Yesterday was my day off and mom and I ran some errands and saw three different doctors. The first is her foot doctor who takes care of her toe nails - diabetic care. That went well. Next dropped her off at the nursing home to see hubby and I ran to Wally world for stuff we both needed. From there to the next doctor for a bone density test. She has Osteoporosis, not real bad. She measured a 2 on the 3 point scale. Those results were then transmitted to her primary doctor which was our last visit. Doctor had a long conversation with mom and asked how she was doing, if she had any concerns etc. She explained to him that she was concerned about the muscle mass in her legs and the weakness as a result. He talked to her for about 10 minutes about her history which includes a stroke, heart attack and the diabetes. He also reminded her that he has tried for 6 years to get her to take a prescription for Cholesterol and explained to her how the muscles are fed by the blood that can or cannot flow through. My mom refuses to take the prescription. Says she has prayed about it (she has) and the answer she keeps getting is no. It amazes me that she always gets the answer she is looking for through her prayers. That's another matter though. He then turned to me and asked me directly what I was concerned with. I told him I thought she was too inactive and unsociable. That I was concerned about her being by herself too much and not being physically active. I was also concerned about her hearing and her moods. He asked if she was depressed, she wouldn't let me answer the question. He could see there was a conflict between mom and I and explained to mom that perhaps some of what I was trying to relay to her was for her own good and that she should give it some thought. She said she didn't have bad moods and was generally very happy. I had to remind her of the time just last month when she went off on me, got so mad that I wasn't sure if she was going to hit me and eventually threw some of my stuff down the stairs. Mom has a temper but I know she gets that way when she needs something and doesn't necessarily know how to express it. She is lonely and I recognize that. I can't honestly say that it is all about missing her husband. They've only been married since 1999. Yes, I'm sure she thought when she married that since he was younger than her he'd be there to take care of her and it didn't turn out that way. More than anything, I think she's a bit angry about that. I know my mom. I married for the first time in 1999 as well. Up to that point we had lived together for most of my life. She announced the marriage less than 60 days prior to my wedding and I had never heard of him. She never spoke of him until there was a ring on her finger. Many in the family think she married because I was getting married. We are going to start some in home physical therapy. That will help me to know what kind of excercises will help her and perhaps keep her motivated. Her nutrionalist say's her vitamin d level is low and has increased her dosage. We have checked into assisted living, I told her if that is what she wanted it would be fine with me. We looked at units but she has decided against it. I think being alone although surrounded by other people did not thrill her. She says she feels safe in our home. The stairs are getting harder so I did discuss the stair mover chair, she wants to think about that which is good. We just had a electric reclining couch delivered and she loves it. I am fortunate in that if I need a break I do have two brothers that take her for a few days to give me that break. Mom is generally ready to come back sooner rather than later. The boys have kids, dogs and alot of things going on their homes and that gets to be too much for her. She takes trips as well. Last year she took 3 trips and I encourage her to do more if possible. Most are through her church. We will keep trugging along, it's nice to be able to bounce things off of everyone here at the table. I'm surrounded by men so I don't get much feedback from them. Thank you again.

john you have AC now? what size? I notice in your first post that you said load calc indicated a 2 1/2 ton yet it appears you have decided on a three ton Heritage 15. Is that correct? price includes new refrigerant lineset? now to the mdl number. sometimes these mdl numbers for the outside condenser can get down in the weeds. the suffix is what you pay attention to. the latest version of the Heritage 15 is the following: 4A6H5036E and this is the one I would want. Changes within a model usually indicate an improvement or a minor correction. I am a numbers guy. For your situation, I would want the coil that gives the best balance of BTUs both cooling and heating, SEER,EER, and HSPF. I used the 80K XV95 for matching purposes in the AHRI Directory. Here is your coil selection with numbers. 3522126 Active Systems HERITAGE 15 AMERICAN STANDARD, INC. 4A6H5036E1 4TXCC037BC3 *UH2B080A9V3 34600 11.50 13.50 37000 8.30 24000 I would prefer the following coil. 3522258 Active Systems HERITAGE 15 AMERICAN STANDARD, INC. 4A6H5036E1 4TXCC044BC3 *UH2B080A9V3 35600 12.00 14.50 36400 8.20 23600 It should be pointed out that both have mediocre HSPF efficiency which unfortunately is a drawback with Trane/AmStd furnace configurations. I totally understand what you are attempting to accomplish. If this was me, I would ask dealer to call his AmStd rep and get the exact numbers for your configuation with specically your furnace. Pointedly, the question to ask is there a better coil selection for your application that will offer better numbers and if so, provide all the numbers. Now to the HW VP IAQ. No need to replace. How do you intend to control the heat pump and furnace operation? I would add the HW outdoor sensor to accomplish this. Finally, I think the pricing you have received is quite reasonable. Let me know if you have other questions. IMO Good Luck!

Sam: Agree with you that biochar is low-level oxygen and slow-burning. Here's an excerpt from below link: "Without sophisticated kilns and ovens to produce modern biochar, this ancient material was likely made by setting alight a pile of organic material before covering it with dirt to eliminate oxygen but hold in the heat from the fire which, in turn, baked the organic matter. http://www.azocleantech.com/article.aspx?ArticleId=183 The above link is worth clicking, it shows vigorous plants grown with biochar, versus without. The reason why biochar is better than wood-ash? It's like cooking food with a slow-cooker (crock-pot), versus burning food on a hot fire. Slow-cooking retains more nutrients, versus LESS nutrients with fast burning & lots of oxygen. When my neighbor burned wood in a open-fire-pit, the heat was so intense that it converted our heavy-black-clay into reddish clay. Nutrients in foods are destroyed at high temp, same with wood-ash: less nutrients than biochar.

My parents retired in 1986 to what was then called Leisure World and is now called Laguna Woods. My parents were ex-New Yorkers and quite cosmopolitan - took advantage of the cultural amenities in New York City. They were about 66 when they bought their condo and absolutely loved the experience. The community is so large and diverse that almost any interest was satisfied - there were some college courses taught on-site but it was an easy drive to the Community College where they took course. My father took up golf and played badly but enjoyed it. There are all kinds of interest groups and facilities for crafts, wood working - multiple ways to keep fit etc. including lovely walking trails. They had been considering Florida but realized that as they got older they wouldn't be able to physically handle moving to a more temperate climate in the summer and they couldn't deal with a Florida summer. Southern California really has more of an all year round climate - in winter there were people from Canada and cold climes and in summer there were the sun birds from Arizona escaping the desert heat. With regard to age, because of the sheer size of Laguna Woods, the age is quite diverse and so it is not all one age as sales are staggered as this point. They had friends of all ages (at least in terms of those above retirement age). Upkeep was not an issue - my parents continually raved about the great landscaping and how the maintenance people came quickly if there were issues of any kind.