I know this is an old thread, but in case anyone is searching on this topic... I've noticed that my plants love it when it rains, they are perky and refreshed in a way that I don't see after watering or fertilizing. I decided to simulate rainwater by adjusting my tap water pH down from 7.4 to 5.5. My adjusted pH is somewhere in the 5.0-6.0 range due to small dosing inaccuracies. I acidify my water using sulfuric acid @ ~32% concentration (battery acid 1.28 mol). I've been using it with tablespoons as well as 1CC droppers and have no issues whatsoever. The acid is pretty safe to use if you take some basic precautions and aren't sloppy about it. Even so, it's not that strong of a concentration to do any real harm as long as you're close to a hose and don't get any in your eyes. Wear glasses just in case. My plants absolutely LOVE the lower pH water. They look perky and refreshed just like they do after a rainstorm. There are other beneficial effects as well. My seeds appear to be sprouting much faster than usual, the compost clumps that are sitting atop my soil have started to seriously break down finally, and my soil retains more moisture than it did before switching to lower pH water w/ sulfuric acid. Bottom line: My plants like it and I have noticed only positive effects. I will continue watering them with acidified water.

Well, our biggest small success most recently wasn't anything we can take credit for. A termite infestation was discovered in our basement, and we were EXTREMELY relieved that the bill was "only" $800. It could have been a whole lot worse, especially as the termite guy found a five-inch-wide termite "superhighway" they had built right up against the outside wall. No wood needed replacing, thank goodness! I have to say I see snidely's point, just as I see grainlady's. Look, it's wonderful that some people get a kick out of being frugal. I salute you; really I do. It's fabulous that you eat healthily and thriftily. More people should. But I don't want to be like you. I am more like snidely, and so is my spouse. We are free-spending and live very well, despite being on what was considered moderate incomes in the extremely expensive San Francisco Bay Area. I am more likely to spend $125 on lunch for the two of us, and I only pick up cans to put them into the recyling cart which the Waste Mgmt Corp. picks up every week - and charges us for whether we fill up the cart or not. We fought our way out of bankruptcy into a comfortable early retirement, and it wasn't easy. So absolutely yes, celebrate those small successes! Especially reducing the credit card debt, which is very difficult. The OP's situation shows the importance of having an emergency fund, and I still vividly remember how difficult it was to even manage a 2-month emergency fund. Funding a 6- or 12-month emergency fund, as is often recommended nowadays, was something I didn't manage until I was in my fifties and close to retiring, LOL. Just as important as celebrating your small financial successes is to remember how wealthy you truly are. If you have family and friends whom you love and who love you in return; if you have reasonably good health and a roof over your head; if you can pay your bills and marvel at the sight of spring flowers...then you are rich, regardless of $$$.

I have a recommendation for whole-house fans, and that is to go with the ones made by Triangle Engineering of Arkansas (made in the USA!). These things move more air than any other brand. As an example: the 36" belt-drive model sold at Lowes & Home Depot moves 6,900 CFM on its highest speed. The 36" one that Triangle makes moves 10,600 CFM. I just put one of these in last week and am so taken with it that I'm evangelizing for Triangle now. These things are much higher quality than the other brands too -- these are made with very heavy-gauge solid welded steel (as opposed to the thin, flimsy metal - often aluminum - that other brands use). They use a very solid motor made by Emerson, the best of the top three motor-making companies (the other two being Fasco and A.O. Smith). They come pre-framed on a wood frame for installation, AND they have sponge-rubber noise-dampening material between the fan and the frame, so they are much quieter than the other brands. Also, Triangle holds a patent on an automatic belt-tensioning system these things use, so you don't have to worry about getting the tension right when you install the fan (or in the years thereafter as the belt loosens up). Also, they come in more sizes than the other companies -- from 24" all the way up to 48" blade diameter (which moves a ridiculously whopping amount of air; no one else makes one that big). They're sold online at Southern Tool amongst other places that ship nationwide, so they're available wherever you live. Also, Triangle re-brands some of these as a private label for Dayton, which is the "store brand" of Grainger - so if you have a Grainger store near you (check your phone book or their website), you can buy one there. I will say this, though - Grainger/Dayton makes their own shutters, and those shutters are much better than the one Triangle makes. Triangle makes great fans, but crappy shutters. Luckily, they're sold separately -- so buy a Triangle fan and Dayton shutters; money can't buy better products. They also re-brand some for a company out in San Francisco called "Fanman" (a/k/a "Delta Breeze"). A word to the wise -- these fans move a lot of air, so make sure to install at least the recommended minimum amount of attic exhaust space (gable vents, soffit vents, roof vents, some combination thereof, whatever works for you) - if you don't have enough, the fan will operate at reduced capacity, and there will be a backpressure which will cause the shutters to rattle when the fan is in operation (any time you hear whole-house fan shutters rattling, you know there isn't enough exhaust space). Oh, and one other thing -- only buy a belt-drive whole-house fan, don't EVER buy a direct-drive model...the direct-drive models are at least five times louder, they sound like standing on an airport runway next to an old prop plane getting ready to take off. Several of the dedicated whole-house fan installing companies have chosen to use Triangle fans; that should tell you something. These companies want satisfied customers, so they use Triangle and only Triangle. Refer to http://www.trianglefans.com/wholehouse.html for more info Here is a link that might be useful: Triangle whole-house fans

cc, I have to ask, what is the title of this book? Here are a few solutions that I found online. I have not tried any of them so cannot vouch for them. (VOUCH! I can put that one on the Scrabble thread!) 1. Cedar Chips: Cedar chips have done wonders for me with all kinds of odors. You get a bag at a pet store, then put the books and a load of cedar chips in a plastic garbage bag or sealed carton for a period of time. The most difficult to deodorize are art books on coated papers. How long it takes depends on the odor, but the cedar chips leave no odor. 2. Kitty Litter: Recently we purchased a math library which, while it had no apparent mildew, had that telltail odor. In addition, a couple of the volumes had "philandering pussy cat" musk about them. We plunged the books into the middle of a box of unscented clay clumping kitty litter, having first very lightly "misted" them with lysol. We held the lysol can approximately 4' above the books, and gave a very light psst! on the spray nozzle, letting the fine mist drift over them. After a week we pulled the books out of the box of kitty litter and behold, they no longer smelled. 3. Absorene: Seriously, folks, the best method of removing cigarette smell from books is Absorene paper and book cleaner. It's a pink clay that you apply like a sponge to the front and back of books. It absorbs the smell. On the ends of the books, apply very gently. The stuff is magic! You can order it through the Brodart catalog, or write to the Absorene MFG Co. at 1609 N. 14th St., St Louis, MO 63106 USA. Terrific stuff. Two cans will last all year! 4. Fabric Softener Sheets: I got this suggestion from someone on AOL last year. Tried it with an ARC of Jurassic Park which must have lived its whole life in the smoking lounge...It pretty much worked, might have worked better if I'd been more diligent or used more strips... The suggestion is to take one or two of those dryer fabric softener sheets (I use Bounce), cut them into a few lengthwise strips and place the strips here and there inside the book. Then seal the book up in a plastic bag, strips and all, and wait for some period of time which I don't remember (I left my copy sitting around for months, but that wasn't really on purpose). Probably a week or so. And no, I have no idea whether this would be chemically bad for the book's paper; certainly mine wasn't any the worse for the treatment, that I noticed anyway. 5. "For a small number of relatively small objects, you can seal the items in a plastic bag with baking soda, clay cat litter, or activated charcoal--all will, over time, absorb much of the offending odor." cece, these all came from various sites on the internet when I did a google search. I hope they are useful to you. Keep us posted. PAM