No, it is not hard to believe. Not made anymore, diminishing availability--people start start salivating, actually, some start panicing. I have four 10550s, two in service and two in the box mint in my basement. I watched the escalading prices and demand for two cycle lawnboys with great interest. The dealer where I bought my last 10550 said he could kick himself for nor stocking up big time when he had the chance. He said he wished he had taken out a loan to buy thousands. He remonstrates against himself every day for not having more foresight. According to him he gets calls constantly from people looking excluisively for two cycle lawnboys. The fact is there are a lot of people who know of these machines and want them. They have been generally available, but now are drying up as this summer passes. So, consumers are just now really becoming aware that the day of two cycle lawnboy productions is over. I bought two extra to cover my mowing needs in the future, however, I am now rethinking. I think next summer the 10550 will easily fetch double the current retail and possibly triple. I live in Loudoun county, Virginia. The fastest growing in the nation and certainly one of the richest. I am not trying to impress anybody, believe me,I was a career government worker so you know I am not at the top of the heap. The facts are though, there are many, many, many people (not ZILLIONS, but you know what I mean)that will pay 800 dollars or more for a 500 dollar lawnmower and think nothing of it if it is what they want. I am seriously considering picking up a few more 10550s (or as many as I can) for future resale before the retail market finally expires. I don't think anyone who does likewise will lose money.

George, you were warmer there than here in Georgia. We made it to 70 one day. It has been beautiful here and we are happy the weather is great for the Extreme Home Makeover folks in Rossville. It is unbelievable what those folks can get done in a week. A heads up for the Sandhill Cranes, George, I saw a flock flying over the house last Friday. Spring is on it's way. I love it!!!!!

"The Worst Hard Time" is one of my favorite books. I reread it about once a year, particularly when the summer is hot and dry and I am feeling sorry for myself and my garden. Reading that book puts the current weather into historical perspective for me, because as hard as times may get now, it is nothing compared to what the folks faced during those years. The story of the Dust Bowl years itself is not entirely new to me in a personal sense. My dad was born in 1919 and his family were subsistence farmers (my dad described his family as poor, white sharecroppers) who raised everything dryland just a short distance from the Red River, down in Montague County, TX. It was a hard, hard living and my dad used to tell stories of how hard they struggled just to raise enough food to survive. In the few photos they have from that time, they all look emaciated. I always thought Dad and his siblings were exaggerating when they talked about those years, at least until I read "The Worst Hard Time" and it backed up their stories of the struggle to survive. I remember that he and his siblings told us often that they were poor during the Dust Bowl years, but everyone else was poor too, so they didn't feel deprived or anything. They'd never know prosperous times themselves. My dad often said the second World War 'saved' his family from slow-but-sure starvation because it gave them a reason to leave the farm (he and his 6 brothers all entered the military) and make a different life for themselves in the post-war era. I have been told by some of the old-timers here that our property used to be fine farmland until the windstorms of the Dust Bowl years carried away several feet of topsoil. So, the red clay 'topsoil' I have to deal with is really what was once the red clay subsoil underneath fine, sandy loam that raised great cotton and melons. We do judge the weather by what we know and remember. I remember the 1960s anbd 1970s as being mild, wet years and we grew veggies, fruits, grasses, trees, flowers, etc. with so much less effort than it seems to require nowadays. Even the 1980s, with the exception of 1980, seem 'easy' to me in retrospect. I remember watering my yard and garden maybe once a week and just not having to worry about it drying up or burning up otherwise. I started having more trouble with the recurring droughts the last few years of the 1990s when we still lived in Texas and just after we moved here. Then, the 2000s arrived and since then it seems our dry years have outnumbered our wet years, and after each drought year, the land seems a bit slower to recover. We used to have lots of springs on our property, but I believe only 3 remain now. Some of the springs stopped running during drought years and never started running again. So far, the spring in our swamp has not started running again this year, leaving me to wonder if the swamp ever will be swampy again. The swamp has been sustained by our largest spring and I'd hate to think that one has dried up for good. Time will tell. I find the cycles of the earth and sun fascinating, and that includes sunspots and their effects on the earth's weather cycles. I would like to think 2011's drought is the worst one ever and that 2012's won't be worse, but only time will tell. I need a better garden plan for next summer because this year's drought just ate our lunch.

I, one have never seen an Iggie post so, what can I say. With regards to my advice nothing that hasn't been said by a manufacturer, HVAC training school or in the installation manual. When I wrote my response by the way it was at no time derogatory, just suggesting proper practices. With the info provided, should the homeowner become sick soon from a furnace problem, you are aware of the common precedent in the industry, last man to touch, no correction suggested or made. Because he is old and an old timer and put in grandpas furnace doesnÂt mean he is allowed a free pass to not perform a proper check. A lawyer would have a field day. With regards to his lack of concerns in my eyes as written by him on the oversized furnace and without properly checking it out (at least according to his post) as a former HVAC dist exec & manufacturers rep, I have given too many testimonies and dispositions regarding faulty installs and negligent service on behalf of customers or homeowners. Also being a past first responder, I had the opportunity to carry a few out of situations such as this, one with a sheet over their head. I think most reading back would agree that my post showed concern for lack of tech skills and would have been said by someone else unknowing who Iggie was. At no time did I act like an ass and you are showing your immaturity Mr HVAC and probable stupidity with such an abrasive response. Your helpful contributions are often just that then again at times I think you enjoy the games. Mr Iggie, I meant no harm only concern for what most would read as an inexperienced tech that doesnÂt have the tools or knowledge to check and correct a probable dangerous situation.