Hello, I've been lurking for a while and only recently became a member. Since it seems like everyone knows everyone on this forum here, I decided it might be good to introduce myself. I'm a university student living in British Columbia, Canada. My grandfather passed his love for plants on to me by letting me tag along as a little kid while he tended to his garden. My love for Hippeastrums began early on. One day my grandfather took me to a garden center (I think - it's been a while) and I saw one of those boxes with dry bulbs in them. I could not believe that the spectacular flowers shown on the box really could come out of the onion looking things, so of course I had to have one. Sadly, everything went downhill from there. As you all know, it's impossibly easy to get a newly bought bulb to bloom. Getting a bulb to maintain condition and rebloom was another matter. I could not keep a single bulb in good shape. At first I was too impatient and kept disturbing the plants and checking on the roots (mind you, I was 12 or so back then) and of course, amaryllis resent disturbance. Later, as I familiarized myself with Hippeastrum care, it turned into a tragic-comedic sort of affair. Every summer I'd put my bulbs out in the sun with high hopes, and every summer I'd end up disappointed. On several years it was devastating hailstorms. One summer the plant sitter just didn't water them at all while I was on vacation. I couldn't keep them indoors because I didn't have windows that got any meaningful amount of direct sun. Sometimes they just didn't thrive for reasons unknown (in retrospect, I suspect inappropriate drainage). One time it seemed like I was guaranteed to succeed. I had a large, healthy-looking bulb by the end of august that naturally (I thought) dropped it's leaves for dormancy. Then I lifted it for cleaning and found a strange, soft hole at the base of the basal plate. You all can probably fill in the rest of that story yourselves. This year it seems like I have finally succeeded. The two Mont Blancs I rescued last year are still plump and healthy more than a year later. One of them went dormant in december, while the other dropped a few leaves but still seems active. Their roots are extensive enough that I could lift the entire 5 gallon pot by the necks of the bulbs if I wanted to. Here they are enjoying the sun. My recent success also gave me confidence to order from Royal Colors this year. My order of two bulbs seems quite measly, but I don't have much space in the current apartment. Flamenco queen Samba

Wayne, here's the headline...Crystal power Palmtop Nuclear Fusion Device Invented By Michael Schirber LiveScience Staff Writer posted: 27 April 2005 01:00 pm ET The nuclear reaction that powers the Sun has been reproduced in a pocket-sized device, scientists announced today. Researchers have for years tried to harness nuclear fusion to power the world. But its cousin, nuclear fission -- the breaking apart of atoms -- is the only method so far commercially viable. The latest invention is not in the same league as efforts to build complex commercial reactors. The new device creates a relatively small number of reactions, and requires more energy to operate than it produces. The Real Deal (AP) - Previous claims of tabletop fusion have been met with skepticism and even derision by physicists. In one of the most notable cases, Dr. B. Stanley Pons of the University of Utah and Martin Fleischmann of Southampton University in England shocked the world in 1989 when they announced that they had achieved so-called cold fusion at room temperature. Their work was discredited after repeated attempts to reproduce it failed. Fusion experts noted that the new UCLA experiment is credible because, unlike the 1989 work, it did not violate basic principles of physics. "This doesn't have any controversy in it because they're using a tried and true method,'' said David Ruzic, professor of nuclear and plasma engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "There's no mystery in terms of the physics.'' -- Associated Press But the configuration is so small and simple that its creators think it may inspire unforeseen applications. "I certainly find it interesting that you can heat a cubic centimeter crystal in your hand, then plunge it in cold water and it will cause nuclear fusion," Seth Putterman from the University of California Los Angeles told LiveScience. Putterman's lay description greatly oversimplifies how the compact apparatus works. Specifically, Putterman and collaborators heat a pyroelectric crystal, lithium tantalite, from minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit to plus 45 in a matter of minutes. This generates an electrical charge -- 100,000 volts -- across the tiny crystal, which is housed in a chamber filled with deuterium gas, a heavy form of hydrogen. The high voltage is focused onto a needle-thin tip, which strips electrons from nearby deuterium nuclei and then accelerates them at a solid target containing deuterium. When two deuterium nuclei collide together at high speed, they fuse to form helium. The Sun also fuses atoms in thermonuclear reactions that create light and heat. The byproduct of the newly discovered lab reaction is a particle called the neutron. The scientists detect about 1,000 neutrons per second. Because neutrons are so penetrating, Putterman said that a hand-held neutron source might one-day be used to do geologic surveys or to look into cargo containers for nuclear devices. "Current neutron generators are extremely cumbersome," Putterman said. "They are about as big as a dentists X-ray machine, so you canÂt carry them into the field." Pyroelectric crystals could also provide a beam of ions for use as a microthruster in a miniature spacecraft. The research is described in the April 28 issue of the journal Nature.

I'm flying to Boston on Oct 25th. One night and day there then into Hanover, New Hampshire for 3 days...then driving to Freeport, Maine for another 4 days. Mixing business with pleasure is so much fun. I'm taking a girlfriend along and I'm hoping that the leaves wait for us too. I've been to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine at the peak and it was unbelievable!! So I'm hoping that she will be able to enjoy that very special part of the world. Susan

Marylmi, I had trouble finding one for my mother earlier this week too. I checked at two Kaiser facilities near her residence and neither had the senior dose. We had taken her for a doctors appointment and DH said, I'll just pay for the shot for her at the Walgreens clinic back at her residence then (Walgreens doesn't process Kaiser ins). Walgreens was holding a clinic at a senior living facility with no senior dose shots - they were giving everyone the shot for the 'normal' population. I chose not to have her vaccinated (92 and frail). Will have to keep working on it, Kaiser said they thought they should have some in a few days. We hadn't been vaccinated either and we get the senior dose. The first place I called Wednesday when we were home again was out and they couldn't guarantee they would have more. They suggested Safeway as still having some. They did. We got our shots at the Safeway pharmacy. Which still doesn't help Mom at 120 miles away but I'm in touch with Kaiser and fingers are crossed. And FYI, the Safeway pharmacist said when his was gone, there would be no more there. He estimated he had enough to cover the next two or so days.