Chana, I lifted the covers on the dats a few minutes ago and told them that the two of you said welcome, and they gently smiled and nudged each other and said, "See there, this isn't going to be so bad." Karyn, you know what has truly amazed me? The dat tendency to chloromorphize us. I didn't get a chance to mention this in my post yesterday, and of course the triple creams, as you know, are more verbal than most of the dats, but the triple creams yesterday were talking and one said, "Harold, when we lived in Virginia, you remember that gorgeous mobile plant that took care of us?" "DO I? Wasn't she GORGEOUS?", to which Mort replied, "Yes, gorgeous, and she is so nice, likes to take our pictures like she's proud of us. What was her name, Harold, started with a K" "Kirsten, Konica, Kirin, no, Karyn, yeah, that's it, Karyn. So nice, but now who is THIS joker?" "Have no idea, he doesn't even look like a real plant--I think he's a lower life form." "That's Ok, God wants us to be nice to the other life forms. He's kind of funny looking, but he's ours, and he seems like he'd be a good pet, and maybe eventually he'll seem like a member of the family." And so it goes with all life forms, all instinctively knowing that they are the finest and most beautiful life form. Naturally, I don't want to hear sh*t from the snapdragons.

I am glad you enjoyed the reading. It sure was a wonderful trip. I am now trying to get all the pics offf my cell phone...sigh ...no memory card...and then I will get the whole thing put together. Will keep me busy for weeks ! c

That is one of most touching things I have read in a long time. Tears are streaming down my face. Thank you so very much for sharing this. Suddenly the stupid "words" Dh and I exchanged before he left for work today don't seem as important. I think I will go call him... Trish

Sound is fascinating (if it isn't bothering you on a personal level)! It bounces. It reverberates (it is actually a 'vibration' which we can hear), it swirls. It 'echo's (which is the bounce that comes back at you). It is like water. It will find EVERY single chink in a house's armour. The fact that this is both an 'outside noise comes inside' and an 'inside noise to inside' and it is a home in California (mild climate) tells me all I need to know. Not enough insulation - anywhere. As 3d Scetches points out, you need mass. You need MORE material added to everything. Yep. Everything. "The exterior of the house is stucco, steel and cedar. " Oh dear. Steel. Steel LOVES to transmit noise. Metal is a 'conductor'. It conducts heat (heat is vibration...see where I'm going with this?) and it conducts noise (telephone wires are made out of metal...ahem). The 'easiest' fix for the exterior noise = remove siding, add more insulation and then reinstall siding. For whatever reason, the mild/hot climate areas thing insulation is for 'cold' climates. That's ridiculous way to look at the world. The EFFICIENCY of the home is what we look at...not the temperature outside. To keep the COOLING effects of A/C efficient, you need insulation in the exterior walls to prevent it from ESCAPING. And that insulation adds bulk. Bulk is mass. And mass helps with noise reduction. Now for the interior noise...this is going to get expensive very very quickly. Retrofitting a home (completed) for noise reduction is EXTREMELY expensive. I always say to estimate $10/sf for such an event. It *can be done for $7/sf...but you need someone VERY knowledgeable to get it done in this price range. The floor/ceiling assembly is the biggest issue with 'up/down' noise transfer. The easiest way to do it: add 1/2" cork underlay and reinstall the hardwoods. Trim the doors/etc and keep going. The expensive way to do it: remove all ceiling products (including lighting fixtures, etc), double stuff the joists with 'Safe N Sound' from Roxul and then add Acoustic Drywall. When working with 'canned' lighting, it needs to be WRAPPED in insulation. Yep. Each and every can needs to be removed, wrapped and reinstalled. Sigh...this is why 'noise abatement' needs to be DESIGNED into the construction of the home. It will add another 15% to the cost of the home, but it will save you 75% of the cost of a retrofit. And ceiling heights, hardwood, tile, wall insulation (or lack thereof), windows (glass is SUPER reflective for noise = bounces around INSIDE), mirrors, stone, etc all allow interior noise to bounce and careen around the space. If you have 15ft ceilings (I'm just making a point here) with stone floors, mirrors on the ceiling (again...just making a point here) and 3 walls of 'floor-ceiling' windows you will have created an echo chamber. The 'soft' furniture that Patricia states would include 'room sized' area rugs (that run the length of the space...in each and every room), huge felt/wool wall hangings (on 3 out of 4 walls in every single room), velvet curtains that remain CLOSED throughout the day, etc, etc, etc. These are the types of 'soft' coverings she is talking about. The more 'soft' you have the more the noise is absorbed. Soft = absorbent. Hard = reflective. Whew. I would personally start with getting the siding off, adding insulation and then reinstalling the siding. At the same time, I would have ALL the windows 'reseated' (which means taking them out, shimming them, caulking them inside and out with noise reducing caulking, etc) and then see where you are.