Did you fertilize since August? Do you use a drop spreader? Too much or too little fert are both possibilities. Our neighborhood in Madison got hit with a lot of rust in August because the nights were cooling and leaving a lot of dew on grass that was otherwise growing slowly during hot days without much rain. That combo sets up the opportunity for rust fungus to grow on older grass blades. My tennis shoes turned orange when I walked over our lawn. If you did not fertilize well and that represents a missed area with a drop spreader, then the bad news is the patch may reflect a nitrogen deficiency. Your grass did not outgrow the rust the way it should have this fall with some nitrogen and water. Unfortunately, growth is really slowing in Wisconsin now that we are getting frosts at night and the days are short, but if you did not fertilize in September then you may want to look into a fast-release nitrogen/urea drop plus watering in soon to help your grass come back stronger in spring. It is probably too late to expect that patch to green up much this year if that is a fungus disease.

It's a Schefflera. I think it's the bigger one, S. actinophylla. For a potted indoor specimen, I think it looks great! The angle of the dangle of the older leaves looks normal to me. There's some excellent basic care info here: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1490818/good-growing-practices-an-overview-for and here: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1497307/ukeeping-u-them-looking-good

You should have been budgeting for a complete pipe replacement for 3 years now. This guy was exceptionally honest with you. The guys you used for 3 years are the ones that didn't tell you the truth. Any time a pipe has roots growing in it, it's broken. Roots cannot get into modern PVC plumbing pipes without a hole. Old terra cotta pipes, sure. But those should also have been budgeted for replacement if that were the case. Investigate a home loan if you have to, but start thinking major plumbing project here. You want to have him take a look at a lot of things when this is done. Like your main supply. If you have a hole dig, it's smart to replace everything that you can at one time.

Yes, I have this. Some echeveria send pups from the roots, just like other herbaceous perennials. I'd say about 1/10 of mine do this, just certain varieties, but most pup right on the stem or on a stolon that comes for the stem or crown. It seems like most echeveria use only one of those methods, not 2 or all three.