By "quality" I meant something like the plastic containers described above that come in various sizes -- the hard part is finding one that fits your exact size box. Black plastic is the most common, though you might run into the thick rubbery kind which are good, too. The paint idea would make it last a lot longer, but I assume you bought that box because it looks like wood! I hate painting over a wood box that nice looking. It looks like pine (or douglas fir) and shows some scratches common with such a softer wood, but again I'm in CA and pine is everywhere. It's not cedar, redwood, or oak. Possibly maple. If the box was *very* expensive (like maybe above $70) it's possible it's a finer wood, but unlikely. The absolute best stuff for protection in clear coats is not Thompsons but what was mentioned: Marine Spar aka Valspar. I use it but it's very expensive and the HD box stores in my area stopped carrying it. I bought the last two gallons from my store. Since your thread topic is about protecting the box, we're all giving you some options -- they may even start to border on impractical. But depending on weather severity and if the box is semi-protected (shaded, under roof overhang, etc) if you throw on the TWS in/out and find an insert that fits your box, you'll probably be happy for a couple years. By then you're probably going to replacing the soil/plants in it anyway. Then reseal it again if you still like it. If you can't find the right size plastic insert, put on TWS + spray pruning sealer I mentioned above and I seriously doubt you'll need an insert. If you want to go overboard to protect the box, do it all but toss the TWS and purchase the marine spar instead (or paint it). Total would probably exceed the box cost by 2 or 3 times. Certainly "cost" in your time finding the materials and sealing it. But some folks wouldn't hesitate, especially it has sentimental value like your son made it in shop class ;-) Good luck! Chris

No. so called Philippine Mango or whatever are the ataulfo. The 'Ataúlfo' mango, also called young, baby, yellow, honey, Adaulfo, Adolfo, or Champagne, is a mango cultivar ORIGIN from Mexico. Ataulfo mangos are golden yellow and generally weigh between 6 and 10 ounces, with a somewhat sigmoid shape and a gold-blushed yellow skin. Do understand where mangos came from. They didnt hatch. Hence not originated in the philippines. The growing seasons with tropical weathers make each philippine grown Ataulfo unique tasty sweet distintivtive and could call its own cultivar. You want to taste prize winning try The most flavourful, Tastiest, Juiciest of all, Banganapalli Mangoes from Ulavapadu India. i just bought a box 9 Lbs or 4 kilo for $50.00 thats less than retail. sounds crazy but there huge and a taste of heaven.

For what it's worth, though, the stuff sold now with the RCA brand on it has absolutely nothing to do with the pioneering television and electronics firm of the same name from back in the '40s and '50s. Nowadays it's pretty much a brand sold by cheaper firms like Radio Shack and it comes from whoever in China can build to spec the cheapest and fastest. :-(

Funai makes a lot of the small sets, especially the ones sold in discount stores such as Wal-Mart. The Durabrand name that Wal-Mart sells is all made by Funai, as are many of the sets carrying the Sylvania, Toshiba, and Emerson names. They're not bad sets. I accidentally dropped a 13" Funai TV/VCR combo about four feet onto the floor and it didn't hurt it at all. We could afford to buy American, but most consumers choose not to do so, preferring to seek the lowest price. Thirty years ago people paid $400 for a 19" color TV, and this would probably equal at least $1,000 in 2005 dollars. So even if the $100 20" TV at Wal-Mart were doubled to $200, people could easily afford it. But it's a moot point now because few, if any, smaller TVs or any other lower priced consumer electronics goods are made in this country anymore.