The metal will protect against the drying winds but not against the cold temperatures. Metal also prevents moisture from reaching the soil under the trash can. If you have big dogs, you may want to place a heavy rock/object on top to prevent toppling, especially if the trash can still has food odors that the pooches could detect.

I realized I never really updated everyone on my snagging issue. Well, I got the repair guys in last month, and they couldn't find anything wrong with the machines. I told them that I had filed down the spigot for the water for the steam in the dryer, and then they told me that I should come work for them! They were impressed with what I knew about the machines (thanks to this forum!). So it looks like I fixed the problem, and I haven't noticed any further snagging. So it looks like it was the water spigot thing in the dryer after all. I am now back to loving the machines and have also switched to Persil with some STPP, and my laundry has never been cleaner, softer, etc. Thanks everyone!

We've been to a few of the newer hotels....Cabo San Lucas for instance.....see...they offer specials where the almost completed hotel is FREE to get people in, start "word-of-mouth" and for a 3 day-2 night $300 flight and hotel room....in a never seen brand new hotel.....YAH....I'm going....my bags are packed! The chef can practice on me, get feedback... Stayed at one on the southern tip with several hanging pools off the cliffs....so gorgeous! I swear the fish had never seen people before! :0) lol Note: I was a travel agent for Cheap Tickets for 4 years and their top sellers got 2 free airline tickets every quarter(the tickets weren't good for Europe, unless you were in the top 3 & I never held that position for the whole quarter. :0( ). Of course all good things must come to an end...they sold us to Cendant travel and closed our office.

While the flooding caused severe devistation in particular areas, the shops in the downtown area of Wimberly remain open. It's a great destination for shopping, and keep in mind many of the shops are the livelihood for the people living there, and summer is high season. I was there about 2 weeks after the initial flooding, and only 2 of the shops were closed because of water damage, but they had huge fans running to dry things up. It wasn't from the river, but because of the amount of rain in the area and the ground being saturated, there was no place for excess water to run. This caused excessive water to puddle, and eventually flooded into a few of the shops. It's a cute little rustic village.