Here is a follow up to my June 28, 09 post: It has been two years since the purchase of my HS724WA. Powerful, quite, smooth, maneuverable, fuel efficient - but not reliable. Back in December I took out the Honda to prep for the coming snow. Filled the tank with fresh gas newly treated with stabilizer. Couldn't start the machine with the choke on. It would start with the choke off after many pulls, but wouldn't run for more than about 30 seconds. The local repair shop suggested it was a dirty carburetor. I doubted that since it is only 2 years old, I use stabilizer, and drain the tank at the end of each season. After forking over the $50 pickup-delivery charge, the shop tried cleaning the carburetor three times to no avail. They offered to tear apart the carburetor to determine the cause, but suggested a new carburetor ($47) plus labor ($50) would be a cheaper and safer route. Furthermore I was infomed that I overfilled the tires, causing the back end to ride high, causing the auger to scrape. Apparently the Honda tires "don't have memory", so once overfilled, they remain enlarged even after letting air out. $200 to replace the tires. So 2 years after spending $2000 on an HS724WA, I have to drop an additional $350 in repairs. Obviously I am a little disillusioned by the whole experience. I'll take the blame for the tires, though I wish Honda was a little more vocal on how finicky they are. I am aware they require 8psi and religiously check the pressure throughout the season, using my bicycle pump to make adjustments. I have an analog VDO pressure gauge that works well for my automobile (32psi) and will register 8-60psi. Apparently it is not accurate at 8psi. I recently purchased a low pressure (0-15psi) gauge for $28. Ironically the Honda receives better care than I ever gave my Yard Machines/MTD blower, which ran reliably without problems for 10 years. I like the machine otherwise, but will no longer be able to speak enthusiastically about "Honda reliability".

I wanted to see if people would be offended by a comment about someone from the left being accused of not having a mind of their own and only using talking points from a left wing media person. I wanted to see if anyone would be flabbergasted that a lefty could be annoying at a party with his politics. I wanted to see if I could use the name Rachel Maddow in any form and not get attacked when it was perfectly acceptable for others to use Rush in derogatory insinuations. And what you found out, jterrilynn, is that the only part of your story anyone here took offense to was the derogatory name-calling you chose to employ that Rush Limbaugh is so famous for. If you had just used her given name, people would have read it and moved on.

A guy I knew in high school - a normal, honor roll, good kid - said he went to Woodstock with his older brother. I'm pretty sure he was telling the truth. Woodstock was 1969, so this guy had to have been about 14. My DS is now 14. I have to ask myself two(rhetorical)questions: how cool is it that he was at Woodstock, and what were his parents thinking? Although melaska and linelle seeing the Beatles, that may beat out even Woodstock! And less muddy. Oh, and DS explained to me that Jethro Tull isn't "hard rock" it's "classic rock." I explained to her that they weren't "classic" yet when I saw them. Reminded me of the line from the hilarious song "1985," "When did Moltey Crue become classic rock?" which segue allows me to go sort of back on topic. Debby just hit the wall She never had it all She wanted stainless steel Just couldn't make the deal She wanted Shaker doors And Brazilian cherry floors 1200 cfm fan What happened to her plan? She was gonna get some marble, Backsplash of subway tile, She was gonna put in drawers, Pull outs with lots of style. Her UCL LED Is just a fantasy She looks at her fluorescent lights And nothing is all right It's still Coil stove, tile counters and over-the-range Microwave, Oak cabinets, partial overlay And double sink with separate spray. The kitchen design rules, They tell her that she's uncool, Cause her kitchen still looks like... 1985.

Howdy all ... coming back to this to update on the LG range I recommended... Two things I'm not entirely thrilled with... 1. The knobs have a tendancy to "melt" on the bottom - the heat coming from the top oven distorts the bottoms of the knobs. Something LG is very aware of and will send out a replacement set without question, but still ... will have to replace them every 3-6 months? Ugh. 2. The oven doors - there is an open vent along the top edge. Within the first month something spilled and it's a not an easy thing to disassemble the door to get in there to clean any "in-between" mishaps. I think our old Maytag double-oven had a similar issue, but because the windows were more opaque, it wasn't an eyesore that required immediate disassembly & cleaning. What I'm more than a little peeved about ... not LG's fault ... my husband was DEAD SET against an induction top. No way, no how, had to be gas, period. He's not exactly the cleanest cook - lots of grease spatters (but the results are SOOO worth it!)... now he's constantly griping about how difficult it is to clean. "Maybe I should have looked at induction, I mean, all of the pots & pans we have are compatible..." DOH!!!!