Actually, I would say that most humans try to do whatever they think is best for themselves and immediate family, without seeming to impinge too outrageously upon others. Just short of official censure, IOW. Obviously a significant minority are utterly selfish and do not stop even at directly harming others and/or their prospects. I agree that every bit of extractable fossil fuel will be extracted and used, presuming our capacity to do so persists long enough. I don't think it will, for a large number of factors: climate change, environmental degradation, costly conflicts over land and resources to name a few. These will likely reduce human civilizations to subsisting on annual sun-fall before we get to all coal and shale deposits. The richest societies will likely manage a partial shift to renewables via best technology but that savings will be engulfed and then some by the ravening horde. It's gonna be a wild ride.

azmom - I think you are doing exactly what you need to be doing and that is entertaining all possibilities. I'm having some difficulty with suggesting options because I don't remember if you said you were more traditional or contemporary in your style preference. Here's a drawing - pardon the stuff that I used because I am familiar due to my recent remodel. I also reversed the walls, before I learned you were in Arizona. That's a horizontal Ikea upper cabinet in lower right hand corner. I still think you would like 18 inch depth - would give wider aisle and also allow a 36 inch door to be used that is great for ADA requirements (and resale?). Guess I've written a book below. I'm still in a philosophical mode about how much I'm enjoying our new bath. Hope you get to that point to. (Also, my husband is out of town so I have more time, LOL). Sorry image is a bit light. background: The curbless shower will put you in the direction of contemporary but of course by your choice of vanity and accessories, that can modify things some. 5X5 is standard ADA size and ADA definitely supports curbless - rules are even more lenient for curbless if you do 5X5 or at least is parts of the county according to Mongo (see other threads on this subject). Lot of people think they are going to feel the slant, (my girlfriends were surprised that the whole floor wasn't slanted, LOL). It really isn't a significant slant yet, the water drains quite well even with all three fixtures running. That said, I'm pretty sure I would know exactly what I would want with your bath but then I'm not you, am I? I'm kind of new at this suggesting part in case it isn't obvious. Hard for me to remember this is someone else's bathroom. LOL I also am having some trouble because I don't think you mentioned your budget. On our bathroom, I had decided from the beginning that I was willing to spend on structural changes because these would be much more difficult to change later. So lots of things were moved at least a foot or two one way or the other. I was lucky my DH didn't object - he was so glad to finally be getting a bathroom - it had been in a demolished state for some time. I also was lucky with my contractor, I would suggest things and most of the time, he would say something like "that's easy". I've NEVER had a contractor like that so I can't expect others to have a contractor like this. For example, on our tiny master bath he is doing now, we were talking about the tile floor. We'll be doing porcelain plank again and I asked if slanting the tile took more tile. He said no, he thought a minute and said actually it took less, LOL. I have heard many opinions to the opposite of this, perhaps because this is "plank", it might make a difference but what I'm beginning to understand is that my contractor is exceptional and seems to minimize the work rather than exagerate and charge me more - and I am more and more grateful every day. So, my next point is about going with a curbless shower. I live in a major metropolitan area but I would not have considered this curbless shower without having a lot of confidence in my contractor. So if there is a possibility of your not having a skilled contractor with previous experience doing this kind of work, you might consider hesitating. The size of our shower is 5X5 which is perfect IMO. We have a fixed shower head one side and hand held on the other which can be reached easily. (rain shower in the middle which we do use occasionally but it was more for fun than practicality). The footprint size minimizes the spillage outside the door. What I have prized the most about our bath is in priority order: 1. the light color of wall tile and therefore spa-like ambience 2. not having a shower door - this is more wonderful than I could have possibily imagined. And my husband loves it too. Saves quite a bit of money too - not spending on the glass probably covered the extra cost of the wall mounted toilet. But we weren't sure so we had wall built such that we could add door later. Not going to happen now that we have enjoyed it without door. 3. And what I get most compliments from others about the bathroom is the floor - they like the plank and they like the slant and they like the color - think it adds a little subtle drama. But I heard my contractor talking (not to me) about the floor and because our house is pier and beam it was VERY important that the floor tile be VERY flat. He didn't want me ordering tile on the web for delivery because he wanted to check it out before it was paid for. 4. I like feeling somewhat prepared for the future if one of us is wheelchair bound or disabled (hopefully temporarily). I have broken my foot three times in my life time and wish I could have had this shower then. 5. I really like the wall mounted toilet brush. What I like least about our bathroom is the wall mounted toilet. I find it necessary to use the brush a lot more often than I did with our old floor mounted toilet. The brand we purchased is Toto but I have read complaints on the web about Duravit also. Apparently, somehow the structure of the bowl (not width but depth) is more narrow because it is wall-mount and allows for less water to be in the bowl between uses - thus causing the wall to be drier (this is my conclusion, I haven't read this part). But I and do love being able to clean the floor beneath the toilet and I'm having another one put in for the remodel of our master bath so I'm not so disatisfied that I regret. 6. FYI - 5'X 5' is the standard Size for ADA - it allows for different rules concerning floor slant if you go with this size. We have a linear drain and there is no problem with slant. Here it is in progress of being tiled. Doing a linear drain costs a little more than a center drain. But the sleekness of having the drain not obvious is quite nice. I'm not sure functionally, that it contributes except if you were in a wheelchair, my contractor tells me you don't have to "fight" the floor when turning the wheel chair. I wouldn't know. p.s. don't forget to have a large mirror (or two cabinets side by side) - great way to open up space and give more storage if medicine cabinets.

Most of the tile that is being talked about above was made in the mid 1920's to about the early 40's I help my husband hand salvage these old tiles for over 15 years from homes and Historical sites that are being torn down daily. Most of the tiles are either Gladding Mc Bean or American Euncaustic Tile co. Sometimes we will even find some Pomona Tile co by Hermosa .These tiles were mostly done with a baked glass like glaze making them almost impossible to salvage. Often the same type of tile was used in the kitchen and or back splash area .I personally love the salmon color as well and there is an awesome lavender that looks like hard candy. There were also early American tiles that were used on the face of fire places and in fountains in the yard. All of these companyÂs can be found in the American Art Tile Encyclopedia it is a great source of education on early California Tile Company's. These tiles are worth keeping and make you a member of the Tile club. Wanda Saving History one piece at a time......

I 100% know what you're dealing with. I also purchased a Ponderosa Lemon tree that had the www.mycitrustree.com tag on it, from I think Rona (from the garden centre of a big box building store), Ottawa Ontario... It was also my first citrus plant and I have done an abundance of research to find out what's wrong. I got the same moisture metre too, as one of the first things that could be wrong when leaves drop is over or under watering; don't always believe the metre, do the two knuckle test, put your finger into the soil and if it's dry that far down water it. Also, water metres shouldn't be left in the soil, be wiped off between uses and temperature has been effecting the readings on mine. Water should flow freely out of the bottom as citrus loves well draining soil, root rot is a problem if the bottom of the pot does not have enough drainage and things get soppy. Root rot will cause the leaf drop you're experiencing but is not the only reason leaves drop, you also seem to have the little breathing hole too so this might not be your issue. Overwatering can cause the soil to lose nutrients and that can cause deficiencies that will make leaves yellow along the vein and drop. Using a fertilizer, but not enough or of a type that will burn the slightly exposed root ball, would take care of deficiencies. (I don't see your root ball, lemon trees like to have a bit of root exposed just along the surface) Let's talk inside/outside plants and little bugs. Outdoors is a great place to grow; Every plant should have a summer timeshare pass. Outside is also where your plant gets bugs, that's usually okay because bigger bugs eat the little ones and your plant is in balance. When you bring the plant inside the little bugs, magnifying glass sized, don't have predators. Your 2 likely culprits, which I inherited when I bought the plant not knowing better, are scale and spider mites: Spider Mites Take your plant to the shower. Give the soil a plastic bag bib, put 1:3 (not stronger) dish soap to water in a spray bottle on an aggressive mist and make sure you get under the leaves and behind the ears. When your done, hopefully you have a removable shower head, turn the shower on and rinse him off. The mites might hide under the bags on top of the soil, I don't know how to kill them all yet but this controls the populous. I did this twice (once a week for 2 weeks) when my Christmas holidays return saw a couple dozen leaves on the floor. I've done it once since when a few leaves discoloured within 1 week. Scale Sooty mold or greasy mold... Let me ask a few more questions, that if you answer yes to you have scale: Have you seen some beautiful lil' dew drops on your flower buds? (Honey Dew mealy bug (adult scale) secretion ) Have you seen anything like the caramel coloured dots, on the thicker green stem, like in the following picture? (Scale) Do you have tiny black/brown dots, like pin prick bumps, on the underside of you leaves? Seen even more clearly when held up to the light. (Armoured scale) Sooty/greasy mold can look like dry hard water drops and is the excrement of scale, a symptom. I didn't know these existed, until I bought this plant and it came with these problems, but they are extremely common. There are products you can buy that should get rid of these but I haven't tried any yet. I'm thinking of using Neem Oil, I hear good things but the only place I can find it is online. The premise is that the plant becomes slick new bugs can't latch and old bugs get smothered. You can cook/smother your plant if you over use it though. Neem oil is all natural, safe in the soil, okay to spray on the fruit and eat, and should be able to rid you of both of these pests. You can use a little knife/tweezers/a soft toothbrush to 'manually extract' scale but it can be onerous if you have a lot of issues or a big plant. You can soak your tools in soap/rubbing alcohol for the added bonus of killing the scale/eggs where they latch even if you can't get them entirely off. Longest common ever but is full of months of research, good luck and all the best. ~Cheryl