Thanks for the advise.

Noble thoughts, Mike. I can see you put a lot of thought into what you wrote. I've given quite a bit of thought to what Mike said, and have often taken the time for introspection re why I spend time at the forums. I don't think I operate under the umbrella of a mission statement - probably something more like a credo. I'm here because I like to help. I particularly like to be associated with people that have open minds and enthusiasm for husbandry (growing). That is what draws me most to an individual and makes me want to encourage them. It's kind of like - if you were a teacher 'Who would you rather help - the child who says, "I can't get this puzzle, but I want to finish it real bad. Would you help me?" or the one who pitches a screaming fit and won't let you help because he 'knows how to do it'? ;o) We all assume the role of teacher when we offer advice, even when we share our practical experience. We tend to feel obligated to help almost everyone (when we can) when they ask for it or when it's apparent they are foundering. Everyone's reaction to the help isn't the same, and the rewards we perceive from having tried to help vary, so our interaction here is always dynamic. See Forest Gump - "My mother always said: Life is like....." I don't know if this thread will go long or not, but it certainly has the potential to reveal what makes everyone tick. It offers the opportunity for anyone to talk about how they perceive the forums and what they've noticed about themselves and others (not specific others) relative to their interactions. Distilled: I look first for opportunities to help, and help where I can. I don't try to pass my best guess off as a fact, and I don't offer advice I can't explain fully or back up with sound science. I try not to argue, unless something comes up in a thread I'm already participating in that has the potential to detract from your growing experience (bad advice - only half of a picture .....) in which case I offer an alternate opinion, and explain clearly why I hold that opinion. Most forum altercations center around ego and the inability to deal with disagreement. Ego, because it bruises easily when battered with the knowledge that we have been wrong. Some people accept that fact and are grateful for having been enlightened, others feel trapped and see obfuscation of the OT as their only escape. They either throw up a smoke screen by changing the subject, introducing/seizing on several other points as 'cover' for the one actually being discussed so they don't have to face the music, or they simply turn personal and belligerent in the hope that the other party will follow and forget about pursuing the original point - defense mechanisms. Fortunately, there are far fewer of that sort than there are of the nice folks who have so far commented on this thread. You guys are the ones that make it fun to hang here. ;o) Good thread, Mike. Al

If they don't have 'right' on their side, then they will use 'might'. No doubt stacking the committee's composition would be considered more effective than risking public outcry over other forms of muscle-flexing.

golfgeek, You are spot on... our friends contacted their lawyer (immediately once the news broke) and now are having Mission Pools finish up the pool. They are out about $30,000 based on what they have paid versus what it is going to cost to finish. Not nearly as bad as many others we've heard. Pools94, That seems to be the standard sales pitch when large companies are against smaller ones, huh? Ironically, Mission Pools actually had a similar line, but their solid reputation already had us leaning towards them. However, as you've mentioned, it really is how the business is operated on paper (i.e. cost plus margin, or tiered margin based on hard cost amount)... had our own little business before :) After hearing more and more about Mission Valley Pools ways of operating their "family business" (part of the sales pitch to our friends)... they may have been just taking what margin they could get that was lower than the competition. Terri