Hello............it's hard to explain. I DO have a google address bar. If I use the word google in it, the entire site just freezes up. The only way I can get out of there is the reboot. If I would use a word like 'apple', it would take me to those listings.....but I can't open any of the sites, nor can I go back .........therefore, I have to reboot again. This all started a couple of months ago, when I awoke one morning to find BING, and my google was unusable. When my son tried to help..the BING was gone and the GOOGLE was useless. I hope this makes some sense to you. TIA

kim0201 -- I've been hoping someone with more insight would respond to your post. First, I must commend you for your disciplined investment strategy. The most important thing is to save regularly, and you've been doing that and investing safely -- you are very wise. I purchased some I-bonds in October 2001. I've been very pleased with the return, but the fixed rate was 3%. Rates had dropped dramatically from May 2001 to October 2001, so I had the advantage of knowing that the fixed rate would likely not see those levels again for quite some time. Because the fixed rate is only adjusted semi-annually, you can lock in the rate that was in effect six months prior -- an advantage if rates have fallen. The inflationary rate has been disappointing at times. They use core inflation, so food and energy aren't calculated into the equation. When I've gone in to check the new inflationary rate, I've been surprised that it wasn't higher. My inclination is to not invest in I-bonds now because the fixed part of the rate is low. I believe rates will go up (not immediately, but within the 5 year holding period) and while I believe that inflation will rise, too, the fixed rate portion can really hold back your return. Having said all of that, your strategy of dollar cost averaging is much more effective than trying to time the market like I'm doing. However, I don't invest regularly in Bonds -- just sometimes when the circumstances are appealing. I hope someone else here will provide you with more useful information. Keep up the good work!

So you have a thread you want to save "forever" for later reference or that you just want to follow. What can you do? GardenWeb does not have a "Follow" function, so you cannot do it that way. You could "bookmark" the thread in your "favorites" or "bookmarks" on your local machine. You could "clip" a post in the thread so you can get back to the whole thread. You could also search Kitchens (using the search box on the bottom of the Kitchens home page that has the list of threads) or by using Google or similar search engine. Each of these has their strengths & weaknesses. Bookmarking a thread: You can bookmark the thread in your "favorites" or "bookmarks" folder on your local machine. However, if there's a picture in the thread you saved that's later deleted or moved by the person posting the picture, you will no longer see the picture when you bring up the thread using your bookmark. This is b/c the bookmark brings up the thread updated to the the moment you used the bookmark..."right now". Additionally, if the thread disappears, you will no longer be able to access it. If this happens, you will get a "Missing File" page when you try to access the thread. Clipping a post: You'll notice that each post within a thread has the option to "clip this post". By clicking on this option, the post is clipped and saved to your "My Clippings" (access it via: http://clippings.gardenweb.com/clippings/your username) It clips the post (and only that post) from the thread. When you later look at it in your clippings, you can click on the post's subject and it will take you back to the entire thread, assuming it's still available. You are limited to 50 clipped posts. Once you reach the maximum of 50, you will no longer be allowed to clip another post (or email it) until you delete at least one clipping. Another downside is that like bookmarking, if someone deletes a picture that's in the clipped post, you will lose that picture b/c when you access the clipping it's as of "right now". Ditto if you click on the post's subject to get to the thread...the picture will be gone there as well. [When clipping a post, keep in mind that only a single post within a thread is saved...the post where you click the "clip this post" link.] In addition, if the thread goes missing, you will not be able to access the entire thread. The clipped post will remain, but when you click on the post's subject, you will get the "Missing File" page. Searching Kitchens: This works so-so b/c GardenWeb has a rather primitive search function. However, even that becomes useless once a thread drops off page 67 of the Kitchen Forum's thread list. Again, the thread is accessed in it's current state, so if a picture has been deleted, it will be deleted in the retrieved thread. In addition, if the thread goes missing, it will not be found via a search on the Forum. Google search: Again, it's so-so b/c it's a basic search, not Forum-type functions like, for example, by thread author. However, you can often find threads that are "lost" to a GardenWeb search. (If you use this, include "site:ths.gardenweb.com" as part of the search criteria. It will limit results to pages/threads at GardenWeb.) And again, the thread is accessed in it's current state, so if a picture has been deleted, it will be deleted in the retrieved thread. Like the above options, if the thread goes missing, you will not find it via a Google search. Saving thread to local machine: This will save the entire thread as it is at the time it was saved; i.e., it's a "snapshot" of the thread at the time you saved it. So, even if someone later deletes their picture online, you will still have it on your machine in the saved thread. However, if others post to the thread after you've saved it, those updates are not reflected in your saved version b/c that saved version is a snapshot of a previous time. You can re-save it again later...but be careful, if one or more of the pictures are gone, you don't want to save on top of the old thread b/c it will overwrite it and you will lose the pictures you previously saved...so save it with a new name (maybe w/a version #). Additionally, if the thread goes missing, you will still have it on your machine. An example of a missing thread: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0919242822271.html (Subject: forestfire..please help me with my lists) [BTW...if you have this file saved on your computer, could you please let me know by emailing me via "My Page" Thanks!] skip line So, how do you do each of the above? skip line To clip a post Click the "click this post" item on the "clippings" section of the post. You will find this section in the upper right corner of each post. It also includes "email this post", "what is this?", and "see most clipped and recent clippings". The post to be clipped will be displayed by itself on a page with the option to add notes at the bottom of the page. Add any notes you wish to remind yourself why clipped it or any other note. Once you've added your notes (if desired), choose one of the radio buttons "public" or "private" to make the clipping public for everyone to see or private so only you can see it. Default is "public". Finally, click the "Save to my clippings" button to save the clipping. It will be added to the end of your clippings list. Note there is also a "cancel" button, click this button instead of the "save" button if you wish to cancel saving the clipping. When viewing your clippings, you can view them in any of the following sort orders: "Last Updated", "Post Date", "Post Title", or "Forum Name". "Post date" is the default. skip line To bookmark a thread Firefox: Click the "Bookmarks" menu item and a menu will appear Click the "Bookmark This Page" option on the menu. You will be prompted to specify where to put the bookmark. You can create a new folder, save it to an existing folder, or save it in the default location..."Bookmarks Menu". You can update the "Name" if you wish to. Internet Explorer 7.0 and earlier: Click the "Favorites" menu item and a menu will appear Click the "Add to Favorites..." option on the menu. You will be prompted to specify where to put the bookmark. You can create a new folder, save it to an existing folder, or save it in the default location..."Favorites". You can update the "Name" if you wish to. skip line To save a thread to your machine/computer in html format Firefox: Click the "File" menu item and a menu will appear Click the "Save Page As..." option on the menu. You will be prompted to specify where to put the saved page. This works the same as saving a file in any other product such as Word, Excel, etc. Internet Explorer 7.0 and earlier: Click the "File" menu item and a menu will appear Click the "Save As..." option on the menu. You will be prompted to specify a location to put the saved page. This works the same as saving a file in any other product such as Word, Excel, etc. skip line To save a thread to your machine/computer in Word or other word processing format Any browser: Open up a new, blank document in MS Word or whatever your word processing application is. Copy (usually [Ctrl-C]) the thread. I usually select & copy everything from the title of the original post to the bottom of the last post...this prevents you from copying the page headers & footers. To select only what you want, click & drag your mouse or click on the beginning, scroll to the end, and do a [shift] + Click. (To select all, use [Ctrl-A]) If you want, you can edit the thread in your word processing application. Save it as you would any other document.

I'm still learning and trying new things but there are definitely things I wouldn't can again and did in the first place because I thought I would use them. I'm going to stick to plain tomatoes, stewed tomatoes (which I love and can't keep on the shelf), green beans, deer meat, Annie's salsa, pickled beets, pickled onions, various jams, kraut, relish, and a few pickles. I like my corn frozen and prefer refrigerator pickles. I like apples and peaches dehydrated, plus canned sauce. I dehydrated various odd things last year and they are still in my freezer. I also forget they were there. My few attempts at canned tomato sauce didn't turn out that great for all the work involved. I may have over-cooked it before processing but I have no desire to try it again when I can blender a can of toms for the sauce. I've already harvested my garlic and it is curing now. Plan to keep some for fresh and roast the rest with olive oil and freeze in cubes. It is very handy that way! I may try to dehydrate some kale chips, I have lots of kale and can't seem to use it up quickly enough. I still want to try some new things, though!