On a walk behind type of mower, not self-propelled--what does horse-power have to do with cutting grass? HMMM?? Will .5 additional H.P. have any appreciable effect on the power of the machine? Oh, yes, maybe if the operator runs it into 6 ft. high grass that has never been mowed, or cut in any way. Maybe the additional .5 of H.P. will allow the blade to turn 4 more times before it gets stalled out by the thick grass? I have always thought that stating the amount of H.P. was just an advertising gimmick, meant to fool the average homeowner into thinking he might have something much better than his neighbor! now, if the H.P. rating was being used to make a self-propelled mower move along better--well--how much faster would it move, and could the person using it keep up with it? Go figure-- And, as for the goof driving the motor home, who thought they could get up out of the drivers seat and go fix lunch, while under way (That means moving along) should be in the "funny farm", not in court! I drive a motor home, and we've often said we would be able to do that, but only said it in jest (jokingly) as i consider us, my wife and I, to be smarter than to try that, even though we might get enrichened by some smart lawyer. ;o)

DH and I have been discussing and we're contemplating putting the microwave to the west side of the fridge. I really wanted a tall pantry with big drawers and shelves - just like my Mom had and I'm not sure if I want to give that up for a MW yet. I probably will I just have to get use to the idea. Here is about the layout of the rooms. The biggest constraint we had was we could not move the plumbing. We had to come in from the bathroom above the level of the foundation. The foundation between the two areas is rocks. And I don't mean a rock wall, I mean rocks, as in very large boulders. Shifting one would have caused shifting in all of them and you can't just cut a hole through a rock like you can cement. So the plumbing actually comes through the wall from the bathroom, not under the floor. The other issue is all walls in the kitchen were once exterior walls, and the sink/oven walls are bearing walls too. The wall behind the fridge became the new bearing wall for the upper level floor for that section as the upper roof is actually supported by the old rafters and not the end wall. well, let's just say this house presented a lot of problems one does not normally encounter in a newer home. Removing the patio door was a spur of the moment decision. We had problems getting the door installed. The whole middle of the house leans to the north, about an 1" from top to bottom. It was that way all along and the other sections were built on to it that way so there was no way to pull the house back to level without pulling it apart. This was one of the first things we did with the house and silly us didn't think to make sure the wall was plumb before we started. We placed the door and in trying to get it plumb realized what the problem was. We either had to have the bottom sticking into the house about an inch or the top sticking out from the outside wall about an inch, or put it in matching the wall and hope for the best. We matched the wall and though we had some problems early on with water, DH did get it all sealed up and it had been fine for three years. It turned out to be one of those things that just didn't work out like one hoped. For one it eat up a big chunk of the end of the kitchen because you needed walking space. It also seemed silly from the outside because the patio door was right next to the front door. We also discovered after fixing the landscaping and leaking incoming water pipes that the front patio is sloped towards the house and in the spring and during rains it channels water under the house and it ends up in the cellar in the opposite north corner. The only way to fix this problem would be to bust out the existing cement and re-slope the ground. This fall we finally settled on putting tile in the kitchen and when we pulled up the OSB, DH saw evidence of the prior water damage, and he looked at me and said "we should just take out this door and that way we would never have water problems here again" and I looked at him and said "don't say that unless you are dead serious" and then we realized neither one of us were real happy with the door so out it came (it is in the shop right now). This is November 7th 2004 and November 7th, 2009 Now that we've had it gone for a while we both like the kitchen so much better. The windows let in more light than the door and now I can have a bigger island. The heater is now under the window and that freed up along side the window for a nice hutch or tall storage of some sort. So now the two choices for the MW are left of the windows on the south wall or left of the fridge on the north wall. One thing I have discovered through all this is that I really do not like upper cabinets. I think if I could get away with it I'd have none. However DH wants uppers all the way to the ceiling. I think he would love a "wall to wall" built in cabinet look and I would love a totally unfitted kitchen. He wants lots and lots of storage, I keep thinking I could throw out half of what is stored and never miss it. Since he is making the cabinets I have to let him have some say in the design. Cathy

I think Ashley has zeroed in on the essence of the issue: an opportunity to teach a lesson about 'hearsay', or 'gossip', as opposed to eavesdropping. In reading all the responses that go back & forth on trying to determine exactly what constitutes 'eavesdropping' or who should be blamed, I agree that it's a very ambiguous issue. We all, as fully grown adults, basically 'know' when we're straining to overhear something, and even if it's technically 'wrong', we all know we *sometimes* do it anyway. Or we *have* done it, at least once, even as fully-grown adults. So it's really hard to guarantee that you will be able to do anything to 100% fully prevent a kid from listening in... especially if you have a conversation where you know he's around and could possibly walk in at any second or perhaps overhear. So I agree that in Ceph's case, it wasn't really anyone's fault ---neither Ceph for not fully realizing at that moment how utterly fascinating & tantalizing adult discussions can be to a kid or A____ for being a curious kid--- but that adults should be a bit more careful, and kids should have it explained to them that they may at times overhear things out of context that they are best not to repeat because they can accidentally distort the truth and end up really hurting someone without meaning to. And that they wouldn't like it one little bit if the tables were turned and it happened to them! Maybe make up a hypothetical scenario, using some humorously exaggerated details, wherein A_____ becomes the unfortunate victim of an unchecked rumor spread by mis-heard hearsay. Like for example: "A_____, let's say after I dropped you off one morning at school I *just so happened* to overhear some very cute girls saying 'A____ looks like such a STEAMBOAT in his red-and-white sweater!" And then what if I told some other kids, and soon everyone at school thought that? Then what if I much later found out that those girls had REALLY said "A_____ looks like such a DREAMBOAT in his red-and-white sweater!"? Wouldn't YOU prefer that I'd made sure I'd checked with the girls before I told a bunch of other people that you resemble a big, slow, square-ish BOAT?" So that he gets the point but in a non-harsh way and you both can giggle about it at the end.

Yay! I'm so happy reading things are getting fixed for you- I hope the finished product is done correctly and doesn't have the same issues. I didn't read every comment, so forgive me if you addressed this already- did anyone ever tell you exactly what caused this? I would want to know the cause to ensure the problem doesn't repeat itself. If it was poor craftsmanship - then I would want someone new fixing them. All I can say is, I have cheap builder grade cabinets that are almost 20 years old. I painted them five years ago (turned out great) and mine today look almost the same as they did five years ago. I have a couple hairline cracks but nothing like you pictured - so little oh me thinks - a kitchen like yours should be holding up way better than my old builder grade cabinets I painted myself. You had every right to be upset too. Again, I'm happy things are getting fixed. Post more pics when they get reinstalled :)