I'm having a not-so-gourd day, so I started browsing around the boards to amuse myself. Instead, I frightened myself when I found this thread and a Kenny Rogers song started going through my head - and then I read that Eddie had the same reaction. It's quite frightening to think my mind works like Eddie's. (Hi, Eddie!) I wish I had a good excuse like Katie who has moved to a new home. Instead, it's the day-to-day grind that has me worn down. The car keeps breaking down, the fridge leaks water at random moments (well, not so random, it usually happens about 10 minutes AFTER you wanted to be in bed), my son went to Guatemala and brought home bronchitis for the whole family - you get the drift. I keep slogging away, but every time I turn around, another dam* tribble falls out of the cupboard at my feet. I've been involved in some volunteer work for a cause I strongly believe in, but lately the administrative issues have been outweighing the real issues, and I feel like I am wasting my time. I'm giving strong consideration to pulling in my horns, resigning from my volunteer job and refocusing. I saw an ad Saturday night for a "life coach"; maybe I need to hire one? V., who dropped in to consdier dropping out

Hi: I moved into a duplex almost 4 months ago. The house is old and the walls are thin. When I rented the apartment the other side was vacant. I am 55 years old, single and work days. The landlord then decided to rent to a pair of 20 something females who work nights at a bar. The first month I lived there I thought I was living in a frat house. I complained to my landlord about the noise in the middle of the night as they bring friends home with them. She spoke to them and they didn't see a problem. The noise has gotten better until last week. I was home around 5PM and the music was on next door. It wasn't that loud even though I hear it. Then it got louder where I had to keep turning the volume up on my TV. I finally pounded on the wall and complained. I was told to get a grip it was only 5:00 - my landlord told them they could make noise until 10PM. I said the music was drowning out my TV. My landlord arrived later on to pick up their rent check and told her about my banging on the wall and yelling. She asked for the music to be turned on at the volume I complained about - of course I didn't hear the music as they lied about the volume. She then proceeded to tell them if I yelled or banged on the walls they should call the police. When I got her e-mail I then told her about being woked up several nights a week when they come home with friends between the hours of 2 & 4 AM. And 2 weeks prior I was woken up at 3:30 as it sounded like there was a fight going on. I have realized that they don't go to bed until 5AM and sleep until 5PM. They told her they are afraid to hang anything on the walls for fear of my complaining amd the walk around on tip toes. I said if that was the case then I wouldn't be woken up in the middle of the night. They want to hammer nails at 12:30 AM. I told my landlord I was sorry for having to sleep at night so I could go to work during the day. Seems it is now my fault. I also don't allow my guests to park on the front lawn. I even find myself trying not to make too much noise in the mornings when I get up and the weekends when they are sleeping for fear of retaliation when I'm trying to sleep at night. And for those who suggest moving as an option. That isn't always possible. I lived at my last place for 9 years and when I took a job further from there I decided to move. Moving is not cheap. I had to take a small loan to cover every thing. Between the security deposit and movers it was almost $4000.

I have the Brother 8500 card only (purchased in 2002) and 2003D which uses both cards and floppy disks (purchased in 2004) and used the OESD Magic Box to convert to cards from floppies, CDs, online purchases as well as Bernina Artista cards. Magic Box is also compatible with Pfaff, Singer, Janome, Elna, Kenmore & New Home (stated on the Box slots). The drawback to a Magic Box versus the Ultimate Box is that the cards only hold about 6 designs at a time. The Ultimate Box cards are able to hold more but the Magic Box won't accommodate doing so. I have both Vikant and Magic Box cards. At the time I bought them, they were both about $69. Last year I purchased the PES2Card box which allows me to convert from Artista to Brother cards, as well as the floppies & CDs. What it also does is transfer from most cards -Brother, Artista are the only ones I've used- back to my computer to store on my hard drive or write to a floppy disk which is used in my 2003D. In other words, all my cards are now on floppies which are used most of the time in my machine. If I need to use the 8500 -which is card only- I use the card. I believe there may be other boxes now that do what the PES2 box does. I use it for all my converting now. It operates on the same principle as all the boxes, just that it writes from a card in the box as well as writing to a card in the box. Now the PES2 is the only box I use. Whenever I get a new design disk or card, I can write to a floppy and keep the original as backup. Since your machine does not use a floppy, you must stick with cards and - while I have not used the Vikant box - I believe the Vikant cards can hold more designs at a time. The PES2 box came with information telling exactly how much different manufacturer's cards can hold, stitch numbers I believe. I think Vikant was about 450,000, vs 50,000 or so for the Magic card. Don't quote me on the numbers because I haven't looked at that info for months.

To start the series with Toffler - got me fascinated, every one of his quotes is a favorite - how can that be? If his quotes were the only ones on the page, I woould have been satisfied. Collins and Blount are successful writers because they have a big ego, they are not afraid of words and subjects to write about, that makes for good reading. I'll go to Page 2 later, thank you Don for fiding all those treasure.