It’s November 2018. I haven’t had my haircut since my last bad haircut from about 2 or 3 years ago. I really have never had a good haircut. Ever. I have never walked out of a salon appointment and said, “Wow!”, I look and feel fabulous! Never. Honestly, I’ve had so many bad haircuts as a woman, bad hair color jobs. My last bad haircut escapade was today at a curly hair specific salon in my area. I have frizzy hair at times, with some annoying fly always, and a slight wave. I asked for help with this. They said they could help. But they did nothing to help alleviate those issues. I brought pictures, asked what they thought would look best with my hair texture, density, diameter, face shape, lifestyle and the owner pointed to one said style. So I trusted her. I told them about my bad hair cut experiences and I was worried about getting another bad haircut. I told the trainee and the owner who is supposed to be the most experienced and best at what she does there. I told them what I did not want, what looked terrible on me in the past, where I wanted my bangs to fall (a swoop like choppy bang that was longer and fell below my eyebrows but not poking me in my eyes. You know half way between my brows and eyes. And not make them thin looking. And to give me layers that would give me the look of width at my cheekbones, to shorten the appearance of my long thin face. I got instead faux layers, that didn’t add width at all to my face, short thin wispy bangs that are a bit above my brows. She cut them way too short and said that she would do what I asked and have them fall longer between my brows and eyes. She suggested I get a straight across bang, cuz she thought it would look better(the owner said this, and did my bangs). She did not do what she said. She did the opposite of what I told her that I wanted. It’s called Anti-Listening. Or horrible customer service. Let’s just give our customers the opposite of what the asked for! She gave me the worst short ugly bangs that I told them not to give me. I hate my hair/haircut. I look so ugly now. I’m so upset that this happened to me again. I’ve never been to this salon before and got the trainee who they told me had 13 years as a stylist in a salon. Which was a lie. She just recently graduated from hair school and has only been in the field for a year and a half. I was definitely deceived. I would’ve never gone to her, if I knew this. She did basic stuff and the owner came over quite a bit telling her how to do this and that. I was wondering why a experienced stylist would need help with the most basic of cutting techniques.... and supposedly she was trained thoroughly in the techniques of the curly salon, as the urged me, that I could have utter confidence her abilities, still not knowing that she was inexperienced as a stylist. It was only until after I was getting my haircut by her, the trainee, that she wasn’t experienced really. I was like, Oh Shirt! WTF. Then, you would think the owner would be an awesome stylist and not butcher someone’s hair, let alone bangs. But she butchered my bangs. I look terrible. Then they wanted to take my picture of before and after. The before was fine. But the after pics my stylist took, were the most unflattering pics, that made my nose and eyes look, unflattering. I would not agree to them putting my face up on their site. Just the back of my hair. Ugh. How am I going to go out in public? They said to me, wow you look great! But they never asked me how I liked my hair. I was not happy. I felt depressed and was in shock. Then it came time to pay. $40. Then the tip. I hate the whole tip issue. I hate tipping. It’s stupid. It’s forced guilt. I was confused. They had the labels above the tips like this... Good(15%,), Great(20%), (Wow!(30 or 40%), Custom etc. I wasn’t sure what to do. I was afraid to do no tip, even in spite of my bad haircut experience. So I picked (Good-15%). The desk attendant asked me how I liked my cut, I just said the non committal thing, “I don’t know, I have to let it sink in”. I really wanted to say, I look like s**t. Thanks for making me want to cover my head with a paper bag! And the owner came up to me and asked if I remembered all the instructions about how to style my hair. I said yeah, the best I can remember. But nothing in asking how satisfied I was. She really didn’t care. And my stylist just said a lame goodbye and scoffed me off, like dandruff and moved onto her next client. Whatever. Then their bathroom was dimly lit, I could barely see in there and there wa nothing to dry my hands on, and barely any soap. This is supposed to be an upscale salon. And the bathroom was just bad. My face now looks longer and thinner than it did with my longer hair and not wider in the least. In whom can I trust with my hair? I think the reality is, No One. No matter what they say, no matter what you tell them, what pictures you bring, no matter what you emphatically tell them no to do to you, or do, they will do whatever they dang well please. And I don’t believe you can ever know until the damage has been done, what you will ultimately get in the end. It’s really unbelievable. What’s wrong with this world? I am so not wanting to step into another salon ever again, when you just can’t trust any stylist to give you a good cut/style. I honestly don’t know what to do. The only thing I can think of is just not get my haircut again. Cuz it just doesn’t end well. Sad.

Well hi, Jenn Codename: Danger! Didn't know we had anyone else from Nebraska posting on Rose Forum these days! Maybe I've been lucky to be planting in the warm spots in my yard, but I've found that even these temperatures in the 20's hasn't refrozen the ground (yet). Supposedly we're going to crawl out of the 30's by tomorrow but I'll believe it when I see it, as the forecast today said 40's and it's not even close (brrrr). If you ever want to join in on a bulk order from Roses Unlimited, I do a bulk order with them every year that saves a percentage off both the roses as well as shipping. You're welcome to order however many you'd like in that shipment from RU and then come down to Lincoln to pick them up. It's too late for this year, but think about it for next year if you're interested. Cynthia

This week in NYC, we are reenacting Noah's flood. Pouring hard rain and lightning every day. Gardeners know, it's either feast or famine! For your prolonged dry spell, I can heartily recommend a soaker hose or drip irrigation system. You can make them of PVC tubing, regular garden hoses, buy commercially made drip or soaker hose, etc. I am in the process of installing a soaker hose I crafted myself from regular garden hose, using a drill, a miter box/saw to cut sections, and various plastic tee connectors, hose clamps, etc. The irony is, I can't complete my installation of my soaker hose because it's pouring every day!

agmss15, And the bread selection? Naan. Toasted sliced bread competes with the crispiness of the bacon and lettuce. Yes, I grow plenty of garden lettuces. With lots of rain this year, no dirt and no bugs on the lettuces. OutsidePlaying, " ----Love my Lemon Boys (yellow) tomatoes and Cherokee Carbon. ----" Two of my favorites. carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b, "------Do I spy some mizuna greens too?" Ha! indeed, mizuna. Wonderful salad green. surprised that it is more popular. HU-144972567, "----I buy the baby kale or arugula in the "triple washed" containers. Wish I could grow my own." I am very lucky. I have a setup to grow indoors, even when it's freezing out I can still pick my own. jane__ny, "----- How did you cook that bacon!! It looks perfect." I sandwich the bacon between two cooling racks, and bake at an angle in the oven at low heat to render and drain a lot of the fat away, then high heat to crispy up the bacon. Rotate the racks a few times to make sure the heating is even. You do need a pan with water to catch all the fat. matthias_lang, I also grow German Giant. I love half dehydrated tomatoes in a BLT and in salad making. bragu_DSM 5 on pita bread ... good n messy! I like naan bread. Same basic idea. arcy_gw "Sure looks beautiful but seems like you took a very fast/easy/simple meal and turned it into work!!----" Guilty as charged. But 1/2 lb of bacon on one BLT is worth the effort, Ha! dcarch