I absolutely do intend to buy a sump pump. I tried to buy one today, in fact, but the store was out of the model I wanted. I will probably buy one this weekend at a different store. Dicot, unfortunately gravity doesn't work in my favor. Everything in the whole neighborhood is located higher than my drainage ditch, which is why I've never been able to get the drainage ditch to actually drain. The sump pump should take care of that, though! Al, could you recommend a website with instructions for installing a more permanent drainage solution? I would be more than happy to spend $50 on it; I'm just not confident of my ability to install it successfully. Flora, my spreadsheet also shows which plants have died in my garden, so that I can stop planting them. I have been adding more and more clustered field sedge, because it seems to do well and I like it. I also added a second golden currant earlier this year, for the same reasons. But I also like to experiment with new plants when my research suggests they should work. Even if the plants die, I'll probably learn something about them that I can use when we eventually buy a place and I start a whole new garden. Kris, I have been adding coarse woodchip mulch, steer manure, and homemade compost about 8 to 12 times per year since August 2008. The soil just swallows it right up at the next rainstorm. It does have some lasting effect - when I dig down in the lowest-lying areas of the yard (along the fence shown in the left 2/3 of my photos), the top four or five inches of soil have large woodchips all through them, even though the top surface just looks like mud. The foreground of my photos shows the slightly higher portion of the yard, though, and nothing I've added has seemed to have much effect there. I think a lot of the mulch and compost just washes down to the lower spots. I probably should dig more of it in. Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions - especially the suggestion of a sump pump!

Sky hook

1. He needs to be walked with intermittent training (5 minutes Fun training/15 minutes walking/ 5 minutes training/ 15 minutes walking). 2. You need to teach him what is called "bite inhibition." He needs to be consistently corrected from mouthing in the way his mother and siblings would correct him: YELP loud when he mouths (even if it is not hurting). Stop playing with him or interacting with him at all (as trianglejohn describes) if he mouths. Ignore bad behavior and only interact/pet/play if he is appropriate. 3. Do not blame the dog for his lack of training. Did you research the breed before you bought him? Aussies are spirited, high energy dogs. This is a very labor intensive breed on the owner's part. I have friends with Aussies in agility and they need to run/work the dog intensively an hour a day, minimum. 4. Forget about your "dominating" the dog. Since you are home all day, it should be easy to sign up for a puppy kindergarten training class, which will teach you how to train him. 5. Reading and trying to apply what Cesar Milan does (without learning basic methods of dog training yourself) is like reading or watching someone drive a race car and then getting behind the wheel yourself. His methods in particular are not appropriate for puppies or for people who have no idea how to train a dog. Ian Dunbar is a world renowned dog trainer, behaviorist and vet. If you plan to read anything, I recommend his web site. Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: Ian Dunbar

I agree, that we can't let nuts run around loose, and we should never let our guard down. BUT I have to wonder... How legitimate was this guy? This guy obviously was NOT connected, or he wouldn't have been getting his explosives from an undercover agent. Organized terrorists generally have their own, 'safe' sources. Which, of course, is not to say a single, determined nutcase couldn't cause a lot of damage, injury and loss of life. He certainly could, but I doubt if this is a symptom of a larger attack in the near future. Seems more a case of the government hyping up the one they caught, so we think they're actually doing something to protect us. Real, serious, organized terrorists would NEVER have let themselves get caught like that. We won't know about them until after the fact.