I have the same problem with my hens' dark green Americaunas eggs. Impossible to see inside the little things! What the heck, give it another couple of days. Nothing to lose, right? Good luck! Velvet ~:>

We actually did both things you mentioned: built a house and remodeled an existing home. The decision to build turned out to be a good one, not only because the house turned out very well but also because we now live on a lake, so our home is an incredible sanctuary for us. I will say, however, that our new 2500 sq ft house with some "bells and whistles" (i.e. beautiful wood flooring, multiple showroom bathrooms, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and 72 different species of plants in the landscape) is a lot more work than our previous house. My DW scoffs at idea of how various things were supposed to be "low maintenance." It takes the two of us four hours just to superficially clean this beast. Even though the process of building the home went well and brought the two of us closer as a result of the new-found respect we had for each other, it was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting (even though we had a contractor build it for us). And both of us were in our 40s. It would have been less stressful if I hadn't been the GC, but the additional cost would have been an even bigger stressor. Fortunately, our old house was only twenty minutes away - we didn't have to uproot ourselves from the community, learn a whole new city, re-establish ourselves, etc. I can't imagine what that would have been like. Remodeling, on the other hand, was a very unpleasant experience and caused a lot of arguments between us. You would think with our previous building experience that it would have gone smoothly, but remodeling is a whole different animal. You are constrained by the often dysfunctional floor plan of the original builder and are continually at the effect of shoddy materials, poor planning, or just outright stupidity. You have to put up with things you don't like because the cost of changing them, like a horribly colored fireplace, is prohibitive. And it is harder to control costs because you don't know what lies behind the next piece of crumbling floor board... or unyielding clipboard of the local county bureaucrat. We were mandated to put in sidewalks/gutters, widen the road, and put in $13K of landscaping just to bring the property in line with local statues. This was after a county planning meeting where we were told (prior to buying the property) that code compliance costs would be "minimal". In the end, I think the most important thing is to discover what is the essential, core experience you want to have in your retirement years. Is it new experiences, intimate time with each other and/or family, spiritual growth, or a unique combination of things? Once you find this "touchstone," it should be easier to decide if building a house really fits in with what is most important to you.

This happened to me years ago and although it’s an old thread, I wanted to comment in case it help anyone. I experienced the same symptoms as most on this thread- I went to see all kinds of specialists but when I finally went to my general doctor, he fixed me. Literally made a difference in 15 min. He is a general practitioner but also certified to do manipulations which is different than a chiropractor. He did tests to see if I may have MS or carpel tunnel. But those target specific fingers. He then made me stand up and checked my back. BOOM! I had three ribs out of place. Finally after 6+ months of my right hand tingling and bruising, I had an answer. Dislocated ribs sometimes don’t cause pain BUT if they pinch the right nerve, it can cause all the symptoms to your arm and fingers. Popped blood vessels etc. he adjusted me (again, different from a chiropractor) and within 15 min I felt relief in my arm hand and fingers. Now, anytime I feel tingling, I go see him and sure enough, my rib is out. People can displace ribs with a sneeze. Sometimes it causes pain and other times you can’t even tell. A miracle for me.

The most cold-hardy variety is the Darjeeling Banana (Musa sikkimensis). You know, one idea would be to design a greenhouse with modular panels that could easily be put up to enclose the banana plant every winter.