Adenium is one plant I've never quite figured out. After finally learning how NOT to kill them (there were several fatalities before the one I've now kept 5 years or so...), I still don't know how to make it prosper. I keep it watered slightly in winter (that's how I finally STOPPED killing them!), then summer comes and I water it like a tropical (as I've been told...) it puts on a few sparse leaves - has never bloomed. We've been getting TONS of rain, and the rain does wonders for all my other succulents. Ol' Adenium just sits there, the caudex nice and firm, but little happening on top. **Sigh** I guess it's just not meant to be that I can grow them well... Denise in Omaha

Why did you not contact the landlord first, if you were afraid of just talking to your neighbor (because I can see that someone who calls the police because of a squirtgun might not be someone you want to deal with in person)? By using the watergun, you have put yourself in a much worse position and it is going to be difficult to make your case heard. Before you mentioned the watergun, I was completely on your side. I had an apartment on the ground floor of an old house, and people would sit on the front steps and talk on their cell phones. They'd bring lawn chairs out and set them up two feet from my open living room windows. I had to choose between listening to all their private conversations, including some terribly intimate details, or not using my living room, where my computer and TV and comfy chairs were. In my case, I spoke to my neighbors and let them know I could hear them, and also the landlord, who put up a bench in another area of the huge yard, to encourage people to move away from the house. Does your lease specifically state that the porch is for your use only? Or is the landlord going to see the porch as a shared outdoor space for all the residents? That's going to affect how your situation is handled. At this point, I'd suggest that you be apologetic for soaking the neighbor, and very, very politely explain that the noise of chairs bumping into the outer wall disturbs you, the constant talking bothers you and the smoke drifting into your windows is a health problem. But I wouldn't expect much. By assaulting your neighbor, you have turned yourself from someone with a valid complaint into someone who needs to be dealt with. I hope for your sake that you don't get evicted.

You should be able to purchase nice raised panel 4 panel interior doors in that price range. There's no benefit provided against warping by going thicker. I just dealt with a 12" beam that had warped over the years (It and all of the posts and beams in our house were installed after only a year of drying outside). I think that it would actually be pretty unusual for a raised panel door built from kiln-dried lumber to warp if it's finished. Sawdust and wood chips molded into things arguably have a place in home construction, but for finished surfaces, it's hard to go wrong with the real deal.

For me to order new doors, the company charged me almost $2,000 for 34 doors when I had some of the cabinets modified. When Cabfiascoguy ordered these doors, he only PAID $2,000 for ALL the doors because his company got a huge discount. I just WISH the Judge had asked me what I think is fair. I just WISH the Judge wasn't a lazy, milquetoast, milksop, candy a$$ and showed some courage. He didn't DISCERN CRAP. My 14 year old son said that the Judge restated the OBVIOUS and judged nothing fairly. JUSTICE, in our country today, is NOT FAIR. I know this. You know this. It's just the way it is. Just so you know, the remaining $7,250 from the balance was GONE, SPENT within the first two months to pay for the LABOR OF: uninstallation, reinstallation of modified cabinets, redoing all of the crown molding (labor), measuring and ordering new doors. This did NOT cover any prepping of the location to paint on site, the stripping of ALL of the cabinet boxes, sanding of the doors the second time they were painted, the glazing, the products/paints/supplies, or the Painting labor. And let's not forget the WOOD bill for redoing 5" crown and rope molding. Also, NONE of these charges alone included modifications to my HOOD or master bedroom TV Cabinet! OR having to have the granite template guy return twice and redo the templates because the first time was when we found out our cabinet bases were not anchored to the FLOOR! ALL, and I mean ALL of the labor was piecemealed out. Many different hands were in this pie. WHY? NO ONE wanted to end up in court of to take on this job. I was so upset, I can see why no one wanted to help me. After the sixth guy turned us down, knowing this would end up in court, I cried. I couldn't hold it back. That is how I found out how to get the job done. I couldn't even get an estimate in writing from one person. Not to re-try this, know that it was AFTER the second painter finished that the doors turned green. Why? No primer from the FIRST GUY!!!! ALL doors turned key lime GREEN!!!!!!! THESE had to be stripped and repainted, which has not been completed OR PAID for. I had someone to repaint them the third time, but has now gone on to work for a company and can't do them. The next most REASONABLE BID FOR PAINTING ONLY THE DOORS: is $6,800. This does not count glazing and reinstallation of the doors. I can't find a company, and the LORD knows I've tried, to paint my doors the color I need....and that I can afford. Please, please, tell me if you know of someone. I'm in NE Florida. And just for giggles, let's not forget the court costs, legal fees, anger management classes my husband attended, homestudy bill, and other miscellaneous charges. I could have ordered the TOP of the line Omega cabinets for what we've now invested for these shoddy cabinets. OH, by the way, I still need two drawer boxes modified. The drawers won't close because the boxes aren't square. I have legitimate receipts for $10,000 and ADDITIONAL $24,000, not counting finishing. You think I don't feel shafted and like a fool? I HATE this rage I feel. I hate this bitterness I have. And believe me, my husband is bitter towards me because I chose this guy. $34,000 down the line and I don't have this mess resolved. It's NOT just the kitchen: it's my master bedroom, too. I live in a large area, but our little home town atmosphere is small. The judge lives within a mile of my home. I WILL run into that judge somewhere or at a party. I've learned we know some of the same people. I WILL see him again, I am sure. I just don't know what I'll do at that time. I know this, it ain't gonna be sweet nothings I whisper in his ear the next time I see him.