baymee-- Unless this Lawn-Boy has a DuraForce engine (identifiable by the above-deck muffler), the only way I can think of to remove the fuel from the crankcase (other than letting the engine burn it out) is to remove the muffler and let the fuel drain out of the exhaust ports. For a DuraForce engine, you can either remove the exhaust transfer tube to let the fuel drain out of the exhaust port, or you can remove the cylinder head and lift up the back wheels. The air vane governor on these machines (i.e., "the contraption connected to the carb") does make carb removal an exercise in patience. Hope this helps.

Thank you for the many helpful posts here. My beds were filled with 'topsoil' to about 12" below the bed line, and then the remaining 12"+ was filled with mushroom plant compost. Every year except last year, as the beds reduce (of course, esp. with much of them being compost), I have another half-load of compost delivered, which adds anywhere from 8-12" of compost to the top of all the beds, plus I refill all my big containers, and stick the rest in a rolling lidded trashcan where I keep extra soil to use as needed. Last year I did not garden at all. From the September before, nothing was done at all. So a lot of stuff stayed as dead when winter hit, then quite a bit of stuff reseeded come spring, so the bed all year was filled with the mix of dead stuff from the previous season and live stuff from the current year, plus weeds from being ignored. Now, all of that together is dead. My intent just like directed at last, there -- I am gradually digging out the top of the beds and containers where the weeds and their main roots are (bearing in mind, for all I know half these 'weeds' were fruiting plants at one time), and tossing those in one of my 3 compost bins, leaving the others for real compost (thanks for that advice). In the buckets, all of which were destroyed by the horrid freeze we had awhile ago (everything cracked or shattered depending on its material), I dig out the bottom part of the soil, which looks surprisingly good to me though I haven't Ph tested it, and I put it in my good-soil-bin for now. Once I finish all the buckets (I have 9x 32-gal ones and 6x 21-gal ones to dig out and it's slow going frankly, given everything is nearly frozen, but I'm working on it!), then I will do the beds. THEN I have to add new soil or something. I don't mean the whole beds need new soil, I mean like the top 12" or so of everything (beds, big-containers, pots). So I was thinking, since I already 'have' soil, that a 'soilless mix' seems sorta pointless. On the other hand, surely having about 12" of 'soilless mix' on the top, with 12" of soil underneath, probably isn't going to hurt anything, I hope. One thing I wondered is, if I add a soilless mix to the top (I'm looking at something like Al's recipe), with pine bark fines + perlite + spaghum peat, the fact that in some respect this could end up mixing with some of the soil as I put it in, would this be a problem? I heard someone say somewhere that mixing soilless and soil mixes, depending on their makeup, could result in something rather like mud-cement LOL. I don't know that I can afford enough of the ingredients for Al's mix to actually handle all my beds and major containers and planters. I'd like to but it is sort of unlikely. So I was wondering if getting more compost -- either mushroom compost again, or some from my own bins (hence my question about how to deal with the green/brown and breakdown more quickly), to mix in with that, would be more practical in the end.

You need a Change Order, spelling out the change and how it will affect the balance due on the original contract. Ask him if he has a change order form you can use. If not, see a sample form here: http://www.download-construction-forms.com/construction-change-order-form.html You don't need to pay to download that form, you can make your own by copying it. The format is not important and it could be written on a placemat. Just make sure you include all of the information that form asks for, and use the language they use. It is very important that you both agree to and memorialize how the change will affect the price agreed to on the original contract. After you have each signed it the change order, make sure you each keep a copy of the completely signed document. Follow this process every time you make any change. I totally agree with him about using friends to work in your home. Most people are not comfortable complaining about a job if they have a personal relationship with the contractor. I've accepted quite a few substandard jobs in my time because I couldn't bring myself to tell a friend or relative I was dissatisfied with something. I finally learned never to hire people I know!

There's not much I can add, except to say that I will pray for you too. When I had my biopsies I was scared out of my mind but by the third one learned to ask myself, what's the worst case scenario and how likely is that? Not very. I reminded myself that there's treatment, and that most cases turn out well in time. Prayer is good, and was so necessary at that time to keep me calm. I was lucky, but I'm always a little worried when I go for my yearly and mamo. I think the senseless fear and "what if's" is the almost the worst. Also, you have your age on your side. I believe that cancers in younger people can be more aggressive and in older people, (not that I'm calling you old!) are slower. That's gotta be a good thing. The treatments work so well these days. Hang in there and know lots and lots of people are thinking of you and praying for you!