Fancifowl - RELAX! No harsh feelings between us Farmers, please! As for me, you can own as many rifles as you please! I trust you with that. And consider you to be a reasonible person, not one that shoots the paper boy every morning for trespassing, now do you?!? (Again: Just kidding you!) Seriously: It's not other peoples business to tell you what to do and what not to do. Period. As I layed out in my previous post: The toughest laws and rules will not help against peoples greed and stupidity. 'Disease control' is used as an excuse to force AnimalID through. The real reason behind it is: Take away farming from us Farmers. If they (Monsanto & others) get their patents through - then woe to us all!!!! This is just the beginning. Are we going to let that happen? Disease control again: Laws on it or not: In the end, all comes down to common sense. There will be always a chance your stock/flock gets hit. 'Cause sh*t happens. My first suggestion to keep diseases at bay: Provide the best environment, the healthiest food, fresh air, keep them out in the open whenever possible. Just care about them. Look after them - you will notice anything strange straight away. Rose PS: What about Earl Butz? Don't know a thing about him. PS: Fancifowl, please look into it: Go to www.greenpeace.com - search for 'Monsanto' and see what's coming up.

Okay. Sounds like you've been getting alot of misinformation and half truths. First, there's no such thing as a grout with the sealer built in. Many installers will try and tell you that about modified grouts which include latex polymers in the grouts, but that's bigtime false. The other, which is more of a half truth is concerning epoxies. Although there's no sealer built right in, sealer can not be used on epoxy grout, either, because it's actually a plastic, and as such, won't allow sealers to penetrate into the grout. However, it also doesn't NEED to be sealed being that by itself, it won't allow alot of the staining that normally occurs (although it also can't be said that it's stainproof-- that's also a mis-statement). Now, Many of your questions can be answered if you go to the top of the bathrooms forum list and click on the "gallery" link. I have a thread over there entitled Tile FAQ's. In there, I go into alot of detail concerning grouts and the choice thereof. One of the things I stress is my opinion that you're better off choosing medium to dark colors in high traffic areas, rather than depending on grout sealers, because the BEST that they'll do is delay the inevitable. With the medium to dark colors, you won't see traffic patterns, staining, or aging of the grout NEARLY as much. This also goes for epoxy grouts, with respect to choosing colors. One other thing I say in that thread, and this WOULD pertain to you-- For the most part, it's my opinion that the use of epoxy grouts in residential installations, although everything people say they are, are very high priced overkill. There are only two times where I feel the use of epoxy grout is justified. One is if you're doing a tile countertop, and the other is if you have pets-- especially multiple pets, who might tend to have "accidents" every once in a while. Hopefully, I haven't confused you even further. If after reading this as well as the FAQ, you still have questions, don't hesitate to ask. :-) Matter of fact, I think your questions' going to be added to it, concerning the "grouts with sealer built in"!

Hi Plllog! "That is, I know it's possible, but might not be in your budget." See, there's the crux of it. This little beverage center idea of mine was not in the original budget. (Nor, alas, were new drywall in the livingroom and halls, the gorgeous walnut top on my used cabinet island, the matching gorgeous top that will soon be on the new media cabinet and the near full gut of the bathroom.) And we're still determined to get through remodeling our ugly duckling without taking out a loan or dipping into savings. Conventional wisdom says: Wait until the coffers are full again but that's so hard to do. First off, I'm a cheapskate. Even if the goose who laid the golden egg waddled up onto my deck and built a nest, I'm not sure I would willingly pay someone to mess up the walls I just paid to fix. Second, I'm not quite cheap enough. My new kitchen is starting to look pretty good but, gosh, it would look so much better if the microwave and coffee maker didn't take up so much room on that one counter. I'm willing to spend a little bit more to change that, especially since I'm going to have a piece of countertop leftover that should be just the right size. Still, it's nice to know that it's possible. Maybe when the coffers ARE full again I'll put a tile counter outside on my deck to shade the golden goose should she happen to wander by ;) Thanks for your help!

"I also once had a keeshound, so cute, but I made the mistake of not knowing the breed before buying and they need yards and room to run." I don't know who told you that about Keeshonden but that's not particularly accurate as a definitive statement. I've been a Keesmom for 7+ years now and volunteered with Kees rescue for a time (left due to philosophical differences); it took us a year of research to choose a breed. (Mutts are fantastic dogs if you're more flexible than we are about size, temperament, and such, but we needed the relative predictability.) Like any dog, they do need exercise to stay healthy but ordinary walks can be plenty sufficient, which is one of the many reasons why we chose the breed. I taught him to go round on a lunge line like a horse for those days when I was too unwell and DH too busy to give him a proper walk, since he was never interested in things like chasing a ball or Frisbee. This is the first house we've had with a properly fenced yard as opposed to a trolley or a small fenced run primarily for toileting, and it's not even very large. Our handyman is Dutch (and he was very surprised to see a Keesie here!) and says they are as common "back home" as a Lab is here, even in dense urban areas. Of course, if you want to get into agility, flyball, or other doggy athletics, the average Kees is more than happy to oblige and bust his furry little behind to make his people proud of him. Keesies are usually far more intellectually energetic than physically energetic; they are often too smart and creative for their own good, and if they get bored they can get extremely inventive looking for something to do, which many people interpret as the dog needing to be exhausted with a great deal of vigorous exercise instead of mentally stimulated. That goes double if they're lonely, with many Kees preferring the company of humans to that of other dogs - they CAN be very intellectually and emotionally demanding dogs. sovra, your friends will be best off contacting a Dalmatian-specific rescue. They can start by Googling "dalmatian rescue" and working from there. A Dal with a history of aggression toward smaller animals (probably a high prey drive combined with lack of training/redirection) needs some serious rehab work with an experienced fosterer before s/he is ready for home placement.