I know I would not mind if I were the dad in your situation to be taken to the store and told to pick out the trimmer I wanted. I would ask how much is set aside and go from there. If that is not possible than a certificate saying pick a trimmer of your choice and let's buy it today. Some possibilities to avoid the dreaded "that is not the one I wanted" scenario" :). All good questions above. Price will determine alot. I think the best all around trimmer/brushcutters are in the $3-400 range with $400 being high. You can get a really nice trimmer in the $200 range though. It is really a question of what exactly is needed and how much you want to spend. Your dad may have a preference for makers. I personally like the Stihl and Echo for ease of availability. The Kawasaki's I know nothing about and I stay away from currentl Homelite products although the older Homelite equipment was really good from what I have read. How old or how to spot them I don't know. I prefer straight shaft and a good harness. Cutting heads can be a personal preference. I like the bump and go, some like the quick insert and some like the fixed plastic blades. At the 3-400 price level, I am not concerned about the 2 vs 4-mix debate. The 4-mix's are young but have good reviews so far. Your dad could probably do okay with a good consumer grade trimmer with a flexible shaft. A solid shaft will be more expensive but will better handle brushcutting. I don't have much need for attachments but they make the units more expensive. I did the "cost analysis" of those models and it seemed that they did not pay for themselves until you bought 3 useful attachments. I could see the mini-tiller but an edger was really not necessary for me. A pole saw, maybe. Just little things that I could not really get alot of use from. All really good questions. Alot of the answers will be personal preference. Best of luck with getting your dad to smile on his bday.

I agree with JMT. Also food for thought.... If she originally agreed in an email to 6 pm and now states that won't work for her, how is that handled? I mean... Obviously either one of you can say, this doesn't work for me, I would like to go by the court order. I don't know... I'm just thinking here. We kind of had a situation like this a long time ago. BD could 'opt' to the expanded visitation but had to do it a the time the order was rendered. He didn't opt for it because she was little and he didn't think she should spend school nights with him since she was in kindergarten. All of a sudden one day, I get an email that states I'm opting for expanded visitation and will be picking dd up from school starting today on Thursday nights. I did go through the roof. We agreed it wasn't a good plan. The drive to her school in rush hour traffic on Friday mornings from his house would take almost an hour and a half. And what hurt me the most was that I didn't send her to school thinking she would be going home with him and not returning until Monday morning. We had never been apart for longer than 2 nights for the entire 6 years that she was alive. I went straight to the school picked her up and took her home. Called BD and left him a message saying I had her in my possession and that he could not opt to change his visitation so far in to it. It had to be done at the time of the order. He called the police. They came out. I showed them my papers, of course they said 'can't get involved' but they wanted to try to talk to him and get him to understand what the order says. Apparently SM was telling him it said one thing and he didn't even READ the order or understand it. Didn't even have it on him. That eventually was changed this year (4 years later) and he does have the expanded visitation but it had to be changed by the courts, not by him. He was slapped pretty hard on his little hand by the judge who apparently didn't appreciate a parent emailing and stating OH BY THE WAY... She told him, you agreed to this, now you want to change to this... Which is fine, but you do not have the power to change the order. You don't want me telling you when you will see your child, should not have gotten a divorce. (harsh but a true reality). As soon as we got divorced we had to accept that forever (until 18) that someone else would be deciding what is in the best interest of the child, since apparently getting divorced universally means, two parents who 'agreed' at one time can no longer agree on what they think is right or best. Isn't it funny how that happens. I'm really thinking if she wants to go back on her agreement, she is going to have to take him to court to change it. But since she seems stubborn and you each have a different interpretation of what the order means or says, court might be best. As far as the police, I learned from situations like this that calling the police is a huge no no to the courts. They can not do anything for you or her except protect you if you are in real danger. So don't do the same as her and call the cops. She refuses visitation or any of that, document it, gather enough info so you have enough to show she is no longer working with you but don't involve the police unless you are in real danger. One of the problems with involving the police to work out order disputes is that their involvement is not necessary and it is unnecessary stress on the child. I remember one time, they called the police and my daughter was hysterical. The police came in and asked what was going on. I was refusing to allow DD to go with then gf/now SM to take dd because it was not BDs weekend to have her. She 'stopped' by and thought she would surprise BD with a weekend with dd because he was missing her. Well I told her, it is not his weekend, I don't know you, I have not spoken to him, if he wants her he needs to call me. Not only that but the last time I had spoken to BD he told me they had broken up... I had not heard any different. It was just such a mess and SO embarrassing. There were three cop cars at my house and the neighbors were all outside. Omg what a mess... The only one that was truely effected was dd.

Hi Al! I guess the sense of urgency is my desire to keep it alive as well as his slow deterioration since oct 1, when he was given to me. He is now presenting with yellowing leaves, leaf loss, drooping leaves and generally not so green anymore. I totally understand that he needs to adjust to my home as well. If he loses all of his leaves through the winter is that okay? His roots, soil and pot are all sad at best:) I just don't know what else to do to keep this little guy green and stable till Father's Day. The wick and tilting him really have helped. The wood chopstick doesn't seem to help me as well as just pulling him out and really getting a good look and feel of the soil. Thanks again.

Yes, I cooked for Elery and for my son in law, Dave. My other SIL, Kevin, had to work. We had Dave and the kids over for breakfast and I made his favorite, blueberry muffins, as well as pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage AND bacon. Dinner was barbecued ribs, baked beans, garlic rolls, roasted potatoes, sauteed corn. I made a gluten free chocolate pie with the pudding type filling from scratch, and a southern strawberry cobbler for Elery with fresh local strawberries, which were beautiful and sweet, almost a shame to cook them, but it's one of his favorites and we only get really good local berries once a year. Annie