I also have a Polish hen right now who is suffering from a case of respiratory ickies, along with a swollen shut left eye! Maybe we'll have to come up with a new name for this particular creeping crud... I think what is happening is a respiratory infection--a cold, basically--that is affecting the sinuses and eyes. About the only thing you can do is treat it with an antibiotic, which of course has no effect on the virus itself but DOES treat any secondary bacterial infection. You just have to allow the virus to run it's course. My vet also gave me eye drops of Genetian Violet for my bird, which we have been giving her for the last 3 days. It's too soon to tell if they'll help, but at least she isn't worse. My birds' symptoms match yours, by the way. Earlier this year I had one little Frizzle hen who was so bad you could SEE the swelling of her poor little head. She recovered and is just fine though, so I have hopes that the Polish will also be OK. If you can't get a prescription eye drop from the vet, about all you can do is keep the eye and surrounding area clean. You can use sterile, unpreserved saline solution (which can be hard to find, most have preservatives in them), which is sold in grocery stores in the contact lens supply area. What strength is your Tetracycline? You should be able to either contact the manufacturer (do they have a website?) or call your local friendly vet and ask him. You also need to make sure that each sick bird is getting the correct amount each day--and sick birds tend to stop eating and drinking. You may have to dose each one with medicated water. Also check your feed, make sure it isn't wet or moldy--guard against Aspergillotis. Other than that, I'd suggest maybe offering your birds some unflavored Pedialyte instead of water to boost their electrolytes, and maybe some goodies to tempt them to eat and keep their strength up. Mealworms, scrambled eggs, corn on the cob, cooked spaghetti, etc. Good luck! Velvet ~:>

Dandylandy, I'm so sorry to hear about this mess. You unfortunately do need to talk to a lawyer now. That doesn't necessarily mean you need to file a lawsuit--sometimes a stern letter or three from a lawyer is all it takes. Also, depending on the value of this (what's the total cost of the cabinets?) you might find yourself in small claims court or in mandatory arbitration, which is a lot easier and cheaper than a full-on lawsuit. Where I live any dispute worth $25,000 or less goes into arbitration, which just means you and the contractor show up (with or without your lawyers, but obviously I'm going to recommend WITH, absolutely) and say your piece to a group of three local lawyers who volunteer as mediators, and that group of three lawyers decides how to resolve it. It's much cheaper and easier than an actual lawsuit. If you're in NY, perhaps the cap is higher than $25k. Anyway, what I'm saying is that you may not be looking at a lawsuit at all; that's not the only way the legal system has for resolving disputes like this. So, put plywood on your counters or some other temporary fix, DO NOT pay the guy another dime, talk to a few local lawyers who specialize in real estate or construction law (ask friends and your architect for recommendations) and pick the lawyer who seems best to you. The first step will probably be for him or her to write a mean letter to the contractor, and then you go from there. Oh, about this: **"Some of the things that really bother me could have been avoided with better communication - e.g. if they couldn't go to the ceiling with the cabinets b/c my ceiling isn't totally level (or something, I am just speculating), and they warned me about it, that would have been a lot better than telling me "Yes" and then not delivering."** I don't even see how that would be possible; if your ceiling's not totally level, then the cabinets would stop somewhere below the ceiling and it would be up to you to decide whether to build up the ceiling a little bit or put some moulding on to hide the gap. In other words I can't think of a legitimate reason that your ceiling would prevent you from having ceiling-height cabinets. I just mention this to cut through any BS you may have heard from the cabinet guy. Anyway, gather together everything you have in writing (including any drawings or mock-ups) and write down everything you remember saying to or hearing from the contractor. Have your architect forward you any emails she sent to or received from the contractor. Also go through your voicemail and see if he left you any voicemails that could be relevant. Then try and write up in one or two pages exactly what you understood he was supposed to build for you, in every detail (dimensions, materials, etc.), and then what he actually did build, and what problems that caused or will cause (e.g. plumbing messed up, plates won't fit, layout changed so cost increased). Also note any scheduling screwups that occurred. Go over it with your architect and your hubby (if any) in case they remember things you don't. Then send this write-up to the lawyer, along with a copy of your contract with the cabinet guy and any other really critical documents like emails where the contractor committed to something that wasn't clear in the original contract or where he said X but it later turned out he did Y. It will take less time (and thus cost you less money) for the lawyer to read this than for the lawyer to "interview" you to figure out what happened. Best of luck.

Worthy, thank you for your input. The room with the nails is large, 18x22 but the nails are random, maybe 18" apart. There are other things to finish as well which are clearly part of his contract. I think he is in a bind financially and is difficult as a result. Thank you for the recommendation regarding pictures. I took some and will take more. I also wrote him a FAX tonight and hope he will give some thought to my suggestions. Thanks again for your reply. It is difficult to sit with this by myself.

We are two+ weeks in since the counters, etc have been removed; we have only T&G floor for about a month, since the abatement folks had to remove our vinyl layers before their 'big' jobs started once school was out. We have no sheetrock on 2 walls so DH can do electrical, plus the plumber was out yesterday for some of his stuff. Our electric stove is still in the kitchen, and I have used that a bit but am somewhat leery since there is nothing between it and the studs/insulation. Microwave is on a dolly on the floor. BBQ grill is outside. Crockpot is in the dining room. Our old refrig. is living in the new recessed area, so we have refrigeration, thank heavens. No counters, no sink, no DW. We put up 2 sawhorses with plywood in our den to use as our pantry, foodstuff is there along with plates/silverware. As I packed up the kitchen, I made conscious choices of what to put in the 'pantry'. Corkscrew, a few knives, large spoons, can opener, etc. Everything else got packed up. I won't be doing any baking or 'normal' cooking so all of that other stuff is packed. (I packed up each cabinet separately so I could find things if needed, but so far, so good). I got boxes from Costco to pack the kitchen up. We set up one of our bathrooms as "the kitchen". Coffeepot is there, as well as a few mugs. Bought an inexpensive set of Corelle to use during this time, but we are using paper plates sometimes. Plastic silverware is just too flimsy and small so we are using our stainless. I have a small bucket that I bought at the Dollar store to use as a 'holding device' until I wash the plates/mugs/silverware/etc. I am washing dishes in a little washtub in the bathtub, and setting them on a towel on the countertop to dry. We are doing mostly grilling outside, and having 'side dishes' from deli counter as salads. Bagged salad also. Some freezer meals I had made in advance. We have only eaten out twice, so I am pretty happy about that. So far so good. I know it will all be worth it!