I'm sure he must have been the one that wanted to paint a newly installed hardwood floor in black and white squares, although the owners specifically told their neighbors not to do anything to the new floor. The designer walked off in a huff and told them to just do it themselves,then. thankfully, they were strong enough to stand up to him. Of course, if you have to live next door to the people, you don't want to alienate them forever. that was about the time I told Ashley I'd prefer to have all my fingernails pulled out and a root canal without anesthesia than ever watch that show again. Annie

I checked back here to post a RANT, and discovered it's already here! Thanks jerrod6! Misery loves company. Here's my story of fun and games with BOTH providers. We supposedly had the DirecTV HD DVR and HD Receiver (and new dish) all set to go last month. I paid $299 for the equipment and was told I'd hear from an installer. Nobody called, so I called DirecTV again. After taking a telephone tour of the USA for an hour, I was given a date and told the installer would phone to confirm. You guessed it; no call. I called DirecTV again for another tour of the country -- five cities, as I recall, having to recite my story over and over to each new contact. Another date was set. This time I asked for the phone number of the installer. Of course I didn't hear from anyone and when I dialed the installer's number I got a recording: We no longer service the Chicagoland area. Another call to DirecTV to learn that there is no record of my order or of a date to install anything, anytime. But they will "look into it" and call me. Now Mother Nature steps into the picture. We have a freak snowstorm (8 inches all at once) and the following week is freakishly cold. I call DirecTV and ask them to cancel the upgrade and credit my account. I don't see anyone climbing our roof in this weather. An hour after I cancel, DirecTV calls back and is ready to set a date for install in two days. Having finally wised up to their games I repeat: CANCEL THE ORDER AND CREDIT MY ACCOUNT! And...I call Comcast. Comcast takes my order and sets a date for installation. The installer shows up *early*, but says he only has the HD DVR and a "regular" receiver. (Read on to see if you think he was lying.) Another date is set, a week later. Yesterday another Comcast guy arrives. He puzzles why the first guy didn't complete the installation. We look at the first guy's order sheet and the second guy's sheet; they are identical. Hmmm. Well, then second guy goes out to find the Comcast connection box. THERE IS NONE! Our next door neighbors have Comcast. Comcast has sent two techs out to do an install. BUT... The nearest box is down the street. We will need "Dig and Drill" to lay a line from the box to our house. The second guy assures me they'll do it next week and I should hear from scheduling "tomorrow". I call Comcast after he leaves, wanting to confirm that this will actually happen and am told that all "Dig and Drill" has been suspended in our area...until April. I can't guess how much time I have now wasted on this project between the hours waiting for installers to show up and hours on the phone tapping responses to prompts that don't address my situation. (And how much has this cost each of these companies?!) We are giving this another try. I called DirecTV again. They will come here January 4 and install the HD Receiver/HD DVR box -- and new dish 30 feet up on our 10/12 pitch roof. HAAAAAAAAH-HAAAAAAAAHh-HAAAAAAAAAAH! Yeah, sure they will. Can't you see the techs volunteering for THIS order? (to be continued) -- if I'm still alive after Jan. 4

Scott, how cute..LOVE IT. My little Lil will come in the bathroom with me if I'm taking a soak and put her feet up on the edge of the tub, waiting for any drops of water to land on the tub edge so she can lick it up. She does not enjoy her bath time, however she's such a good girl she does sit there very still and let me bath her, she just does not like it though. Same with her hair trims, she will sit very still and sllow me to trim her, not moving a muscle exvept her periodic panting and the look in her eyes tells me she's stressed.

This week I saw the new Toto toilet models in a local showroom. The Aurora was on display with an S5 washlet. The Redington was displayed with a conventional seat. I usually like modern, smooth lines, but the front "belly" on the Aurora (Model #686) looks unattractive to me. The Aurora has a compelling story to tell for its new double-flushing mechanism that cleans the sides of debris. The sales rep explained that the skirt on the Aurora was moved forward to avoid an installation problem that can occur when the water supply turn-off valve is located too close to the center of the back of a fully-skirted toilet. The tank surface on the Aurora is concave, similar to the Carlyle II. (1st toilet in the row in the 1st photo below; 2nd and 3rd photos below show the lever and the curved tank on the Aurora.) Instead, I prefer the more conventional look of the fully skirted Redington (Model #672), with a savings of over $400 (before taxes) compared to the cost of the high-end luxury Aurora. I think that my water supply valve is located at a distance that exceeds the requirements for installing the Redington. The tank surface on the Redington is nearly flat -- level enough to hold an extra roll of TP. (3rd toilet in the row in the 1st photo below; 4th photo below shows the top of the tank for the Redington) The 10-inch rough-in for the Aurora is expected to be available in mid-June. I am inclined to wait until early August for a 10-inch rough-in for the Redington toilet. In the meantime, the finish work on my bathroom remodel is slowly progressing.