Well, Carol, while I was sitting here wondering why anyone would leave their purse in the garage....(not only do I want my purse handy, in case I need to run out the front door, but I'm thinking of my lipsticks and eyeliner pencils melting in the heat of the garage inside their little bag in my purse)...I happened to think of something dumb that I do. My DD leaves for work through the laundry room/garage door, locking that door behind her and closing the garage by remote as she pulls out her car. My DH leaves out the front door and used to lock it behind him. But when the weather is nice, (about 9 months of the year) I leave the front door standing open. And the screen/storm door is not locked. My purse sits on the sideboard in full view of the unlocked, open door. And I go get in the shower. So...........I will be rethinking my own bad habits too. One thing I do that's a good habit....I had DH buy a strong clip for my car & house keys. So they are on a ring with the clip. When I get out of my car, I clip the keys onto a big ring of my purse strap. That way, the keys are out when I walk to my car........never have to search for them and they are easy to grab to use the panic button on my car. Red

This is how you "sample it up": 1) go to Lowes 2) buy ONE tub of the spectralock they have, around $20. This will be parts A & B. 3) buy the number of cartons of color about $4 each, that you want to sample. These are part C. I'd buy the latte for sure and another one or 2. 4) get your plastic spoons out and plastic disposable cups. All this will be thrown away when done. 5) get 2 strong clips, I use the spring steel type with the handles that fold over, that you find in office supply sections of Target or Walmart (to reseal the epoxy bags between test if you want to try again later with other colors) 6) Read the instructions carefully to get a feel for the process, the supplies needed, etc. 7) Have your dried tile sample board made up and ready. Have room to apply several grout samples and room for labeling which grout you have in that location. 8) spread out your protective cloths and arrange your ingredients. Label your cups for the colors you will use. Get your sample board nearby and have areas labeled if needed. Open the cartons of color. 9) you will measure exactly the same amount of each spectralock A & B ingredient into each sample cup. So, using one spoon take the same amount of spoonfuls out of bag A and fill each sample cup identically. You can leave the spoon in one of the cups to use for stirring later. You will have time to work each sample before it dries so don't worry about time. take the clip and fold the bag shut and clip. Next, take a new spoon and do the same for part B. Mix the small batches each having its own spoon, until it is consistent in color, all the amber color is now mixed in. Leave the spoons in the cups. now add just enough of each colorant to it's corresponding sample cup. Mix to consistency of peanut butter or a bit softer. Now apply the grout to your sample board in the locations determined. have a bowl or plastic tub with a couple of cups of water with a couple of tablespoons of vinegar in it. It is great at cleaning this stuff up. allow to dry for 24 hours before you determine if you like the color or not.

I'm (re)building my deck with 5/4 x 6 Cumaru decking. I'm already committed to using hidden fasteners and the deck is too low to use the grabber system from beneath. So... I could really use some advice on whether to go with the IpeClip Extreme KD system, or the DeckClip System. My thoughts: IpeClip: Advantages - the Extreme KD clips seem very strong and do their own 1/4" spacing with the built-in spacer. Also, the screws go through one of the boards at a 45 deg. angle. In theory, that would keep the board from moving much, at least on the side that was screwed in. Disadvantages - Pre-drilling, screwing the 45 degrees, removing boards later seems difficult at best. DeckClip: Advantages - Screwed from the top, not through any boards. No drilling. Easy to remove boards and replace them in the future since you can get to the screws through the gap easily. Disadvantages - Not screwed through any of the boards. Boards might be able to "walk" out of line in theory. Installation requires spacers to set the gap. I'm leaning toward the IpeClip Extreme KD. Please do not confuse this with the other, weaker IpeClips. Final question; One contractor told me to add exterior construction sealant, gluing the boards down as well. I'm concerned that it may not stick to the Messner's coating on the board. Even if it does, it might make the next project near impossible. Thoughts?

Sadly, not everyone is as caring about their pets as we forum folk are so I don’t agree with the blanket statement that the only time they shouldn’t be used is in the case of mills. I was in a profession where I was routinely in other people’s homes; more times than not, I’d see dogs crated in crates that were either too small for them, did’t have water or food available or the dogs had been in there way too long and needed to GO. Putting our dog in a crate and closing the door is not what I want for our dog and I doubt that I’ll ever agree that they are the best option. You do bring up a good point that not every animal parent is a good parent. Ugh! However let's agree that we are not talking about bad dog parents in this case as is obvious. Let's also agree that the crate needs to be large enough for the dog to have room to move around, stand up etc and of course needs some toys, a place to rest and water! So the issue isn't that, but how to create the best space that's safe for the new dog. A crate for both dogs would be ideal. My plan was to build a large built in window seat/crate for the dogs in a double-wide dormer in our bedroom (with some way to section them off in case either ever needed their own space). But one contractor didn’t think it was a good idea because there’s a baseboard heater along the window wall and it may not be tall enough with the window seat. Too bad that would have been ideal. Maybe it’s my own issue but I’m concerned that if they need to spend too much time in there (when remodeling, for example) it will turn into a negative place for them. Not if it has always been associated with good things and not if they're ok with the noises. And, to be honest, I feel similar to Kool Beans in that I cringe at the thought of them being confined to such a small space for long periods without the option to stretch and walk around. We all agree it needs to be a spot that is large enough to stand up and be able to move around in a bit. The truth is that when dogs are home alone, they are mostly sleeping (or at least mine is). I know that because we have cameras. LOL. Of course with 2 dogs it may be different. In fact, I‘m embarrassed to admit that I will often skip a last errand while out or opt not do something that would take me out of the house for too long because of the guilt I feel if the dogs are crated. I know that sounds crazy to a lot of people, and it’s definitely my issue, but there it is. :) Ok true story. We were at my step son's engagement party. It was 11:30 PM and I normally walk my dog at midnight. The party was still going strong and DH and I went up to the couple and told them we had to leave to walk the dog. (We were made to feel guilty for doing so but tough! LOL) I wouldn't feel good crating a dog all day, but if it's just for several hours, (under 4 hours max ideally, but could in an emergency be stretched to 5) I don't see a problem. Any way. I hope this works out for you. Right now, I'm off to wash my rugs that my rescue vomited on....oh the joy. And how the heck do they manage to upchuck MORE than they ate??? And of course it has to be on the carpeted areas.... Yes what's with that? Mine never upchucks on the hardwood floors where it's easy to clean up. She specifically moves to the rug! Go figure. LOL. I was thinking about this thread earlier today and remembered a time where our puppy needed to be enclosed when neither of us could be home. Instead of locking her up in her crate, I put her in our enclosed walk in shower. What a great idea! Wish I had known that idea back when mine was a puppy. I have read studies that has suggested that dogs over 3 years old are mature enough to not be crated. It doesn't hurt to refresh their training though to be ready in case of emergencies. You have to get them into the crate and they have to remain calm for a long period of time. Ours was fine not being crated once she turned 2 years old. However she's also trained to go into one of those airline carriers and when we get to the airport, we put the carrier on the ground and she jumps into it. (We travel back and forth between NY/FL and she's an excellent flyer. Doesn't faze her one bit. When we take her in the car, we use the airline carrier to secure her for safety reasons. She loves going for car rides in it too.