I just bought the Honda HHT25SLTC Trimmer Bush Cutter.Four CYCLE engine. It is a bit heavy, but the shoulder strap makes this bearable with no real effort. Last year I bought an Echo two cycle with the head that uses replaceable strings. The string is easy to replace, but one must start the engine each time. This can be very tricky with a two stroke engine. It worked fine last year, but his year it wouldn't start reliably. I called the service depots and couldn't get it looked at for about six weeks, because the yard was full of two strokes requiring repair.This was a message to me. NO MORE TWO STROKES. I might add the Echo gas tank leaks through the gasoline gasket, and they use a gas line that deteriotes in gasoline, believe it or not. Anyway I bit the bullet and purchased the Honda. What a marvellous machine. I even learned how to wind the string on the bump real, which is easy after one knows the method.The instruction manual is well written. Apparently all those English Teachers in Japan are having an effect. My yard is large and I needed a reliable product, and this Honda meets the requirement. Expensive yes, but it is well made. I gave the useless Echo away, since there is no second hand market for two strokes that usually don't start reliably. Such is life. Durgan.

Mike, It looks great. If you do have to move, I hope you move to a place with great gardening potential. You don't have to grow a lot of veggies to grow them well, and clearly you are growing them very well. Dawn

Yeah, but B&D can rock too! Just to get the message across, here are the lyrics, w/o the "visuals": "You can buy you a brand new truck Chrome it all out, jack it way up You can build you a house up high on a hill With a pool and a pond and a view to kill You can make all the money in sight But you ain't livin' the good life Til you put a girl in it You ain't got nothin' What's it all worth Without a little lovin' Put a girl in it Some huggin' and some kissin' If your world's got somethin' missin' Just put a girl in it..." True sentiment? Here's the part that inspired some producer to say "Hey guys, you're getting a little long in the tooth, and nobody's going to watch a video of you and your missus snuggling on the front porch watching the sunset, and this is a dance tune anyway, so how about we just get a couple hundred sweet young things to have a bikini beer bash while you enjoy *that* view?": "You can write you a country song The DJ wont put it on They won't dance or sing along (Chorus) If you're ridin' in your truck Put a girl in it If you're gonna have a party Put a girl in it If you wanna live the good life Better put a gir-r-rl in it" Speaking of something missing - I don't know what happened to all the "g"s - I don't know anybody who drops them off the end of every single word!

Thank you all for your comments! I had just needed to vent and I felt better after I wrote it all down. It's just such a stressful situation and to have this girl's mom calling me as well, leaving messages, is just...I don't know. I think you are very right...having her stay in a hotel is a very good idea. My first instinct is to just have her go home if she decides she can't control the things she says, but underneath the hurt I feel, I know that's probably the right thing. I know I definitely wouldn't go to a hotel, if only for the simple fact that it's Christmas and I have small children - 6 and 4 years - and they are greatly anticipating Santa tonight. :) But I did leave this summer when I knew she was coming and I guess that's kind of the same thing, although I went to visit my family and not a hotel room. But honestly, I did feel some resentment over it but tried to put it in it's place. My husband and I had some big fights over this because that's exactly how I felt - why should I have to leave my own home because this 'girl' can't control herself? My husband would only say - Well no one is making you leave! But I think that just misses the whole point when my only options were to stay and suffer through the poison this girl emits or leave. Anyway, in the end, I just decided that this was bigger than me and that for him to reestablish a relationship with his daughter was important for him. So I left and it was ok I guess. This girl has never wanted anything to do with my children. Before we had children she would say all the time that if we ever had kids, she would never acknowledge them as her siblings and that they would be nothing to her. But now, years later, she is beginning to say that she wants to get to know them. She's only seen my older son once or twice when he was younger and she's only seen my youngest when he was a baby, as she's not been back to our home since. HOWEVER, she wants a relationship with them without me being around. She asked my husband if it would be possible to spend time alone with my kids without me being around. Fortunately my husband told her that that would not happen under any circumstances - I guess he knew I would really go ballistic if he told her anything other than that. It made me feel good to hear that he told her that our kids are a package deal. I want the best for my kids and I know that one day I will not be around and that these girls will be some of the only family they have. I have never said a bad word about either of the girls in front of my kids, no matter how I've felt and I never will. But right now, this girl is just too filled with bitterness and hatred and there is nothing in this world that would make me leave my kids alone with her for 5 seconds. Honestly, as bad as this sounds, I wish I could just make this girl vanish as if she's never existed. Oh well. Thank you again for all your thoughts! I've just really needed someone to hear me and appreciate so much the time you've taken to respond. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Amy