Several years ago I had a similar problem with severe static on a shortwave radio that was there all the time. I took an AM transistor radio, tuned to a spot on the dial where there wasn't any station, and went around the house with the radio and tried to find out what was causing the interference. Nothing seemed to be causing it. I finally went out to the power pole and could still hear the static. I walked down the power line and after passing two houses down, the static disappeared. I went back and stood under the transformer serving that house and could hear the static again. I went up to the electric meter for that house and could hear the static. I talked to the neighbor and he let me come in to try and track it down. I was able to trace it to a defective door bell transformer in his basement. He had the transformer replaced and that fixed the problem. Even though there was a transformer on the pole in our back It turned out both of our houses were fed from the transformer in his back yard. If you have a small radio, you could try the same thing. Moving around the house with it, the static should become real loud when you get near what ever is causing the interference. If you don't have a battery operated radio, you could use a long extension cord to help you move around the house. Although the problem seems to be heat and time related, there's always a possibility the circuit beaker itself could be arcing.

mom - what a delightful thing to find when I check in! Here we are a couple of years later and I'm still really happy with it. I don't know if it's too late, and I don't know what remains of the old postings about lessons learned, so here's a recap: If you're buying less expensive slate, make sure and buy 1/4 more than you need. A lot of it will be unusable. But even with that it's still a bargain. It will also let you choose the stones that you really love because they're gorgeous. If you like the multicolor look buy a few boxes of a lighter color. Most of ours were grey/purple/red, and we added some boxes of green/gold. It really makes a difference. Before the installers arrive open all the boxes and sort through them. I did it in our driveway. One pile for unusable (some had these weird sharp extrusions that I didn't want underfoot, or really sharp edges where pieces had flakes off.) If you don't want to walk on it, put it in this pile Another pile for partially usable, to use when they need to cut smaller pieces. Then sort the rest into special pretty, light colored, medium colored, dark colored, and grey/black. And in my case, green/gold. We were doing an entryway, galley kitchen, and open dining area and decided to put all the grey/black in the entryway. Then I picked where the special pretty were going to go - one on each side of the dishwasher, a couple in the traffic area between the dining and kitchen. Put them where you'll see them Then I told the installers to take one from each pile, then from the next pile, and so on. Once they got it they were really good about not putting two that looked the same next to each other. If you look at my floor in the picture up top you'll see it's nicely laid out. I'd also suggest washing the tiles really well before they're installed. I had to wash them well inbetween install and grouting and some of them - the more reddish ones - had a lot of mud on them. You can also get more of a sense of the color. I used a matte sealer; the next time I scrub it I'm going to add a shinier layer (Holloway House, recommended by people here.) I tried it in the entryway and I like the light sheen it adds. You will not be able to use a sponge mop except for light cleanup (like in the winter when there's salt in the snow.) I still use the Hoover Floormate - pour on hot water and some cleaner, scrub a little with a stiff pushbroom, and then suck up all the water. It doesn't show dirt at all. Sort through all the tiles

Yes, that's exactly right.

Here I thought I was the only one with a plant addiction!! Here is my lists, lol! Pom's: Eversweet Parfianka Sirenevyi Desertnyi Kashmir Blend Wonderful Salavatski and an unknown variety All bloomed last year, but didn't carry their fruit Plus I have several plums: Black Ice (espalier) Methley Native plum Sloe Golden Globe Figs; Alma, Panache, Ge Neri, Black Mission, and a unknown And Raspberries; Fall Gold, Latham, and Kiwi Gold Blackberries, Boysenberries, and loganberries Blueberries; pink lemonaide, climax, and two others that I can never remember their name, Plus, Pawpaws, elderberries, Hazelnuts, Chestnuts, Apricot, Apples (Fuji and Granny Smith), Bacon Avocado, Pears (Unknown), plus numerous gingers, and citrus. And I plan to try my hand at grafting my jujube and quince this spring. It's nice to hear other addicts talk about plants!! LOL!!!