First, some thanks
"Just wanted to say thanks to the team for their very informative newsletter. It's much appreciated and is a big help to one who knows little about the art of woodworking. Keep up the great work." Stan in Australia

Sealing MDF ends
"I use auto body filler to seal the ends of MDF. It will only work if the piece is to be painted or covered, but it does supply a nice clean hard edge that can be sanded." Robert Graf

"I have found drywall mud or spackle paste to be the best method of sealing a freshly cut end or edge of MDF. Sounds crazy, but nothing works better." Dave N. Sykes

It doesn't sound crazy to us. In fact, both the above sound like excellent suggestions. Thanks. Editor

English pronunciation
"The discussion of English pronunciation brought to mind the story of two gentlemen arguing about how "Hawaii" is pronounced. To settle the argument they decided to ask a passerby which was correct, 'Hawaii' or 'Havaii.' His answer was 'Havaii,' and the two promptly responded 'Thank you.' 'You're velcome' answered the passerby." Gordon Andersen

"The spice museum story reminded me of one I heard some time ago. An Austrylian (sic) soldier woke up in a field hospital and asked the nurse hovering over him, "Did they bring me here to die?" She answered "Oh, no luv. They brought you ere yesterdie." Edward Frost

Typo corner
"Can you put polyurethane over an exiting lacquer finish?"

We guess that depends on how fast the finish is exiting. We hear that some finishes leave the room so quickly you must run just to keep up with them. (Actually, we were not sure whether this person meant to write 'existing' or 'exciting,' since we think most of our existing finishes are pretty exciting.) Editor