Just wanted to thank everyone again for the advice you offered. I went ahead and made another batch last night. I was going over everything extra careful to try and figure out where I went wrong the night before. After pushing the lock in place I was testing to see if the lid was trying locked and to my surprise it turned. Went back over the step to see what I was missing. When pushing the lock in place, it "looks" fully engaged but when I push a little bit more I can hear a click. I realized I had not heard the click the night before. So I'm certain that this is why my pressure was off the night before, I didn't have the canner fully locked. I did bring the canner up to pressure at a lower level so I didn't have to lower it as much during the processing. I also noticed there was significantly more water left than the night before. Also last night's batch took 52 minutes for the pressure to drop enough to release the lid (and my house is only 67 degrees so not terribly warm). I couldn't believe how much boiling was occurring even after an hour with not heat. Was even more surprised to see it boiling and hour and half after coming out of the canner (so 2 1/2 hours after the heat was turned off). I'm sure those of you who have more experience in this area are used to that but I sure found it fascinating to watch the stuff boil that long with no heat. So my second batch was successful. The kids very much enjoyed the first attempt and I learned an important lesson about double checking things so I consider both batches to be a success. Thanks again.

it is unlikely you are going to solve your problem on a forum like this...unless you are trained in electric and HVAC, best advice is to call an established reputable HVAC dealer to fix your issue, especially with low 40 temps inside your home. When I see threads like this, I always ask when was a routine PM last performed on your system. Anything mechanical has to be properly maintained. Breakdowns do occur, sometime they can be avoided with regular service especially with a system that is old. IMO

G - for some reason your most recent post shows up in the 'Activity' tab on my user page, but not here. I sort of deduced you were in some manner a part of the medical care community by way of your phraseology. Edited to say: The lost post showed up around 5PM Christmas Eve - strange, that. .... I always find it fascinating to see evidence of how our physiology and pathophysiology is really not that fundamentally different from our green relatives. Like how animals will occasionally find walling off (like plants do in CODIT) to be the most viable - or only - way to control an infection (e.g. abscesses or TBC granulomas). Or the whole thing about the ability to fend off (opportunistic) infections/infestations as a function of overall vitality levels you reference over and over. I see many similarities as well, even with my pitifully limited knowledge compared to yours, and it makes me tend to want to draw parallels and comparisons between plants and animals. The problem with doing that, even if the equivalence offers a path to instant understanding, is, a lot of folks know what anthropomorphism is and have often point to it as a logical fallacy. I often refer to and get away with using phrases like 'plant central and its chemical messengers' because it saves a ton of writing and I'm pedantic enough as it is. I use those terms to convey the idea that, for the most part, plants' responses to their world are more orderly (until they can't be) than it would seem. To illustrate that I'm intentionally being anthropomorphic, I usually recognize it in advance by setting the word/phrase apart with "quotes" or an 'apostrophe', which seems to work reasonably well. But to get back to the topic at hand: Yes ....... "Older plants that become infected often remain viable for a period after infection but usually die. Often, seemingly healthy basal shoots or leaves will occur, only to collapse from the infection after a short time when the pathogen spreads systemically into the new growth." That's the most fitting description of what I have seen happening with my plant. And while you have avoided spelling it out so far (or well, maybe you did: "followed by involvement and death of the whole organism") my conclusion is that what I have at hand is a systemic infection that is too advanced now to be controlled. Sooo, aside from sitting the plant under some lights and hoping for a miracle I guess I should look at getting another set of cuttings from the mother plant for a second try... I'm not sure what additional info you're looking for, but: For vascular wilt diseases, think of the xylem as where the battle takes place. Vascular wilts can also be bacterial or caused by water molds (oomycetes). Usually the pathogen enters through a compromised root or through cracks that often form at root laterals, but there are several other POEs, like stomata, hydathodes, insect penetrations, grafting, notching, poor pruning practices ..... Even though both xylem and phloem are accessible to the pathogen, and the phloem is rich in sugars, it usually 'chooses' xylem tracheary elements that provide a nutritionally poor environment. It's widely thought that this occurs because the high osmotic pressure of living phloem cells makes penetration difficult. Symptoms of the disease are usually made manifest acropetally, which is why I wasn't convinced the disease was localized in the termination of the foliage. Which leads me to my next set of questions: - Can these fungal pathogens survive outside a host for some time? Definitely. Spores can survive (even over-winter outdoors) in soil, plant debris, dead host tissues (bark, .....) an infected water source, in insect vectors. Spores can also form a hard mass that includes a food source, and the pathogen can survive as mycelium/ hyphae. As in: Can I reuse the pot and soil mix for the new cuttings or do I have to treat them in some way beforehand (with heat for example)? Right now I feel like just letting them dry out completely should suffice. Given the persistence of the pathogen, you shouldn't reuse the soil or the pot w/o treating it. I would clean the pot thoroughly and soak in a .05% solution of water/sodium hyperchlorite (9 parts water: 1 part household bleach @ 5.25% so-hypo). Rinse thoroughly and allow to dry in full sun. You can reuse the soil w/o worry about fungal infections if you bring a pot of water to a boil, add the soil, cover the pot, return water to a boil, turn the burner off and allow to cool w/o removing the lid, strain, allow to dry. - Can you give me a quick reminder for the correct handling of cuttings? I remember the following: Make clean cuts with a sharp blade to avoid jagged or crushed edges (another parallel to human medicine) and sprinkle the cuts with cinnamon. Best to use something razor sharp - I'm thinking scalpels, for you. I normally use a straight edge razor blade (I buy in boxes of 100) or any of 3 high carbon steel tools I keep sharp on a 3,000 grit water stone to way beyond shaving sharp. For better results, skip the cinnamon - flowers of sulfur is widely available and much more effective as a fungicide. No need to use anything else on propagules if you're using a rooting aid that includes a prophylactic fungicide. Be sure to include at least one node of the trunk for each cutting. Depending on the distance between nodes, 2-3 nodes beneath the soil line is best. At least 2 nodes above the soil line is a good call, too. If one of the distal nodes fail to push a branch from the leaf axil, you have a spare/spares. If you want a single stem and you see more than one axillary branch, rub one off after roots are established enough that you won't be breaking a bunch of roots if the propagule is disturbed, rub one axillary branch off (or snip with sharp scissors) and retain the preexisting leaf for the time being (food factory). I use mostly gritty mix for cuttings, and the uppermost of the nodes covered by soil will tend toward going dry unless the propagule is tented, you're diligent about spritzing (the soil) to keep the top moist, or you covering it (soil). I often cut a slit in Al foil and fashion a loose cover from that in order to ensure the entire soil mass remains moist. If ever you're using a medium that supports a perched water column, please to be sure the proximal end of the propagule is not submerged in the perched water (hypoxia/ anoxia). Cut leaves in half to reduce foliage that has to be supported. This is often a judgment call, but it's better to err on the side of too much reduction of foliage rather than not enough. The drought stress can cause abscission of ALL of the foliage, which is very counterproductive and to be avoided. You'll often hear that NO foliage should be removed, but those with a long history of repotting and propagation know that you have to be able to adjust your thinking at times, so there is no hard/fast rule when it comes to adjusting the volume of foliage to arrive at the desired end. Plant immediately in soil (I'll use the 5:1:1 mix now) and water daily until enough roots have formed. Hold back fertilizer until there's new growth. Depending on the plant material, it's sometimes better to wait for callus to form over the wound before you stick the propagule. For instance, dormant deciduous cuttings, most evergreen cuttings, and a good measure of succulents do best by waiting an appropriate interval for that plant. I've pruned Aeonium in Feb and left the snippings on a paper towel on the basement work bench. Roots grew from the stems and the snippings too right off in mid-May when I decided they'd earned the right to remain viable by virtue of their mulishness. After taking the cuttings I won't be able to plant them for a day and I'll have to transport them. What would be the best way to handle that? Wrap the cut ends in a clean paper towel? Dry or wet? A moist paper towel in a bag or simply lay the cuttings on their side and cover with the moistened medium you intend to use. Whew! You really made me think!I hope that was what you were looking for. Al

The wirenut held only a few strands of AL wire... is it possible the breaker trips because the thinner aluminum wire can’t carry the load? Nope, sorry. Doesn't work that way. It IS possible that stray uninsulated strands could short to ground, however. I've seen stranded AL wire down to AGW 8, but not often. More commonly it's used in larger sizes, around AWG 4 and larger.. And if you actually found AL wire in an ordinary wirenut, I'd guess that you're looking at a real hack job there. As K says, it could be stranded tinned copper, but that would also be surprising -- unless you're talking about wires inside the fluorescent fixture, such as a ballast or switch pigtail. There it would make sense. I have a Ge panel, what 2 pole 240 volt breaker with GFCI and or AFCI 15 amp would you recommend? For a GE panel, there's no recommendation. You have one choice for a 2-pole 15 amp AFCI, a GE THQL2115AF. Are you sitting down? Look here or here or here. Please don't take offense, but you seem to be spinning your wheels here. It might be time to consider calling for a tow, er, I mean calling in a pro.