Penny, if only it were fifteen pounds (is that about a stone) instead of £15, eh? Perhaps the gremlins didn't convert currency between weight and money.

I think I read this thread when you first started it, but haven't been back for a while. Probably just as well, I don't want to give my pickup truck any more ideas, and it's close enough to the house that it can probably pick up vibrations from the computer where I'm reading this. In the space of about six weeks it needed an expensive regular maintenance (based upon mileage, and it was about 40,000 over the recommended for this service) plus a wheel bearing and then a full brake job.

I have a tree suggestion. If you recall that John kept his dryer going for decades by buying a replacement part for "just in case," you might want to look at this American organic gardener's tree planting instructions in case the current tree dies. He doesn't put anything in the hole but native dirt, and makes sure it isn't planted too deep (the trunk flare should be above the soil level). If the tree knows that you have instructions for its replacement, it is bound to thrive.

If you ever decide you want a partner in crime in your wanderings around the countryside looking at rocks and remnants of earlier civilizations, check with our Bat Goddess (Linn) - she is a bit more than an armchair archaeologist and we are just nuts enough that we have mailed rocks back and forth to each other due to our interest in geology and fossils. Perhaps that would confuse the gods of bike riders and imminent sink holes. And I know she would adore being there if a sink hole occurred and revealed the burial place of some ancient king.

Finally, see if you can inoculate the household with Manuals Online, where you can find the operating manuals for friges, vacuums, televisions, CD players, etc. I've gotten everything from instructions for a string trimmer for the yard to CD players bought at garage sales. If you can just convince the gremlins that you are on top of them, perhaps they'll disable the SDM (self destruct module) on their own.

SRS