Ha-Ha! WELCOME to the CRAZY BUNCH, Shayne! I grew up on Anaheims and Jalapenos in a little section of a small town in New Mexico. (That little section of town was, and still is, called Chihuahuito.---which means "Little Chihuahua".) I've always loved and 'needed' my peppers. (Almost starved to death for 20 years ordering "Mexican Food" when I lived in Colorado.) One day, out in the garden, I spied a ripe "Caribbean Red", popped it in my mouth...tasted GOOD!!!...for about 10 seconds...THEN I RAN FOR THE HOUSE!!!! I drank a quart of milk, ate 1/2 package of crackers, then drank some more milk.....while my "SWEETHEART" laughed like crazy!! Haven't grown any "Caribbean Red" since,... although I have grown some Habaneros (I like the 'citrus flavor')... But I mostly use the really hot ones for 'hot sauce' and/or seasoning. Like Byron, I prefer the flavor of "Anaheim-type" chile peppers. (Roasted Green, for me) But I like to grow a variety of hot peppers.....just to see what they are like! Also, I've noticed that the pain of arthritis is diminished by eating hot peppers (the hotter---the less arthritis pain) just my 2 pesos worth, WELCOME to the CRAZY BUNCH, Shane! Bruce (Junkmanme in New Mexico)

thanks guys, but i'm fine! as i said i think i'm pms-ing! this is a confusing thread since i believe the reason so many frequent gardenweb is to learn about the newest developments in technology, design and building. i don't think it's a place to judge people's choices. honestly, i don't even know if the original poster was implying that pedestals are in some way excessive or ridiculous... that is however, the way i read it. it's hard sometimes to interpret IT messages since they don't convey the intended tone of the poster. "compelled" somehow relays a negative tone. some replies seem judgemental as well. my back injury aside, i'd still opt for the pedestals. or if i didn't want to pay for them i'm raise them on a platform of sorts. how this might be unnecessary or even frivolous to some is a mystery to me. anyway, i for one use this site on a daily basis. it arms me with information and provides a network filled with people who share a common interest. ok, so maybe you just need a new washer. maybe you don't need hand-holding for that but for those living through a remodel or build it's an amazing source of communtiy. heck, i just like to come here. people are for the most part helpful as well as entertaining.

Posted by lorijean44 "-----Talk about hijacking a thread!! ;-) ----" Lori is absolutely correct. I admit (with a guilty smile) that I am the first one to highjack this thread. This is not very nice of me. I am apologizing to diinohio and to everyone. dcarch

We fool ourselves into thinking that our environment is a lot more sanitary than it is. I worked in several very nice restaurants during college and know that there is a wide range of cleanliness out there, and few places meet the standards we would hope. This is true even if they pass health inspections, because I've seen health inspectors walk right past things that should have gotten the restaurant severe warnings and fines. Working in a restaurant with a salad bar made me swear off salad bars for the rest of my life. I have never seen anything as disgusting as the food storage practices that restaurant used for the salad bar. Between the blue preservative liquid they soaked the lettuce in to keep it from wilting to the way they refilled topping containers over and over without ever dumping the old stuff and washing the container, I can't stomach the thought. Blech! I've also seen first-hand a facility where plastic utensils were packaged into those little handy packs with a napkin, etc. Well, that shattered my illusions of those things being somehow sterile! I won't even tell you what I saw a worker do right before he picked up a set of utensils. All that is to say we live in a germ-filled world. There is no way to really avoid germs, and avoiding them is not always the best choice anyway. Unless you want to live in a plastic bubble, the best you can do is wash your hands frequently (and thoroughly--very few people take the time necessary to wash their hands correctly) and use good old common sense. Attempting to sanitize the world around us truly is futile.