HI DC, you post is quite interesting. I was thinking that an air gap would materialize pretty quickly because the plants will use water thereby causing the level to fall away from the screen in a short time. The thing to do would be to refrain from adding water until the water level becomes to within an inch of the bottom. Perhaps a small dip stick made from a wood dowel would be handy. If you were to drill a hole about 1 inch from the bottom of the tank and insert a clear plastic tube glued to the outside of the container, you could have a visual water level indicator. Yes, drilling a lower hole will insure an air-gap. The function of the airgap is to prevent plant roots from growing down into the tank is it not? Thank you for your post. I intend to follow my own advice and add visual water level indicators to my own self-irrigation containers.

If your water hardness is 6 grains or higher, it is advisable to use the built-in salt water softener. Keep in mind that it is activated every time the unit fills with water (pre-wash, main wash, rinse, final rinse) so the water is at the proper softness. The only time the liquid rinse aid is dispensed is during the final rinse. As I said earlier, I have used the half-tab in the Normal and Pots/Pans cycle, but also have with the China/Crystal mode when washing Christmas dishes with gold edging. The half-tab works OK on all modes, including when using the Turbo option. The only mode that I don't use is the Express, since it does a 3 min pre-wash, 10 min main wash, and 5 min final rinse. That just really isn't enough main wash time to clean some baked-on foods. So that is why I have used the Normal and Pots/Pans modes. The half tab works just fine with both of those. Remember, if your unit has a "Tab" function on the front display, selecting it (turning it on) will disengaged the internal water softener and not dispense the liquid rinse aid at the final rinse. That's why I said it's best to have the Tab set to off, so you can use the built in water softener and the rinse aid at the end. From what Miele told me months ago, the small amount of salt and rinse aid in the new tabs are ONLY to help with the wash cycle, it is not to replace using the normal salt and rinse aid.

Bob. I guess I wasn't clear enough. IF I use 'text boxes' everything flows perfectly (although I am not an expert on linking either and have had some problems figguring out the rules for getting each box linked to its predessor). But that is not my question. I was hoping to learn how to easily (rapidly?) create multiple, equal 'text boxes' to allow this flow. OR how to get regular columns, even on the first page to behave something like 'text boxes'. On the second and following pages, they do infact respond that way, with text flowing naturally from column to column. But on the first page which does have some carridge returns to keep banners and icons in place (and could indeed induce strange text effects as you suggest, although I don't think that is actually what is happening) the two column formatting from the second page will incroach into the bottom of the first page; or the outlined box on the first page moves down to the second page. In other words, some of the formatting on each page moves up or down as text is added or removed.

I have a 10" Samsung tablet and the newest iPad. I use them for reading books, newspapers, and magazines. If I only read books, I would probably get a Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Fire for that purpose, but it makes a big difference to have the larger screen for magazines and newspapers. I also do routine Internet things like email and Skype (and of course you can Skype with anyone who also has Skype, regardless of what device they have it on). I find a tablet is essential for traveling as I can have access to more magazines than I could ever read on vacation, and the tablet is all I'm hauling around. We also use one of the tablets in the living room for email and looking things up, as well as bringing it into the kitchen to use while cooking. I don't carry them with me around town, but rely on my smartphone instead. We use a regular computer for long emails or for long posts on GardenWeb, but if I'm doing onscreen typing the bigger screen on the tablet means that the typing is easier than with a 7" device. If I have to do a lot of typing and I only have access to my tablet, I have a compact wireless keyboard ($20) that I can type on faster than using the onscreen keyboard.