Hello everyone, It's taken me a while before I chose to react to this topic. First, let me introduce myself: I'm the webmaster of The Hosta Mill. Like Ken stated, in his own dotty style, the sites mentioned are made by volunteers. Mine is made from A to Z by yours truly. And I can assure you, it's a hell of a job. But I love doing it. Take the tour of the site, see if there isn't anything in it for you. If you like it or don't, let me know. If there are things missing you'd like to see, let me know. We, the fools-webmasters, depend on your feedback to make things better. My native language is Dutch, but the site exists in 2 flavors, Dutch and English. Try to figure out the amount of time needed for such a job. I'd love a native American to check the English version for me, sometimes I'd like pictures of species and cultivars I don't have, articles, information. And above all, I'd love it if al my work doesn't go unnoticed, if it would be helpfull, informative or just entertaining for fellow hosta lovers. Love from the Hosta Mill Rob PS: web building is a winter job. I've only just published a major update, with more to come shortly. Here is a link that might be useful: The Hosta Mill

I am going to link you to one of many threads on this forum with info concerning registry cleaners. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/comphelp/msg0115134014907.html?13 If you search the forum you will find more. I personally never advise the use of any type of registry cleaner period unless done by a registry specialist.

Today we cannot simply click to download and install programs because so many companies allow other things to be piggybacked in for a fee. During the install we now need to carefully view each screen where choices are available to ensure we not not have the situation you have found yourself in. AVG itself is good, no problem there. To get rid of the Google toolbar click on an open areas on the top toolbars and in the drop down menu you should be able to remove the check mark beside Google. Regarding the critical files you had listed you could download and install Superantispyware, update the definitions and run a full scan. Be sure to click on the blue button for the free version, not the green free trial version. This is an excellent program. You could/should also do a free online scan at Housecall or a similar site if you have a favourite. If this happened very recently you might consider using the System Restore feature on your computer and go back to a date prior to these events. However you should still seriously consider doing the scans.

Well...is this about the GIVER or is it about the couple getting married? I don't know all that many young people well enough to give them a truly memorable item that I *know* they would enjoy. To be honest, I think it's about both. The woman who gave me the knife didn't know me at all. She picked out something she loved and hoped that I'd love it too. Could've just as easily worked out that I threw the knife in the trash of course, but the gift meant something to me specifically because of the thought behind it. She took some time to think, what do I love that a new bride might also appreciate? And then she made a point to tell me the thought behind the gift. That's not to say that every gift needs to be that special. I'm just saying how nice it is when it can be that special and that it's up to the giver to make it that special if they want to. But if you don't feel the need to, that's ok too. As far as the use of the word "greedy", I think it's all about perception. We preceive that a newlywed couple NEEDS dishes and towels and blenders, etc. But they don't NEED a honeymoon in an exotic spot. In reality, of course, even the dishes, towels and blenders are "wants" more than "needs". So maybe if they have those things already, or for whatever reason, don't want them, they are asking for their real "want", the honeymoon. But ultimately, the giver must decide what s/he is comfortable giving. As an example, a few years back, the son of a good friend was getting married. On their registry were a lot of (what I perceived to be) useless items. Warming socks and mood music cds and very expensive decorative items. Now, normally, who cares! If that's what they want, fine. But this couple was low on funds. Neither had great jobs, and they were still sort of struggling. I just could not bring myself to buy them something that would not help them establish a home. That was totally my opinion of course, but I'm plopping down my dollars and I want them well spent. I ended up giving them cash because, in my perception, that's what that couple needed more than anything else. I don't know how they spent it, so it could have been on totally silly stuff. But at least the gift was something *I* was comfortable giving.