Rick - I see no damage in any of the quickwall items that were left outdoors. I just had a few that were supposed to hold water and 3 of those I purposely left out full of water so they would go thru the freeze/thaw cycles our winter offers. (gets down to -10 for a few days most winters but can also race up to 50 a lot of days) . They all did fine - still hold water all summer. My surprise is that they hold water at all. Why in the world would a thin walled quickwall ball hold water? I don't have much experience with any of this but the same ball made from concrete and mesh seems to leak like a sieve but the quickwall ball that is open to the weather has to be emptied after rains - I have left the water in it for weeks and it never leaves - it seems very waterproof to me. Life has so many mysteries. Laura

My wife has a few 'plastic' pots that she uses for herbs, and places on the deck outside our kitchen. My biggest use of them is in starting the seeds each year. I used peat pots for many years, and was always annoyed at the amount of failures, and resulting re-plants. I have found a better way, especially for my tomatoes and peppers. I use these bio-sponges to germinate the seeds, and then when they have about 2 or 3 leaves, I move them into small plastic pots(square) that are almost 4 inches deep, and 3 1/2 inches square. (with potting soil filler) They have consistently done much better than the peat pots ever did. Some suggests that the peat absorbs too much moisture, maybe. When it comes to planting in the garden, they pop out of the plastic pots quite easily, with their roots well developed and holding it all together. This year, I tried using these foam shipping trays for wine bottles. I buy a case of wine, now and then, and when they are shippped, they come in foam formed containers for the bottles. I realized they are not too wide, but nice and deep, so thought I should try them for my seedlings. I lined each cylinder shape with wax paper, then put in the plant which grew in the biosponge, with the soil filler. I'll be putting them in the ground later this week, so will be anxious to see if they pop out easy enough with the wax paper. They also grew very well from the seedling stage. We'll see!

OK...I just chased this down on my Argo with the same/similar engine. I had spark on a single cylinder. So I assumed the igniter or a coil. Swapped coils and the suspect coil worked after swapping...so igniter? NOPE. I was just about to buy a $200 igniter (ignition box) and wigged the connectors and it kicked up my RPM. The spade connectors corrode. I pulled each one, cleaned and flowed a little solder on them and it runs like new again. Yes...my issue was corroded connectors. My connectors all had crimps that looked perfectly fine...but had intermittent bad connections after 18 years. You could also cut the connector and solder and shrink wrap it you aren't good with a pick and small connectors. I had pulled my igniter circuit board out and it looked brand new. Wiggle and twist those connectors with engine running...if your RMP jumps up...you have the same problem I did.

The reason I don’t think it is an umbrella stand is that it is too big for one. I realize that the scale is hard to grasp from the photos. This could easily hold 30-40 umbrellas, the handles would barely show above the rim, and starting a collection is not what I want to do. I am hoping to find some other use for it. Casey, I have seen trench art from spent shells in antique stores: very interesting things indeed. I think then the base would show something typical of a shell: and it does not. The base is absolutely flat and plain. It is actually constructed in 3 sections riveted together : the base is one solid piece, like a plain cup: the sides are a sheet rolled into a cylinder; and the top is another cylinder, decoratively stamped, with edge rolled.