I thought I'd give an update rather than hijack Marshall's thread over on SOE.

For the last two years, I've been working two jobs to help pay for therapy for my daughter who was diagnosed with autism. I have now given up the second job and am in the process of orienting myself to spending more time with my children.

My gardening year was a disastrous one. I planted a ton of perrenials, mostly native penstemons and agastaches for my backyard which I was finishing off this year. I had a conference to attend at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas in early June. I had a wonderful time, however, came back with cellulitis in my legs from the waterpark there. I ended up in the hospital and just about cashed it all in with what doctors call a "MRSA" infection (mellicin resistent staffalococcus areus). If the Vancomycin didn't work, I would not be typing this right now. BTW, most of my perennials died in my absence.

During my absence, I have been spending my time reading and critiquing right-wing political rags written by Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter and their ilk and publishing those finding on Amazon under the nom de net of "Dave the pensteman- Liberal Warrior of the West". During this time, I've received fan mail, hate mail and death threats, but have made as a good of a fight as I can against the propaganda ministry of the current regime.

Tiring of the hate mail from conservative mutton heads (usually angry white males who blame all their problems on dem derned liberals), I have decided to lay low for a while. I still love to garden and want to further my use of organic techniques.

So anyway, I'm back. Battered from assaults by conservative idealogues and by micro-organisms, but still upright with as much vinegar in my veins as ever. I see there have been major changes here and I'll feel my way through them.

Anyway, best regards to those who remember me, and a kind hello to those who don't know me.