CSS Trouble with Columns and Height

[shortkid422]

Below is a link to the page that I am having difficulty with:
http://www.shortkid422.com/06_area/home.php

As you can see (if you're using firefox), the text background does not fit with the text. I set the height to 100% and that is where another problem lies...I do not want the page to take up 100% of the vertical space incase I have less than a full page of content. However, I need the left hand column with the menu to go the exact same length as the content...

Is there a method so that way I can plugin in content and it will work, or do I have to change the height of each of the background/container <div>'s to get it to line up?

[_Aerospace_Eng_]

It would help if you followed up on your previous posts. I have already told you what you needed to do. You need to use a background image that repeats in the y directions. Here is an article about it. http://www.alistapart.com/articles/fauxcolumns
Here is an example that uses this techinque http://bonrouge.com/2c-hf-fixed.php

[shortkid422]

I'm sorry, but using a repeating background image is not the route that I want to go. It does not need to have it, I have seen it on sites without it.