I voted absentee in person some time ago, because I was an election officer in the Central Absentee Precinct (CAP), processing absentee ballots that are mailed in. Ballots received by mail need the voter's signature and witness signature (witness that the person who is supposed to vote that ballot is that person, not witnessing the vote). Missing either is what is known in my state as a material omission. and is cause for rejecting the ballot. It's sad that folks who have taken the time to apply for an absentee ballot and actually voted and returned their ballot in time, still didn't get their vote to count because they neglected to follow the instructions. Each year that I work in the CAP I discover some problems that could be avoided if people were more informed about their rights and the process. For one example, the Post Office does not forward mail from the Office of Elections, so, for example, if you are a student away at school and you have your mail forwarded from your home address to your school address, and you have your absentee ballot sent to your home address (maybe at the time you apply you don't know your address at school), you'll never get the absentee ballot; it will be marked as undeliverable by the Post Office and returned to the Office of Elections. The easy fix for this would be to note on the absentee ballot application that the Post Office will not forward absentee ballots. But does the ballot application say so? No.

Well, I don't post often but the topic of "helpful hints" got me interested. As I read along, the subject turned into "disciplining children". So.... first, here's my helpful hint. Instead of using baking soda to remove odors in the refrigerator, use activated carbon (or activated charcoal). You can purchase them in the pet/aquarium isle of the store. It is the same product using in fish tank filtering. It's non-toxic, inexpensive and absorbs odors well. Plus, it lasts a long long time. Just put some in a small open container and leave it in the refrigerator to do its job. You can find more information online with this method. 2nd: Funny how the topic of disciplining children kept coming up. I've been troubled with how my older brother and his wife not disciplining his 5-year old kid. The parents simply don't have enough patience to do so and blame it all on the kid for being too young still to discipline. Can you hear me screaming "arrrgh!"... Well, I'm the younger sibling with no children of my own; so, in their eyes, I just don't know how to raise kids. Thus, I have no say so in the matter. Yet, I was voted by my other nephews and niece as a great parent to them as they were growing up (they're in their 30's now). They all told me that I would be a great parent if I had my own children too. Anyway, the past few months, I've been hooked on watching this Korean reality show on YouTube. Btw, I don't normally watch reality shows but this one, I really like it because it has alot of meanings and great family values. It's called "The Return of Superman"; ah, don't let the title mislead you. A few families are picked to be on the show. The father of each family is challenged to take care of his kids for 48 hours without the mother. At first, these fathers were inexperience of how to take care of their own kids alone but soon they became the "Superman" of their kids. There's a father with twins and in later episodes, a father with triplets. It's a fun, cute, moving, and meaningful show to watch. Importantly, you will see what happens when parents don't discipline kids and what happens when they do. If you do decide to watch it, notice how young these kids/babies are. Oh yeah, I don't speak nor understand the Korean language neither. The show has English subtitles. I do encourage you to watch it. Another thing that surprised me while watching this show was how much US influence impacted Korean lifestyle and language. I gathered it is so due to how the US was involved in the Korean War. Here's the official YouTube channel, KBS World, that airs this reality show. Episode 1 was aired in December 2013 in Korea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veFdtxdsEG0&index=87&list=PLMf7VY8La5RFIeOyIZ5IOm68WVb7c2dyT List of episodes 1 - 90, #90 as being the latest episode. The show is still ongoing. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMf7VY8La5RFIeOyIZ5IOm68WVb7c2dyT

Ralph, is that guy hardy? I forgot.. As for getting to the exchange, I was surprised at how difficult it is to find it from main page. I just use these existing threads that have emails about, and go to the top and click the "Carolina Garden Exchange" button, and it brings me to it. Though I did finally find it from main page... (if not for this question I wouldn't have spent time to look, because got irritated before at being unable to find it, but found it easier this time for some reason) Go to the Stories and Advice and choose Gardenweb Discussions: Then go to the side bar and click Exchanges and Trading: That will bring you to a list of all the exchanges and can choose Carolina Exchange from there.

Wow, that is a great photo Iris!! The Tiger Swallowtail always reminds me of my childhood in the rolling hills and forests of northern Mississippi. Lots of Sassafras grew in those woods. I'm wondering if Sassafras can grow in Zone 9b? Some say only to 9a and others all the way to Mexico. I'm raising lots of Zebra Longwings. They like to lay their eggs on the Corky Stem passion vine probably because it's in a shady area, where the Maypop passion vines are in more sun. The Gulf Fritillary love the Maypop. When I was young, the grandfather of my friend raised watermelons as a side crop. Maypop vines loved growing in that melon field. We loved stomping the Maypop fruit and hearing the "pop" and spraying each other with seeds. Papa Carver didn't appreciate us seeding more maypops in his melon patch. :) Anna