1. Feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash. 2. Use the statement "sun break" and know what it means. 3. Know more than 10 ways to order coffee. 4. Know more people who own boats than air conditioners. 5. Feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant. 6. Stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal. 7. Consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it's not a real mountain. 8. Can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, and Veneto's (and you're never more than 2 blocks from one when in town.) 9. Know the difference between Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon. 10. Know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon, and Willamette. 11. Consider swimming an indoor sport, or is not a sport but a survival skill to prevent boating deaths. 12. Can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai food. 13. In winter, go to work in the dark and come home in the dark-while only working eight-hour days. 14. Never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho. 15. Are not fazed by "Today's forecast: showers followed by rain," and "Tomorrow's forecast: rain followed by showers." 16. You can't wait for a day with "showers and sun breaks." 17. Have no concept of humidity without precipitation. 18. Know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind. 19. Can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you can't see through the cloud cover. 20. Say "the mountain is out" when it's a pretty day and you can actually see it. 21. Put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boots and parka. 22. Switch to your sandals when it gets above 60, but keep the socks on. 23. Have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain. 24. Think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists. 25. Knew immediately that the view out Frasier's window was fake. 26. Buy new sunglasses every year, because you can't find the old ones after such a long time. 27. Your idea of a traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway. 28. "Vacation" means going to Portland for the weekend. 29. You measure distance in hours. 30. Know at least eight people who work for companies that manufacture computer parts, airplanes, or athletic shoes. 31. Return from a California vacation depressed because "all the grass was dead." 32. Take a half day every July 1 to find your sunglasses and sunscreen. 33. Remember the date, severity, time of day, where you were, and how long you were out of power and phone service for every winter-weather event in the last five years. 34. Have ever called your insurance agent to ask if your homeowners policy covers falling trees, flooding, or mud slides or if the number of your favorite roofing company is on your phoneÂs "speed-dial" list. 35. Find a wallet with $500 in it, return it all to the owner and refuse a reward. 36. Used to live somewhere else. 37. Own more than 10 articles of clothing that have the names of microbrewries/brewpubs printed on them. Bonus for embroidery. 38. Wave at people who drive Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles like yours. Basically, you just drive down the road waving. 39. Think downtown is "scary" because you were panhandled there once. 40. You are sitting at a downtown red light. The light turns green and the car in front of you does not move. You do not honk. After two more light changes, you approach the driver to ask if they need any assistance. 41. You look in your closet to get dressed and you are stumped on whether to put on your fleece vest, fleece pants, or just go for the fleece jacket. Then youÂre stuck when you decide for the jacket and are confused on which of your six colors you should choose. 42. You use a down comforter in the summer. 43. Your grandparents drive 65 mph through 2 feet of water during a raging rainstorm without flinching. 44. You see people wearing camouflage at social events. 45. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked. 46. You think of the major food groups as elk meat, deer, fish, and berries. 47. You carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them. 48. There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at the BiMart store at any given time. 49. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat. 50. Driving is better in the winter because almost everybody stays home. 51. You know all the important seasons: Almost winter, Winter, Still raining, Road construction, Deer season, and Elk season.

All in unison... "Hi, Julie!" "The coffee is over there... by the plate of stale cookies. Welcome to our 12 step program!" ;-) Denial is not just a river in Egypt... it's the state most of us are in after about our 2nd or 3rd season of ordering and collecting Hippeastrum bulbs. It's an addiction, an obsession, and we quickly find ourselves at a disadvantage, our potted hybrid specimens vying for enough light and space, and we often resort to growing and blooming them in group sequences, forcing dormancy on a selected number while another number of bulbs comes into bloom. We might actually designate a portion of our refrigerators to bulbs only, or invest in a second unit we keep out in the garage, clearly labeled with signage of its only contents. Or, we find ourselves investing in artificial lighting, shelving units, or heated greenhouse setups. And many of us secretly wish we could pick up and move far enough south to take advantage of gardening zones, and the ability to grow our bulbs directly in the gardens! We must ask ourselves... how many Red Lions do we really need? How many Minervas or Star of Hollands can we possibly justify buying? Are we running more of a bulb rescue than a hobby growing experience? Once we begin pollination and seed collection and sprouting, we know we've crossed a threshold from which there is no return! If we branch out into the collection of any and all amaryllids, we are surely lost! And yet, there are surely other habits or addictions that are much worse, and we should count ourselves lucky we have embarked upon something of a tame, albeit rather expensive nature! When we find ourselves living in the midst of a bulb jungle, we know we are addicted... when we find ourselves torn between buying groceries and buying bulbs, we know we are addicted... and when we go out of our way for anything related to bulbs or the growing of bulbs, we know we are addicted. You'll excuse me, now... I'm in the middle of researching species lilies and a few other bulbed plants for garden additions next year. :-) "My name is Jodi, and I've been a bulb addict for longer than I can remember..."

"Aren't you supposed to leave the energy-saving, non-incandescent bulbs *on* for at least 10-15 minutes?" No. Fluorescent lights of any type should not be flipped on and off often, so they're not a good choice for blinking lights, but the have to leave it on for 15 min is basically another old wives' tale. That said, even incandescents generally last longer if you're not flipping them on and off. I have CFL in my bathroom, basement, garage, outdoors, even in the ceiling fan and are on and off a lot. I believe in turning off lights when you leave the room. I converted over about 15 years ago and have replaced a total of 2 or 3 bulbs.

I need to add something. When I'm done washing and drying, I line up the baffles in both the washer and dryer so they are either at a 12'oclock or 6'oclock position...like this. (so they look photo-ready) I used to do this with the top loaders agitator fins too.