Dcarch, I've been considering ordering an infrared thermometer for a long time, thanks for providing a few uses for it that I hadn't thought of! (a little extra justification never hurts!) Jadeite, thanks for pushing me over the edge by providing the link to the sale at Thermoworks. I've purchased a few items from them, and I'm on their mailing list. I don't know why I didn't get that email! DebraK, I had and threw out a number of digital thermometers because I couldn't trust them to be accurate. I asked for, and received, my Thermapen for Christmas a year ago and I use it all the time. It's accurate and reliable, and best of all it has a very slim, very sharp probe that can be used on thin things, like a steak, thin pork chop, or pounded chicken breast or even fish (though it's easy to tell when fish is done). I have also used it to find out how hot foods are in a warming tray on my Thanksgiving buffet--and also how cold a salad is, so I know when to put it back in the fridge. I've also used it to measure the temp of hot water for brewing green tea or coffee, and the temperature of the water going into the fish tank, and various other things. It's one of the most used things in my kitchen, and I count it very much worth the money spent. Cj

Sorry guys - I deleted my comment within a minute or two because I realized that my post made no sense. I couldn't see the OP because it was unanswered and on the second page. When I posted, it popped up to the top and then I saw it. Sorry for the confusion.

Swatch Rights. Circle shaped paint samples are the best. When you take the edges and corners off, the existing wall color becomes less of an issue. Literally less visual gymnastics are required to perceive the new paint color and imagine it across an expanse of wall area. You can't hang a circle crooked. Circles settle your subconscious. Studies have shown that we are programmed to avoid sharp edges in nature (primordial reaction) because they present a possible threat. The last reason why you should use circles is because it takes less effort to see. Professor Jürg Nänni, author of the exemplary Visual Perception says, “A rectangle with sharp edges take indeed a little bit more cognitive visible effort than for example an ellipse of the same size. Our “fovea-eye” is even faster in recording a circle. Edges involve additional neuronal image tools. The process is therefore slowed down”.

Rifis, oh sorry you meant lack of organic material.....and thus nitrogen....and yes it is lacking. The greater Los Angeles area gets about 15 inches of rain a year. In the mountains we get more. I live at 1800 ft at the edge of the Angeles National Forest and we should get 17-26 inches per year according to historical records. My rain gauge said 23 inches last season. The native plants often fix nitrogen. I was curious if the oaks do, but I don’t think so. But many other species fix nitrogen and the oaks could perhaps benefit from them as understory plants or because they can prep the ground before the oaks grow in a succession of the different species. I am just now having an ah-ha moment. After the Station Fire local folks started getting together once a month to weed out nonnative species (I help weed), and plant and water trees, mostly Coast Live Oaks and Big Cone Douglas firs, since many trees were burned. But after ten years the trees are very small (3-4 feet tall) and many have died, although they have replaced all the ones that have died over the years. I am now wondering if they are struggling from lack of organic material in our soil! And maybe some of the spots they choose to plant are not close enough to other nitrogen fixing plants?! Maybe they could add more mulch around the trees to help increase the nitrogen over time. I did find this list of SoCal plants that fix nitrogen. We have hillsides just covered in ceanothus (ie. California Lilac), which is beautiful in the spring and they fix nitrogen! Thanks for your questions. I have learned a lot looking things up and contemplating it! I have a bachelors in Environmental Science and PHD in Env. Microbiology so I hope I can figure some of these things out :-) but I haven’t thought about these kinds of terrestrial ecological questions in a long time. I work in a lab that studies bacteria that live in the mud at the bottom of the ocean eating methane gas. https://www.laspilitas.com/advanced/nitrogen-fixing-roots.html