How do you think the lawyer ripped me off he has not even done anything yet he is waiting for me to decide what i want to do. i paid him $200.00 for a consultation visit and he gave me options, but you need money to hire a lawyer and i spent all mine on my yard. Remember this was done a year ago and he has been working on it off and on for a while this year. They were just here yesterday and brought 20 yds of good top soil and filled in all the washed out areas, still alot of rough areas to go. His worker had top soil left and no more time to spread i guess or he thought he was done, they had the soil dropped in the road so instead of putting it in a pile he spread it out in the yard about 3 inches thick by 30ftx30ft in a area that the grass wasnt to bad well now all i got is dirt in that area, and it is going to rain tomorrow and wash it all out this is the kind of stuff his guys do, he is not here to see it. He told me he personally was going to take care of the job and work on it. The boss, he is never here its always the same people that screwed it up to begin with. He finally made it over here yesterday tuesday after he told me friday that if he wasnt there monday by 1:00 then he would give me $1000.00 cash well he never showed monday hmmm maybe i get the cash. this is the kinda stuff he does. alot of promises , he is just waisting time and money. i feel like telling him to give me 3k back and i will fix it myself. Do any of you guys think that slit seeding the yard will help. that is his next step. The yard is so rough that it hurts your back just to mow it. let me know what ya think .

Here goes. Last weekend I spied something at the pawn shop that tickled my fancy. (Note: Keep in mind that my "fancy" is easily tickled.) I bought something really cool for my wife. The occasion was our 22nd anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my sweet girl. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sixed Tazer gun with a clip. For those of you who are not familiar with this product, it it a less-than-lethal stun gun with two metal prongs designed to incapacitate an assailant with a shock of high-voltage, low amperage electricity while you flee to safety. The effects are suppose to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, but allowing you adeqate time to retreat to safety. You simply jab the prongs into your 250 lb tattooed assailant, push the button, and it will render him a slobbering, goggle-eyed, muscle-twitching, whimpering, pencil-neck geek. If you've never seen one of these things in action, then you're truly missing out- way too cool! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two AAA batteries in the dam thing and pushed the button..... Nothing! I was so disappointed. Upon reading the directions (we don't need no stinkin' directions), I found much to my chagrin that this particular model would not create an arc between the prongs. How disappointing !! I do love a little fire for effect. I learned that if I pushed the button, however, and pressed it against a metal surface that I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs that I was so looking forward to. I did so! Awesome!!! Sparks, a blue arc of electricity, and a loud pop!!! Yipeeee... I'm easily amused, just for your information, but I have yet to explain to my wife whatt he burn spot is on the face of her microwave. Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two AAA batteries, etc. etc. There I sat in my recliner, my dog looking on intently (trusting little soul), reading the directions (that would be me, not the dog) and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh and blood target. I must admit I thought about zapping the dog for a fraction of a second and thought better of it. She is such a sweet pup, after all. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger. I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong? Was I wrong to think that? Seemed reasonable to me at the time. So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, tazer in the other. The directions said that: A one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; A two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a loss of bodily control; A three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water... All the while I'm looking at this LITTLE device (measuring about 5 inches long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference, pretty cute really and loaded with two itsy bitsy AAA batteries) thinking to myself, "no friggin' way!" Friggin' way -- trust me, but I'm getting ahead of myself. What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best. I was sitting there alone, the dog looking on with her head cocked to one side as to say, "don't do it buddy," reasoning that a one-second burst from such a tiny lil' ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad.. (sound, rational thinking under the circumstances, wouldn't you agree?) I decided to give myself a one-second burst just for the hell of it. (Note: You know, a bad decision is like hindsight - always 20/20. It is so obvious that it was a bad decision after the fact, even though it seemed so right at the time. (Don't ya hate that?) I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and HOLY ****** !!!!! I'm pretty sure that Jessie Ventura ran in through the front door, picked me up out of that recliner, then body slammed me on the carpet over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, soaking wet, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position. The dog was standing over me making sounds I had never heard before, licking my face, undoubtedly thinking to herself, "do it again, do it again!" NOTE: If you ever feel compelled to mug yourself with a tazer, one note of caution.... There is no such thing as a one-second burst when you zap yourself! You're not going to let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by violent thrashing about on the floor. Then if you're lucky, you won't jam one of the prongs 1/2 inch deep in your thigh like yours truly. SON-OF-A-BISQUIT- EATER that hurt! A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at this point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. How did they get there?? My triceps, right thigh and both titties were still twitching... and I swear I smelled burning flesh and hair.. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, as my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs give or take an ounce or two, I'm pretty sure. By the way has anyone seen my testicles? I think they rolled away. I'm offering a reward. They're round rather large. Miss'em.... sure would like to get'em back. It's good to know that the wife will be safe from stupid assailants..... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are going to be really emotional, how about having your DH give the speech? I live in the States so it may be a regional thing, but usually there is the toast by the best man and if there is any speech by a parent, it is usually a welcome-type given by the FOB. Just a thought since it seems you are having a bit of anxiety over the emotion tied to the content of your speech. I don't think I would be able to get through it without a river, so I wouldn't even attempt it. Perhaps the more you rehearse, the better. Does your DD know you are doing a speech, and if so, does she know the content? Thinking if you could practice it in front of her (being the emotional trigger) may allow you to get through it with less tears when you give it at the wedding. However, if you don't want your DD to hear it prior to your giving it at the wedding, is there someone else you could practice with, a really good friend who has a DD, with whom you are very close? Your own DM? Just trying to think of a way for you to pull some of the raw emotion out prior to giving it at the wedding. Tears of joy are totally normal, but if you are crying a river, will you be able to get through it? Five minutes is a pretty long speech. Any event, I hope the wedding is wonderful. It sounds as tho no doubt it will be. Congratulations! I would love to see pics, so please snap a few to share here.

I don't much care about saving 15cents a month or whatever. I should be lucky enough to live long enough to receive that payback. I do care, however, that we have plenty of hot water when everyone visits so I am not scheduling everyone for showers the next morning at dinner the night before. Can someone please just give me an honest answer about whether tankless would likely work for us. Uh, Wldsyd, I'll repeat what I wrote 4 messages above yours. That is that the President of Rinnai America himself said you should not buy a tankless heater if your goal is to save money or to save gas. Particularly in a cold climate, the gas usage for a tankless can be really high. He said you should buy a tankless because you want endless hot water. Also, it has the advantage of a much smaller footprint than a traditional tank. That should answer your question. If you are all so angry that you can't even stomach and tolerate questions from homeowners who truly do not understand the technology and are simply trying to make good, long term choices, then why hang out on these forums? Can't you imagine that after 11 months of living in the middle of a major remodel I don't need anybody attacking me. Thanks for the sarcasm. In defense of Peteyboy's response to you, what I saw in your message was a challenge that said that despite all the previous 140+ posters, you still weren't provided enough information, despite posters' links, despite professional plumbers and installers opinions, despite lengthy explanations of why people felt pro or con, despite explanations of the necessary venting and gas line changes involved in tankless, despite opinions from the tankless owners who'd been living with them. You dismissed it all by saying people had "personal agendas", that the several professional responses were "those that are simply hell bend against change b/c they don't, perhaps, have the expertise to do the installs". With 140+ responses, none of which you found helpful, I cannot blame Peteyboy for his message. BTW, you can also do a search on this Forum for "tankless", and you will come up with many more threads if you seeking more information than what was provided in this one.