I would like to say that it is also possible that the woman who owned the dog before taught the dog to be hostile to men - I think it is wrong to blame men for the problem without knowing the entire history. People very often teach or transfer their own fears/phobias onto their animals, and if a woman shows fear of men when she is walking her dog, the dog will learn that men are not to be trusted. Some women are more paranoid than others, and I have seen this happen in such cases. I think it is more likely that the owner is to blame for the phobia than that the dog was treated badly by a man. If a dog is treated badly by one man, that is not enough to cause a general phobia, but if a woman shows fear of all men that she encounters while walking her dog, then that is a very strong case to make for the phobia coming from the owner. There are lots of dogs who have been trained to be hostile to people of different races, and this is also taught by the owners. I personally think that there are a lot of women who get large dogs primarily because they have a fear of strange men, and this fear may be justified for the women, but when it gets transferred to the dog, it becomes more irrational, since most men are harmless and should not be singled out as untrustworthy people. The men I have known have treated dogs equally as well as women, and yet I have encountered many hostile dogs that were owned by women. My boss has terriers (I forget which type), and one day she asked me to come to her office when she had one of them (I'll call the dog Surrey) in her office and had me wait at the threshold. Surrey barked wildly as I stood at the threshold, but after I entered the office, the barking stopped. Then I took Surrey for a walk. As it turned out, Surrey had a fear of men only at thresholds but was otherwise fine with us. I think this is a fear that could have been learned, but Surrey died a tragic death in the Northridge Earthquake before the dog psychiatrists could determine the cause of the phobia. I think people should be very mindful of what fears and phobia they may unconsciously be transferring to their pets. I also want to say that I think most women do not train their dogs to be hostile to men, but I do strongly believe that there are plenty of women who do. I personally have a phobia of large dogs, due to having been bitten by at least three of them on separate occasions when I was fairly young, but I do appreciate the Great Dane next door that has reduced to squirrel population in my immediate vicinity.

I'll add one thing - Once you flatten the image, the text is now part of the picture. You'll need to pick your color, resize or move before you do the flatten step. If you are saving in a .tif format you can leave the layers intact, but this will add to the file size. I usually save two documents one a .psd file with my unflattened layers and one in whatever format I need at the moment. The .psd format allows me to go back and manipulate the layers as needed. moniqueb - love the font. That's very pretty, as is the flowers. :)

Hmmm, I would put them in a sealed container AS IS. I'd put EVERYTHING in there with them. If you are going to court with this guy, to sue him, or to defend yourself against a lien he might place, then this would be better than a mere photo of the evidence. And, also get the exterminator to show you any HOLES they have to fill and put where they were on your blueprints or drawings to indicate they were in the areas this big rat worked over. And I'd make sure it was a jury trial too. Homeowners who've been suckered by jacklegs such as this would be very sympathetic. Have you reported him to the Better Business Bureau? And to the Chamber of Commerce, or any place in the state which maintains lists of local contractors? Be sure they add YOU to the list of references to call about quality of workmanship. Or lack there-of. Also, I'd get some of the real curly steel wool balls and keep them in the house. I found a great use for that kind around some pipes. They might still make the same thing in copper at a higher price, but these would work nicely if not out in the weather. Rats cannot chew through the stainless either. One place the exterminator might have to look is beneath the house. I discovered that squirrels and rats were entering the house where the drain went down and joined the sewer line. There was a HOLE--NO FLOORING AT ALL--beneath my bathtub. And they had an interstate access to my attic all the way up inside the plumbing wall. Well, I put a stop to it alright. Tore out the danged bathtub, put in a new tiny bathroom, and of course that means a new floor and VERY well sealed WALLS, and maybe one day I will trust a contractor to install a new bathtub in a new location. I still have nightmares about THAT shocking revelation.

I found this one to be quite funny. This guy hopefully didn't quit his day job to become a salesman!! Really, really ugly coffee table - $5 (77065 Cy Fair) Okay, this coffee table is ugly. It's REALLY ugly. I can't even believe I'm trying to sell it, it's so ugly. But it's also VERY sturdy. You can sit on it without even worrying about it collapsing beneath you. It'd be really a great thing for someone who just needs SOMETHING to put a big TV on, who wants to bedazzle furniture, or who doesn't want to send the "good" old coffee table to college with her son. I mean, hey, we all need some utility furniture at one time or another, right? Maybe you even want it to refinish it and sell it for megabucks... I promise I won't judge you for buying it if you won't judge me for having it to sell in the first place!We will be home tonight (Sunday) between 6 and 8 if you want to come see it. If you can't come then, just drop me a line and let me know whenuld be a better time for you, and we'll work it out.�Disclaimers: As is. Cash money only. No refunds. No phone calls, please; email contacts only.�