"I will fight you with all my vigor if you are going to deprive me of my right to consume what has been proven safe food just because you feel it is revolting." What has been proven safe food is the real question for me. I don't trust the gov, any gov, to tell me what's safe to eat. Our processed food industries are full of practices meant to stretch real food by including a slew of "additives" that human beings were not meant to eat. Like wood pulp and cotton waste turned into cellulose gum, one of the most ubiquitous additives/stretchers - supplied by that arbiter of safety - none other than China. In fact, our bodies don't absorb it, don't use it. don't digest it. Who knows what adverse effects it has on our digestive systems? It's a filler - a stretcher, dead weight if you will. It's cheating. And the processed food manufacturers market it to us as extra FIBER. And just because cellulose gum has been used for many years and given the okay by the powers-that-be to be added into our foods doesn't make me believe that it is any way good for me. It's a Frankenfood, pure and simple. As for the pink slime uproar - people are angry because it is not just a piece of meat that has been ground and packaged that we have been buying - that we thought we were buying. We find out that this additive, however natural in origin, however safely processed, has been secretly added to our so-called ground beef. Secretly added. Yes. If you are not required to disclose it, that's being secretive. That's hiding information from the people. That's government agencies preemptively deciding it's okay not to disclose information because they know better than the people. That's lying. That's pulling the wool over our eyes. That's being in cahoots with the processors and not being on the side of the people. The processed food industry needs to be held accountable. People are more educated now. We want disclosure. We want transparency. We want to eat what you tell us we are eating. If it's 15% chemically-processed filler, then put it on the flipping label. Otherwise you are a cheater. An immoral cheater.

Hmmm...we'll work out something--maybe Friday? And you know what, I meant to add that I was really underwhelmed by the experience of painting with the MoorGuard. Are Exterior paints generally thinner than interior? I then went in and put on a coat of EK (ICI-Dulux) interior semi-gloss on some window trim and it was a completely different experience. The Aura was more like the ICI. I'm wondering if there's a better exterior paint that I could mix the Sandy Hook Gray in...I may take the sample in to ICI-Dulux and ask them to mix it in one of their exterior finishes. Any thoughts on that? What exterior paint do folks favor?

"I think I've worn out the newness for BB&B." LOL. I don't shop there often, but I sure hope they don't close. I got a great Farberware non-stick 10" pan that's dishwasher-safe and oven proof for $10 off. So declaring bankruptcy doesn't necessarily mean going out of business. I guess they could be bought out by another company, huh?

Candler, another suggestion would be to plant in half whiskey barrels. My father used to do that and he enjoyed quite a harvest of vegetables, plus it was raised so he didn't have to bend over. I'm thinking about doing that myself. It's getting harder and harder to get down on the ground. I have a bench that when inverted acts as a kneeler with handles so I can get up and down a bit easier. I like it, but I tend to "lose" myself in gardening and before I know it, it's across the yard and I've scooted myself several feet or yards away. LOL! Gurley - I don't know all your names yet, so forgive me - I can so relate to your experience with the ex. Mine was a lawyer who thought he was God's gift. But, I was so afraid of giving up the relationship and being on my own. Now that I am, I cherish it, and would not be willing to compromise my life with anyone else, I don't think. The thought is rather scary. I am rather a isolationist, preferring my own company, and that of my daughter and granddaughter over other people. Most people do not maintain the same likes and dislikes that I do, and while I'm willing to give a bit in friendship, most of my friends I had at work, were so unlike me that I had a difficult time finding a common ground. A lot of women my age are still searching for the proverbial "rainbow relationship" with a man, and when they find someone to date, they brush off their friends like dandruff only to come crying back a short time later with their pitiful stories of "woe is me". I want to shake them and say, "what did you think? That they were going to fulfill all your fantasies of what a relationship is about?" Rarely do they get to know anyone in depth before they are into a physical relationship, not knowing anything significant about the other person. I guess what I'm trying to say is find a companion first, someone you enjoy talking with, being with, listening to, and that you have similar beliefs, values, etc. - BEFORE you get into that physical relationship. It's a whole lot less heartache, and you may get a valuable friendship if not a significant other, at the very least. Investing emotionally through physicality is going to bite you in the rear every time. But, so far, I haven't found any women or men who are interested in my theories of what a relationship is all about. So, I tend to stay in my comfort zone, which is my home and my yard. Relationships are a lot like a garden. You have to prepare it first by "building" the soil; then you plant a few things to see how they do, tend them, fertilize them, prune them, watch them grow, and then you might get a bit more adventuresome with some plants and see how they do, and before long you have something long-lasting - and you haven't had to get into hybridizing or cross-pollinization yet! LOL! Sorry to get so long-winded. Peace and serenity is what I most seek now in life. Not the roller coaster rides I used to be able to tolerate in my younger days. Candler, I had something similar, called an arteriovenous malformation in my brain, but they caught it before it bled and were able to repair it through a procedure called an endovascular embolization (using a catheter through the femoral artery). I was lucky. But, I still have a dent in my head from when I fell off a swingset at age 5, and had to have stitches in my head. Maybe we should all go for the Brittany look. Tee hee! Sure am enjoying my latte this morning! Susan