All I know is that if the Government didn't take my money, from me and spend it on things they invent, I would spend it on me, and maybe put my neighbor to work. If the problem is all the stuff we buy comes from overseas, then look at the why the Government allows unbalanced trade, and also why any American company would have an advantage to move production overseas. It just seems that no matter what the problem, the government can't fix it, because at some level, they created it. OK, the FBI is knocking at my door, gotta go! lol George

Actually this problem did get solved. The Asst. Manager walked up to my place to see what I was talking about and she told me "Wow, I didn't realize that they were right there in front of your door" and she called the neighbors sayind that they violated fire codes or something, the bikes were gone the next day. Victory is mine! An on the packages thing, it's something they do (I live in a gated community where even UPS/FedEX, etc. can't get in even if they do have a delivery - all of them go to the front office. So they're pretty much doing their job on that one and they appreciate the fact that I don't let my packages pile up and I show up every day to pick them up. Anyway, thanks for everyone's input - now that it's a non-issue, I find it hard to believe I was so worked up about it!

I'm open to streamlining some of my dishes, mugs, etc. However, my immediate concern is about the fridge, and how goofy it might look sticking out on the new wall. My current fridge is 32" deep. I paid $800 in 2006. I really want to get a much bigger one with the freezer on the bottom and the french doors on the top. I feel like I got my money's worth out of it, and will find a good home for it. I will have to masking-tape out the counter & fridge. I really want more freezer space (that's why I'm open to getting a new fridge). I even considered a small separate freezer but the smaller ones are not automatic-defrost, and I don't want to empty it twice a year, and deal with the water (not having a drain). As mentioned above, maybe a fridge that doesn't extend too much beyond the counter might be better, but I'm not sure how much more freezer space that will give me. I need to research how much capacity my current one is for reference. I looked through it's manual but don't see it referenced. I also need to use the ikea configurator and fully populate the space, and see how much room I want to allocate to trash in the corner. Thanks again for everyone's interest and great ideas! This forum has really been invaluable ! Mike

I'm w/ lazygardens--it's amazing what a small effort will do if you keep it up. One benefit w/ the basement is that new stuff is not really going in there (that's why it's hard for me to get any traction with *one* small thing in my house; I need to do more like 40.) Frustrating that stuff is there from the previous owner. But that's easy to get rid of, I bet!