Martin, I have smoked (exclusively) Cuban cigars since 1995, and I can say without doubt (and there is no bias coming from the "mystique" or taboo of Cuban cigars being "illegal") that their tobacco is definitely the best. If they could just keep good rollers making them it would be cigar utopia (since the "cigar boom" of the 90's Cuban cigars have been plagued with poor and/or inconsistent construction). However, when they get enough experience the rollers hop a boat and make their way to Nicarauga, Honduras or the Dominican Republic where they can earn more money. Anyway, I digress. They have been growing "Cuban seed" tobacco in these other countries for decades, and it still isn't as good. I believe the superior quality of Cuban tobacco is the result of a combination of climate, soil, and having grown the same strains of tobacco for decades or, in some cases, for millenia. I don't know what this has to do with DNA or much less, figs, but you mentioned something that is another of my passions, so there you go :)

I don't leave the cuttings in the bleach solution for very long - a few seconds to a minute or so is adequate, I think. I believe that the anti-fungal effect comes from the dried residue of the sodium hypochlorite that remains on the cuttings. I don't want any of the solution to soak into the wood itself. Although I don't have any firm evidence, intimate contact with bleach can't be good for living plant cells! I set the dipped cuttings on paper towels to drip dry. Leon, whose methods I respect, after dipping and drying his cuttings, wraps them in saran wrap and stores them in the crisper section of the refrigerator at just above freezing or in a wine cooler that is just under 50 degrees F. It is very important not to freeze the cuttings! After treating the cuttings, I store my cuttings in zip-lock freezer bags in the vegetable bin of the refrigerator. Luckily, my wife Tina is tolerant of my fig germplasm hobby! Cuttings stored in this way will sometimes sprout after a year or more, although it is not advisable to hold them that long. Xon 2000: Some extra words of advice to your father-in-law regarding preserving the tomatoes. Be sure that none of the tomatoes you put in are spoiled. Put the tomatoes in the 9/1 bleach bath for about 1 minute, then drip dry as you would with the fig cuttings. Once they are well dried, place a layer of the tomatoes (none of the tomatoes should quite touch each other)in the bottom of a cardboard box. (Air circulation is important and a few holes in the box is good.) After putting down the first layer of tomatoes, place a sheet of newspaper over the tomatoes, then repeat the process until there are 4 or 5 layers of tomatoes in the box. Periodically check the tomatoes and remove any ripened or spoiled fruit. Keep the box in a cool location. My father in Alabama gathers a number of boxes of green tomatoes just before the first hard freeze and often has tomatoes into January. Interestingly, a Vietnamese friend of mine who is 83 years old tells me that his family used this method (bleach bath) many years ago in Vietnam to preserve tomatoes for storage and shipment. Sorry for the slighly off-topic comment, but the effectiveness of the technique for preserving tomatoes is additional evidence for its use on fig cuttings! Joe Hood

DO NOT use a standard pinkish color pencil eraser on your cabs. They leave marks and sometimes streaks. If you're going to try it, at least try it in an inconspicuous location, like the inside of a door. Try the kneaded grey artists erasers if you're going to use a regular eraser. They are designed for delicate jobs and are the least likely to leave marks. That said, if I didn't live with an artist and have lots of those erasers floating around, I would turn to Goof Off. That stuff is fan-freakin'-tastic. And never causes damage. BTW -- in the same vein, if you ever have paint that has gotten onto things that shouldn't be painted (for instance, drips on your hardware, faucets, etc., I highly recommend a product called Painter's Pal. They used to carry it at Home Depot, but I haven't seen it there in a while. I'm a sloppy painter (because I hate taking the time to prep first, bad, I know) and this stuff really saved my behind in several rooms.

So glad that the OP posted and that everyone else commented. Am just at the beginning of a huge remodel. My first. In the past I've only bought houses that were "ready to go" or "good enough" and did not even imagine that I would be able to go to the fabricators and "OK" the slab before cutting. This lurking on websites is part of my research, so thanks to all who gave me some good stuff to read and learn. I have put "see slab at fabricators" in my "countertop" file front-and-center to make sure I don't forget to do that, whether I purchase quartz or granite. This is extremely helpful information for newbies. FWIW--the blob was hideous, mostly because it was not conforming to the rest of the counter top pattern. Blobs in other patterns/styles look "fine" because the slab is full of them...and that is the POINT of that particular slab. not with this one though...it was not conforming in size or frequency.