Depends on how much of a specialist you want to be and how much room you have. If you collect Cattleya intermedia you might end up with many more than five plants because there are different varieties. If you are serious about them you might want to have enough plants so that you have enough in bloom to have a few for the show season to catch a show with plant with the blooms in pristine condition. Nice to see them flower and keep the best and discard the rest. But if you are pressed for room, i suppose you should keep the most vigorous one(s) and sell the rest. You have to be lucky to strike the jackpot buying one of this, one of that, far better to buy 10 or so of the one type, improves your chances. Have to do some culling of the Cattleya intermedia collection in spring, have run out of room.

To the OP - the reason you never found the sharpening steel very effective is because a steel does not sharpen, it hones; there's a difference, and its simple and important to remember. Basically, the edge of a knife is very very thin. German knives, in particular, use *relatively* soft metal in their blades (compared to modern Japanese knives, especially). Just in normal use, the edge deforms on a microscopic level, interfering with cutting ability...when you hone using a steel, you are essentially bending the edge back into shape. You are not, however, removing any metal at all. You should hone often. Doing it everytime you start a job is not too often. If you do this, you will maintain your initial sharpness much much longer. Note that on many of the manual pull-through systems, and some electric, the "final" sharpening level is actually a honing level, so you can use that instead. Note also that "diamond steels" are a different beast entirely; they are much more abrasive, and are best treated as true sharpeners. Regardless of how often and religiously you hone, however, at a certain point the edge will still get dull...and at that point, you need to sharpen by actually removing some metal to reshape and sharpen the edge. To do this, you need something more abrasive than a steel - a diamond rod, ceramic rods, stones, a mechanical sharpener, etc. Practically speaking, this is something you probably only *have* to do once or maybe twice a year. Learning to use sharpening stones is relatively easy, and they can be relatively affordable, but it does take some commitment and a bit of practice to be able to hold the correct angle. The systems like the the EdgePro and Wicked Edge get you the same results consistently without requiring as much user skill/commitment, but they are a bit expensive initially. For a cheaper option that still requires less commitment/skill than flat stones, and is very well reviewed, you might look at the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker. Note, however, that all of these methods take a while to use - they aren't a quick 5 minute task. The electric sharpeners are quicker and have almost no learning curve. The downside is they are harder on your knives (removing more metal more quickly), and the edges they produce are serviceable but not at the same level a skilled manual sharpener can achieve. For many people, the tradeoff is worth it. Do you live close to a Williams Sonoma? I believe they are currently offering to sharpen one knife free, with an electric sharpener (Chef's Choice, I think) on Saturdays. I would recommend you take one in to them and get a hand's on demonstration, and then you will have an actual edge on your own knife to test with. If possible, I would also take another of your knives to a good professional hand sharpener (will probably cost between $1 an $2 per inch). Then, I would see whether the difference is worth it, to you. I'd also second the recommendation for the "An Edge in the Kitchen" book. There is also a book you can get a Sur la Table called "Knives Cooks Love" which is a good overview and is currently on sale for $4.99.

I'm late for your party, but when I have hamburger and want a hurry-up dinner, I'll fall back on hamburger french dips. Lightly butter and warm the rolls while cooking the patties, shape them depending on the size of your chosen bread. Packaged au jus mixed with water and simmered a few minutes while the hamburger cooks... If you serve with steak style fries, bet those teenage boys will be dipping the fries in the au jus too :)

I discovered how handy Press 'n Seal is when I painted the exterior of my house last year! I agree ... I will never be without it when painting again. I use it to cover the paint cans during the painting process to keep the paint from drying out or getting dust in it; much easier than removing the paint lid each time I refill my roller tray. These quick drying paints can get tacky quickly when exposed to air. If you need to take a break during painting, cover your roller tray to keep the paint from drying out. When I'm done with the project and store my paint cans, I cover the lids with Press n Seal to keep dust and dirt from accumulating on the tops of the cans when stored in the garage (I hate when the dirt falls into the paint when I re-open the lid).