Bobs ramble : Very interesting comments above.When I first became interested in bromeliads in the 1980's,it was because of their varied and colorful appearences and inflorescenses.How could there be such variety in a plant family, I thought.But thats exactly what caught my interest.Years later,with the help of the BSI Journal,and brom books,I began to take a deeper interest due to all the revisions,as Stephania points out,and in Lisa's comments as well. I really questioned the reasons some species and genera were changed because of some not easily visable trait,that was someones personal opinion,scientific or not. I felt,'if it looks like a 'X',and grows like an 'X',it should be called an'X',too.'I first noticed this in Tillandsia vs Vriesea. [I envisioned all the many crosses nature made before mankind even discovered bromeliads,and how man took up from that point,as what to call each one,as if we really knew the history. The time and effort to bring us to the point we are at today in our knowledge is not to be minimized tho,and thankfully,there were those at the beginning that dedicated their lives to it.] But that part of the modern bromeliad world did'nt mean much to me,as did the outward appearences of the plant.But what ever the name assigned,I always wanted my plants to be identified correctly.It just seems right to have a order in the system.Hdd recently pointed out how 'plant brokers'change names just to attract buyers.That surely adds confusion to a system that strives for orderliness,and is just plain wrong. Even used car lots don't do that to sell more cars. So anyway,I continue to select my plants by their eye appeal,not by scientific or taxonomic correctness. And whatever changes or revisions take place,I plan on going along with them,and plant tags will change to match up with the system in place.But I will buy them because they look terrific to me! Bob

It is not fiberglass at all. It stings me at times but not my daughter or anyone eles that I know. They is gold or sliver glittler everywhere. But i have also seen red and green glitter as well.I have been working on this problem for about 40 weeks now and I can honestly say I am going out my mind. It seems to be growning more and more. I have spent so much money on product's. My Electricity and Gas bill have gone through the roof. I have even had a pest control person out to my house twice and he didn't know what it was. He sprayed my house the first time and the second time he sprayed and gased it and yet I am still dealing with this problem. I don't know how it got into my home but it's a living nightmare. I am scared for my mental heath because I have worked so hard at trying to get rid of the problem 24 hours a day. I have steamed, vacuumed and sprayed and for this to turn out to be a waste of time. This WILL SEND YOU CRAZY THATS FOR SURE. Please if ANYONE knows any answers to remove this glitter problem please let me know. Thank you.

I used gloss on all of my woodwork and I can't see my reflection :oP I'm old fashioned so I like gloss for woodwork when it's not oil based. But in today's paint world, good paint in semi gloss is as strong as the gloss so either will work. Be sure to use a bond's and seals primer prior to painting in a latex if you have oil based paint already. If you don't, all of your hard work will go to heck because when the paint dries....you can literally peel it off like fruit leather. Don't ask how I know that....

That matte tile looks lovely! I love tile, I actually prefer it to hardwood to be honest, maybe because I grew up in Florida, but I just think it’s more durable. I have five kids (had all of them in 4.5 years) and it was never a problem with my kids slipping on tile in any house they grew up in UNTIL we moved to our current house. By that time, they were all young teens and preteens, but this house has a huge foyer that originally had shiny, slippery, white tile in it. Everyone except my hubby busted at least once on that tile, even with a rug at the entrance! Thankfully, we didn’t have any serious injuries that resulted in long term issues, but I was initially worried about that when I slipped and fell down straight only one of my knees! We replaced the tile, now I have a stone look, dark charcoal, matte tile with matching charcoal grout and I couldn’t be happier! I also despise the sweaty footprint marks left on glossy floor surfaces whether it’s tile or hardwood. (My hardwood is glossy... eventually it’ll be refinished and I’m going with a non glossy finish for sure!) So yeah, for floor tile I would never go with a slick finish, it needs some grip!