LOL .. ya Bonnie he will show up .. he is that stupid :o) He isnt looking at a few months in custody he is looking at maybe 5 - 7 years + +. I have yet to hear for the fool .. but its only a matter of time cuz he doesnt even have any clean underwear .. yuck. I got my new kid on the 5th. So far he isnt any problem at all. But he isnt in school yet so the expectations are pretty minimal. Tomorrow I am going to start tightening the screws :o) We are going to go the Humane Society in the morning (7:30 am) to volunteer. He needs to be doing something so why not work on his 40 community hours that he will need to graduate. I would have to say that the other foster parents in our program are a bit jelouse as my kids are hand picked just for me :o) My old social worker deals with all of the kids in the group homes so she knows me well and what type of kid would do well here. It works out great for me as they are usually an excellent fit so we have little issues :o) This kid is pretty explosive (so they tell me) but I have yet to see any behaviours .. you have to love the honeymoon period :o) He really likes all of the animals in our home which is a plus as the pets tend to defuse alot of the emotions a kid feels. Laura

weedmeister, nerdy -- thanks for trying to help. But now I'm lost! "Automatic" Dishwasher soap, like Cascade, is not at issue. Hand-dishwashing soap, like Dawn or Palmolive, is. I have an airgap in the usual place (corner; right in this case) on the sink. It is required by my code; it is there. All plumbing has passed code already here. I don't know what the deal with an 'absent vent' could be, but this is dh's random explanation for why what's happening is happening. And what's happening is this: when I pour palmolive onto a sponge and use that to wash a mug, say, bubbles get made. These bubbles then run down the sink drain. And then they almost immediately come out the airgap again. Water doesn't, just the poofed up palmolive-bubbles. Dishwasher soap, say Cascade, does not come out the airgap (no water with or without detergent does that I've seen, which is as I understand it, proper and normal). Here's the setup. The dishwasher and the sink are at right angles, a bit distant. The distance from the middle of the airgap to the (extended edge of the) right angle of the counter along which the dishwasher is set, is 50". The distance to the middle of the dishwasher from the (extended edge of the) right angle counter edge is 22". [that is, these measurements are straight, not on a diagonal]. Thus the hose stretching from DW to airgap is a little long I'm sure - it's been noted that this can cause problems. But I'm not sure whether it's relevant to much of anything anymore. I think cleaning in the DW is fine. But the bubbles-backup continues to happen. So I don't know whether this is indicative of some drainage problem. So I guess I get it about the knife-dishwasher problem: (1) vulnerable to whacking against hard objects during the DW run (2) heat causes susceptibility of blade and handle parting company and (3) chemistry of the soap can cause the blade to dull. Interestingly, it seems the cheap-o knives, which are harder to sharpen, might be all the more important to keep out of the DW. Unless they're cheap enough just to replace easily. As for the mugs, it may be more than physical etching, there may be chemical as well as heat-damage inflicted. So I may keep handwashing the nice stuff. Thanks, all, about the mugs and knifes damage issues. As for that airgap, I dunno ... does it matter? Is this a sentinel of a bigger problem, drainage or venting or otherwise? Or is it just ignorable? Thanks, all. Sorry that I was confusing.

NHB: The nerve of that woman. I cannot believe it! My kids have done a few garage sales too and it's amazing how many people like to take advantage of kids. I had people trying to make all kinds of deals with my kids and I finally had to tell a few people that they had priced things to sell (like 25 cents or $1 per item). It's why I mostly donate stuff to charity or resell myself on CL. Yesterday, I had arranged for a charity to pick up some stuff on my curb. They said to put out at 7AM with a tag on it which I did and by the time they arrived, my stuff was all taken. DH said probably they needed it, but still I felt like the stuff was stolen as it was not put out with a "free" sign on it, but a tag for a cancer charity and I felt just terrible when the truck arrived and my stuff was all gone. :( Stinkers!

So sorry about your knee, vicsgirl. I'll keep my fingers crossed for a speedy recovery. People don't usually need a knee replacement as a result of an injury.....that comes after many years of arthritis. Sprains are a painful stretched ligament of the knee. I had a fall several years ago and severely tore two of the ligaments in a knee! Three surgeries later, I was as good as new, still with my original knee. I was one who had no idea what you were talking about with the 'stupid tax' thing. I did get it about the whole key scenario, though. But I honestly think that you were not using that term properly when applied to your cat, or any other illness or accident. Don't hold our confusion against us. I hope that you'll visit here often.