Thank-you all for all of the wonderful words that you had to say about me. I have loved it here for 6 years now almost & kind of hide out now & then when Dave is having his ups & downs b/c I think you might be tired of hearing about it. He was so kind to me today. We didn't have any money so we filled the car with gas & picked up our friends & took a road trip to Apollo Beach where the power plant is that the manatees stay at during the winter. It was such a surprise. He wouldn't say where we were going. Said friends picked up breakfast, lunch, & a t-shirt of the manatees. Much to my father's dismay, I forgot to take a camera. I have been so afraid that they would be completely extinct before I got over there to see them. We saw about 15. It was a lovely time. BJ~Have a safe trip. I know that you & Besh will have a great time together. Yesterday was the horse race over in Tampa. I wanted to be there so bad b/c they are going to have a horse racing in the KY Derby. Sun King is the name of the horse. Marci~Carrot cake is my dessert too. LOL Thanks for the beautiful gif. Gretchen & Tikanis~Great to see you posting. Gretchen~DS proposed around here & that was the last that I have seen of him in FL. LOL I have to go to TX if I want to see them. Shout out to everyone! Sending love your way & hoping that your spring started out as good as mine! (It was 79 degrees here!) Patti :)

I did a taco bar for my daughter's graduation party - it went over well and most of the food could be prepped in advance. Here's a couple of recipes for meat fillings for you - both can be done in advance. Becky * Exported from MasterCook * Kathy's Carnitas Recipe By : Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast (3-4) -- cubed and trimmed of visible fat 1 can or bottle beer tequila (couple of turns around the pan) 5 garlic cloves 1 onion -- chunked 1 teaspoon ground cumin (1-2) 1 tablespoon brown sugar 2 limes (2-3) -- juiced cilantro springs chicken broth or boullion cubes Place meat, garlic and onions in large pot. Sprinkle with cumin and brown sugar. Add beer, tequila, lime juice. Add enough water to cover meat. Add one boullion cube for each cup of water. Or use chicken broth to cover meat. Simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Remove lid and increase heat to completely reduce liquid. Remove meat fron the pot and fry up in a large skillet. Source: "Kathy Boehm" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * Exported from MasterCook * Chicken Taco Filling Recipe By : Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 package taco seasoning mix (4 Tablespoons) 1 cup chicken broth 1 pound boned and skinned chicken breast halves Dissolve taco seasoning into chicken broth. Place chicken breasts in crockpot and pour chicken broth over. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. With two forks, shred the chicken meat into bite-sized pieces. Use in soft tacos, hard tacos, burritos, nachos, etc. To Freeze, place shredded meat into freezer bags with the juices. Press out all the air and seal. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Heres a Link: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/saving-energy-manual-j-and-manual-d Even when they do the calculations, the results are usually wrong In his posted comment, Bailes raised an interesting point: the problem of “garbage in, garbage out” (GIGO) Manual J calculations. Several energy experts have commented on the GIGO problem, including John Proctor, Hank Rutkowski, and Allison Bailes. Hank Rutkowski, the mechanical engineer who wrote the original Manual J document, was recently interviewed for a profile posted on the Green Building Talk Web site. The piece notes, “Rutkowski estimates that only 10% of heating and cooling equipment sizing decisions are based on some type of Manual J calculation and that less than 1% of the jobs are based on an aggressive implementation of the recommended design procedures.” Rutkowski explains the GIGO problem this way: “Manual J is a good tool if you use it aggressively. Follow the rules and it will give you a reasonable margin of safety. But the average contractor says, ‘Better safe than sorry,’ so he fudges here and there. He adds 5 to 10 degrees to the summer and winter design temperatures, calls the building ‘average’ instead of ‘tight’ and doesn't take credit for shading by interior blinds and drapes. Then when he finally comes up with a load number for sizing, he throws in an extra half-ton of AC just for the heck of it.” For a high-performance home, sizing by Manual J may still result in oversizing Several years ago, I had a conversation with building scientist Joe Lstiburek about air conditioners installed in Building America homes in Las Vegas. “HVAC designers are committed to the institutional oversizing of air conditioning equipment,” Lstiburek told me. “The average system is sized at 150% to 200% of the requirements of Manual J. They oversize because they don’t know what they will get for a building envelope, and to compensate for duct leakage and inappropriate refrigerant charge. If you size according to Manual J, there is already a fudge factor built in. But most designers then add another fudge factor.” According to Lstiburek, their experience proved the high-performance Building America homes in Las Vegas could have had HVAC systems sized at about 60% of Manual J. To be conservative, his team recommended installing systems sized at 80% of Manual J. Does oversizing matter? There are strong arguments against routine oversizing of HVAC equipment. The best argument is simple: oversized equipment usually costs more than right-sized equipment. Oversized equipment suffers from short cycling. For example, an oversized furnace brings a home up to temperature quickly, and then shuts off. A few minutes later, it comes on again, only to shut off quickly. Many homeowners find the see-saw sound of a short-cycling furnace to be annoying. When air conditioners short cycle, the units don't run long enough to achieve much dehumidification ��" at least in theory. (During the first few minutes of operation, an air conditioner cools a house. But not enough moisture has collected on the cold coil or on the pan below for any water to have actually gone down the drain. When the air conditioner turns off, all of the moisture in the pan and on the coil just re-evaporates.) The conventional wisdom may be wrong, however Increasing evidence shows that energy experts have exaggerated the negative effects of equipment oversizing, however. Studies have confirmed that oversized furnaces don't use any more energy than right-sized furnaces. Moreover, newer modulating or two-speed furnaces operate efficiently under part-load conditions, solving any possible problems from furnace oversizing. Although there are ample reasons to believe that oversized air conditioners are less effective than right-sized equipment at dehumidification, at least one field study was unable to measure any performance improvements or energy savings after replacing an existing oversized air conditioner with a new right-sized unit. The bottom line The main reason to choose right-sized equipment is to avoid paying too much money for equipment you don't need. A Manual J calculation will ensure you don't spend more than necessary for your furnace, boiler, or air conditioner. Moreover, a Manual J calculation will provide room-by-room heat loss and heat-gain information that is essential to good duct design. Without good duct design, you're running the risk of comfort complaints.

If Lindsay was in the final three, I think she would've--and should've--won. I think there was something about Jonathan that the others didn't like. Maybe his brand of Christianity is one where the man is the head of the household and that came off in his interactions with the women. I haven't done any outside reading so I don't know if he's evangelical or Southern Baptist or something else. I remember in the first or second episode when Omar was setting up his prayer rug and he offered to answer any questions they may have about Islam and Jonathan immediately chimed in with "And I'll answer your questions about Christianity." I thought that was dismissive of Omar and a bit arrogant. Omar only offered because his religion isn't as well known as Christianity. He wasn't trying to convert anyone.