Well, I kind of hate to play the role of smarty pants, but regarding solubility potassium, like sodium, is tremendously soluble in most all chemical formulations. Phosphorous, on the other hand, generally is not soluble as found in nature. Chemical based fertilizers are formulated so both potassium and phosphorous are available as portions of soluble chemicals and so are quickly available to the plant root system so long as moisture is present. A couple typical chemicals that are frequently used are potassium chloride (potash) and ammonium phosphate. Potash is mined from deep deposits, mostly in Canada, or extracted from Great Salt Lake water. Phosphorous is obtained from rock deposits mined in many places in the US and worldwide. It must go through some extensive chemical processing to end up as soluble ammonium phosphate. I'm not making any statements here about the relative advantages/disadvantages of chemical fertilizers compared to "organic" or natural based fertilizers (I use them both), just want to clarify the solubility situation a bit. Catman, when you burn materials such as bone and bananna peels you are really just carrying on a simple chemical reaction called oxidation. What will be left of your two valued elements will be oxides. Once wetted they will hydrate to hydroxides and then may react further to salts depending what other elements are available in your soil and at what ph they are present. No organic fertilization here! But, indeed, you will get some very small fertilization benefit aside from the soil ph situation which is a bit more complicated.

For a second story, if you have a whole-house boiler already, I would probably just stick to straight a/c with an air handler. I say this because heat naturally rises, and having a secondary heat source, economically, doesn't sound like it would have a great payback on the second story. Do you have a thermostat for heat upstairs already, or just downstairs? If downstairs, upstairs should always naturally be warmer. The Carrier quote does not give you many options. The first option is a bare replacement, not even including a new indoor portion (just the coil inside). The second option is a complete Infinity system. The Infinity is a nice system, but by personal preference I tend to stay to the more simple systems (i.e., 13-15 SEER with variable speed indoor portion). The variable speed indoor unit can sometimes improve airflow to some rooms depending on present ductwork condition, and as you noted it also has a low fan-on setting (I think it comes from the factory like this but nevertheless it is an option for the installers to set). Depending on the thermostat you use, it has the ability to be configured to control (de)humidity (again, that's getting more fancy with controls). I like the American Standard quote (the equipment, that is) However it looks like this dealer too is just proposing a coil and not an actual air handler inside. Perhaps I'm confused as to what you have in the attic now (I'm assuming a fan coil/air handler - just a blower and a coil for a/c). When going to R-410A it is a good idea to flush the lineset/purge it with nitrogen. Surprisingly, some don't do this, and many times there won't be problems, but it is very good practice and any good company would know to do it or replace the lineset itself (which isn't necessary if proper size and in good condition). The second Carrier quote (most recent post) lists two good, reasonably priced options for a/c. With Carrier, those are the two units I'd look at (Comfort 24ACB330, Performance 24APA530). The Performance series unit is physically larger outside, if that makes a difference, since it's more efficient. Either of these units can be used with a variable speed indoor fan coil (model FV4BNF003/5). Let us know if you have any more questions.

Our gathering this year initiated by me. With 6 children among 3 moms living in the southern portion of California it made sense to meet in Hollywood for Thanksgiving. I recommended much of the menu according to the tastes and traditions of my friends. We had turkey wrapped in bacon, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, two kinds of sweet potatoes, green beans almondine, a lovely salad brought by guests, corn bread with bacon stuffing, apricot sausage bread stuffing, a raspberry-cream cheese jello, three kinds of cranberry sauces, homemade pumpkin pies and cheese cake, purchased cherry and pecan pies, ice creams, and whipped cream. It was all quite traditional fare. I made stuffings and gravy at home and traveled with those. Pie filling and crust pastry dough were made at home and assembled there. My crust discs didn't have enough moisture and fought me. Thankfully pumpkin pies only have bottom crusts that were well covered by filling. They were not pretty! But the taste and texture were good. I cooked the turkey and a spare breast there. The turkey went into a roaster. I cooked it 450 for an hour and then turned it down to 325 for the rest of the cooking and held it at warm while everything else finished. It was quite fine. It was an organic 19 pound tom. My friends made the sweet potatoes, cheesecake, jello dish, and cranberries. We also had canned cranberry jell. The young'uns love that stuff. Alice and Haley made guacamole to snack on before the meal. Our hostess Lisa made hot cider and coffee. Though I asked and my emails were forwarded to all guests, no one told me that the two daughters of my friend's friends are vegetarian. :( They ate around the heavily meaty offerings. I would happily have made something for them and some veggie stuffing had I known. I had many sous chefs among the young adults who wandered in and out and helped. Everyone pitched in with everything that needed to be done. Though I am perfectly capable of turkey carving, I was also really ready to abdicate the duty due to tiredness by the time the bird emerged. I asked my son to carve. He stuttered in a panic and left the kitchen. :) I asked the super social husband of the friend's friend to carve. He also blanched at the request but manned up on the spot and did the job. Bless his heart. All of the young folks took over at dessert time and set everything out after we cleaned up the main event. We were supposed to be 15 but the elderly momma was unable to attend so we were 14. I packed up a boxed meal for her. Things I would do differently next time: have a Silpat on which to roll pie crusts, make a vegetarian side that can work as entree for the vegetarians. Make sure we don't buy 2 hams and twenty pounds of potatoes. Lisa and I accidentally doubled up on a few things. I sent my starving student children home with two bags of potatoes. Otherwise, I would not change much. If we do this next year I will suggest that the adult children make some of the sides as well. Thankfully other people took photos! The youngsters gathered in the patio before dinner. Left to right: Lisa, Alice and Alice, Noelle, Haley, Daniel, Aimee, and Gina. Daniel and Alice amusing themselves while waiting to eat. Serving ourselves. Alice and Aimee with their plates. Someone's plate. The kids' table. ;) Candace, the ham thief. She was banished to the patio until dessert after helping herself to a portion of ham from the buffet. She is very tall and will counter surf if not watched carefully. The oldsters. Lisa, our hostess, is third from the left. Tom, the turkey carver is pretending to steal a kiss. Alice and Haley with desserts. Post orgy, um...meal.

I think the radon thing is a huge gimmick. The radon mitigation system is about the dumbest thing I have ever seen. This is about as dumb as those little "horns" that you put on your car to scare deer away. You drill a hole in the basement slab and run an exhaust pipe through the roof to allow all the trapped radon to escape? Who is to say wherever they decided to drill the hole, the radon is just sitting there waiting to escape? Why wouldn't the radon be trapped under a different area and still seeping into the house? What about all the radon that is outside? Or in the supermarket? Or church? Radon is supposedly everywhere - so how do you escape it? By wearing a gas mask? The research I did on radon told me that only a small number of people could get lung cancer IF subjected to this over a LIFETIME. How long is a lifetime? 80 years? Well thats about the time you die anyway - so how can you prove it was radon that did you in? I truly think the radon scare is just a gimmick, designed to sucker those who live in fear out of their money. One minute eggs are bad for you - too much cholesterol. Next minute they're healthy. Really doesn't matter - we are all going to die sometime, and if your number is up, God is going to take you out no matter how well you safeguarded yourself. Yes, you want to protect yourself within reason, but there is also such a thing as worrying about nothing. Our inspection turned up radon in the basement, and our buyer asked me to pay for a mitigation system. This was coming from a guy in his 50's who smoked. Amazing - he's not concerned about his chances of cancer from being a smoker - but he wanted me to safeguard him from radon. He had also lived somewhere else for the previous 50 years - so who is to say that my house would have killed him? I told him "no - your health concerns are your problem, you pay for it". My realtor thought I was committing house seller suicide by denying him that, but I stuck to my guns because I knew I was right. And he still bought the house.