Huge business this data-mining. The funny thing is I read about it in a novel, I think either Dean Koontz or David Baldacci, most likely the latter but I can't be for sure. These people, if they wish, can destroy not only your credit, but your life itself....implenting you into many illegal enterprises.....kiddo porn, etc. that you have had nothing to do with, but when they can access your computer info they can inject whatever they want to implicate you. Very scary stuff and enough to make you want to escape to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Of course at that point they may make you into the new 'unibomber' and screw up that persona. Okay, most of this is total paranoia.....the likelihood it could happen to you, as a normal citizen is slight....but it could happen. This is a crazy age we live in. I really think the old days were better and I suppose every generation says that....but the days of yore were simpler and I really sometimes wish we never had computers, cell phones, etc. We need more people-to-people contact. Enough said. Duane

Sorry, I didn't mean to do a post and run. I've had a crazy weekend. My name is Deb, and I've actually been on GW off and on since 1999. I post mostly over on Florida Gardening, Brugmansias, and sometimes on Cactus and Succulents. I write articles...lots and lots of articles. I also have a few blogs that are sadly neglected, so I'm trying to get them back up and running, especially my gardening blog. I'm in my late 50's, have lupus, and of course, love to garden. I live in SW Florida and am soon moving to Gainesville, a whole zone north of me, where I will not have a yard at first. I'm going to try to get into a community garden there, so I can at least grow my veggies and some of my plants. Moving at my age is hard, and I thought I'd never leave here, but circumstances forced me to make a choice, so I'm leaving. This yard is too much for me to take care of anymore. I need a break from all this physical labor, but I know I could not live without gardening, so I'm thinking my African Violets will be my new indoor project. I have two sons, 25 and 37, and they both live in Chicago. No, we aren't from Chicago, the older one was there and the younger one was in Seattle and decided he wanted to be with his brother, so there they are. So far, they are both doing well, just going through the normal trials of life, which they moan to me about just like I moaned to my mother when she was living. I am estranged from my family by choice, so my sons are my only family. I'm happier that way. I'm a Pantheist, which is not Christian, but I do believe in God. I just define him differently. To me, God is nature...all of nature, including humans. I searched for many years to find a spiritual path I could follow, and tried everything but Satanism in the process (but I did read about it and it is very scary...totally based on 'self' and making yourself happy, no matter what the consequence). I settled on Pantheism because it makes sense to me. There is no one and nothing to blame if things go wrong or bad things happen. It is all just part of the cycle of life, and that is hard to accept sometimes, but it makes more sense to me than angels and demons. I do pray, so I will be asking for and giving out many prayers. Enough for now. I'm sure you will learn more about me as we go along. Thanks again for the welcome! Here, have some chocolate. I just happen to have extra. Here is a link that might be useful: My Gardening Blog, in case you're interested

How does Facebook work? My sister says she is on it and wanted me to sign up to see her pictures. When I did a search, I couldn't find her. Very confusing. Clare

I'm here and I got my seeds!!!!! I'm so excited. I'm in the middle of a little home reno so I've been busy. We just had hurricane impact windows and doors installed. The house looks so nice without those ugly metal hurricane shutters. I am too scared to plant these seeds until I get this mite problem under control. I have 6 grown adenium, most of which are under attack. Every leaf fell off and the new ones that come through are bright yellow and fall off. I have one plant with flowers only and NO leaves. It looks so weird. I have used neem oil and moved them in the shade but these suckers won't leave! Any suggestions? I have been doing a weekly-weakly dynagro fertilization. The trees look great, just bald. Also, 2 of my pots were infested with ants. It has been dry here and when I watered one of them I noticed hundreds of ants carrying eggs flowing out of the pot like lava. Disgusting. It's a constant battle here with bugs!!! I took one tree out and flushed out the rocks. It dropped what few leaves it had. The other one is still a luxury ant condominium. Having these beautiful plants in Florida is like having kids lol. So much work.