Today January 2, I dug up Comte de Chambord, grafted of Multiflora rootstock. Bluegirl had it for a few years in her alkaline Texas, didn't bloom well so she gave to me, since I have more rain. As multiflora-rootstock, Comte bloomed OK in spring but stingy afterwards, while my 2 other Comte as OWN-ROOT bloom profusely with 4 flushes until snow hit. I have Comte-on-multiflora for 2 years. It's so stingy in the summer I moved it next to the rain-spout in July. Its root was the same size as my marigold !! It became even stingier, despite my using the entire bag of coarse sand to make my clay fluffy. So I dug up Comte grafted on multiflora today, Jan 2, and IT WAS THE MOST PATHETIC multiflora rootstock that I had ever seen in my 3 decades of growing roses !! I already posted the study that showed Fortuniana-rootstock produces more blooms than Dr. Huey, and Dr. Huey produces more blooms than multiflora-rootstock. Left side is Comte de Chambord grafted on multiflora rootstock, right side is a snapdragon annual flower root (sown from seed !!). The snapdragon-flower root is actually larger than the multiflora-rootstock. This 4+ year-old Multiflora-rootstock actually SHRANK in my alkaline clay, despite tons of acidic rain. And it REFUSED to give me own-roots at the side like Dr. Huey-rootstock. Picture taken today, Jan 2 at 39 F or 4 C. Re-post info. from Oct. 2016: Comparing Dr. Huey-rootstock, Multiflora-rootstock, and Fortuniana-rootstock from below link, worth reading: http://roses4az-mevrs.org/wp-content/uploads/An-Overview-of-Fortuniana.pdf Here in the Desert Southwest, with our generally alkaline soils and extreme temperatures, we find that r. multiflora has a shorter life span, losing its vigor after five years. While fortuniana bushes had superior root systems, they had difficulty with the harsh & cold English climate. In a study over several years, Dr. McFadden budded two hybrid tea varieties, Queen Elizabeth and Tiffany, onto three different rootstocks. After counting the number of blooms produced over many growing seasons, the varieties budded onto fortuniana produced significantly more blooms. The fortuniana plants produced about THREE TIMES the number of blooms as those on multiflora and TWICE as many as on Dr. Huey. Additional benefits of Fortuniana include increased resistance to gall, stem dieback, and root disease, such as Phytophtora and Pythium. Bushes planted over 40 years ago in Florida are still thriving. On this rootstock, plants are heavier feeders, as they have five times the feeder roots of more common varieties." http://roses4az-mevrs.org/wp-content/uploads/An-Overview-of-Fortuniana.pdf

Forget talking to the construction manager. Find out who the CEO or President of the company is and write him a letter. Introduce yourself as a customer who is in the process of having a home built by their company at such-and-such an address by so-and-so construction manager. Compliment the quality of the work being done on your home (or how clean they are keeping the property...or something!) and that you are happy to be working with a company that prides itself on customer service. Tell him what a great reputation his company had back where you used to live and that you were so relieved when your original builder's company was taken over by his company. (Never hurts to lay on the compliments first.) Then state that you do have a complaint however and have tried to resolve this with the construction manager but have not gotten satisfaction nor any explanation that makes sense to you so you are hoping the CEO/President can assist you. Then, keeping it short, outline the fact that they broke ground on your home on date X and that on a later date (later dates) broke ground on three "inventory homes" at such and such addresses. Point out the ways in which these three inventory homes are substantially the same size, style, and quality of the home they are building for you and are in the same neighborhood. State that under the circumstances, it seems logical that the home that was started first (yours) ought to be the first one finished but that you now find that work on the inventory homes is moving forward MUCH faster than work on your home and further that you are being told that your finish date is being delayed significantly. In a chart, show the status of your home as of "yesterday" and the status of the 3 inventory homes on the same date. Point out again that the 3 inventory homes were begun AFTER your home and that the same CM is building all of them and using, as far as you know, the same crews. Suggest that it looks like the construction manager is delaying work on your home in order to concentrate his efforts on the inventory houses - presumably so that they can be finished and sold more quickly so as to maximize profits on them and that while you can understand the CM's motives, delaying work on your home to give priority to the inventory homes is simply unfair. Point out that while this INTENTIONAL (be sure and use that word) delay may be more profitable for the company and look good for the CM, it works a hardship on you and your family because if your home is not finished on schedule (by mid-September) you will have to move into a hotel with 2 school-age children at a cost of $x/week after September 30. Tell him - and quote me here because this phrase tends to be somewhat magical. "This is simply not acceptable. It reflects badly on the good name of your company." Suggest to the CEO that if they don't have your home ready by the originally promised date but do finish any one of the inventory houses that was started AFTER yours, it would be only fair for them to let you and your family move into the finished inventory house - and live there for free - until they complete your home. Then say that while this would be an acceptable compromise for you, what would really make you happy is for them to simply get your house back on its original time-line schedule and stop treating it like a "stepchild". If the CEO is a reasonable person, the fact that you brought the matter directly to his attention will tell him you are a savvy consumer. The fact that your complaint is stated in a rational manner and that you are not making irrational demands - only asking them to do what is right and fair - and that you still hold a good opinion of the company - is very likely to result in a message coming down from the CEO to your construction manager to get humping on finishing your house and to make sure it gets done BEFORE the inventory houses and before September 30th if at all possible. For the construction manager, finishing the inventory houses first is a big deal for his small portion of the company's bottom line. For the CEO, that extra profit is likely to be a piddling amount in the grand scheme of things. So, if the CEO can keep you happy by just telling the CM to make finishing your home a priority over the three inventory houses, he is very likely to do so. And, once word comes down from on high, you can bet the CM will do it. You may hear nothing back - other than maybe a letter that the CEO will "look into it" - but you'll know your letter succeeded if work on your house suddenly appears to become top priority for your CM. Good luck!

angelic_one2002, although around here suggesting a TL is better than a FL can be fightin' words for a few forumers, one use is hardly a fair test, upon which it's fair to condemn an entire design of a system, don't you agree? One thing of which I'm convinced: Changing from a TL to a FL requires a learning curve to know how to use them properly. Frankly, that's one of the hesitations I have about switching to a FL. I don't do that many loads and by the time I really give it a fair test, learn how to use it correctly and get the experience and most importantly, get the dosing down for my water, I wouldn't be able to return it if it were bad. Hey, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're NOT out to get me! :) I think there's other reasons to not like or want to consider a FL, for me a big negative is the low front opening. Physically, for me, that will be a challenge. I'd need a pedestal and that increases the cost substantially. I don't really understand the spray rinses on the F&P machines and the low water rinses on the FL, but I do accept that it's an old basic design that works for many. But I'm not going to condemn what I don't understand and haven't learned to use. No offense intended, so don't take this wrong, but your credibility is called into question when you say something like this, just like the other end of the pendulum seen so often where people claim that TL users are walking around in stinky, filthy clothes. I like to think that I'm fairly impartial. I own a TL but am seriously considering a FL when (and if!) replacement time comes. There's advantages and yes, disadvantages to each type too. You need to weigh your priorities to get the best machine for your needs and that requires reason and rational thinking. No lecture intended.

Hi ML, I think you're getting unfairly beat up. Your guy did the same thing that a lot of people did- they bought at the top of the market, thinking it was a good investment. Right now you have a "paper loss", but there is also the real cost of paying a mortgage for $200k+ vs a mortgage of That said. Truly, this is a "good" problem to have. When you and your DH look back on this years from now, you will think about how you had to deal with a place that is less than perfect and sold some land instead and you'll smile about your youth. You will be thankful that you could afford the mistake and that you weren't bankrupted or foreclosed upon. This is still a problem, but it's a problem that is livable. You aren't facing cancer, injury, etc. In a few years it might make more sense to rent because rents generally are rising now. In fact, this might eventually turn into a cash cow if you ended up renting it. You might end up making much more money on it then you would have if you could short sell it now- plus there will be costs associated with a short sell, even if it were possible (it sounds like it really isn't.) This is just the start of the story for you and your DH. Don't let this come between the two of you. There are all kinds of ways to have fun with it and make it a positive. My FIL is a contractor- when the crash started, he reno'd his kitchen and bathroom and took a lot of before/after pics. He started a website for his business with the pics. His wife was delighted to have a new kitchen and bathroom, and he picked up business. Look for the win-win. You're smart and young, it gets better!