I'm sorry to hear about your peonies, Prime---that's sad---but I'm glad to hear nobody had any serious freezing damage. I only got down to 40 degrees here on the north end of Denver--so no problems at all. Glad to hear the bedsheets worked for you, Jean. Any time you need to cover stuff, use some sort of fabric rather than plastic. Plastic can transmit the cold and freeze any foliage that's touching it. Here comes the warm up! Hopefully that's our last serious "winter" weather. Skybird

ChristopherH, I don't think the government gets quite 38 percent of the price of gas in taxes. I think you may be thinking 38 cents per gallon. At least that's about what it is here. Many states are considering what NY is oonsidering -- rolling back or temporarily eliminating taxes. While that would definitely be a popular thing to do (and it would allow the politicians to tell the public "we're doing something about this") it could ultimately backfire and just put more money into the oil companies' profit columns. If the price of gas is lowered 30 cents a gallon due to a tax cut or elimination, then that just props up demand and causes people to keep using more, which causes oil prices to keep rising. In a few weeks we're paying the same as we were with the tax in place, except the money has just been diverted from the government to the oil companies. While I know many people may have a hard time choosing from between those two entities for where they'd like their money to go, I'd suggest that at least the tax money does go to accomplish some needed government function, whereas if it goes to the oil companies it just further adds to their already more than adequate profits. As far as durable plastics such as computers and car interiors, they're probably a good use of plastics. Bad uses of plastics would be throwaway items that can't be or aren't being recycled. You look at soft drinks; those used to be in glass bottles that were returned for a deposit. Now most are sold in plastic bottles, probably way under half of which are recycled. The problem with recycling up until now is that in the case of many products, it was questionable as to whether it was even worthwhile to recycle them due to the energy required to recycle being greater than the energy to make new ones. But high oil prices will change that, and hopefully we can start recycling nearly everything made of plastic. I would favor putting a deposit on plastic soft drink bottles and other recyclable items that are frequently simply thrown out to encoourage recycling of these items. These are the kinds of simple things we can do that really don't hurt anybody, cost little, but could make a big difference.

One point to keep in mind, when considering that prior thread about cutting square footage: the cut considered was about or less than 10% of the overall square footage and affected everyday living areas, rather than choosing whether or not to have a separate media room or similar occasional-use area. So consider *what* is being cut as well as how much. To opine upon the OP's original question regarding labor-intensive jobs, one must consider the proportion or amount of labor required. Laying tile is far more labor intensive than laying electrical wire. But laying the wires in 4000 sf is comparatively more intensive than for 2000 sf; also, I note that high sf houses often incorporate more advanced or complex wiring issues than in the smaller houses. Complexity =/exceeds intensity in terms of time and cost, if not in actual physical labor. One of the most expensive potentials in any build is the temptation of "change orders." At a wild guess [based upon listening to a lot of builders over the past 40 years], 99% of the change orders are unnecessary. That is, they do not improve upon the original integrity of the structure. That doesn't mean many change orders don't improve comfort or convenience, just that they weren't necessary for accomplishing the build. It is true that change orders will usually cost you several times as much as it would have if the change had been part of the original plan. If you really want to control spending, do your work in advance and don't change your mind once the build is underway. Otherwise, I think "labor intensiveness" is difficult to categorize sufficiently for comparisons. To be fair, the intensiveness must take into consideration the skill and knowledge needed as well as the physical and/or time consuming aspects. Compare laying brick to finishing drywall -- both are physically demanding and both require knowledge of the materials involved and both require a high level of skill. Yet most of us would immediately decide that masonry was far more "labor intensive", which I think may be because a big brick wall is so much more obvious than a level 5 hallway. Our perceptions have influenced our valuation of the intensity. When it comes to saving money in a build the importance is not in comparing the labor intensiveness of different skills, but in preparing all the details. It is true that if you are skilled in some aspects, you can save paying cash out because you've already spent time learning to paint or lay tile or hang drywall or whatever. It is also true that if you aren't skilled enough to please a master mason/tiler/painter/whatever, then you are wasting both time and money because the house will have a higher value if a master does the work. And on exactly the same note, if you take the time and make the effort to learn the skill, then your work on your house will often be better than a master's work... because it IS your house.

I also use Goof-Off to work out a scratch. Put it on one of those green scouring pads used in the kitchen. Work the scratch until you see it starting to disappear. Don't use a lot of Acetone or Goof-Off. You will see the vinyl start to melt down and fill the scratch. Ounce you've taken it down to where it's almost gone you can flip the green pad to a dry area and buff it up to that shine you want to see. This also works on any vinyl window. Just be very careful!!!!