I know I would not mind if I were the dad in your situation to be taken to the store and told to pick out the trimmer I wanted. I would ask how much is set aside and go from there. If that is not possible than a certificate saying pick a trimmer of your choice and let's buy it today. Some possibilities to avoid the dreaded "that is not the one I wanted" scenario" :). All good questions above. Price will determine alot. I think the best all around trimmer/brushcutters are in the $3-400 range with $400 being high. You can get a really nice trimmer in the $200 range though. It is really a question of what exactly is needed and how much you want to spend. Your dad may have a preference for makers. I personally like the Stihl and Echo for ease of availability. The Kawasaki's I know nothing about and I stay away from currentl Homelite products although the older Homelite equipment was really good from what I have read. How old or how to spot them I don't know. I prefer straight shaft and a good harness. Cutting heads can be a personal preference. I like the bump and go, some like the quick insert and some like the fixed plastic blades. At the 3-400 price level, I am not concerned about the 2 vs 4-mix debate. The 4-mix's are young but have good reviews so far. Your dad could probably do okay with a good consumer grade trimmer with a flexible shaft. A solid shaft will be more expensive but will better handle brushcutting. I don't have much need for attachments but they make the units more expensive. I did the "cost analysis" of those models and it seemed that they did not pay for themselves until you bought 3 useful attachments. I could see the mini-tiller but an edger was really not necessary for me. A pole saw, maybe. Just little things that I could not really get alot of use from. All really good questions. Alot of the answers will be personal preference. Best of luck with getting your dad to smile on his bday.

I got my father an early Father's Day gift, a limousine that took him and Mom from their Florida (winter) home to the Tampa airport recently. My dad is very frugal and they usually take the airport shuttle . . . making about 6 other stops along the way there, with Dad fretting the entire time ;^D They're getting up in years now and it was good to know that the driver got them and their luggage easily and safely to the airport on time. At this stage in their lives, they tell us that they don't want "more things to dust and clutter up the place". Dad's birthday gift will be a limo back to their winter place this Fall. DH's father is no longer with us. He was an awesome guy and I miss him a lot :~ ( For DH, I'm making Huevos Rancheros for breakfast and shish kebobs on the grill for dinner, with Mari's fantastic couscous, a Greek salad and my molten lava cakes. This morning while DD & I were in town, we got him a hole-in-one ball and score card display case (this is a HUGE thing for a golfer), and a Tracy Chapman CD. I still need to get him a golf range finder and am sitting here by the phone waiting for one of his long-time golf cronies to call me back with the one he recommends . . . as I don't play golf and don't have a clue! Lynn

My youngest DB invited my parents and all of us over to his house for a Father's Day bbq. So we just went over there. I usually do get my DH, Dad and FIL a gift. My FIL knows his will be late every year anyway since we have to ship it and I'm not as organized as I wish I was. We are getting him some Clint Eastwood movies that he likes. Gave my dad some cologne. Got DH cologne too and took him out to eat at Texas Roadhouse Saturday night. Sounds like ya'll had a good day. I have got to get my painting area organized. I've got too many projects looking me in the face when I go in there and I think it's overwhelming me too much. I think if I only leave 2 out I'll be able to finish those and move on. Hope you get that shed finished. Sounds like a big job. We are taking out our old chain link fence in prep for the new fence. The people who put in the old posts concreted the poles in with 3 feet of concrete! we have had a terrible time getting them out and now there is a section connected to our neighbors drive that is concreted all the way across that we'll have to bust up. I've been trying to help DH, but I'm not too muscular so it's really falling on him to do most of it. Good news is only a few more weeks until the new fence goes in!! We are really getting excited. I've got to get DD ready to go on a church youth trip so been running around trying to get her things together. Got to go do a little shopping today to finish up. DS has to build some kind of box car for a Scout thing next week and we haven't started on that. You know how it is, just one thing after the other with these kids and their activities. Guess I'd better get up from here and get started on something. ~Anj

IMO, its still the HUBBY who makes the final choice. Anyone, anyone even his own sister can tell him off and convince him not to pick up his kids. but in the end its his choice. No one elses. So it doesn't matter what a SM or a BM wants. Its the decision of that person. And let me bring another perspective to this arguement. You all are ticked off when a weekend is missed from an already constricted schedual eh..???? WELL WHAT HAPPENS WHEN BM MAKES PLANS ON DADS' WEEKENDS OR CONVINCES THE KIDS ITS NOT A GOOD PLACE TO GO??? Then WHAT? SHE MAKES DAD LOOK LIKE A PUTZ FOR THE LOST WEEKENDS. Its happening now with us. Damned if you do take them, and damned if youdont. Well guess what, i'm keeping a log for the last 2 years now of all the weekends lost with his kids and the reasons behind it. When on misses and why. Whether its a school activities, grandma's bday, cousins bdya party, just not up to it, wants to be with mom that weekend...ALL OF IT!. This way, when bm accuses my dh of it , i will have a record with dates and who showed up and who didn't so she doesn't try any funny business. and even the kdis have lashed out at my husband saying, oh your msising alot of weekends. He said yah, and who';s fault is that? YOURS NOT MINE! you want ot be with your friends, and go party and i call you ever week to know if you are coming...so dont play the tag game on me and try to guilt me. YOU ARE DITCHING ME. Be responsible , accept it and stop blaming others for you actions! And this is what i would say about this situation. STOP BLAMING SM'S FOR DADS DECISIONS. She has an imput but not the ultimate say. I think the mentality of blaming sm all the time comes for the same mentality that kids have the final say in these divorce situation and i cannot stress the fact even more that kids have absolutely no say and power lies between the adults. Between mom and dad. And in the end , a SM can b****ch all she wants, if dad says otherwise, its otherwise. And to add, if dad wants to skip one weekend, its also his right. He can make arrangments to picck them up another time for longer.