Although birds will sometimes clip off the stem of a young seedling, this typically occurs during the day. If it's at night, this is probably the cutworm, as others have already written. Alan Chadwick had a technique for dealing with these larva which I have not seen mentioned here so far, so I'll briefly describe it. In the morning, when you discover the severed plant lying on the ground, look carefully within a circle of about 6' from the stem. Most often you will discover a small hole in the surface of the soil (about 1/16' in diameter). Take a table knife (not sharp) and dig down abut an inch or two to the side of that little hole. Flip the soil up onto the surface and look for the cutworm. They are quite easy to catch that way. As one or two of them can do a lot of damage, usually there aren't very many of them to worry about. Just be careful not to disturb the soil around the stricken plant, so that you can find the little hole. Chadwick called these larva by the name used in England where he was trained: Leatherjackets. More information about his masterful gardening techniques can be found at the link below. Here is a link that might be useful: Alan Chadwick garden techniques

You don't need 3 separate faucets. I have two: the main faucet I use for washing (which isn't filtered) and then a small hot/cold faucet that's hooked to the filter and the instant hot. I left the filtered cold dispenser out of my original description because it's integrated with the instant hot system. The filter faucet I have is this one, I think. The only thing I don't like about it is that the hot lever is spring-loaded as a "safety" feature, so you have to hold it down to keep the water flowing. (I put "safety" in sneer quotes because I think it's less safe to force me to keep my hand near the hot water.) I actually have a ice/water dispenser on the fridge too. It dispenses chilled water, but it comes out quite a bit more slowly than the non-chilled water from the hold/cold dispenser by the sink. I tend to use the one on the fridge for a quick glass of ice water and the one by the sink for filling pitchers and other big stuff. I didn't try hooking the main faucet up to a filter because I think it would take a big filter to maintain the water pressure and flow rate you'd want from a faucet used for washing dishes, rinsing vegetables, etc. If I have time I'll try to post some photos of what my set-up looks like from above and below the sink. I may have to do a bit of cleaning first, though. :-) Depending on how carried away you want to get, a whole-house filter is an option. My next-door neighbor the plumber re-piped his house and put a big whole-house filter and softer system in his garage. It's two sealed units about 1 foot in diameter and 4 feet high each. He says they have to be changed every 5-10 years depending on how bad the city water is. I can ask him for the brand and model number if you'd like. It looked like a big job to install, though, not a DIY project. (Even for me, and I'm not afraid of sweating copper pipes.) And I'm sure we're talking at least a couple thousand dollars for the equipment and labor. Laura

"Does the term convection microwave mean a regular microwave w/ a fan so the cooking is slightly faster and more even. If this is the case, then food could still come out chewy?" We have the Sharp 930 (which as mentioned above appears to be identical to the Dacor) and along with straight just convec, there is a 30% micro power/convec and a 10% micro power/convec option. Have used both for basic roasting like chicken breasts and it has worked fine (you can tier the speeds such to cook at the higher setting to start and then step down to the 10% setting to keep food from cooking too fast). We use the mixed most for faster, more even defrosting and for heating up leftovers. One downside, the broiling setting is sort of a hoax--just runs it at a high heat setting. Overall, we like it very much.

Good Morning Katherine, I felt I should respond to let others who are reading understand more about the Fastlane. (Katherine called me yesterday afternoon and we had a discussion at length about the Fastlane). The Fastlane website shows many pictures of our retrofit Fastlanes because that was the product that we initially sold and have the most installed pictures of. It was only after a complete redesign that we started heavily promoting the wall mount (or new construction) Fastlane. The hydraulic pump for either the deck mount or the wall mount Fastlane can be placed by the rest of the pool equipment up to 200 Feet away. The wall mount Fastlane mounts to a bracket that is installed in the pool wall. It will protrude outward 18 inches at its widest point and thanks to the "step down" design, this occurs underwater and remains sleek at the top. The reason why the Fastlane must mount to the wall and not installed behind the wall is not only for functional purposes but for safety reasons. The bottom 1/3 of the unit is the intake. The Fastlane will draw water from 360 degrees around the base creating nearly 5 sqft of drawing space. If the Fastlane were to be installed directly in the wall then it would only be able to draw water in from the front of the machine, creating an entrapment hazard. The Fastlane needs at least 2 feet of open space on either side of the machine to not only work properly but to insure that the there is not an entrapment issue. There are pool construction techniques that can be employed to recess the Fastlane but it must adhere to our minimum clearance guidelines to ensure performance and safety. I understand that, for aesthetic purposes, it is ideal to have a swim system invisible in the pool. However behind the wall system's do not perform even close to the level in which the Fastlane does. The Fastlane is designed to be the perfect swim machine and if we made changes to accommodate this, we would sacrifice the quality of the current and integrity of the Endless Pools name. As for an installed price of the Fastlane. I can't speak on your final estimate for I am not a pool builder nor am I familiar with the particulars in the project. But I will make this statement. Do you want to buy a car that is from a fly by night manufacturer or do you want a car from a time tested, respected manufacturer? Good quality work, dependability, warranty and customer service go along way and in my mind, is worth the price of admission. Good luck in your pool journey. Hope to have you swimming soon. Best Regards, Michael