Well, i guess i'm one of the younger of us gals and guys here (49), i got my license when i was 16. sometimes i wish we all would get tested. here when you go for re-newal - you get it for X number of years, one time mine was for 9 years and last year when it came up - 5 years - and $50.00. you have to check off these boxes yes or no, do you wear glasses, do you have heart problems or a diabetic, and i can't remember the other questions, sign the form, get your picture taken. but al's uncle came over 3 weeks ago and his wife said he has to go for an eye test and a drivers test, he turned 75, she said to me i hope it's not renewed. i'm probably the slowest driver in town, i obay all the lights (this city is known for running reds! and you can drive from one end of the city to the other in 20 minutes, so i don't know what the hurry is - lol). we live by a seniors center and i swear one of these days someone is going to get into a big accident, jokingly i say to al, boy they must have had alot of fun there today, look how they ran the stop sign. i was also reading somewhere (maybe woman's day, or family circle) that if you had a 70 year old and a 25 year old talking on a cell phone that their reflexes would be the same. but i will admit if i didn't have to drive i wouldn't, then again when i do drive i take all the back ways to get where i'm going also i plan my route so i don't have to make many left had turns. ps matthew got me a new bike from work, but no helmut (law in the city, plus no riding on sidewalks). debbie

There is definitely some calculus involved when determining what scale a renovation is, that involves both price and taste/finish. I think a middle-of-the-road renovation generally is around 10-15% of home value. But this frequently is retail cost, factoring in contracting labor, etc. Had I paid retail all along, my renovation would not be taking so long (coming on 2 years, thanks to interruptions for school), but would also be completely unobtainable for me on a students budget. Retail price for what I've done so far would be well over $60k. I've spent about $8k, through careful combing of craiglist and auctions, and free labor (dad). What I've gotten for my $5k* is amazing, however: SubZero 611 (craigslist, owner was upgrading to a Liebherr) SubZero 700BR (craigslist, never used) Gaggenau EB270 (craigslist, barely used) 30" Black Kohler Gilford sink (craigslist, display sale) 40sf of countertop slabs (bankruptcy auction) cork floating floor (craigslist, GC overage from a large job) 18 solid wood kitchen cabinets (friend upgraded her kitchen to Poggenpohl) steel spiral staircase (craigslist), going to the work/sleep loft we built over to the kitchen. *What about that remaining 3k, you ask? That went to a retail-priced 30" Bertazzoni Pro all-gas stove. Craigslist failed to deliver on a stove. There are some consolations- I absolutely love the range, and Bertazzoni had/has a free range hood promotion going on. So while I was never going to buy a $1200 range hood, I'm happy to get one for free. I did cry a little before spending full price on that stove, and a lot of it has to do with the calculus of middle-of-the-road and high-end. I'd talked myself into being reasonable, and just buying a perfectly fine mid-range GE. (Which was still going to be over $1k.) But the fact remained that the GE would stick out like a sore thumb in the kitchen I was constructing. And since craigslist was not coughing up a $500 Viking or Wolf, I finally accepted that I needed to pony up for a good-looking stove, and the Berta hit the sweet spot of no electronics, pretty, and reasonable (for a designer stove) cost. Being your own contractor is not easy, and craigslist is a minefield-- but even in it's half-assembled state, I'm completely in love with my kitchen now. (Possibly tinged with lingering gratefulness over the little things, like having a working sink to wash dishes in, or a stove that doesn't leak gas.)

I was thinking the Spa was pretty expensive, the rest was not bad. I have to clarify what the Stamped Coping and Cantilever edge charges include also. I do not know any Gunite installers in the area, I was set on a Liner, but might get a quote for Gunite, it looks like it is not that much more. I was worried about Gunite in New England. Thank you for the replies

I've been the victim of three crimes - all preventable. 1.) Being assaulted by a man while walking with a friend down a dark street to an unlit parking lot after Fiesta in San Antonio around 2am. I was 19 and clueless. We were more mentally harmed than physically. 2.) My brand new '98 Thunderbird was broken into while parked on the street in front of my house. It was locked but I should have parked in the driveway and not under the shadow of a large tree to the side of the house. 3.) My sister and I were at a salon in a mall and I was getting my hair cut while she was waiting. A guy with a backpack sat next to her and secretly fished her wallet out of her purse. I had just paid her a few hundred dollars because she was going to stay with me for the summer, babysitting my son. Of course her purse was on the floor, totally laid open with her wallet in plain site. The things I do to keep myself safe: -keep all doors locked all the time - security system - keep lights on in the house (even at night) and have motion sensor flood lights on the exterior - big dog who is encouraged to bark - TV stays on when not at home - reporting suspicious activity - being aware of my surroundings and not putting myself in precarious situations