Stax, I guess so (my current posting date says "last month")! However, I'm now adding a new thread asking for help/advice on my current move. As I said in my earlier post (5 posts up), my earlier move was done by myself using a rental truck. For my current move, in progress, I couldn't find a rental truck from any local rental companies (U-Haul, Penske, etc. My last one was Ryder, which no longer rents to individuals). So I decided to use a local moving company which advertises local and long distance moves. First mistake - I didn't read any reviews then and when I did yesterday, they were horrible! Anyway, like Dianne47, my move is fairly complex, from a house on Long Island to a new house in the wilderness of Northern NY. I wanted to avoid the movers reloading my stuff between trucks, so I specified a one-truck move, which they agreed to. I also have a piano which I am concerned about. They were very good on meeting their pickup time, but I was appalled that they came in a 24 foot Penske rental truck. There were three men, the driver (Ron) and two helpers. We had boxed most stuff into 24 boxes, mostly paintings (my wife is an artist). The first thing they loaded was the piano and, as they lifted it up, one leg fell off (not their fault). So they put the piano in the front of the truck, along with the leg. They carefully wrapped all the furniture and skillfully placed the pieces, along with the boxes in the truck and stabilized them with straps. The truck was 3/4 full. They said that they would deliver the next day. I agreed to pay them 1/2 then and the other 1/2 upon delivery. We drove up to our new house (a 6-hour drive), somewhat concerned that they would get there before we did, but that didn't happen. We waited the rest of the day and, so far, no show (yet - I am writing this the morning of the third day). When I called that afternoon, the company manager said they were in a meeting and would call me back. Several complications: 1. Google has my address mis-located, so I explained to the driver exactly where we lived and he said he understood. 2. For the final 30 miles of the trip, there is no cell service, except for in my town, where there is only Verizon, so I confirmed with the driver that he had Verizon, which he did. 3. They only accept payment via cash, certified check, or one of two phone payment apps which I don't use. So I paid the first half in cash and have enough for the final payment. 4. I have two entrances to my house, the piano and several other pieces of heavy furniture go into my basement - fortunately I have a walk-out basement with two rather large doors, reachable by a dirt driveway. The rest go on the main floor, which has a porch which can be driven up to via a different driveway. The paintings all go up to a loft, reachable by a ladder from the main floor. All of this was explained to the driver who said that it would be no problem. THIS IS WHY I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THE SAME DRIVER (AND TRUCK) MADE IT ALL THE WAY! Since the piano was the first in, it would be the last out, so the first unloading should be to the main floor and loft and the second around the back of the house to the basement entrance. So, I am sitting here waiting....

moccasin - those are some nice lights! i can see why you like them. I bet they're more than 20-30 $s each tho... I loved that the globes come in colors... I'd stay away from the red tho. OTOH that could be good for an emergency signal to a neighbor. I'm too poor to pay much for the lights - even if I find a SWern one i like it's sure to be more than 30.00 and I think I should limit it to that. I need 3 - plus a few (plus) inside need replaced based on they are UGLY. I found these 2 at lowe's. both plain but would do the job - cheaply. it'll probably be the first one unless I find something better for the price in the store. around 25.00 with clean lines. I'd have to see how my chubby little fingers fit for changing the bulb. it's better I don't have to mess with those little screws and chance dropping the globe since things seems to jump out of my hands. I remember changing bulbs in the screw on globe type yrs ago. max wattage is 100w this one is about 21.00. I like it, again clean, simple lines - this one has a frosted globe. has the little screws tho and max wattage is 60w.

Thank you for the advice! The leaves are not wilting, its the blooms that are turning brown. I keep running into big healthy hydrangea plants all over town that are out in the middle of sun, no chance of shade and they are fabulous! I don't know why mine are having such a hard time. I wonder if it is the Endless Summer variety? My Annabelle is HUGE full of blooms with no sensitivity to sun. All planted on the same day. Is it because it is their first year and they will be more established next year?

Do you have a garage you could keep the bigger furniture in if you choose to do it after moving? We just went through this but we put in hardwood and had carpet in the basement replaced. It is easier to do it while none of your stuff is inside the house, as you don't have to worry about dust collecting on it (both tile and carpet removal stir up a lot of dust) or having to constantly move it out of the way. Keep in mind that paint will get scuffed up during removal and installation of the carpet so you will have to go back and touch it up. Also, I'm not sure if it's different for vinyl but for our floors, the sample board we took home had minimal variation between the planks and minimal knots. I knew the variation would be high because the manufacturer's website said so but our floors has more knots than I was expecting. A non-issue for me because I wanted character and was expecting knots, just not as many. I'm glad I didn't go with the sample board that had a lot more knots and variation as it probably would have been VERY rustic when installed (not my style). So I would choose one that's more on the cleaner side because it may have more variation/rustic-ness to it once it's installed, especially in a big area. it's difficult to base a decision off a sample board alone so I would google your choices and see if you find actual pictures of it installed in people's homes and not software generated images from the manufacturer. That said, all of this may be completely irrelevant with vinyl as it can be controlled when manufactured vs wood, since it's a natural product with a mind of it's own. Also, make sure you have a game plan for the floor under the cabinets if you choose to do the floor now and the cabinets later. Example: if you change the floor now and run it under the dishwasher (which you should to avoid having a lip) and then get new cabinets and countertops down the road, you need to make sure you account for the height differences. If you install the cabinets directly on top of the subfloor but your new countertops will be thicker than they are now, you will run into a problem with finding a dishwasher that will fit in the space. You can always avoid this by laying another layer of plywood under the cabinets so it sits at the same height as the floor, just something to think about for the future!