Hey JauntyJohn, I'm certain it's not ventricosa because of it's large leaves. I'm 99 percent certain it's wamin, but it could be Eutuldoides 'swollen internode'. I only think that because it's possible, but either way, you have a pretty bamboo, and the mother canes are still green (sign of good health).

" but the center spark plug arrangement would be a nice "geometry" in my mind/eye - does that have anything to do with the spark plug placement? " Oh yes indeedy! When Chrysler designed its hemispherical head, they put the spark plug in the top center of the combustion chamber. The downside was that you had to go through the valve cover to get to the plugs. This necessitated adding a plug tube and sealing it at both ends, in other words, extra parts and places to seep oil, and extra cost. During the '50s through 80s, this design was avoided in many engines, and plugs sprouted from the sides of the heads. At one time, I had a 400 CID V8 with the plugs under the exhaust manifold. I had to crawl under the car to change number 7 and 8 plugs. I got a frost bite burn one winter doing this. It became painfully obvious in the '70s that the kluge fixes to meet cleaner exhausts was not a permanent solution. Engine output fell during this period and in many cases, efficiency fell too. To track what the Japanese engine makers were doing, look at their motocycle engines. Many things were tried on these engines and the sucessful stuff got incroporated into their automotive engines about 2 years after a success in a motocycle engine. Multiple valves was sold in cycle engines before these appeared in cars. Yahama was up to 5 valves per cylinder, 3 intakes and 2 exhausts, before settling to 4 valves per cylinder. Today, many car engines can be found with 4 valves per cylinder as a means to boost the breathing of small displacement engiines. Next came a pair of counter rotating weights spinning at twice engine speed to take a lot of the "buzzies" out of the 4 cylined engine. These first appeared in cycle engines, then car engines. There is one precaution one should take with spark plugs down a tube, or for that matter, any sparkplug, and that is to prevent debris from entering the cylinder when the plug is removed. If you have an air supply, its a good idea to blow out any loose stuff before removing the plug. When the plug is in a hole, shine a light down there and look for any liquid that might be lurking there. If you see any, sop it out before plug removal, because that liquid will drain into the cylinder when the plug is removed and can cause problems on startup if too much is in the cylinder. If there is any junk in the fluid that can poison the catalytic converter, it will, although the likelehood of this is small.

Hi NitePatrol: I'm so sorry of your loss to a careless driver. Do I hate it when people drive and use the cell phone! The worse drivers are the ones with cell phones on their ears. Early death of a husband will happen to all of us. Statistics showed that women outlive men by 7 years. I'm so sad by your grief, NitePatrol, and the only thing that I can say to myself if the same happens to me is, "Be a force of love, so that I can join my husband in heaven." For any loss, there is a gain, if we reach out for it. glad that you reach out, because there are many of us who care and feel for what you are going through. The best I can say is, "NitePatrol, find a gain through this loss. There are many ways: care and provide for yourself, and give yourself what your husband would want to give you right now." We can get through Anything in life if there is a reason behind it. In this senseless situation of life taken away by a boy and his cell phone, it's really hard to find a reason. But there is one: "to be a force of love, gain, and positiveness despite the carelessness, loss, and negativeness of life." NitePatrol: You can't let "Badness" win, you have to overcome it with the goodness inside you to go on loving, and doing good to yourself, no matter how much "Badness" destroyed you. "Badness" here is careless driving, be it drunken, or talking on cell phone. I'm behind you 100%. There's a book, "Hellow from Heaven" which will comfort you. I did an extensive research on Near-Death-Experiences after the deaths of my brother and father. One NDE said, "our sorrow and pain in life is like a grain of sand in the vastness of incredible joy and happiness in heaven" Yes, it's a grain of sand - best to brush it off, and focus on the ocean of relief in heaven where your husband resides. The past only hurts us if we hang on to it.

Dear Jen, thank you, I'm trying to be cheerful, but have waves to sob. I called "advise nurse" that AM and she later called back for me to go to the ER immediately, which I did. Everyone said it looks like a classic broken clavicle that football and moto/cycle trauma will cause. But I was asleep in my bed, air mattress and tons of pillows because of years of pain, proclaimed as arthritis, fibromyalgia, or it is all in your head (which has always made me insanely outraged!). My primary Dr said, after looking at my XRays, "you are vindicated!". From emergency I was refered to the ortho/surgery and she too, said this is concistant with extreme trauma, not sleeping. I see her again for another XRay and exam Dec 28. My primary said "I'm Very concerned" and added tests to the blood work the ortho wrote in addition to the bone density, and also a spinal bone study, which was done Friday. Thank you so much for the suggestion to consult a teaching university. Stanford is right here, and I will heed your advise and see what I can learn. My greatest sorrow is my mother, she knows what happened, but I don't want to upset her any more. My hubby is being so wonderful and very helpful, I'm profoundly grateful for his support. Thank you again for your kindness.