LOL FV! Our home wouldn't be affected. Fargo is pretty flat, but there are some broad "swails"/humps in the metro, and we're in the middle of one. I'm glad for that! The bigger danger is if the sewer-system was overcome. Water would "back-up" through lower floor-drains lower toilets/showers, laundry tubs, etc. Plumbing-Code now requires (since our '97 flood) a back-flow preventer valve on the main home drain-line. Water can go OUT, but can't come back IN. These are almost always under the foundation. Our home was built the year b4 that, and we haven't had one put in yet. We'd have to cut up the floor, and cut out the existing valve. Definitely a job for the plumbers! Thank goodness Fargo's sewer-system/lift-station pumps are much better protected from high-water events now! Lots of work has been done on that front. Indoor pool?! Too much maintenance I hear! Faron

"Banker told him to get a job and come back. Duh! he's trying but in mean time what can they do to save there house if bank won't even talk to them." Get a job? Hah. I wonder what this banker might be doing for a living if the government/taxpayers HADN'T loaned HIS employer TARP money..... Your niece and DH might try contacting the Homeownership Preservation Foundation at (888) 995-HOPE (4673). The foundation's counselors are part of "HOPE NOW," an alliance between counseling agents, servicers, investors and other mortgage market participants approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, who provide free foreclosure prevention assistance. Another person I'd recommend is Dave Donhoff, the mortgage guy. He posts here somewhat regularly and is a wealth of information. Perhaps if you address your query to him, he might be able to be of some assistance. Below is a link to some additional information that might be helpful. Its nice of you to help your niece and DH. Best of luck to them. A link that might be useful: Mortgages: Mortgage Foreclosure Timeline for Day 1 through Day 415 Homeowners have several chances to stop the foreclosure process once it's started. Here are the details to help you keep your house. Facing foreclosure? Try a Workout. If you're in trouble with your mortgage, here are steps to take to work out a solution with your lender. 8 Do's and Don'ts for Fighting Foreclosure What to do and what to avoid in order to avert a financial disaster. www.stretcher.com/critical/index.cfm

Hi Kasey and ChloeMichelle. I'm glad you both wrote in. It helps to hear others thoughts. I have a 'grown' stepdaughter as well. She's 25 and has a 7 yr old son and a 19 month old daughter by 2 dif. dads. She's not married but living with the father of the 2nd child. The 1st child's father beat her and she never filed a report so she doesn't want to fight for child support b/c he might want to get custody and she doesn't want to chance that. She's just like her mother - - - very rude, abrupt, unfriendly, hateful, etc. The guy she's with now is totally supporting her and both kids. she stays home. She's tried school about 4 dif. times now and has decided not to go back this year. As far as I hear from my grandson, she doesn't cook much, I know she doesn't clean much. If this guy dumps her she has no way to support both kids on her own. My grandson has come to visit and told us he knows what 'the weed' is, that he can smoke when he's an adult. His mother even told us she took him to get his hair cut in a mohawk (he wanted one b/c his uncle's got one) and he 'chickened out'. A mohawk on a 7 hr old - yep, that'll get him in the right group of friends. :( I'm with Chloemichelle - what do I think I can do about it? Not a thing. I'm with you Kasey on the fact that it is as frustrating as anything I've ever dealt with before. I didn't have kids of my own. I want so much to have a positive effect on the grandkids AND the stepkids (I also have a 21 yr old stepson that has caused some issues but not near as many as the 25 yr old!). I keep telling myself to be here for the grandkids and show them a different side and then hope and pray that they turn out differently. I can't keep my husband from spending time with the kids but it is so unpleasant sometimes b/c they don't really talk to me or act like I'm not there. I put up with it b/c I want to spend time with the grandkids. I've been married to him for 10 yrs so I'm somewhere in the middle of where it sounds like you guys are. I don't THINK I have the drug issue to deal with and am very thankful. Keep your chin up and be as positive an influence as is possible for your grandkids. We're the ones that maybe can make all the difference.

The Werner I linked above is not as lightweight as others - around 23 lbs, but it will support 250lbs (of people and whatever they are carrying). It folds to 64" tall and 2.5" deep. They say it can be hard to fold and unfold, but many have discovered this is due to a tight fit where the top platform locks into place. They have been able to file this down and make it easier to fold/unfold. I am picking one up for my mother tomorrow when I travel through a town with a Lowes (if they have one in stock). They should start moving in to their new house in a few weeks and she (at 5' tall) will need this for her 9' ceilings with kitchen cabinets that go all the way up.