed at in St Maarten (until it blew away) paid their staff like $6 an hour. During high season they work 6 days a week. During low season they may only work 2 days a week. Their tips are put in an account for them to supplement their income during the low season. In the US depending on the state unemployment laws some hotel staff can not collect unemployment for the low season either. The one big reason we tip housekeeping, bartender, , and wait staff well is for GREAT SERVICE. We always have our room cleaned first like we want, plus a lot of little extra perks the non tippers don't get. We never have to wait for our drinks to be refreshed at the bar (heck the bartenders even bring us drinks even if we are not sitting at the bar and didn't order one) or have to stand in line waiting for a table to open up at the breakfast and lunch buffet during busy times. When they see us they pull us out of line and seat us right away. The people who bitch the most about service are the ones who don't tip and don't know the words please, and thank you.. We are not wealthy by a long shot, but a few bucks in tips isn't going to put us in the poor house.and the return on those few dollars is well worth it. As the old saying goes "you get what you pay for".

We just came back from a memorial pilgrimage for my Mom, to my family's ancestral home to visit her grave and see a completed memorial project there that we funded. It was for Dad, who is almost 89 and not doing too well. It was stressful, but mostly due to Dad having acute anxiety. The motel was annoying because of some maintenance issues, but those would have been a pain even without the pandemic. The mediocre maintenance made me wonder what else they were "just getting by" with. However, the room was small, we brought sanitizer and cleaned every hard surface ourselves so I felt relatively safe. I didn't interact with too much in the room, and we kept the windows open during the day. I wasn't too worried about washed sheets or linens. The carpet was sketchy but they usually are. The air conditioner didn't work very well and had no filter, so we passed on that. The screen was bent so let in mosquitoes at night so we had to close. That was the worst part and some of the maintenance issues I'm talking about. The whole trip was stressful, all the constant mask management and hand sanitizing. We went to a public beach and met some folks out for a stroll. We were talking and one guy said, "Everything just feels uncomfortable." But as for safety, I did not feel I was taking high risks. But then I read science-based recommendations and follow them. But also, we did not eat out, even in our favorite outdoor deli/ice cream parlor. We picnicked on our own at all of the lovely local parks, and there were no crowds, it was nice, regardless of pandemic. I know too many people who have gotten sick by eating out and also flying so not going to risk it. Those venue are too closed in and you share the air with too many variables/people you don't know. I did not have a problem in the stores with not a lot of customers crowded in, and masked employees and customers. But if you do travel, bring lots of your own water and beverages, maybe even your own coffee maker, and lots of cleaning supplies. They gave us our complimentary breakfast in a brown bag, and had chairs outside the rooms on a little patio for eating. We sanitized our own chairs just to be extra safe.