when you took this clipping outdoors.. did you just put it out in full sun.. or did you harden it off to the change from ambient indoor light to the sun??? the point is.. you may have burned older leaves not used to such.. but new leaves will come out.. adjusted to the new light.. life.. the future is all in the buds ... so i would not give up on this.. because it looks a bit bad.. and i would not leap to remedying it based only on looks ken

Using those figures, Quicken sez the loan originally would have ended 4/1/18 with a payment of $1235 (seems a month too soon, but whatever). Paying $100 extra on payments 1-24, then $200 extra on paments 25-36 (you say that $200 was "for the last year", so I'm thinking that is June 06 to May 07, Quicken sez the balance now should be 149,425 (pretty close to your 150,000). So the numbers aren't lining up exactly - depends partly on the gap between the closing and the first payment... but close enough. If you went back to the $1549 starting with the June payment, Quicken sez you'd end September 2017 with a last payment of $976, 7 1/2 months ahead of the original loan schedule. (=11,600 less in payments in exchange for that 6,000 prepaid to date. If you keep prepaying $200 as is your plan, Quicken sez your last payment will be in March 2016 for $1439, just over two years ahead of schedule. (= 39,000 in payments saved in exchange for the 25,000 you are prepaying over the life of the now roughly 13 year loan). Folks will argue you should keep the mortgage and invest that $200. There are ways to have it drafted and making it hard to get to. Most certainly you should consider investing instead if you have not maxed out your tax deferred retirement options. Unlike a "rainy day" fund, tht money would be pretty hard to get to. (And I say this as someone who did choose to prepay a 4.75% mortgage! Every situation is different.)

Now I can see them. MindStorm...we've had several posters recently that have posted here for the sole purpose of driving people to their sites. Consequently, many of us have become suspicious of first-day posts that don't appear to be "real"...questions (or comments) that were rather vague but with an external link...sort of like this one...out of the blue asking about cabinet sizes in a picture at a different site that's obviously a commercial site and no other real information/details...sorry, but it looked suspicious. I'm glad to see my suspicions are incorrect...but they aren't always! As to the kitchen you're asking about... It's a little difficult to tell the dimensions b/c there's no "straight on" shot of the sink wall and b/c I think the pics are a bit distorted in an effort to get a long shot. IF the cabinet over the DW is the same size, it would be 24". I know some designers push for matching base and upper cabinets. If this designer is not one of those, then then the cabinet might be narrower than 24". It kind of looks a bit wider than the one to the left of the OTR MW. The upper corner cabinet appears to be a blind corner (not very useful, btw, worse than a base blind corner). So, I think the door on the cabinet b/w the corner & refrigerator is most likely 24" wide. Turn the corner and next to the sink it looks like a 9" or 12" door and then 15" or 18"...can't really tell. Because it's so tiny, I suspect this is a one-person kitchen in a condo or small townhouse. If so, it's OK, a bit cramped and a "black hole" next to the refrigerator, but workable. It probably would not allow more than one person to comfortably work in it. The Prep Zone is probably the 24" over the DW, that's the size that drove me crazy in my old kitchen and was one of the main items driving our remodel...and it didn't have a DW under it (which made it marginally better than this one). It's too bad the peninsula counter is raised b/c it would have made a good workspace if it were all one level...to make up for the small space b/w the sink & range. Be careful eating there...those are small dishes in the pic and even they look like they would fall off if you nudged them too far back or forward....regular/normal/real life dishes would be even worse. The cabinets making up the peninsula appear to be shallower than 24"...probably to be able to fit a seating peninsula as well as an eat-in area. In this situation, I think putting seating in the peninsula was a mistake...it limits the functionality of the peninsula and most likely both seating areas (at the peninsula and at the table) are cramped. If it were my kitchen... * I would probably have looked for a way to eliminate the red wall b/w the refrigerator and hall, thereby gaining 4" or so of space b/w the refrigerator and corner. Not sure how I would do it, but I would try very hard to find a way. * I would have also taken what cabinets I could to the ceiling b/c there's not much storage in that kitchen. * Additionally, I would have gone with a 24" single-bowl sink to gain more counter and cabinet space. * I would probably have put frosted doors on the top cabinets and only left one open one...over the sink. But I think I would have put a plate rack there so at least there was some useful, yet attractive storage there. * I'm not sure I would have put in a peninsula, but if I did, it would be all one-height, no seating, and full-depth cabinets for maximum storage & counterspace. * I would have probably put in a 30" rangehood w/a cabinet above and gotten a small MW and put it in the "black hole" b/w the refrigerator & corner. It would be out of the way of prepping and most dirty dishes, but close to the refrigerator & water for point-of-use and at a good working height.

I guess I should have explained better. The neighborhood has gone seriously downhill since the housing collapse. I had equity once but now owe twice what its worth. Anyway we are the stepchildren of the city, crime is going up and the residents don't take an interest, for the most part. The whole thing has turned into a nightmare really but to make a long story short I can expect no help from the city, been there and done that. The neighbor's yard is huge and this sedge has had years to get well entrenched - if that doesn't get me then the crabgrass will. I used to hoe like crazy this stuff out but then the crabgrass moved into the bare ground, its amazing how that stuff can move a foot or so a night in expanding. Anyway on account of the financial thing I have very little funds to work with and so sodding is out of the question. My neighbors are very unpleasant people so no I don't talk to them. I wish I could move my house and my garden somewhere else, its a simple house but I've done tons of work in landscaping and added a nice big covered patio. If I move I'll never be able to afford another place - it will be to an apartment with a postage stamp deck and I live for summer and my garden. You know if it wasn't for the mud thing I'd almost so OKAY I give up - I don't care what grows here as long as its ground cover so I can quit with the mud tracking in the house. Its really, I guess, a no-win situation. I could get rid of my dogs that would solve the mud problem but I was brought up in a different age/mentality I guess where the person who was screwing up was the one who had to change, now I find myself constantly lowering my standards - and why should I have to lose my dogs, not fair to them for sure. I have puzzled over this and all it does is depress me. The way it is my garden is where I spend most of my time and as long as I don't have to go out into the neighborhood I love it there with my birds and squirrels and flowers and stuff, but the outside keeps working its way in. My children, lke I said, are frustrated with me because grass is not high on their list. It's like they take good care of their cars so how would they like it if their car was always muddy even though they just cleaned it - that might get thru to them better. But the city and my kids and the neighbors have come to an agreement - I'm the problem. Because I want a nice garden. I'm getting depressed thinking of it. As for the tilling, I really didn't mean tilling, I think it just said work it into the ground so that what's down there but not emerged gets exposed to the chemicals. i will try to found more information or find someone in the business who knows, it all gets confused in my mind. I did put down annual grass in the spring and it took over fast but died about July and then I was back to the bare ground. The problem in the fall is that I have lots of trees and about the time its time to do the seeding the leaves start falling and smother any new growth or make it so I can't water. I can't rake the leaves away because the grass seed would go with it. I have spent a fortune on water and seed and I have the ugliest yard to show for it. Maybe I will just put the sedge down I think it said a month before you put down seed and see what happens and if it doesn't work then I either need to adapt / or move. I did try out front putting down some ground cover which survived but it would be very expensive and take years. I dunno. I dunno but thanks for your suggestions I will read again later when I'm not so discouraged. All I want for Christmas is to know I will have my lawn back in spring.