The less invasive laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP) burns away excess tissue and is performed under local anesthesia on an outpatient basis. Yet its long-term effectiveness has yet to be established, and the pain can still land you in a new grotto of hell."The incision or the laser burn has to heal while you constantly breathe, talk and swallow, so the wound is always being stretched, causing considerable pain," says John Shepard, M.D., medical director of the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center in Rochester, Minn. "One patient said that if he''d had a gun he would have shot himself, the pain was so bad." To be fair, others experience less discomfort--the equivalent of a bad sore throat for three or four days.

Potable Water--1,724 bbl.DRILLING EQUIPMENT: Drawworks--Emsco C2,2,000 bp; Pumps--Emsco FA-1600 Triplex; Primemovers--Four Cat. Model 3516, 1,855 hp each;Top Drive--Varco TDS-4S.TOWING REQUIREMENTS: 10,000-hp tug; 5 knots in calm seas.DERRICK: 160''; 1,300,000-lb static hook load.BOP SYSTEM: Hydril 21 1/4", 2,000 psi; Hydril 13 5/8",5,000 psi; two Cameron U double 10,000 psi.CRANES: Three Le Tourneau, 100'' booms rated 45t @ 25''.MOORING: Four 10,000-lb anchors; Four electricmotor driven winches rated at 50,000 lb pull each.

The most universally capable modern homesteading machine we know of is a commercial-grade compact diesel tractor. We like Kubota tractors, John Deere''s 20- to 48-hp 2000 class and New Holland''s Boomer line. Even the smallest models--which look like sturdily built lawn tractor mowers--are equipped with powerful diesel engines and industrial quality transmissions and running gear. They also sport a three-point rear hitch that will mount commercial farm land plows, harrows and rakes and provide attachment points for a hay or field corn cutter bar or silage chopper, a sprayer or buzz saw. These tractors include a hydraulic system that will power remote motors on the chopper''s flails, the sprayer''s pump or the saw''s blade. They''ll also mount hydraulic cylinders to pull the plow up or dig it in and hold it down and will run any number of other hydraulic attachments such as a front-end snow thrower or plow blade, a bucket loader to carry soil, gravel or building bricks, a rear-mount backhoe to dig trenches, a forklift to raise bay bales into your barn loft, an electric generator to power the house and barn if the power lines go down in a storm, or a pump to fill a pond or empty the cellar after a flood. A modern, small diesel tractor is a major investment for a ranch or truck-farming operation--but one that will expand your homesteading capabilities beyond muscle-power, and will pay off every day for a lifetime or two of strenuous use.

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