I came back looking for that advice from iowa about bigger worms. I need to try some of that. I appreciated it when I read back then, but not sure if I got to write a thanks. So, thanks for that. I didn't get out fishing much until the last month. The bins I filled in Feb need to be harvested soon to side dress my garden crops. Half a bin done so far, a bunch to go. I may try the burlap ideas. Between the indoor bins, an outside plastic tote, and two big compost piles, I have plenty of worms to fish with and make dirt. But I STILL haven't concentrated on increasing individual size and skin toughness. The buckets I started this year to "multiply" the best of the herd failed spectacularly. The buckets developed white hairy mold in no time flat. I lost all the experimental subjects, as I recall, even the nice big ones that were a couple years old. Could have been a lot of things and probably was a bit of everything. It was awhile back now, but the possible reasons I recall were my garden dirt being too dry before starting, the old dog food was two years older, and the holes I put in the buckets were ice picked from the bottom up, instead of top down. The first time, a couple years back, I used mostly vegetable scrap as food, and the dirt was relatively freshly dug. This time it was all old dog food, and I remember the dirt I dug sat for quite a while before I made up the buckets.

Routine Tile Cleaning There are basic maintenance procedures that should be done regularly in order to keep your tile looking new and in good shape. Here are a few low-maintenance tips that will add years to your tile: Always wipe up spills immediately to avoid possible stains and damage to the grout. Sweep your tile at least once a week. Remove all dirt and grime that is clearly visible. Damp-mop your flooring about once a week to reduce wear and abrasion from soil and grit. Place rubber tips on all furniture that comes in contact with the flooring to prevent scratches. If using a cleaner to mop your tiles, make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Abrasive cleaners can damage the tile and break down sealants. To be on the safe side, test an inconspicuous part of the tile with your cleaner. You can also dilute the solution with warm water. Mild cleaners such as dish detergent are not recommended for a mopping solution, they typically develop a dull film. Tile and Grout Cleaning In order to remove any surface build-up, tile and grout cleaning needs to be done regularly. Routine grout cleaning can be done with a commercial cleaner. Just make sure that you use the proper cleaner for your tile. In addition, sometimes heavy cleaning is needed in order to remove soap build-up, grease, mildew stains and other substances that can damage the grout and tile. For heavy cleaning, use professional strength tile and grout cleaner. Sealing the Grout Grout should always be sealed after the initial installation of your tile. The importance of grout sealing is crucial. It can help: Prevent permanent stains Impede mold and mildew growth Stop grout erosion due to moisture Additionally, it is recommended that you have your commercial tile cleaned professionally when there is obvious heavy dirt and grime built-up. A professional cleaning will restore the luster of the tile. After the tile is deep cleaned, another application of grout sealant is needed. Also, grout can become permanently stained and discolored. If this happens, you’ll need to have the grout recolored as well as resealed. Good luck! Justin www.freshndri.com

We've lived with our concrete for several months now. Drawbacks, I'm trying to think....I guess if it's an area that you will be doing a lot of standing in it might not be the most comfortable surface for that without a rug, or something soft, underfoot. Ours is a living/bar area, so that's not really an issue for us. I have area rugs on mine, and I know some people find it inconvenient to vacuum around area rugs rather than having wall-to-wall carpet to vacuum, that's not a big deal to me, but I've seen it mentioned by others. If it is an area where people, especially kids, might tend to sit or play on the floor often, I probably wouldn't recommend it without some sort of soft padded rug. We have a 1 & 3 year old, and they've done fine with it with a rug. That said, they also have a playroom with wall-to-wall carpet just adjacent to the area with concrete, so perhaps that would be a bigger issue to me if we didn't have that room?? I guess concrete always has the potential (i have no idea how great) to crack, so I guess that's something to consider. That's all I can think of, and in my situation at least, those are pretty minor things. The pros...So far they seem really easy to keep clean. I think there are 2 things about my floor that really help keep it from looking dirty as quickly. First the color has some variation to it, and second, the floor has a little bit of a texture to it. Some of the floors that are in that link above look very smooth and shiny and I wonder if those would tend to show dirt more, but I don't know for sure. The finish seems to be very durable. I think unless you went at it with a hammer and chisel to chip away at the concrete, it would be very difficult to mar the finish. If you ever were to have water issues in your basement, your floor wouldn't get damaged. We have an entry from a patio, where there will eventually be a hot tub, so that was another consideration for us - the potential for tracking in from that door, and down the road dripping wet bodies walking through that door. As mentioned by the poster above, our floor down there was a complete mess before they started on it. In addition to the usual construction mess, we have a stone fireplace there, and the masons did all of their work right on the concrete, so there was lots of mortar residue and what-not from that. We also had a few divots in ours that had to be patched. I can't remember how those got there, but apparently it's not uncommon to have to do some of that before the staining is done. Anyway, it can be done on a floor that was a complete mess, but how much work the clean-up is I can't say for certain, because luckily we did not do the cleaning. Sorry this was so long, but hope it helps.

Ok, so to be clear - for a pair of major laundry minimalists (especially MrHunzi!) In our house, we have LG front loader http://www.lg.com/us/washers/lg-WM3575CV-turbowash-washer - it has a steam injection option, and "Cold-Extra Hot" temps but doesn't make it clear what those temps really are (one big thing I miss about my little ASCO - it had a 205' wash) - my HWH is set to about 140) We are mainly down to just the two of us and the German Shepherd. DS visits and does his own laundry on extended stays, and sometimes we have exchange students who will run a load or two a week for themselves. There are usually 3 load categories: Darks/Colors (together) Normal/Cotton cycle, Kirkland detergent & fabric softener (everything not "Whites/Bleach" and Towels) Whites (things that can be bleached), Bright White cycle - Kirkland detergent, Chlorine bleach, & fabric softener Sheets, kitchen towels, MrHunzi's socks, and the MK face cloths all go into the bleach loads. He does like BLINDING WHITE results. Towels - all the big fluffy ones from Costco, in sand and grey colors (washed on the Towel cycle (I think it's Warm or Cold/cold rinse). When needed, I'll separately wash a dress or sweater that requires more special attention (not trusted to MrHunzi's care) in a cold or delicate or wool cycle. So if I understand your suggestions: Cheer Powder for the dark load. They get done on the Normal/Cotton Warm/cold rinse setting. US Persil Pearls or German Persil Universal Powder for whites. (Add chlorine bleach? Add Oxi?) They get done on the Bright Whites Hot/cold rinse setting (unless I do them - then they get the Extra Hot Sanitary cycle (longer)/cold rinse and added OXI to the pre/main wash detergents plus Chlorine bleach.) Does my washer get hot enough for powders to do the job? Towels get treated same as Colors - Kirkland & FS, except for the different machine cycle. Everything usually gets liquid fabric softener (kirkland's or downy) (unless I'm running a dedicated MK face cloth load - then none) Delicates - only thing I use a liquid for - either Woolite, Woolite dark, Perwol, I think I had some sort of Perwol dark. And they usually get FS. - no dryer sheets - I'm allergic to something in them - sneeze my head off. What's the story with the STTP stuff? When? Why? How? My water - filtered, softened. No charcoal filter on the system, so probably still has the chloramine from the treatment plant. We operate on KISS! Keep it simple systems! Of course, it will probably be a year before I run through the giant tub of Kirkland's! so this isn't a fast change of systems.