I realize you said free, but I haven't found anything free that works well for the variety of situations I end up supporting (family, non-profit, and corporate). I use the $10 pass for 24 hour access to gotoassist.com. (think citrix quality remote support) I then try to do all my support in that 24 hour window for those people I don't help often. Some days I'm frustrated enough that the $10 is cheap for my sanity. Kohai

I see everybody recommending natural gas, which makes great sense. However, in Utah they keep saying we'll eventually have a large earthquake. I believe the first thing they do with an earthquake is to turn off the natural gas because of possible broken lines. Anybody have any experience with generators in earthquakes?

I lived in Japan for two years and learned spoken Japanese. I have forgotten a lot of it because I simply don't have the opportunity to use it very much. If you don't have the opportunity to regularly use it, then you will always struggle to maintain it. If you choose to learn a second language, choose one that is spoken by people around you or in your community. It makes a huge difference!