I am canceling my service with Comcast. I have the $4.99 charge to cover me in case I need to have a service call. Well in April I did have a service call as one of my two phone lines was not working. The technician who came out broke my phone and did not tell me that he broke it. I found that out much later -- it should have been a hint when he did not want me to hold the phone. Then he or Comcast put a $70.00 charge on my account. When I called Comcast, I told them about this, they admitted that it should not have been there and they told me that they would credit my account on the next bill, but that I was expected to pay it and they would issue a credit. I need to check the statutes but I don't think you can collect on disputed charges, especially when you are aware that YOU made the mistake. For the $70.00 that should not have been billed, they interrupted the service. I refuse to pay it and have notified my local jurisdiction and the FCC. If you are looking for a cable or internet or phone provider, don't walk past Comcast, run as fast and as far as you can.

I had recent success with Flood's stripper (from HD). You could apply that now (no need to wait for drying), then GENTLY pressure-wash to rinse. On the other hand, for sanding, it has to be dry.

Kmgard, I am so sorry this happened to you. Don't give up yet. Sealing the granite with a spray on bottle of sealer recommended by my installer helped me with stains. The sealer is a barrier for the stone. That way oil, vinegar, wine, butter, lemon juice... are unable to really soak into the stone. That oil on your counter will need to slowly evaporate. Talk to your installer. Recently I posted to Jan Jan my true granite anxiety. You are not alone in your granite woes. ~boxerpups ------------------------- Hi Jan Jan, I totally know what you are going through. You have no idea I am far worse than you. I watch my granite like a newborn. Touching it, smiling at it, checking every little corner, seam and enjoying this piece of rock like it was my first born. I am not as bad today (2 months later) than I was when my granite was first installed. I was constantly cleaning it, drying water droplets, checking it over and over to be sure some fool did not spill wine, water, soda, oil, vinegar.... I told everyone in the house they had to use the kitchen table to eat their salads with olive oil. Vinegar was contraband. I started drinking only Pinot Grigio. No red. I became insane. There was always a clean towel in my hand ready for the spill. My eyes darting about in fierce protective mode. My girls had a gang of even more teen girls over here. They decided to bake brownies. I was so stressed watching them spray Pam all over pans, spilling oil, eggs, flour, chocolate... Laughing and not taking the counter care seriously. I caught one rolling her eyes at my daughter. Saying. "My mom was pyscho when we got new counters too." I realized I had to just walk away and come clean when they were all out of the kitchen. My DH and Kids tease me endlessly that I love the counters more than them. My granite is dark, sealed and one of the strong less pourous ones. ( I am told not sure) And yes I obsess over it. I am a little better now than I used to be. I started drinking red wine, and even spilled a little. Calmly cleaned it. I have let water dry up on it's own without being rubbed down with a soft cloth. I calmly told one of the subcontractors to please climb off my counters when he climbed up on them. I wanted to say "You DUMB A , what are you doing? Can you afford to replace these? Do you know how long it took me to find the right slabs? Get your boots off my counters NOW!!!" ............. I did not scream.......Every day I am a little better. I keep telling myself it is just a rock. That there are many who eat off of stained rocks and that it will all be okay. I will be okay. A few deep breaths and a glass of RED wine and I am okay. No worries your counters will make it and you will too. And you will come to enjoy red wine as I have. : ) ~Boxerpups Here is a link that might be useful: Granite

Update on our floors: we had them sanded and refinished, went with a custom SW wood classics stain, base was "new ebony" tweaked a bit to lighten up and avoid any reddish undertones. See pics below, water popped, stained and one coat of water base finish-they'll be covered with ram board until end of project and then floor guys come back for second coat of finish and any buffing (I think, if necessary), we might do a third coat for extra durability with the dogs. We'll see how the finish lasts over time, but there was barely ANY smell, that Swedish finish from the previous installer was horrific. In the end, the color still didn't turn out quite as dark as I wanted or how I had envisioned, however I think we ended up with a nice warm, deep tone that will be timeless, but still fits within the realm of what I wanted, within reason given the fact that I had envisioned rift and quarter not plain sawn. Regardless, they are sooo much better than the first go around, in my eyes, and well worth the extra cost. I'm sure this is nothing new to those who have already commented, but for anyone going through something similar, take it from me... nothing will ever look exactly like the pictures you use as examples (no matter how many times people warn you), you can get close, but even our new stain looks totally different when you're standing in the room vs. taking a pic, the pics show much more variation and make the floors look lighter, they're more even toned and charcoal in person, pics make them look more brown. And it changes in various light, you can tell from the pics below that it changes depending on where you're standing. These were all taken at the same time of day. Great learning lessons here for anyone installing new hardwoods, be sure you know the ins and outs of the species you are selecting and know that given the variability in the boards, the floors overall will never look exactly like the sample swatch they do on your floor. No matter how many times they tell you that, it doesn't sink in until you see it all finished. If you have your heart set on a consistent color/tone, I would highly recommend pre-finished wood floors based on my experience. As much as I don't like the engineered look (having had it before), you can rest assured that what you select will look exactly the same once installed. Thanks for all the help from folks who weighed in, and if you have any critical comments on the outcome or process-please just keep it to yourself :) I'm exhausted from this ordeal and am ready to move on and what's done is down at this point, just wanted to update folks and say thanks for the earlier feedback. Can't wait to paint lighter colors and get all of our belongings in there to pull it all together!