Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. His writing has brought pleasure and interest to several people in my own family -- my mother, my husband, and myself. We all read everything he wrote, and looked eagerly forward to each new novel. I heard an interview with him once. When he submitted his first novel to a publisher, he got back a comment that it was not a bad mystery story, but to ditch all that Indian stuff if he ever wanted to get published. Rosefolly

The shipping time is painfully long nowadays, so if the plant is not wrapped very tight and insulation is not up to the weather... the damage is unavoidable. Broken leaf or dead leaf - is not the reason to condemn the seller. If the plant is strong and healthy to start with - the loss of 2-3 leaves is not a big deal - and if you would think how the boxes are tumbled during shipping and sorting.. there is no surprise there will be some damage. BUT - seems that the general experience with this seller is not good, so just do not buy from them... If at least some leaves are still alive - try to revive them - wrap them in wet towel overnight - if they rehydrate - there is a good chance you can grow some babies. If we want a healthy large blooming plant for a gift - we can buy Optimara in a big box store. Why we shop elsewhere - is for a specific variety. So makes sense to invest time and TLC trying to coax some life out of whatever house salad we got. While still requesting full or partial refund.

My brother is quite the wine collector and has a huge wine cellar in his Culver City home which was stocked originally with his finds at Trader Joe's as far back as the 60's or perhaps earlier. I think he found TJs when he was getting his masters at Cal Tech and a whole group of his friends were into wine and the bargains that TJ offered in them. Decades later, we celebrated my sister's 70th birthday with a special wine my BIL had bought there and saved for a special occasion. The cork was crumbly, so the kitchen staff was involved in helping the wine staff open it, and we were the talk of the 5 Crowns Restaurant staff. The bottle was now worth $2000, and still affixed was the price tag from Trader Joe's, something less than $10, I don't remember exactly.

He's my favorite country singer. I've not forgotten him to need to remember him. In the 90s I plastered the office I worked in with his pictures and name. no one can whine out a song like Joe can. I had his CD before I had a CD player. He had the bluest eyes I've ever seen, bluer than the AZ sky on a clear sunny day. I have a huge sepia tone drawing of Joe that hung in a local country bar, over the jukebox. When the bar closed the owner gave the drawing to me. Joe's still my favorite country singer.