I am so excited! I received 3 cards today! HECK YEAH! I spent another full day preparing my cards and seeds for others and am still going! :) Thank you to debby_1 for the cute santa cat card and the seeds! I got Oat Grass (never have tried that before! looking forward to sowing them!), red canna (I am starting a bulb farm this spring, so I am very excited to have new varieties!), and California Wonder Pepper (so happy you send these because I didn't get seeds from the ones I grew last year.) Thanks so much! I'm planting everything you sent this spring - love it all! Xiangirl sent an amazing handmade card loaded with seeds! She sent gaillardia Punchella (I only have one variety of blanket flower so I am super excited to try this new one!), Reed Grass (a grass I haven't tried or have heard of, and am very excited about!), Goldenrod (have never grown them but I've been wanting to try this!), Autumn Joy Sedum (I don't have this sedum yet! It looks gorgeous!), Milkweed (I LOVE this!) and Butterfly Weed (I have never grown this before but it looks gorgeous!). Thank you SO MUCH Heidi! You sent varieties that I didn't have but wanted to try and I am super excited to plant them all this spring! Last but certainly not least, I received a cute snowman/winter scene card from Ruby_dog! She included Ruby Star Echinacea (I only have purple and white, so I am EXTREMELY excited about this one!), Scabiosa 'Summer Berries Mix' (I LOVE LOVE LOVE these flowers. Can't wait to see what colors I get from the mix!), Jalapeno M Peppers (I love jalapenos - I pickle them, dry them, use them in endless recipes!), Watermelon 'Blacktail Mountain (have never grown these or have heard of them - extremely excited!), Butternut Squash 'Waltham' (I have so many uses for these as well!), and Okra 'Bowling Red' (I didn't even realize there was more than 2 varieties of okra. This is so cool!) Thank you so so so much ruby_dog! I love everything and you are so generous! Here is a link that might be useful: Secret Santa Swap 2012 continuation thread This post was edited by redthreaddiy on Wed, Dec 12, 12 at 16:44

Hello, You did very good in keeping the condenser for 20 years. It sounds like your system was installed correctly and did not work too hard during the hot months. This is important in helping equipment last longer. Todays Hype by highly advertized brands comes with a hidden cost. Lower quality equipment. Peace of mind may dictate you replacing the system now, but keep an open mind towards repair. IMO, the older equipment from the early 1980's is probably a better machine because this was before all of the cheapening of parts. Capacitors are not oil filled, which means they have a shorter life. Condenser motors are not built as well. Stuff that was originally designed for 20 years is now lasting 5-10 years. And needs repair every 2 years or so. Electronics in the system is expensive to repair. Once again IMO the older HVAC is less efficient but cheaper to operate. Newer equipment, to maintain the quoted ratings, requires larger line sets. Although fluid mechanics design has not changed in a hundred years, the newer systems need larger lines. What this means is the lines can deliver more fluid to the evaporator, and produce more cooling. Not a larger evaporator but more flow. This is a cost vs performance decision made by marketing. Shifting part of the cost of efficiency to the consumer installation rather than larger coil area and basic equipment costs. Kinda cheating on the price quoted to consumers. TRANE and other tier 1 companies are following in MAYTAG's footsteps in designing for shorter equipment life. Maytag eventally was forced to sell. They could not keep up with warrantee repairs. Typical marketing is still claiming 20 year life to explain the payback, but in reality the calculations are skewed. Rheem, York, ICP and all of the other second tier level manufacturers probably produce equipment closer to what TRANE claims they offer, but with a lower cost. Rheem has really cornered the gas modulating furnace market. The AC side is easily serviced. The units look good. Traditionally Goodman was a product that had zero quality control. Many units I installed in the 1980-1990's had a small problem. Never the same problem, but always a problem. This added time to installations. Very frusterating on a hot summer day. Goodman is the #2 manufacturer of HVAC in America. Goodman has much better Quality control today. One recent discussion was about how Goodman could meet 13 SEER without a TXV valve. No other company regularly does this. This means fewer mechanical parts that will go bad on a hot day. This $20 OEM cost part equates to about $100 less to the consumer. Adding a TXV valve increases AC efficiency and Goodman sells the upgrade part. The size of the condenser coil is larger than normal which allows this exceptionally good design. Kinda neat. I had a repair last summer on a air handler made by a small company in Dallas. 'First company" The unit did not have a schematic so I called them, hoping to get some help. They not only had a schematic, but it was tthe same design and even wire colors for more than 20 years. I was impressed. Then they told me they made product for York. I yawned on that claim. They then told ne they were a 100 million dollar company. This is not a billion dollar business, but something to be proud of. I would highly recommend thier airhandlers. They also make several models that also have hydronic and Freon coils built into the air handler, along with strip heat. The prices are very reasonable. This can allow preheating of hot water or hydronic floor heat. This is a sleeper product. The heating of floors in your climate area is very popular. Very neat IMO.

JJ, Renal failure is extremely common in elderly cats (and often in not-so-elderly cats). Unfortunately, it is as variable a disease as are the number of cats who endure it. There really are no "norms" where renal failure is concerned. There are cats who live for years after diagnosis, and there are cats who fail very quickly. The only thing you can "expect" with renal failure is the inevitable end. It is a terminal diagnosis. As lf mentioned, many of the symptoms of CRF are manageable. The keys to management of CRF are education and vigilant caretaking. You have already been given the URL to one CRF website, but the website which I consider to be the "CRF Bible" is linked below. If you spend as much time as possible reading through these sites, you will learn a tremendous amount about this disease, its associated ailments, and its management. There is nothing more important you can do for your cat right now than to educate yourself about CRF. To answer your questions, at-home subQ fluid administration is a critically important skill to acquire and practice. Your vet can and should teach you how to do the fluid administration, and the websites offer pictorial tutorials to reinforce the procedure and offer helpful tips that your vet might not mention. You'll probably find it a bit nerve-wracking at first, but you'll get the hang of it, and your cat will become more and more cooperative as you become more proficient. It really is a life-saving procedure that provides considerable health benefits to the CRF cat with negligible (if any) discomfort. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of CRF is that a cat's condition can change from day to day, sometimes hour to hour. A cat who is critically ill one day may rally to relative health the next ... or not. We CRF caretakers tend to hold out for the next rally because it's so difficult to tell when a bad day will turn around or when it really does mark the end. If your cat does require hospitalization at some point, you will just need to trust your instincts and your knowledge of your own cat to help you decide whether to give him a chance to rally or to let him go. I, too, have a cat who is in the early stages of CRF with slightly elevated BUN and CREA values. He's my fourth CRF cat, and I know that he could become critical at any moment, or he could live in reasonable health for years. I've been down this road before, so I know what to watch for. I'll be having bloodwork run on him every 3 mos or more frequently if he becomes symptomatic. When his brother developed renal failure a year ago, I couldn't get his condition stabilized and was having to run bloodwork every couple of weeks to keep up with his changing blood values and symptoms. Unfortunately, I lost Bitsy just 3 mos after diagnosis. My first CRF cat, though, lived quite happily for 4 yrs after diagnosis. That's how variable this disease can be. I know you must be feeling overwhelmed right now, and you'll probably feel even moreso once you start reading the CRF websites. Don't let all the info make you crazy. I had to read the same info many, many times before it sank in and stuck. Just remember that the more you know about this disease, the better you'll be able to manage your boy and keep him comfortable and reasonably healthy for as long as possible. I wish you and your cat the best, Laurie Here is a link that might be useful: Tanya's CRF Information website

Mine only get the rain, some of the fans rotted last year in the summer too. I would check the hole at the bottom of the pot is not blocked, shove a screwdriver of something similar in from the bottom. Maybe if you drench them with Champion copper at the recomended rate 1 tsp to a litre of water, that will help with the rot. Mine is about 10 years old and been in this pot for about 6-7 years. Have a look naturallynatives.co.nz may have some advice there I have only ever given it fert once, it is due to be repotted but I think I will have to smash the pot to get it out.