Hi Kevin, A couple of thoughts... Are you considering hardcoat and softcoat in the same window??? I read your last post that way, but I certainly could have misunderstood. There are actually two (well, three now) types of softcoats available. Basically, they fall into the high solar gain and low solar gain categories. Hardcoats are really "mid-E" rather than LowE in that their emissivity numbers aren't as good as the softcoats. The high solar gain softcoats have almost the same solar energy gain, but also they are better at keeping non-solar-heat inside your home when the warmth is trying to escape. I suspect that when you felt the difference between the hardcoat and softcoat products you may have been comparing a low solar gain rather than high solar gain. But, you are correct that the hardcoat will allow slightly more solar heat to pass thru the window when will even the high solar gain softcoat - and again, the trade-off is that the hardcoat will let more heat travel in the other direction as well. Your idea of triple pane will work very nicely at blocking inside heat from escaping, but if you are planning to coat two surfaces then you might have issues with additional blocking of solar gain as well. Something to keep in mind. Triple panes can come in two different varieties. First, you can have a triple pane with wider airspace between each lite - almost like two double panes joined together. Second, you can have a triple pane that is like a double pane with an extra lite dropped between the inner and outer lites. The first version gives you a fat IGU which doesn't work in some folk's sash arrangement. The second version gives you a relatively thinner IGU that will fit into a narrower sash and is probably more adaptable to various types of windows. What about energy performance? Both versions work very well when they have a LowE coating on two interior surfaces. The narrower spaced IGU performs exceedingly well when krypton gas is used in the airspace - krypton actually has its best performance numbers in an airspace that is in the 1/4" range. But, drop the LowE and krypton gas and the narrow space IGU has a number of problems because of the narrow space and will not have as good performance as a dual pane with a LowE coating. The wider version of a triple pane - clear glass only - will have performance numbers almost as good as a dual pane with LowE and argon. Add LowE coatings to two surfaces and add argon - which has an optimum performance in a 7/16" airspace and again you have some darn good performance numbers. In your case, as you have already noted, you can't have either argon or krypton gas infill. You are simply too high. Your windows will probably come with either a capillary tube or a breather tube to allow the IG to equalize to the air pressure at your elevation. Typical "breather tubes" are aluminum, short in length, provide a relatively large opening for equalizing pressure, and they are "sealed" once the window has been installed. Typical capillary tubes, on the other hand, are stainless steel, longer (18" possible), very narrow opening, and are left open to the air after the unit is installed. Although specific recommendations and usage are very much manufacturer dictated, as a general rule capillary tubes are used in dry, high altitude, environments to equalize pressure on windows installed in that environment. Again, they are not sealed when installed; they remain open to the air...this allows the window to react to changes in barometric pressure which can be considerable at altitude. Don't get the idea that you can see the window "breathe" if it has a capillary tube however. It actually takes a very long time for air pressure inside the window and outside the window to equalize. This slow air exchange helps keep the window from excessive flexing.

OMG, that's ridiculous! She should be throwing a fit. I used to go in to H & R Block and never paid that much (but that was about 5-6 years ago). Now I do Turbo Tax online...super easy, costed $29 I think, and it saves all your info from one year to the next. I spent less that 15 minutes doing my taxes. $300 is out of control! Especially for simple taxes. I don't even understand how it could be that much!

chloecat, OP posts a link from the Intuit website. Does that mean that's how she's preparing the return? Maybe, maybe not. That source is as likely to pop up (or more likely even) as any other from a key word search. These are very basic questions, so much so that many tax lawyers (and many CPAs) would have to look up to answer. This CPA (moi!) would need to look it up because the numbers and amounts matter and change from year to year. I never spent much time on individual returns anyhow but guessing or assuming are never a good idea and I try not to answer questions when I don't have all the facts. As to whether this parent provided more than half the support, that depends on what was done with the money the kids earned, how much the parent provided, whether the person is divorced and many have a dependent sharing agreement embedded in that, yada yada. (Sorry Rose, you too have jumped to a conclusion that may or may not be correct). You all should be sure your returns are prepared in compliance with the law to reflect the minimum tax liability you legally owe. Not to avoid audits.

Elmer, my comment was specifically related to the few non-disclosure states where sales prices are NOT part of the public record. And private transactions are typically those that do not have any agent involvement and therefore do not show up on the MLS. Google 'private real estate transaction' and that is exactly what you will find so yes, there IS a pretty accepted definition of what that is. And if there is no MLS listing and no agent involvement then the details are completely unavailable, except from the participants in the transaction. My god, you will argue anything, whether you have first hand knowledge about it or not!!