I see a consolidation of the nursery industry, in much the same manner the 80's and 90's saw a consolidation of the banking industry (my previous profession). It is becoming increasingly difficult for small independent retailers and growers to stay afloat. Fuel costs are a huge factor (all of my vendors were applying surcharges long before Katrina did her damage), as well as basic overhead costs like labor (no one will work for minimum wage in my area, including high school kids and recent immigrants - just too many entry level jobs available), water and power. And plant costs are increasing as well, partially because of patenting and licensing restrictions but also because of the impact of higher operating expenses. And competition is fierce - even grocery stores are offering less common or new plant introductions, often at well below what it costs me to bring them in. My local, high-end grocer had phormiums for sale last week at $9.99 for 6" pots from one of my local vendors (recognized the tagging), barely above and in some cases below their cost. Yes, these are loss leaders that they make up for with other, higher priced, more profitable items and with volume, but it still is competition. Heck - I'd buy the plants from them myself at that price! All these factors, together with other, less predictable influences like weather and crop failures make it harder and harder for small independents to stay in business, much less make a profit. Several of the larger retail nurseries in my area are having financial and cash flow problems and a few smaller ones are about to close the doors - it is a tightknit community and the word travels fast. That makes them ripe for larger, financially secure operations to snatch them up. It is a tough, competitive market out there and only those who are creative and flexible in their marketing approach, like the product expansion Garrickza refers to, and willing or able to subsist on peanuts for the long haul are going to come out intact on the other end.

As far as I can tell, the vast majority of "robber sues homeowner and wins" stories seem to be urban myths. I did study one case in law school where a homeowner was successfully sued, but in that case, he had set up a gun on some sort of automatic trigger connected to the front door of an unoccupied cabin. The court said that this was going too far, taking the chance of killing someone to protect property, rather than life. The basic rule on self-defense is that you have to try to run away rather than use force, if you can do it safely. That basic rule does *not* hold true in your own home. There is no "duty to retreat" in your own home. The other basic rule on self-defense is that you can use only enough force to repel the attack. However, what amount of force is reasonable depends on your duty to retreat. Since you have no duty to retreat inside your home, you can use more force than you would outside your home. As to whether you can use wasp spray as a weapon, I don't know the answer. My best guess would be that if you used it during an attack on the street, the courts would treat it as any other dangerous weapon. If you used it in your home (or car, at least in some states), even if you planned to use it as a weapon, I doubt there would be an issue. The law varies by state. If you want to see what your state thinks about these matters, look up the "castle doctrine," as in "my home is my castle." As a practical matter, I think most people are okay using whatever force they need to protect themselves inside their own homes. And that's even more so for women. Where I could see it getting dicey is if some teenaged kid broke into a house for drug money, having no weapon and thinking the house was unoccupied, tried to run away when he saw someone was home, and the man of the house grabbed him and beat the living s*^t out of the kid. Even then, I'll bet most police officers would tell the kid that he shouldn't have been in the house in the first place. As to whether the man of the house could then be sued, well, of course he could. Some of the castle laws protect people from being sued in these situations, but for the most part, anyone can sue anyone. Can't necessarily win, but can start the suit.

I think this may have been posted elsewhere before, but I have to go make dinner so no time to search. This is still the best article I've seen on explaining the virus and understanding why infections/death continue to occur. The Risks - Know Them - Avoid Them By Erin Bromage | May 6, 2020 (updated periodically) (Her credentials and intent of this post on COVID-19 are listed at: https://www.erinbromage.com/post/about-the-author-professor-erin-bromage) (excerpt) It seems many people are breathing some relief, and I’m not sure why. An epidemic curve has a relatively predictable upslope and once the peak is reached, the back slope can also be predicted. We have robust data from the outbreaks in China and Italy, that shows the backside of the mortality curve declines slowly, with deaths persisting for months. Assuming we have just crested in deaths at 70k, it is possible that we lose another 70,000 people over the next 6 weeks as we come off that peak. That's what's going to happen with a lockdown. As states reopen, and we give the virus more fuel, all bets are off. I understand the reasons for reopening the economy, but I've said before, if you don't solve the biology, the economy won't recover. https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20200511&instance_id=18384&nl=the-morning&regi_id=127388736&segment_id=27239&te=1&user_id=0ae9199a646961c015d2bd26f2abc5bf

Thanks Kevin. Frost protected shallow foundation from the cold climate research center. And I just finished up getting the 4" xps pinkboard 250 installed around the entire perimeter. And have a stack of pinkboard r10 to install around the outer perimeter. While you're at the ccrc website search furring out a wall. Yes placing the insulation on the inside violates the 2/3 rule on insulation. The pinkboard on the inside in not taped because the vapor barrier behind it. The semi permeable pinkboard is only a vapor retarder and will not absorb moisture. This wall is intended to vent to the outside. With 1/2" cdx plywood and tyvex rain wall. 3/4" air gap screened on the top and bottom created by the 1x2 nailers installed on the studs 16"oc. Siding on top. The inside pinkboard is installed using minimal plastic washer headed nails. Then 5 rows of 1x4s installed horizontally with 1x4s installed over them vertically on the studs with 7 " timberlock screws. Making minimal holes in the vapor barrier. The windows and doors are furred out using 2x4s on edge, 3-1/2" directly to the rough framework around them. Doors will have a 3/4" boards glued n nailed to the edge of the door jams to extend them out. Fairly easy task. And I will not have to drill holes in the outer walls to pull wires or run utilities. No obstacles to insulate around. Just put it in n straighten it up. This reduces man hours for me also. I'm still building and finally got the roof finished. Carpenter's are booked and not available so I'm mostly a 1 man crew with help from family. Lot of work as I started with acre of trees. Well, septic, electrical utilities are all in. Now I can start drying things out. Then insulate. I will put our new fuel oil drip stove in, Kuma classic. Covid took a month. Again, I do realize that this is a non typical type of construction method. We have unique insulation needs, and I'm willing to try and do something better. And believe the methodology. And your comments make me challenge that, thanks. It was mentioned that I'm comparing this build to the average home built in our area. Guess I thought that would be appropriate. And yes the standard construction method in these parts is 2x6 walls with batt insulation. Some still using fiberglass insulation instead of rockwool. The only difference is that I'm adding the 2" pinkboard inside. And the furring strips for sheetrock. And yeppers tooooo late for changes in foundation. Our inspector said he was impressed with the work and it was do better then what he usually sees. The roofing contractor comments were all positive.