Eric

I recently received over a thousand WAV files from my father on an external hard drive. I am a Mac user and when I tried dumping the files into iTunes, it became a big mess because of the lack of tagging of the WAV files. When I use my wife's window's laptop, it has no problem organizing all the songs by artist and album.

Is there something I can use on my Mac that will organize all the songs as easily as Windows Media Player did on my wife's computer? Seems a little dumb that Mac doesn't have a way to organize loads of WAV files since they are far superior than the poor quality mp3 files they push via iTunes.

My father gave me an external hard drive filled with thousands of songs he has collected over the years. On the hard drive they are very organized in folders for artists and individual albums, but when I dump them all in iTunes, it does not recognize them and places the thousands of songs as Unknown Artist and they re all over the place. This makes it useless if I want to listen to a particular album. Is there a way to organize all these songs so that when I dump the folder into iTunes it recognizes them and organizes them by artist/album? Thanks in advance!

Plants make their chemical energy through photosynthesis but where does that energy go when they use it for growth/reproduction/etc?

Following the 10% rule, I know 10% is stored and passed on to the next trophic level, and 90% is used up but where is the energy after its used up?

Generally its said to be released as heat, but do all plants give off heat energy? It has to be transformed and go somewhere in plants, where? Thanks!

I had a lawn service company treat my new sod for disease. Only 4 months old it was showing bad signs of disease, browning and spreading.

I was wondering about long it takes before I should expect to see a turn around. They used a broad spectrum fungicide to treat the lawn and am just concerned since I spent all this money on a new lawn and I feel like I'm seeing it all go to waste.

I don't want to be impatient but also don't want to wait too long when I should have been seeing results. Thanks!

I had my landscaper install a new lawn using sod about 3 months ago. It is a variation of St Augustine here in southwest Florida. I am noticing that there is some browning going on in a few spots, as well as some brown blades throughout the lawn. I am looking to have a beautiful front lawn that is all green so it is bugging me that I spent the money on a new lawn and have browning going on. I fertilized it about a 45 days after it was installed (as was recommended) and it has been getting consistent watering, but not too much.

Is it normal for it to get this browning early on, or is there something I should be doing to take care of it better? Thanks!

I have tons of plants in a flower bed that seem to be doing okay but I am worried the soil is not in great shape. When I originally put the plants in, I didn't turn it our add compost and regret it. If I dig and turn the soil around all the plants and mix in compost/manure, will this help the plants or is it a waste of time? Are there any other techniques to help make the soil richer without removing the plants? Thanks!

I have tons of "tropical" plants planted around the outside of my home. They are in the ground in the front, back and side. By tropical I mean plants like elephant ears, Ti, canna, areca palms, philodendron, banana, etc.

I live in southwest florida and a person at a local nursery told me it's a waste to use something like Miracle Grow because the rain will wash it all out. He said granular would be best and to just grab a handful at a time and throw it around the base of the plant. Before I ask him, I was wondering what the online community would recommend. If he's right on about granular, what type? (6-6-6, 10-8-whatever?)

I'm hoping that there is just 1 kind I can by so I don't have 10 bags for all the different types of plants I have. I have large beds of these plants so the easier, the better. Thanks!

I recently moved into a new home in a new neighborhood and while it has only been 2 months, I am beginning to feel isolated and am not sure if it's my job to build relationships with my neighbors, or if they're just weird/rude.

Once moving in, I introduced myself to my neighbors next door and across the street. Things seemed fine, we talked a bit and it wasn't awkward. However, now it seems like they won't be outwardly friendly and will only say hi if I happen to catch their attention and say hello first. Most of the time, they walk right by without looking up or saying anything. There have been times when my two neighbors have been out at the same time, talked to each other while I'm outside too, and they'll not even look over to include me in the conversation or at least say hello.

On one hand, I couldn't care less because if they're that rude/weird, I probably wouldn't want to spend much time with them. On the other hand, I can't help feel like I'm the bad guy of the neighborhood where no one wants anything to do with me.

I guess my question is, is it my job to be the one to build some sort of relationship with neighbors? What happened to those scenes where people knock on your door to welcome you to the neighborhood and drop off a freshly baked pie? I'm not looking for pie, just people who seem interested in the fact that I like next to them. Any thoughts?

I just bought a home and in my living room there are 8 wires (4 pairs of 2) that are connected to speakers that are in my ceiling (2 speakers in my living room, 2 speakers out on my back porch). I know I need to connect those wires to an amplifier and I can use it to play music, etc. to those speakers, but the wires are not actual plugs. They are wires with the metal exposed that you normally wrap around to make a connection. Do all amplifiers have inputs for that sort of connection? I feel like every amplifier I see online uses input ports where an actual plug would go, nothing to wrap a wire around to make the connection. Any insight would be helpful as I am a complete audio-newb. Thanks!

I am interested of using river rock for my front yard garden instead of mulch. I am curious if there is more to it than just laying down the rock like you would with mulch. I know you are supposed to lay a sort of barrier underneath to prevent weeds from growing. I've heard some people just used garbage bags and poked holes through them to allow for drainage, is this ok? I want to make sure I don't purchase the rock and then find out there's a lot more to it than just laying it down. Thanks!

I just bought a home in Southwest Florida that is on a corner lot. I have a screened in pool and the previous owners were slobs and didn't do anything in terms of landscape. I currently have nothing but dead bushes on the side of the lanai that is on the corner so anyone walking/driving by can look right into my backyard. Rather than putting up a fence, I really would like to put some tropical looking plants to create a natural barrier. Rather than just put hedges/bushes, I would like to have a tropical feel while still blocking the view from the outside.

Are there any good plants people can suggest that look beautiful/tropical and grow thick so you can barely see through? The only one I have come across is the Areca Palm but discussions forums have said they can be quite messy and high maintenance so I was scared away. Thanks!

I have a strip of property that is slightly pitched and currently has no plants or grass growing on it. It is right near my patio which is a problem because when it rains, all the dirt and soil comes running down onto my patio. I am looking to plant some nice plants on it to decorate the yard but also to keep that soil locked down. Are there any plants that are decorative that also do a great job holding in the soil so it doesn't continue to run down? Thanks!

I have a wall in my house that would be perfect for a tv to be wall mounted on, the only problem there is no cable outlet. The wall is a standalone wall so the only way I could see getting a cable wire to it would be through the attic. I don't have much attic space to crawl over to that side of the house so I am not sure how it could be done. Are there ways cable companies can run cables to hard to reach areas like this, or would they simply say "sorry, we can't run a cable to this wall"? Thanks in advance!

My wife and I have just bought a home and now comes the part of furnishing it. We are a young couple and spent most of our savings on the down payment and closing costs of the home so we're on a limited budget for furnishing. We can get by with what we have for now so are not desperate for furniture, but are excited to have a nice looking home.

With all that said, what are some furniture stores that have a 'medium' quality product? We originally were looking at Rooms to Go but have read nothing but bad things about the quality. We have also stopped in furniture stores that fall into the "high end" range, and I want to throw up at the thought of spending $5,000 for a couch. I am well aware that you get what you pay for, hence why I say a medium quality. Any advice on places that sell furniture that is pretty good quality without asking for your first born would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

I live in southwest Florida and have just bought a home through the shortsale process. Since no one has been living in it for the past 3-4 months, the landscaping has gone to hell so I am looking to bring it all back. My number one priority is the lawn - its pretty much all dead, some weeds growing on it. It hasn't been mowed in months and it's not even growing. I am wondering what is the best way to spend my time and money to bring it back to life?

I am trying not to spend too much money so I don't mind doing it myself, but it seems like there are 50 different things people say on what to do. I have read articles on one extreme saying that i need to blanket the lawn with plastic for a week so everything dies, then dig out all the grass, rent all sorts of equipment to aerate and till, then buy more soil to lay down, etc etc.

Other articles have been on the other extreme and say just use a rake to get out the grass, lay a layer of soil and throw the seed down and water it.

Is there a simple but effective way to just get my lawn looking green again? It's not a big plot of land just a few hundred square feet. Thanks!

I just bought a home and the front yard needs some TLC. One problem is that the front yard has a tree in it and there are a few of fairly large and smaller roots that are running through the surface of the lawn. Obviously, no grass grows in those areas which ruins the look of the lawn. If I cut/dig out these roots, will I kill the tree or is there a good chance the tree will be unaffected. I know it's hard to give a definitive answer since roots are essential to a plant's life, I just want to know if this is a normal problem people deal with and more than likely the tree will be fine. Thanks!

I am thinking of adding a stone faux paneling to a wall in my home but from the research I've done, it seems like the project would cost over $1000 just for the paneling (not including any installation). The wall is about 8' wide and 12' high.

Is there an inexpensive type of faux stone paneling out there, or do they all run about the same price? They all look around $150-$200 for 17 sq feet.

Thanks in advance, I am sure I already have the answer to this question (it's EXPENSIVE) but I am hoping maybe there is something I am not seeing that would cost me less than $1k.

I am purchasing a home through the shortsale process and no one has been living it for a few months. As a result, the lawn is pretty much all weeds (I don't think I saw a single blade of grass). What would be the most effective way to get a healthy lawn back? I am sure I could tear it all out and lay down sod, but I am hoping there is a cheaper route to get the lawn back to looking green and healthy.

Thanks!

I am in the process of buying a property through the short sale process. The banks has counter-offered and we are accepting a price of 242k. I was wondering what we can expect to pay in closing costs. I am aware no one can provide me with an exact answer, but if someone can give me an approximate range, it would be a great help. We would like to put 20% down and want to make sure we budget ourself so we don't completely liquidate our savings upon closing.

The property is in SW Florida if that matters. Thanks in advance!