i've already spent about$300 on compost and potting mix.I bought 2 yards of the potting mix for my plants I bring home from work and my ws babies.I do my own cuttings also. i use the seed exchange forum for about 95% of my seeds so not too much cost there.. just stamps I think I spent $20. recycle the bubble mailers. I used to spend a ton of money on plants. i've cut way back. hubby builds my arbors and fences and such with wood off of jobs he's done. He brought me a sunflower bird bath from a demo job and brought me posts and troughs, a swinging bench that he dug out of the dump. he's a very cool guy. my brother is giving me a bunch of pavers and edging and soil that he and his wife decided not to use. decided they don't have a green thumb and are moving to an apartment. they are taking the lavander rose I gave them as a wedding present. it was thier color for the wedding. she's going to have me pot it for her. she's afraid she'll kill it. But, back to the original question i spend about $500 a year or so. Oh, I havent gone out to Northwest gardens yet....oh my...do I hear a cha ching coming on? flowerchild5

Are you saying that GM should bust the union ? I can hear the caterwalling and cry for a boycott already, Boxer and Kennedy screaming in outrage. You are under estimating the pension problem. Unions were necessary, but now the pendulum has swung too far their way. You don't see any brick chimney's around here anymore as their unions have priced them right out of a career, chimney's are framed in wood now. I'll bet the packages for foreign car makers in the U.S. are nothing like UAW gives. I probably should state that I have never belonged to a union -- in fact, for 'most any job I ever held, union membership wasn't even an option. Similarly, the only person who ever fights for my job and compels companies to pay what they pay me is -- me. With that out of the way.... Bust the union? No. But GM could have stood a lengthy strike to make the point that benefits were getting "out of hand." The time to do that was years ago, when GM was strong and the UAW was just starting to build on their great benefits. Now all GM needs is one more solid punch and they're down. I still don't understand the "liberal" characterization unless you're using the sloppy meaning in which "liberal" is used to mean "not-pro-business-at-the-expense-of-workers". Didja ever notice that Southwest Airlines is about the only airline out there making money now? While American/Delta/Northwest/United/USAir/etc. are trying to force their employees to work for cheap, SWA keeps right on going. Funny thing is, they're as unionized as the bankrupt carriers. But they've figured out that working with the necessary unions is a better way to go than constantly being at each other's throats. Detroit never learned that lesson, so in addition to some stupid short-term thinking, they have an enemy in the UAW. Brilliant. Motor vehicles is not the only business facing huge pension liabilities. So are airlines. So are city, county, and state governments, because accounting practices let them defer the real cost of paying pensions and now those pensions are coming due. Speaking as someone who has never had anyone guarantee my pension, I think current and future retirees are in for some nasty surprises. What was promised (either by the business or their union) is just not sustainable. Especially if SSI will be handed out indiscriminately and especially for a generation or two that has seen the biggest increase in personal wealth in the history of the U.S. There will be a lot of caterwauling as people realize either they get stiffed a little bit now or they get stiffed a lot later when whoever is providing the pension and health care goes bust. FWIW, my next-door neighbor retired from one of the Big Three about four years ago. He was a line worker and was making in the mid-50s when he left after his 30 years. Including full health coverage for his family. Minus UAW dues. Not too bad for a guy who has no degrees and no certifications. He's d@mn good at what he does, but people in fields requiring far more education and certification are making far less than that even today. Not a bad deal at all.

I am late to this party but I will share my brief experience. It was many years ago and in the state of Florida so it may not apply to your situation. I had a roommate who, in addition to several small loans, ran up the phone bill to the tune of a couple of thousand dollars, calling overseas. I took her to small claims court and won a judgment against her. It was at that time that I learned that it was basically up to me to collect the money she owed me. I could file a paper (for a fee) that would entitle me to my money if she ever sold her house. She didn't even own one at the time. I could file a paper (for a fee) to have a sheriff collect her vehicle and sell it. I would need to pay something for them to actually tow it and then pay storage for the time between when they seized it and when they sold it. I forget what my third (legal) option was but it would have also cost me additional money. In the end, it would have cost more money for me to collect than what she owed. I did get a fraction of the money back but I eventually let karma take care of the balance.

I too , am glad that it's resolved for you. I'm also glad to hear that Viking actually makes good on their no quibble pledge. But, I do have to say they could have saved themselves a lot of neg. publicity if they had informed their dealers and even their own in house support staff that they'll take back their products no questions asked in the 90 days . They'd have gotten a lot of goodwill for the same cost by just coming to pick up bo61's range when asked. Shame it took a weeks worth of internet ranting and a VP level decision to ACTUALLY make reality live up to the advertising . Hey , it's a start the right direction guys.