Yes, Soozd, I do invest my time to try to get design jobs (that means I do not charge for initial meeting). However, that is something that you or I would have to do if we had more inquiries than time to invest. It does weed out some good serious folks among those lighter inquiries, but it leaves ONLY very committed people in the market pool and recovers the expense of dealing with those less serios folks. I did work for a LA/design/build company that had a very high profile garden center on the south shore (MA). We had an average of 30 calls a day in the spring from people who wanted us to come out and meet with them about their landscape. When they were told about the $45 consultation fee, 2/3 of them would not continue. That left 10 calls a day to pursue. Those consultations would last about an hour. We often did quick sketches on site with graph paper and Prismacolor, but you could not keep them or copy them. Then we would go back to the office and write up contracts to either do a simple install or for design. That can take considerable time. While this is going on, we were also doing design work for those who hired us for that, and were were managing the jobs that were being built at the same time. When you consider how long it takes to construct a landscape, usually weeks, it should be clear that there is no possibility of constructing all of the work that is asked about. You would be faced with ways of filtering down the amount of work you do at every stage until it is managable at each of those stages. If not, you'd be faced with having three years of work booked in March. How professional is taking work on that you can not do for three years? That was definitely an extreme case, but that system was perfect for them. I worked for, and continue to do some work for, a very high end company that six to seven digit landscapes. The jobs are big and take months to complete. They do not do a lot of jobs each year because they are large, tightly managed, and involved. They don't advertise in a big way, so the numbers of inquiries are low and generally from sources consistant with the market in which they work. In other words the leads are usually of high quality and there are not many of them. There is no charge to meet with clients, although they are generally extremely wealthy. That works just right for that company. But, if you call from an area inconsistant with the type of work that they do, you will be subtly told to go somewhere else because they value those 5 hours of invested time managing the jobs they have and don't really want to take the work crews off of those higher production jobs to do a less productive job if they were to get it. Again, I don't see why someone can not take the time to do a mass email response to people once a week, or to put a staff member aside a time to return calls. However, you can imagine that each person calling wants to make a case for their job or wants some advice. It is rather difficult to make one of these conversations short without seeming rude. Then you have to do it over and over for each. I think I can empathise with those who will blow some of these off, if they are in big numbers. These are just some reasons why some charge for consults and others do not. Everyone's circumstance is different and it is not all about trying to milk as much money as possible. It is actually a way to manage the office's time by affecting the source of the work instead of the production end of it.

Here's what happened: Yesterday, I called the phone company bright and early and explained the problem. The guy said "We'll call you right back." And he did, claiming it was fixed. Alas, it was not, and I called him again to let him know it still wasn't working. This time, they tell me "we'll get a guy working on it, and call you back." (I guess the little Brownie that lives in the office wasn't able to figure it out, so they needed "a guy"...) Later that afternoon, I called my ISP and found out that four of their customers in the my area had no service. Four customers doesn't sound like much, but you have to remember the town has about 370 people. It's a rural area, not exactly booming economically (KWIM), so if you have 10% of the people with a computer online, you're doing good. Out of that number (let's round up and say 40), over half half are going to sign on with the phone company because they don't know enough about computers to even look for another option. You could divide the remaining twenty in half again, for wireless service, with the remaining ten divided between satellite and the only other dial up ISP with a local number for this area. So, four is about right. Yes, there are only two companies in the entire world that offer local dial up service to this area. Lots of companies *claim* to offer a local number, and it probably would be if we had service with another phone compnay, but we do not. It is what it is. My ISP tells me that if the routing has changed, it might not be a localnumber anymore, and if they can't fix it to call accounting to see about a refund. I call the phone company back to see if this is going to be permanent, and he said they were "tracking the lines", which I recognize from past experience is a swell technical sounding phrase meant to placify the customer. He asked meexactly what was going on, and I explained that although this had been a local number for over a year, as of yesterday it stopped working. I could dial in using the area code, but the number wasn't supposed to be long distance. He thought that was curious. I didn't think it was curious so much as irritating, still, I realize it's not this guy's fault, so I don't get upset. We continue chatting and he says "You know, I think we have DSL available in your area." (Technically they do, but despite that big fat cable buried right out in front of my home, the actual service stops two miles west. I called about it a month ago and was told that at this time there isn't enough "customer interest" to activate it further east anytime soon.) Bless his heart, not knowing that, he said, "Have you thought about switching to our DSL? We're running a special, only 69.99 a month plus tax plus..." (I'm thinking, Oooo, what a deal! That's only three times what I'm already paying the company that can't even keep a basic land line operational for 60 days in a row. I'm completely underwhelmed.) I politely cut him off saying "Uh, You know, right now is probably NOT the best time to hit me with a sales pitch to upgrade my service for an even *more* expensive plan..." He laughed and said "Yea, I know, but I'm supposed to..." I said "Hey, I understand, it's like, 'would you like fries with that?' We both laughed, and he promised to give us a call when it was fixed. He really *is* very nice, even if he can't help. Later that afternoon, I discovered that my ability to dial in using the area code had also gone pffffft. When I called the number direct, I got a "This number is no longer in service" message. Of course, that's not true, it's working number for everyone but us. When I called using the 1 plus area code, I got the recording that says 'We're sorry. It is not necessary to dial a 1 or the area code for this number. Please hang up and try your call again." With any other company, this might be discouraging, but coming from these guys it's means they're doing *something*, so that's progress. LOL This morning, the 13th, I call and tell the guy what's going on with the line today and he says "We're aware of the problem". (I get the impression the other three customers might have beat me to the punch with the status update.) Then he tells me, "We'll get someone working on it." I'm thinking, excuse me, but wasn't someone supposed to be "working on it" since yesterday? I'm sure there's a three dollar word for this kind of thing, but all I could think of at the time were the four letter ones. Not good. Instead, I tell him thank you, and go outside. The deal is that my DH works on a pipeline, and they've been laid off for most of the winter. They just started a job this week, but the budget is a bit pinched for me to run out and order a more expensive internet service even if it were available. We're talking dialup or nothing. I just walked around in the yard admiring the crocus and quince and was telling God about it. I mean, he already knows, but it makes *me* feel better to have someone to listen to me rant. ;^) So, I make my rounds inspecting the yard, finish my whine about the internet and said "and Bless my phone company". Now, that is the *first* time I have ever said that. Usually, if I think of them at all, my thoughts immedietly go over to the Dark Side. But there you go; here I was getting all warm and fuzzy over a utility company. I guess all the fresh air and sunshine went to my head. On a whim, I came in, sat down at the desk, tried to connect again, and voil Here I am. Which means the line is *still* local. Looks like God really was listening. That, and someone just had that coffee maker plugged into the wrong outlet afterall...

I have a Bernina 2000DE. I had an earlier model & traded it in because this was supposed to adjust the different stitches with a turn of the dial. You still have to fiddle with it due to the type of fabric, thickness, etc. When I'm in a sewing mood, I use it more than I do my sewing machine. I don't sew fancy clothes, so I sew all my seams with the serger, finish edges of hems, facings, etc. To use it to sew seams, serge & try & pull the seam apart. You may have to tighten the needle threads if the seam isn't tight. When you have a free day, practice, practice, practice. Threading is really easy with the color coded machines. Serge all the stitches on different kinds of fabrics & keep the samples & document your settings. Use different types of decorative threads. That's the fun part. Try all your stitches with the differential feed settings. That is one feature I absolutely love. I love to sew with fleece & you need it to keep the seams from stretching out & becoming wavy. Before you sew anything, test your settings by sewing the fabric on the crosswise & lengthwise grain. Make a note of the adjustments. Your library should have books & videos on serging. I have several & refer to them all the time when I want to play around & try something new. Some good authors are Naomi Baker, Tammy Young, Gail Brown & Nancy Zeiman. Read the troubleshooting section & learn how to fix any problems you have. If you get frazzled, you won't use it. A serger can be your best friend. If you haven't bought one yet, do as someone suggested & take the class. I learned how to sew elastic on, insert ribbon & all kinds of neat things. They're too expensive to leave in a box. Those of you who said you aren't using your serger, let us know if you give it a try & have success.

Wow, I went through an emotional ride here, LOL. I was frustrated in the beginning (couldnÂt find neutral), then I became concerned (electrical tape), then I got more concerned (paint), then I became confused (no need for a green to be connected to a ground), then my concern regarding a green wire connection was quickly replaced with a valid "I'm sure (s)he cleaned some paint off the end of the ground wires" because she/he didnÂt! Finally, I laughed at "Obviously, you shouldn't open up a switch and start soldiering" IÂm thankful that there are people like you, willing to help. I understand that the best thing for me is to hire a professional electrician who would do the right thing, but the problem is I donÂt have any references for a reliable person and while picking up the phone & dialing any random company looks like an easy way out, there are too many chances I will get somebody who is not very knowledgeable. For example, I had to convince my last electrician that one of our outlets was not properly grounded by buying my own device & inserting it into the outlet in front of his eyes. He was fighting with me in the beginning because his device showed as if everything was fine (it was broken!!!) I would never insist if not for prior home inspection, where this flaw had been revealed by our inspector. Also, next time I call an electrician, it is good to know basic things, so I can see if he is doing a better job than the guy who used covered with paint wire for grounding a switch. Sorry, I digressed... Anyway, IÂm glad I asked these questions and found out many useful things. 1) As I stated before, whoever wired our home, DID NOT clean the ends of ground wires! I can clearly see the end of a ground wire covered with paint (middle light switch) I will take care of that  it is easy. Not so easy part is to open all our light switch boxes in order to inspect them  we have plenty. 2) I was the one, who covered the light sensor with an electrical tape (my husband thought it was ok yes, I can hear you screaming in disbelief ;)) 3) ItÂs a powder room with no sink installed, so humidity is not an issue, but I already removed all electrical tape & replaced it with blue caps. I will be creative & try to squeeze them behind the middle light switch. 4) I also cut the white wire off & installed the timer yesterday. Unfortunately, it doesnÂt work. I tested it: red & black show electricity flowing, green & white  no electricity. Red wire --> wire from the fixture; Black wire--> hot wire; Green --> ground; White--> White (neutral) Sounds right to me, but the timer doesnÂt work. Either I did something wrong or my Intermatic EI210 timer is faulty (the first thing is more likely to be the case ;))