Hi Sharon~ I know someone reputable that will deliver your car vehicle privately. Send me an e-mail if you are interested. Hope you like Connetticut. If you know someone who would like to return Megan's grandmother's clay pot, the private driver could coordinate that with with transport of your vehicle, and that would truly be a becautiful thing. Good to hear from you, will miss you at the garden sales and swaps : ) Best of luck, m

If you have a commercial electrical contractor in your area ask them if they have any old 2'X4' fixtures laying around. I had an old friend in the business and he had 40 old 270V two bulb fixtures stored behind a building. The fixtures were torn out of a commercial building during an electrical overhaul. They were in great shape and he said to take as many as I wanted. I took five. I was lucky he had them and luckier that the fixtures had a mirror reflector in them. He gave me four 120v balast of which I wired each fixture with two balast to handle four lamps. I canibalized a set of fluorescent sockets for each fixture. The lamps are explained at my link. I had been in the construction business for twenty years so this stuff isn't rocket science to me. My mom makes growing plants simple. You plant the seeds in potting soil, keep them warm (80+* very important), keep them moist, give them light when they pop, repot and repeat, plant in the garden, manure, manure tea, fertilizer, a little miracle grow, a little epson salts and some luck with the weather. I used in the garden four pickup loads of horse manure that was two years old. Hope this helps. http://www.network54.com/Forum/616213/

I will say that in the "which is better, Honda or Toyota" question, they are both pretty much equivalent. I have a 2001 Honda Accord with 105k miles on it that was NOT maintained by my husband (when he was the one primarily driving the car). I made sure that the major services were done every 15k miles but he never did intermediate oil changes. Even being abused such as it was, I STILL get 30mpg highway and even though I do have to throw a quart of oil in between oil changes and have never had a non-wear related problem with it. Ever. I would guess that if it were property maintained I would not even have to throw in the oil every 1500 miles. Toyotas are similar and honestly I would be extremely comfortable recommending either one to anyone. The whole discussion reminds me a little bit of those bumper stickers I'd used to see along the lines of "I'd rather push a chevy than drive a ford" etc. I know people have extreme brand loyalty sometimes but they are both very very very good and reliable cars (I would also add nissan and mazda to the list btw, they might be a tiny bit less reliable over a large sample set than honda and toyota but they are still very very reliable cars). I have also heard that Hyundai of the last few years is what Honda was when it first came out... extremely reliable and extremely economical with a lot of bang for the buck. Honda is still extremely reliable but you will pay for it (both new and in higher retained resale value, same with Toyota). All that said, my BIL is in the used car business and has lots of friends in the new car business too. I will probably never drive a new car again because of it - he just has access to too many resources and no matter what kind of a deal I have been able to track down for new, he has always been able to blow it away with used. But even without someone like him as a resource, he does have a few "tricks" that have yielded very good results. He does buy most of his cars privately and through auction but there are times when he will go to a dealer to purchase a car also... usually when he is trying to track something specific down for a family member. Here are the things I have picked up over the years. 1) get the carfax report. Make sure the car has clear title and few owners (1-2 depending on age of the car.. if a car has changed hands many times it is usually an indication of annoying problems). Many carfax reports will list the dates of services performed if they were performed at the dealer... although I have seen many that don't show anything about service either. If it's not reported it doesn't mean it wasn't done but if it IS reported, it's great for peace of mind. It will also list any open recall items and remaining manufacturer warranty. He doesn't buy anything without checking the carfax. The other thing it will tell you is the date of all of the title transfers, including the transfer to the dealer - so you can see how long the dealer has had it. If it's over 90 days chances are good they will be willing to deal... they don't like holding cars much longer and will likely be putting it in the auction soon to get rid of it, where they will have to pay to insert it and will probably not get all that much over trade in value... why not save them the hassle by buying it (then they will at least be able to get doc fees off of you too)? If a car has been sitting at the dealer for a while you can really go for the jugular in dealing price and maybe get it for $500-1000 over dealer trade in values. 2) Don't go to a toyota dealer if you want a used toyota. You will pay the highest prices there and really they will be trying to convince you to just buy new anyway. I've been looking to replace my accord, maybe with a subaru and you would not believe the crappy junk they had there at ridiculous prices and for everything i looked at he just kept telling me how much better a deal the new cars would be (although agreed that things are weird because of the japan situation, they can't get subarus either). The BEST place to buy a used car, especially in the "average person price range" is, believe it or not, at a luxury car dealer. People trade in their newish mid priced cars (hondas, toyotas, hyundais etc) all the time for upper end cars when basically they realize that their car that was reviewed as being the poor man's bmw is still a poor substitution for an actual luxury car. Luxury car dealers take them in as trades to make the sale obviously, but they are not really in the business of selling used hondas and toyotas... it seems to be easier to get a deal there because they just want to get rid of the things. Even better if they are holding the car upward of 90 days. The other nice thing about buying from dealers like that is that their detail shop does not discriminate based on the type of car... if you want a used car that has been put as close back to new condition as possible, the luxury car dealers are the place to go. We bought a 2008 hyundai santa fe from an import dealer (they deal in bms, mercedes, aston martin, rolls royce etc) and the thing was immaculate (both mechanically and cosmetically) and because they had been holding it for 90 days we got it for pretty much $500 over what they paid for it (including the mechanical work they did like new brake rotors and tires etc). Now my BIL bargains like no one's business but I would think that if you say "i see on the car fax that you have had this car for a while, what's the best you can do on it?" that you will find them ready to deal. 3) Don't forget the "hidden costs" of buying a used car... like the replacement of wear items (like tires, you can easily spend $1k on new tires) or major services that may be soon required. It will be less expensive to buy a car at say 105k miles that has had the timing belt and water pump changed (for cars that require that) than a car with 95k miles that will require it very very soon. That only really applies for older used cars and I think the OP is talking newer cars but I figured I'd throw that in for completeness. Anyway, good luck! I am looking to trade up my accord a little bit too (tired of driving manual, tired of burning oil) so I'm back on the hunt myself (and want to pay cash as well).

"...My goodness, you certainly got a lot out of my brief post. Little bit of a chip on your shoulder there, guy?..." ***************** I'm just not afraid to debate the issue as you obviously are. Because you haven't refuted any of my statements. I have no chip on my shoulder. But I just get reeeeaaaallll tired of the people that say the sky is falling. Yes, the earth IS getting warmer and it always will. And then it will cool. As it always has. The ocean WILL rise, as it has in the past, and WILL fall as it has done in the past. So what? Do you REALLY think we can stop it???? I do care about the environment. After all I live in the Peoples Republic of Vermont! (Texas isn't the only independent republic to join the Union!) We elected a Socialist to the US Senate for god's sake! Yes, Bernie IS an avowed Socialist. And proud of it. He hangs a picture of Eugene Debbs in his office. But he's still an idiot. I drive a vehicle that's rated ULEV ("ultra low emissions vehicle") I use wood as the primary heat for my home. (fewer hydrocarbons and a constantly renewable resource) I recycle. Possibly more than you. So I AM aware of the world around me. I'm just not afraid of it. We live by a saying up here. Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do, Or do without. My computer is 8 years old. Because I don't need to waste money on a new one. I live in a small home. Because I like it. I like having land around it. And trees to burn. So if you'll excuse me I'm going to climb into my Ford Expedition (ULEV!) and go to the general store for a newspaper...