I began putting corn cobs out for the squirrels in my backyard a few years ago. They will take the cobs and strip them of kernels and run around the property burying them in flowerbeds and the lawn for winter feed. Lo and behold, in the spring, we have corn coming up in our flowerbeds, vegetable garden and lawn! I've never planted corn because it's notoriously difficult to grow in our local backyard gardens. But the squirrels are obviously excellent farmers! We always let several stalks grow to full size for decoration and humor. We address the squirrel/bird feeder problem by just keeping a lot of feeders full. They seem to work it out as to who gets filled. If the squirrels are raiding the feeders for sunflower seeds, then the doves are hanging out below to catch all the seeds that fall onto the ground. Always a good show!

Lonepiper..I completely agree with you. If I have to ask my parents for money, then in my opinion, anything that is not essential has to be put on the backburner until the situation improves. Update on this situation...We got into another big argument about it last night. We had come to the agreement that we would pay our half now instead of waiting the 30 days the divorce decree allows, just to try to be amicable. Since we came up with that offer, DH has been trying to reach BM and discuss this arrangement with her. She finally called him back yesterday 1 hour before he was to pick his girls up for their 2 week uninterrupted visit with us and started going off on him..telling him he is nickel and diming his daughters..how she can't pay her bills because he isn't paying enough CS,..on and on. So, he caved and told her we would pay the entire bill since she is so strapped. I FLIPPED OUT! What happened to our agreement? He tells me.."I have you on one side saying one thing and her on the other, and I feel stuck in the middle". Newsflash..you put yourself in the middle. She isn't your wife anymore (HER CHOICE) and chose to marry a man who makes 1/3 what you do. If she can't pay her bills..that's her problem. And guess what..we don't have the money either. Why is it ok for her to say she doesn't have the money, but when he does, he is a bad parent. When my DH lost his job last year, he had 500 dollars left to pay her from the divorce decree due 15 days after he lost his job. We asked her for a little time until he found another job...she absolutely refused..told him our finances weren't her problem. So, again we borrowed the money from my parents so he could pay her off. She didn't care about our money problems...I could care less about hers. I know her lack of money right now isn't going to keep the kids from eating because WE HAVE THEM FOR THE NEXT 2 WEEKS, so I am more concerned with keeping my refrigerator stocked for them. Anyway, after this blow out where I totally lost it, he went out to start his car and it's DEAD. Hopefully, he will just need a new battery, but it totally proved my point that we can't just be throwing good money after bad because his car is 12 years old and we have to think it is going to have problems. It is very frustrating, and I told him that contacts were low on the priority list...I am going to pay car insurance, health insurance premium, DS's school tuition (before anybody jumps and says I care about my kids before the sk's-this is my son from a previous marriage and his dad pays more than enough CS to cover his school) and the water and power bill first. To me, all of those things are more important than contacts this week and I am going to fight this battle to my death (hopefully not necessary). Usually, I give in just to regain the peace, but I know I am right on this one, and I refuse to put this family in hardship when we offerred a compromise that BM is unwilling to accept.

Hi soxxx, What to do about the phone bill? Paying good money for nil service for about a week? Soxx it to 'em, that's what!! Call as many times to request an amendment to your bill - more times than you did to notify them/complain about the outage! Be persistent. On the other hand ... ... there has been some fake money (granted, it's Canadian) floating around this area for some time. Perhaps we could find some and send it down to you. You could offer to pay the phone company ... ... with fake money ... ... in compensation for fake service! After about the tenth call ... ... tell them that you're keeping track of the unnecessary time that you've been putting into trying to get justice from them ... ... and that you're going to be billing them for it. And you can guarantee that your billing would not be for service that was not provided! What would it cost you to sue them in small claims court? Up here, one can do it for about $10.00, I think. You'd be doing it in your area, and you can bet that they'd be sending a high-priced lawyer to answer to the charge. Your local newspapers and TV would more than likely be happy to attend at court, as well. Teach the phone co. that they can't push you around! I'm sure that the newspaper readers would be interested to read the story of the messages from the phone co. ... especially after they notified you that your problem had been fixed. Maybe your husband could send them a bill! On the othe hand - be careful: they might charge him with interfering with their facilities! No doubt your newspapers and TV would be happy to attend that hearing, as well. Have a great inter-holiday week! Again ... soxxx it to the phone co! Hey - what am I talking about: I own shares in the phone co! (That have gone down in price since their purchase). Again ... have a great inter-holiday week ... and a winderful New Year, as well (that's one in which you're long-winded - especially on the telephonephonephone). ole joyful

Thanks for the update. Commiserating with you about the cable, etc. DH and I have spent most of three days here on Maui, grappling with Computer, Cable, BluRay, Amazon Prime for streaming. The condo association switched to Oceanic for internet; had them for TV earlier. They've failed twice in three days; next time they will send someone with a new gizmo. (Modem/router/whatsis) Take it easy. No need to do everything immediately. You aren't used to the weather. Wishing you many happy years in your Florida home!