Clara - Looks like you are certainly pumping out the lumens, and plants look happy. Two questions to ponder though: at $45 a pop, these 85W CFLs + fixture are well-beyond chump change, at least for me. At some point, it must make sense to switch over to a HID lighting system. A ceiling mounted 1000W HPS, for example, would probably irradiate a good portion of your grow space, and they can't be more than a couple of hundred bucks. Second, the size of those 85W CFLs in the HD brooder lamp seems to ensure a lot of wasted lumens, and they stick out so far, a strip of Al-foil won't do much. As someone previously said, those gigantic CFLs seem much better suited to horizontal mounting in a "wing" or "half-tube" style fixture. I think the same poster described making a simple one with a double-ended screw-in socket, 8' heating duct cut in two lengthwise, and a couple of sheet metal screws. That said, the brooder lamps _are_ very flexible in their placement. Personally, I don't exceed a 55W bulb (linked below) in this fixture because, as you pointed out, I don't like my retinas fried just walking around the room. Nice thing about this particular 55W is the squat design that just about fits inside the 10.5" hemisphere. And not too shabby at 3600 lumens and $16. Here is a link that might be useful: fat 55W CFL

Um, now who's being the noisy neighbor? She's scaring your children by slamming things downstairs. Did you mention that? I'm w/ moonshadow, don't worry about her plates anymore. Now do not EVER bring up your kids, and the floors, and the noise, with her again. I live in an apt. bldg w/ thinnish floors (thick walls, thinnish floors). I hear my downstair's neighbors music from time to time--not loud, but I can tell it's there. I can hear the floor creak when my neighbor walks. if she puts together furniture, it's loud. But it doesn't impinge on my life, BECAUSE I IGNORE IT. it doesn't even register--you could ask me 1/2 hour later if I heard the music, and I'll tell you no. I heard it; I just didn't remember it. But-- I can't ignore it if someone talks about it. I hate when my dad comes to visit, bcs he's always commenting, "Oh, someone's using the elevator" (it opens into the apt., so you hear it faintly when it goes past). "Oh, your neighbor's walking around." So then when he TALKS about it, I notice the noise suddenly. And remember it. I get really crabb with him. I've even said to him, "You are not to mention that noise--you must not talk about it. My neighbors and I live in peace by agreeing not to notice, and I can't do that with you commenting all the time!" And on the same lines, what you've done is train yourself and your neighbor to only talk about noise--which means you both notice it. So stop. Never talk about noise w/ her again. if she brings it up, change the subject as fast as you can. Talk about the weather. Or flat-out say, "I find that it's easier to cope with the noise of the people who live around me if I just don't dwell on it. So I hate to talk about it. See you!" Right now your relationship w/ her is ONLY about noise. It needs to be less about that and more about the weather and which grocery stores has the best prices on chicken. You're a considerate person; your kids will never jump repeatedly over her head for hours on end. So if they jump 3x before you can stop them, she can deal. In a way, this is good, this last incident w/ her. Her scaring your child by slamming so much is YOUR out. At least your noise isn't hostile and frightening, and it doesn't happen for a long period of time. And a biggie here--it wasn't deliberately being created by a grownup. If your kids jump off the sofa while playing pirate, before you catch them, they're not intentionally making noise for the purpose of making noise, and neither are you. But she WAS!! Relax now. Just live. Stop them from running, don't let them jump off the sofa, and don't worry about it.

True story. Many years ago, my father made his own wine which could be VERY potent. I was an alter boy and at one of the masses, the priest was having a fit as somehow they had run out of wine, and this being a Sunday, no stores that sold wine were open. He remembered my father made his wine and called and asked mom if she could bring just enough for the service. Mom warned him NOT to gulp it all down as usual but to sip it. Did he listen? Nope, slugged it all down (and the chalice was at least 1/4 to 1/2 full) and by the end of the mass, he was feeling no pain. He ended up his sermon by leaning on the podium, started off by saying "Now I want to tell you people something" and continued on till he finished up with "O.K. all done now, God Bless you and go home". He stumbled off the alter platform and went to change out of his vestments while I ran back to help him. All the while he kept telling me how warm the room was and wondered why he was so woozy. The Monsignor started to give him what for until mom explained what had happened. Monsignor made sure from that moment on that Mogan David was always on hand. The people talked about that incident for years after.

Things not looking great again. Yesterday we discovered that 2 of our 3 new Totos arrived broken. I guess it's not that big a deal as they will be replaced, but now we have to wait again for new ones. We had a meeting with the GC on Tuesday night to discuss how things are going. It didn't go well. He says that I am nice to the whole crew, but not to him and that's why he barely comes to the house. He said the whole crew had noticed 'how I treat him' and that in 10 years of business he has never had this problem before. So now I feel uncomfortable in my own home. Now I'm wondering if it's me that's the problem. He called the following day to apologize for how he spoke to me, but I really don't much want to talk to him at all any more. He is asking us to eat a lot of extra expense (including most of the $940 Home Depot bill) because of all the 'extras' he has done including 'thousands' in additional plumbing work for free (?). He says we can go over the contract again but it will end up costing us thousands because he will charge for all the extras he's done. We appear to now be paying for wiring and other items I had no idea would be on the list. I thought he was paying for behind the walls stuff and we were paying for the 'pretty' stuff (including paint, but wiring??). My husband has stepped in to talk to him and yet I don't feel satisfied with that arrangement either. GC was meant to go to Home Depot for $80 worth of unidentified stuff (paid for by us) and when the Home Depot person called for our cc number (which GC no longer has) it was for $175. For 'wiring and boxes'. Huh? The problem is I just don't trust him and I guess the GC feels that and is (understandably) offended by it. But when we ask for receipts he flashes them at us and then says he needs them back. It's like the Hone Depot receipt debacle all over again. But we DO have extra issues that SHOULD be resulting in extra charges - the problem is getting numbers out of him for the extra issues is tough. So our sunroom leak issues and retiling (over the existing) bathroom floor are costing an additional $2400 on top of the $940 which he owed us from the Home Depot thing, but we didn't know that until he's ripped out carpeting and the place is a disgusting mess and we have no choice really but to do the work. I just wish he would tell us what this stuff would cost before starting it! I don't know what to do at this point. I feel like every time we question something he has a million explanations and excuses which never really tell you anything. He talks a mile a minute and you can't get a word in edgewise. I know we should be paying for the unexpected stuff, but the way it happens is so backwards and confusing to me and I end up wondering what is going on. Why for example have we paid $500 for insulation product as part of the contract as well as $814 in insulation as part of that Home Depot bill (that's NOT part of his $940 building materials which was all dry wall) and yet he says the remainder of the insulation in rolls downstairs isn't ours. It's his? He says we have to eat the $500 for insulation that was in the contract because he underbid the installation part of insulating and because we owe him so muc for the extra plumbing (which he hadn't mentioned before and we thought was included). Another example. He ran wiring for the baby's room high hats and ceiling fan. Told me the switch was slightly off center and not to straighten it or it might short. A couple of days later it stopped working. He says it's a coincidence and the wiring must have been 'chewed by rats or squirrels' and that it's an unforeseen issue. this seems like a remarkable coincidence to me. I thought if we contracted that he was installing 4 recessed lights and a fan, that meant they should work? The house has a newer panel with a ton of electric amps, but I guess that doesn't mean no problems. Maybe we're being unreasonable in our expectations. Apparently most people around here tell him to go ahead and fix unforeseen issues and just send them a bill. It's very possible as there's a lot of money around here. But we would like to know what things will cost in advance. He seems to take this as a personal insult. :( DH thinks he's on cocaine. I would not be surprised. I am exhausted and this has turned into a book. Sorry. Just needed to vent again.