As best as I can tell from the pics, looks rather more like pseudomonas (bacterial blight) than typical winter cold damage. This cultivar of JM is extremely prone to this pathogen. It is often associated with aborted buds, tip dieback and eventually blackened stems or bark and is very common in wet springs. You do want to prune out the affected portions, cutting back below any infected growth to viable wood, generally several inches beyond what looks like healthy growth, but always to a growth point or node. Don't leave stubs! And sterilize your pruners between cuts to avoid spreading the problem. If persistant, the problem can prove fatal but if caught early, there is a good chance of recovery. You might want to research Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae as it applies to Japanese maples for other methods of control.

Ewwww,, Loud bang, snap, then flap, flap flap when starting the car.... Is the neighbors cat missing???? As sad as that sounds, it actually is not all that uncommon of a "diagnosis". Of course it could be just a straight mechanical problem, locked up accessory pulley, bad belt etc. But many times it is the result of an innocent animal climbing up to "something warm" and going to sleep. For the most part what Kalinin is saying is unfortunately way too accurate. At least 50% of our phone calls today are not about someone wanting to bring a car in for repair, they are solely about taking the knowledge of the technician while saving themselves every penney they can. Again, THAT'S AT LEAST 50% OF THE CALLS. Strange as it may seem, for me half of those calls anymore are other shops that have suddenly found the 2004 (or newer) car they have in their stall does not communicate to their scan tool. Or there is no information in their repair information system. I do make it a point to assist other shops, they will likely be my client some day provided they don't abuse what I will share. Some shops I have cut off from that help and they can either step up and make the investment to get up to speed, or fail. Their choice. Saturday I had one appointment. An inspection. The vehicle had a severe gouge in the sidewall of the RF tire. That would be a "It just blew out without a warning" if left unnoticed. The RR tire just passed at 3/32, the RF inner tie rod was worn plus various lamps were inoperative/broken. All of this was about a $600 repair, and the car would give normal service to it's owner through-out the year barring any suprises. The vehicle's owner's father called me and started trying to wheel and deal on the price say "his mechanic" would do the repair for much less than the estimate. I only have one response to that strategy, "Let him fix it then". I'll cancel his sons appointment for this coming saturday. You see, I don't pull any punches when it comes to investing in training, and equipment necessary to be ready for whatever shows up at the door. No-one in the four state area is keeping pace with me when it comes to those two areas. While I have been keenly focusing on being the very best that I can be I have had to put pricing where it has to be in order to do that. Because of that I'll never be the cheapest, that's a tug of war I cannot win. But lets play who's the best, (at electronics/diagnostics) and who can keep pace with the dealer on the majority of the cars on the road all the way through current model year, 2008. (over 97% of the new cars on the road I have a current O.E. scan tool for) Oh, one thing changed from a few months back. Honda heard our(my) complaint about the scan tool turning off. They released a new laptop based version, for which I was able to have my Ford IDS laptop sent out, the hard drive partitioned and installed into the same laptop. Instead of some $7000 just for Honda, I was able to take my $6000 Ford tool, and add about $3000 to it to make it also the Honda O.E. tool. One win for the little guy.......

The inspector said he can not quote costs. I called several HVAC shops and was quoted between $5-8k. I even called the current gas supplier (the owner of the conversion burner) and they quoted the same. We went back at the sellers with a need for the termites treated, rotten window replaced (small basement window--probably $30), and asked if they could help with the heating. We were very kind and not pushy in our request. What we got back was: the window replaced and a 1 year home warranty. That's it. What is really ticking me off is we are giving them concession after concession (in terms of dates and time lines), and they are giving back nothing. They are forcing us to give our final answer even before the radon test come back. Tomorrow is basically D-day where it sinks or swims. Luckily for them we really want the house and are probably going to eat all of it. I hardly think that I am asking for a new house, BTW. The asking price was pretty high and we offered that exact price because we wanted the house. Again...giving them everything they ask for.

WOW... active seismic zone, and there's FRAMING/strapping issues, in what I assume is a FRAMEd house? Surely, by now, someone has coined a catchy acronym to describe the now-proverbial "So-Cal-nightmare-hacked-together-during-boom-by-illegal-labor-with-no-meaningful-inspections-by-AHJ..." ;') In most states the current owner would have legal recourse against the builder for 10 YEARS, but it's 40:1 odds this shoddy builder has folded shop and vamoosed, circa 2005-07. It's not hard to imagine the FOUNDATION/soil preparation was done with similar "quality". If this dubious house is really a contender, it would be cheap insurance to hire a licensed Geotechnical Engineer, who specializes in foundations, to do "the kitchen sink" inspection, including drilling core samples, peeky-peek with a borescope, etc. Oh yeah. Knowledge is power, not to mention further negotiating leverage, buyer's market and all. At the very least, determine other homes in the 'hood built by the same hosers, and talk to the owners, especially original owners. OTOH, I do envy the apparently significant legal liability HIs work under in high-tax CA. Here in corrupt ol' low-tax FL, the HIs are on the hook ONLY for the price of the inspection--at most--I kid you not!