That's right, those are really cheap rates for electricity. Here in southern California they use a tiered rate system that charges more the more you use. The first 276 KWH is 13 cents a KWH. The next tier is 15 cents a KWH. I expect my 21 tube monster fluorescent light fixture to push me this month into tier 3 where they charge 24 cents a KWH. Tier 4 is 27 cents a KWH and tier 5 is 31 cents a KWH. We pay more for almost everything in California except food. Regular gas is now $3.59 a gallon, and home and land prices are some of the highest in the country.

I conducted a test this weekend pitting Tide HE powder against Persil. For raw cleaning power, you can't beat Tide HE. However, if allergies are your concern or you suffer from sensitivity issues, Persil does rinse cleaner and with almost no residual scent. You'll encounter some people who will claim Persil to be some kind of miracle detergent, but honestly it's just a big waste of money unless you are married to its other qualities -- less scent, better rinsing. In my test, Tide HE outcleaned Persil hands-down, and Persil even contains oxy bleach which gives it an unfair advantage that was not realized in my tests. Anyone who prefers Persil for its "superior" or "amazing" cleaning ability is just fooling themselves, in my opinion. I welcome those people to conduct a test of their own to show how well Persil cleans versus the leading domestic brand. Step up. Here is a link that might be useful: Tide HE vs. Persil Test Results

I should have updated this thread again. In June, our air conditioner died. Something electrical - it would run for 5 minutes, make a loud grinding sound, and then shut off and trip the switch on the panel. Called an AC company out to repair it, said that he could repair it but that it was on it's last legs. Didn't surprise me - it's 8 years old, extremely cheap builder special, and we used it year-round, almost every day, both day and night. Life of a normal use AC unit is 10-12 years. So, we opted to replace it, and got an American Standard unit - very nice. This thing is silent - our old unit sounded like an airplane roar. No joke. We had a very hot summer again, September being the worst. Rates did go up too as they said last summer. Last summer we hovered between 750-900, and this summer? The September bill was $495. NO JOKE. And that's even AFTER the rate hike. I can't even imagine if we had the old unit - it would have been well over a thousand dollars. Our new unit will pay for itself very quickly. Moral of the story - if you are running a builder special AC unit and your bill is high - replace it. It'll be worth it.

Ladylotus if you look at the Mills Fleet and Farm site, who is the primary distributor of Cherry Stone #2 you will see that the stores are in the northern / central region. I am sure it gets distributed to locations on both coasts but so far nothing in the nearest 100 miles of me. I just purchased 200 pounds of it online which brought shipping cost down to $10 for each 50 pound bag. I won't have to buy it again for 2 years. LOL