Aunt Jen, Hope you come back here and see this reply to you! This might get a little long, but since every woman is different, I feel like you need to know MY circumstances. I always swore I would never take hormones! I was just going to tough it out. I am 47 and "think" I have been in perimenopause for almost 10 years. I was having super heavy bleeding and it had gotten to the point where I couldn't leave the house for a couple of days, and then it was 3 weeks on and one week off! ugh! My gyn had offered in the past for me to take birth control pills to help with the bleeding. Well I also had a tubal ligation 20 years ago and it just didn't settle right with me to take birth control pills. So I just kept "dealing" with it. Then last year it got bad enough that I was going to have a hysterectomy. I was all prepared, and my mother n law was diagnosed wtih Brain Cancer. My DH was the only caretaker living close by, so I knew I couldn't put him through caring for him dying mom and me trying to recuperate from a hysterectomy and still go to work everyday. So, my gyn and I decided I should try an endometrial ablation. It has been a miracle! I have not had one period in a year's time! woohoo! So I do still have my ovaries. Around Christmas last year, I started having strong heart palpitations in the middle of the night when I would get up to go potty. I couldn't believe that walking like 10 steps to and from the bathroom would cause such a thing, and I was convinced I was fixing to have a heart attack or something major! I went to a cardiologist, and convinced him to do a stres test on me, also a chemical one, and everything showed up fine. My blood pressure was up a little, so he put me on a beta blocker, but it's a low dosage. Then later in the spring, I started feeling sort of dizzy, light headed, like I might pass out...even had that feeling driving to church one morning...that really scared me! I just felt very strange and very wierd. And then at the same time, the hot flashes at night started...it felt like 20 times a night I was pushing the covers down, and then 5 minutes later pulling them back up because I was freezing. Not easy to sleep with all that going on!!! So, it got to the point, I was not getting much sleep, and then during the day, the wierd head feeling( i was convinced I had a brain tumor) was keeping me from functioning. I found myself waiting for my hubby to get home from work, and then asking him to drive me to Walmart or to the grocery store, etc...becaue I was too scared to go by myself, for fear of passing out somewhere. It was awful! Then, I had a breakthrough thanks to ThatHOmesite! There is a menopause message board on here, and I started reading threads there and OMG! There were threads about, wierd head feeling, palpitations, feeling like you are going to pass out...and most of these women were right around my age!!!! I couldn't believe it! So, I printed all those things out, and took them to my gyn at my annual checkup in June. I talked to her about it, and she knew I had never wanted to take hormones, and she was also concerned about be taking them so that they didn't start to build up the lining of my uterus that she had ablated. So she recommended I go to our compounding pharmacy and get a saliva testing kit...it was $170 out of my pocket, but I was so desperate, it was worth every penny! So I spit in a tube, and mailed it off to Oregon. A couple of weeks later, the results came back in and my hormones were WAY out of whack AND my adrenals were exhausted. So to answer your question...=), I am on a progeserone/estrogen cream that I use twice daily right now. This cream is made just for me according to my results. There is also a long questionnaire that you fill out about all your symptoms. I am also on DHEA and adrenal forte, to get my adrenals working the way they should again. I started all this about 6 weeks ago, and the difference it has made in my life has been life changing! I would say I am at least 50% better already, maybe even 75% and I feel so much stronger during the day, I have actually been able to start exercising. Couldn't even do that before! The hot flashes at night have all but gone away...there might be a couple sometime, but they are very mild and I seem to fall back asleep easier than I was. I still wake up during the night now, for what reason I don't know. I am going to try cutting out all caffeine, even though I don't consume much of it anyway. But it came down to quality vs. quantity of life for me, and I wound up choosing quality. I have seen my 91 year old mother, be miserable, with not much quality of life, and I just decided I would rather enjoy my life now, instead of just trying to go for quantity of years and be miserable later. I am still trying to take care of myself, in fact, I feel like doing that now where as before the hormones, I really didn't care! So I hope this somewhat helps you. Sorry it took so long to explain, just wanted you to know my own situation. You have to decide what's best for you!

Sorry, I get so much to reply to I don't usually get back to these posts. You need to e-mail me because I may never see your replies & questions. If my memory is correct, around 35 years ago occassionally the compressors had higher BTUH ratings than the condensing units. Laxer49 I just checked your page & my birthday is on Dec 8th, too, I will be 73. Those 10-SEER condensers' used to do real well. If the E-Coil has a leak it should be replaced anyway. Laxer49, If it were me, I would put a New half ton larger BTUH rated Coil in there with a TXV refrigerant control. If you can get a real good deal on a new 10-SEER with that combination & the correct tightly sealed ducts & airflow it should cool okay in the hottest weather. If you want the most cost-effective payback I would do all I could to reduce the radiant & other heat gain as the insulation will also reduce the heating bills. The Installation is the most important thing, it has to be done right! Read & learn allyou can. Funkeruski, I suppose they replaced the evaporator with a matching TXV controlled coil? Everything has to be performed just right & even then if it is real hot & the indoor load is also heavy it may not equal the old unit which would have a larger BTUH capacity compressor on that 4-ton condenser. Those high SEER tests are performed under rather light load conditions. The SEER of a system is determined by multiplying the steady state energy efficiency ratio (EER) measured at conditions of 82°F Outdoor Temperature, 80°F Dry Bulb and 67°F Wet Bulb (near 50%RH) indoor entering air temperature by the Part Load Factor (PLF) of the system. (The PLF is supplied by the government.) IMO, they ought to be tested at 95 or 100-F outdoor temperature. Which SEER do you think will perform better at 100-F plus ambient temperatures, the one with the larger capacity compressor or the smaller one? You could slow the blower CFM down to keep the suction pressure & E-Coil temp somewhat lower, but that also drops sensible capacity some. At 82-F outdoors, the 15 should do real well against the 10. Just my viewpoint. udarrell _ 2007 Here is a link that might be useful: udarrell.com

Okay kayjones, he called me the next night. I was shocked. I thought for sure I would hear from him. After we talked a bit, he asked if next Tuesday would be okay around 6 pm. I said it was, and wanted to know where to meet him. He didn't want to go for coffee, he wanted to pick me up and take me to dinner. He said he was like me. In a rut. One night a week he washes clothes, the next night he does the books for his business and etc. He said it would be fun to go and have a nice time. My friends couldn't believe that I would call someone up. But heck, I've been divorced 9 years and no one has come knocking on my door yet. Desperate times calls for desperate meansures. Even if we didn't like each other, it's a start to socializing. It doesn't have to lead to anything, and everyone said, "free plumbing." I said, no. I would not take advantage of someone like that. I will keep you posted on the "date." Shall I actually call it a "date?" It seems so funny at my age.............

Hi Prairie_north: I check on Pro-Mix HP (65 to 75% peat moss, perlite, lime, wetting agent) http://www.pthorticulture.com/en/products/pro-mix-hp-mycorrhizae/ "PRO-MIX® HP MYCORRHIZAE™ HP - high porosity PRO-MIX® HP, with its high perlite content, provides a growing environment which benefits growers looking for significant drainage capacity, increased air porosity and lower water retention. The added benefit of a fibrous peat moss and coarse perlite ..." I notice on the last picture, the pot is sitting against a black saucer, which means water won't drain fast enough. Rugosa HATES WET FEET. Rugosa is known as "beach rose" since it thrives on DRY & SANDY SOIL. The Pro-Mix-HP has fibrous peat moss, which doesn't drain well like sand, plus peat moss when gets too wet, become acidic. Tip-wilting is indicative of acid-burns ... years ago I had the same problem with one of my band in an acidic too wet potting soil. How to fix that? Take the saucer at the bottom out, and use 2 wooden planks to elevate the pot, to air out the bottom. If possible, drill extra holes at the sides around the bottom, to drain off excess water. pH-test the soil with red-cabbage juice. The best potting soils I used become "clear" in red cabbage juice, which means it's a good buffer & neutral pH. The exception is MG-regular-potting soil (green bag for indoor plants) with a higher % of peatmoss, means more water-retention capacity, that became light pink in red-cabbage juice I still have problems with the over 65% to 75% peat moss content. I would add more perlite. When I root roses, I use 1/2 perlite to 1/2 potting soil (already has perlite), yet that doesn't drain fast enough, I have drill extra holes at the bottom of the pot. Rugosa doesn't like fertilizer, so aim for fast-draining, that way you won't get minerals-accumulation either from your tap, or excess fertilizer. I really think the saucer at the bottom is the culprit. That's why stores put their rose-pots on wooden-planks, for best drainage and airflow to the bottom.