Thank you, everyone! I forgot the second step of posting last night. This was my reply to Lindalou: No, it was not cold at all. Now I am hoping I don't get sick from what I already ate before I noticed the fridge problem. OR the swig of spoiled carrot juice that alerted me. Luckily there is very little immediately-perishable food in that fridge -- it is mostly seeds, lotions, produce, cheese, stuff like that. Oh, dang, the figs are probably moldy. >Some food borne illnesses can take weeks to incubate in your gut. Can you tell me more about these, so I know what to watch out for? Or just names and I can google :). -- After I went to bed, I remembered I had also eaten fish oil and clam juice out of there. Scary! I had some kind of histamine response last night -- burning pain all over-- which decreased some when I took a prescription dose anti-inflammatory. It's still with me now, though. The pain kept me awake most of the night. It's like what I get when I eat gluten, but without the other symptoms. But there was no gluten. My immune system just does not like something in that stew of microbial toxins I ingested with my meals yesterday :/. No barfing or other GI stuff though, which I guess is good. Today's project: Throw out, clean out, move frozen foods out, thaw fridge overnight and see if that cures it or if I need a new fridge.

SJP, Don't dread.....is there anyone in your area that sells a heat matt for plants? If not look them up online....It is the HEAT that makes them root...The warmer the soil temp, the faster it will root. If you are not interested in using a heat matt, then take your cutting indoors since it is getting cooler out, it stick it in the sunnniest window you have. If your cutting is in dark colored pot, the sun will heat the pot up which in turn will heat your soil. Just keep your cutting warm with lots of lite ok...It will do fine... I would not water it though. Don't let any water touch your cutting unless you know for sure you have roots. Water at edge of pot instead if your soil is bone dry ok. Mike

Depending on the hotel you will surely have a room service menu available at all hours of the day, especially in a business hotel. Remember too that the midday meal in Spain is the main one, usually from 1 to 4 pm with supper starting around 8 pm until 11 or midnight. Also most hotels have a bar where snack foods are available at all hours...toasted ham & cheese sandwiches, bocadillos de jamon (ham in a baguette), fruit, juices, coffee and drinks. South of Spain is known for having wonderful almonds and dates which you should be able to buy in the airport when you arrive. Cheese and crackers make a good snack. Try and buy some Manchego semi-curado (semi-cured) cheese once you're there and don't forget to pack a little cutting board and cheese knife. The crackers we see here are usually non-salted and come from England, called cream crackers, but a nice Spanish cracker is called TUC, which are salted and small like saltines. Tins of olives are readily available if you like them. Bring a can opener in case you come across tins that don't open with a tab pull. Hazlenuts, called avellanas, are also seen a lot in Spain. I hope you have a good trip and enjoy your stay! SharonCb

Try this--it's what I always do with crusty Italian rolls. I leave them in the brown paper bag that the bakery uses for them, and I put the whole thing (rolls and brown paper bag) into a plastic grocery bag and tie it shut. It's the best of both worlds, I find. The brown bag absorbs any excess moisture, so your rolls don't get soggy, the plastic one keeps out the air that makes them go stale. I've found that the fresh rolls I buy at the local place (and I do mean fresh, you catch them, juggling the firey hot rolls, as they come off the conveyer belt from the oven--can't get fresher than that) fresh for days, but in brown paper, they last only one day.