It's not much of a secret that my primary focus is bonsai .... and I tend to gravitate toward plants that are unusual and that I can manipulate into something unusual or more attractive than they would end up being if left to their own growth habit. I really didn't BUY those plants. We had a guest artist do a workshop for our bonsai club, and the selection of plants she had for the plantings was very limited. Those were the most attractive of what was available, so I just grabbed those, but I was really never pleased with the appearance of the plants, which, as you can see from the pictures above, quickly became unruly & to my eye not so attractive ....... so I was just looking for an opportunity to give them away. Using them in a demonstration allowed me to keep the tray they were planted in, so it all worked out. Some of you might be surprised at how much root pruning you can do without concern for the plant's survival. Here's a little boxwood I've been working with before root pruning: and here's what it looked like before it went into it's new pot: Plants are plants, whether they are houseplants or trees normally found in the landscape. They grow the same way and use the same nutrients in the same proportions as other plants, so 95% of what applies to trees applies to houseplants. If your houseplant has a branching root system, don't be afraid to bare-root it and root prune. You'll find it has a significant rejuvenating effect for the whole plant. There is a physiological reason for this that I've explained before, but I won't go into it now because I've already strayed a long way from my original intent, which was to thank you for your kind words. - Al

If you'd like to see the overhead transpaencies that Dale Ennis, editor of "Canadian MoneySaver" magazine used at that meeting, go to www.canadianmoneysaver.ca and look for "Tips and Tools". There's a lot of other interesting stuff on their website, as well - some of it of interest only to Canadians. Plain paper, no slick stuff - mostly writing; no ads. Pictures of the guys who write the two - three page articles, and contact info at the end of their articles. They are good about answering questions related to those articles, which are often rather condensed to fully cover a substantial issue, if rather sketchily, on occasion. The mag is totally subscriber driven, as they carry no ads. Subscribers asked for seminars with the guys who write the articles - they've been happening for several years. Seminars in winter in warm climes, on cruise, etc. Subscribers meet in about 40 locations in Canada. Ours in London has been meeting for over 10 years, I've been attending for six or so. Usually about 20 attend the monthly two-hour meeting and one learns a good deal about various approaches to money management there - we have to defend our viewpoints, as well. Plus about half of us adjourn to a coffee shop for another hour: manager brought us over a plate of goodies, a few months ago. Cost: gas to get there (and some from nearby communities ride together). (But the coffee at the after-meeting is costly, though they have "loyalty" cards (they're not the biggest chain in the country, by far - Starbucks ain't, either). We usually have the first guy to arrive get a card, then get it stamped for other members' purchases, so often we accumulate nearly the ten needed to get a free coffee during one evening's business. I think the corporation would say that one can only accumulate the increments on one's own accont - but management doesn't appear to care (haven't shut us down, yet, anyway). Sorry - I forgot that this isn't the "frugal" forum! Hope you're all enjoying a great week. One of the great things about retirement - every day's holiday. As I used to say when I was a personal financial advisor - "If you give me 10% of your money - I'll have you retire early". Actually, that message gives a false impression: my main philosophy was that I wanted my clients to learn how to manage their own money more effectively. ole joyful

I use Turbo Tax and let it do all the hard stuff about deciding which forms to send in. About interest, if the financial instution sent only a report of items to report and no official forms, then enter the data on the appropriate form(s). The report tells you which boxes to enter various data. Carefully enter the data exactly as shown. The institution has already reported this data to the IRS. If your return is one of the randomly selected ones for initial screening, I suspect that an automatic comparison is made between your reported data and that reported by the institution. A difference may flag your return for further audit. Consult the IRS booklet or website for proper forms and instructions. BEWARE: I am not a tax expert. The forms that I used were: 1099-INT for interest 1099-DIV for dividends 1099-R for income taken from an IRA that was funded by pre-tax money. If you dad is over 70.5 yrs old, and has an IRA that was funded with pre-taxed money, make sure that he is taking the Required Minimun Distrubution each year. The penality for under-drawing is hefty. However, due to the bad economy, the RMD was temporarily rescended for 2009 and one may take as little as desired.

Oberon, thank you for responding. I really appreciate your input. FYI - The Andersen rep and customer service both tell me that the thickness of their lites is proprietary information. Laminated windows are a strain on the budget with a price almost twice that of standard windows, but it appears that I have no choice if I want to reduce noise. Would a triple pane window, with EVEN panes, take the place or even come close to the noise reduction of a double pane anealed/laminated window? I am wondering if it is possible to make an educated guess as to the STC/OITC that I need. Here is my story: My house, built in early 1050s, is 200-300 feet from a local 4-lane highway. The hwy has a posted speed limit of 40 MPH (plenty of cars go 50 MPH) and has lights which slow traffic down. There are bushes between us, and a neighbor's house partially blocks the hwy side. My windows are the originals and they do a minimally acceptable job of blocking the traffic noise from my sensitive ears. Most of the windows are wood, double hung, single pane, covered by storm windows that are closed all year. The den, which is the most exposed room, has a wall of single pane casement windows in steel frames. Each sash is a steel frame/grill that divides the glass into individual rectangles of approx 10" x 12". The den casements are painted shut and covered by storm windows all year. In the winter, there is a draft coming through and they are often wet from condensation. As part of a major home renovation, I am replacing all the original windows with casements and would like to reduce the noise more. Can you take an educated guess as to a minimum STC/OITC rating that I should look for? I am considering Anderson 400 Series or A series casements, and using the laminated windows in the more sensitive rooms - den and master bedroom. I am leaning strongly toward the A Series for two reasons: 1) The STC/OITC ratings of the A Series standard IGU are 27/23 vs the 400 Series 26/22. The ratings of the A Series .060 lami is 33/29 vs the 400 Series 31/27. 2) I visited my neighbor’s house and stood in front of his standard 400 Series casements to get a “feel” for the noise reduction and, while I did not pick up individual car noise, there was a non-stop whirring sound. I visited a friend who lives further down the same highway to get a feel for his 400 Series casements. The same whirring sound. There was once a discussion in this forum about an increase of sound in windows with equal lites. See http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2586644/noisy-andersen-windows. I suspect that my friends are having exactly this problem. I am hoping that the A Series, with a different construction and a higher STC/OITC rating, will provide better noise reduction and no whirring. Oberon, other readers, please share your thoughts and experiences. Thank you.