kaismom, I almost don't want to answer that question because I feel like we sound like such idiots, but I will. First of all, I am a little shy. We were new to the area and I saw his van working on a neighbors house. All the homes in our neighborhood are down sweeping driveways. I plucked up the courage to go down one when we bought the house and knock on the door to ask about the house and neighborhood, but failed to do it on this occassion. I figured if they were working on a million dollar home they must be decent. I googled and found no negative reviews... in fact no reviews at all. Of course his next customers won't find any reviews either. I checked his license and insurance, but failed to realize just how easy it is in PA to get the license. Basically I could get one tomorrow if I wanted to. Then once we hired him our mistakes continued. I KNEW that he hadn't vented the hood, but whenever I asked about it I was brushed off and told it would happen later. I KNEW that was wrong, but I didn't want to be an ahole and question every single thing he did (I had kicked up a fuss about greenboard in the shower). I did ask many times, but I should have stopped him and made him do it the right way. Of course I tried to do that with various other things with no success at all, so I would have got nowhere, but I should have tried harder. Also one thing I have learned, is that anyone who repeatedly says "I'm a good guy" generally isn't. Genuinely good guys don't need to go on and on about it. Next GC who tells me to trust them because they're a 'good guy' I'm running in the opposite direction as fast as I can! Also never believe someone who repeatedly tells you that all his other clients let him A: use their credit cards for materials, B: make all the design decisions and C: never question any of the process. So yeah, we're trusting idiots. The end. : (

Thanks again everyone. So here's my update. I had no luck getting In touch with the agent we had used originally, and wasn't willing to drag my two kids along to go to the office. So I passes the issue off to dh who walked into the office without an appointment and asked to speak to someone. ( he makes a good squeaky wheel lol). The agent I had been dealing with was not available so he got someone else. She gave him the same song and dance about "a cabinet is a cabinet, a door is a door" etc. except having looked closely at our policy we knew we were covered for the option of "similar construction" for replacement cost, not standard construction. (It's extra). So, he pulled out receipts and photos etc. finally she agreed to open up the software they use, and spent 20 minutes with him going over the details of the house and the material used. That brought the replacement value up $60,000 (as opposed to the original $17,000). Quite a difference. We will be photographing and storing receipts just in case. So, the moral of the story, your agent should be thou rough, not lazy. Know your policy. And make noise if needed. Thanks again for all the advice!

I stopped watching Criminal Minds when there was an episode that was particularly bloody and gory (maybe a family member being killed?). I know that with these cops/U.S. security-type shows, you have to expect that the envelope is being pushed further and further to get attention and ratings. I just wasn't prepared to nearly jump out of my skin during one of the scenes during the first episode of The Blacklist! (But haven't deleted the series from my Netflix list -- yet!_

pillog, I hear ya about the real political candidates. Fools, bullies, and jerks. Not all, but seriously, is this the best we can do? I agree that Alicia is no worse by a long shot, but really, besides being the real power (and charisma) between her and Peter, she's just a very beautiful face. Those early years were fantastic when she was recovering from Peter's betrayals and coming up through the ranks of Lockhart/Gardner. And Will. My friend thought he was a rat, but I loved him. So did Alicia. And now that she's risen to the top and beyond, what's left that's plausible? The quirky judges and courtroom scenes are fun, but the drama's gone. It happened to The West Wing and I hate to see it happening here. Although that new guy, the one who took Kalinda's place, is really cute.