Kim hmmm...I certainly feel for you in this case. I'm thankful for all the computer nerds at Comcast and Belkin that always seem to be able to fix my problems. I've been where you are and it isn't fun. The one problem I couldn't understand in your post was this one; I would be browsing and it would work fine for about 5 minutes, then all of the sudden the browser wouldn't work anymore and I couldn't update anything. When you say the browser would stop working do you mean your connection went down? Or you couldn't surf on the computer that was wireless? If you mean the wireless computer wouldn't surf, check on this; On the lower right hand corner of your screen there should be a little monitor icon with three little lines that represent your wireless connection. If you hover your mouse over it you'll see the name of your wireless network, speed and your signal strength. If you have anything less than "excellent" as your connection strength that could be causing a problem and making your browser die. Something in your area could be interfering with your wireless router, things like a tv or cordless phone or large piece of metal. What you do is you go into your router and change the number that your wireless router is broadcasting on. It may take you days or weeks to figure out which to broadcast on until you get the best one. You may also have to move the computer that the router is connected to another area to give you a better signal. As far as the other parts about security and firewalls, that stuff is way too technical for me, but your router comes with a firewall built in and if you have windows XP you should also have a firewall. So having one that you went out and bought may be a little over kill, unless you can get someone to come to your house and set it all up so nothing interfers with each other. I think there is a computer forum here, you may want to check it out (if you haven't already) and see what the people there have to say. Good luck.

I like a lot of your contract points bevangel. When we built our garage in 2003, we hired a framer who was also a friend. He and his helper didn't show up the first day, or the second, or the third. Dh is the son of a carpenter/builder and knows how to do the work, but he has had back surgery and shouldn't be doing it. But on the 3rd day, he got antsy and we had 3 walls up before the framer finally showed up about 3pm and they put up the 4th wall. The next day they started putting up trusses and dh went to his real job. That night, he was looking at the work done and saw that the trusses weren't set on the same marks on each side. The helper must have either been measuring from a different starting point or he was using the metric side of the tape. Anyway, dh spent that evening moving one side so it lined up with the other side and he let the framer know about it so they would do the rest right. The next day, no framer. The next day they showed up at 4pm. and only got a couple of trusses set. The next day they finished the trusses and then we didn't see them again for 3 days. Then they started putting up the plywood subsiding and decking. After they finished that, we didn't see them again for a week. During that week, it rained and the plywood warped. The next time they showed up, they started putting siding over the warped plywood. I stopped them and told them the warped siding had to be replaced first. They said they would so I left them to it. When dh came home that night, he found that they had replaced a couple of the lower pieces of plywood and sided over the rest. And it was really wavy. Dh called him, told him to come get a check and not come back. I roofed most of the garage by myself and dh and I replaced the warped plywood and finished the Hardi-plank siding. The plumber left his assistant to put in the gas line and water heater. He did fine with the line but he installed the water heater with the controls facing the wall and in a cabinet with no way to reach them. Dh had to redo that. The concrete contractor and the electrician were both terrific, so it wasn't like every sub was a problem, but the framer caused enough grief to make up for all of them. That was at a time when building was still good and even getting bids for a small job was hard. Our biggest mistake was hiring a friend, who used our friendship and put us last while he ran off to work on other jobs. We aren't friends any more. A contract from our end and not just their end would have made a big difference.

Well I ended up going out today and buying a mattress, I've had it with the couch and delaying fixing the bed-- this forces it to be done so I went with the Temp Cloud Supreme. I just tossed a S&F-one of the ones you might be talking about. Beautyrest has their new "black" line, so S&F is revamping their line too now. To be honest, I've never seen or slept on a Kingsdown, I think that is the manufacturer for EA beds. (my buddy at EA says they won't work for a platform, you need the box spring to make it work. (Worse case I can return or exchange the Temp. The "heavenly Bed," I used to layover at all the Westins when UA owned them. They are ok, but you can load up your own bed to make it like that. I used to have a nice pillow top something when first out of college, then a thick featherbed from ScandiaDown, then NICE sheets, and a down quilt and pillows also from Scandia. I slept on that forever until my dog (no longer alive ) got sick and peed all over it. I think from that point forward, I have had trouble with mattresses. :( plus during that time I flew all over the world and started my career of jet lag ........... I am HOPING this one might work. and I sleep cold, husband does sleep hot, but always has to have a fan blowing on him year round - so he has to adjust. My sleep is more important. He can sleep on a brick uneven floor. He falls asleep in a minute no matter where and on whatever . HATE THAT SOOOO JEALOUS. I need ambien (doc prescribes it for you medical folks) every night for the last 20 yrs. (literally, my job has messed me up, at least I had 8 yrs of good sleeping with my line of work before the issues kicked in!,those were the days......bed is coming on Sunday, I'll keep you posted. I'll most likely still stay on the couch and air it out for a bit LOL!! (smell) I've had latex pillows before, they stink too. (smell) I did toss those, I can't ever change from down pillows!

I found it! Went shopping in New Orleans and stopped by Home & Garden in Covington, LA. This store had been written talked about in some of the decorating blogs I frequent. Truly eye candy city. They carry Suzanne Kasler's Hickory Chair line. Absolutely beautiful. I could have stayed there forever. But, after I stopped drooling over the beautiful furniture, I found THE chandelier. I can't wait to hang it and post pictures but, I thought I would share. What do you think? Do you guys like it? Thanks for all the wonderful advice. I'll post pics after I hang it. I also found all my fabric at a great place in New Orleans that has the best prices on Jefferson Linen. I can post if anyone is interested.