Barb, my advice to you is to go to a few Dr's, get a few opinions, have them make note of everything. Be sure to detail to them what you wrote here and type yourself up a health database in Word that lists Dr appts, main Dr's, Dr's consulted, medications, past medications (even if you've tried them & couldn't tolerate) any tests, as well as a detailed pain history - what brings it on, reaction to meds, side effects, and if you can, include pictures. You say arthritis in your hands- see if you can find some medical pics and edit them with a detailed legand like my & . Notice on the pics the marks are different colors, each color represents a different pain sensation (throbbing, stabbing, numbness). I have found that the Dr's I go to appreciate my pics & my detailed pain history chart. I just had my 2nd court hearing Nov 3rd. Yesterday I posted on another post in the health forum (link below). I hope that my fight will be over. One thing I had going for me was a few years back I had my neuro type a letter about how long I can sit or drive in a car. My Ex & I were arguing over where half-way was for a drop off point for my son. Even after mapping it, he still thought that since he couldn't take a direct route to get there that his time factored in. Anyway, at my last hearing, that letter along with a few others about my limitations may have gotten me disability since that vocational expert "found" jobs for me, like a bank teller,(ruled out due to medications) but since I couldn't walk fast, sit long, bend, those jobs were ruled out. He'd then suggest another list, which then got cut down from letter 2. Each letter's limitations were read, until we got to the last one. It was suggested I could be an "information clerk" (whatever that is) or an "order clerk". Information clerk was ruled out due to my divorce attorney asking where the jobs were located (he really rocked!), since they were out of my driving range, that went. The order clerk went after my attorney asked specifically what kind of store. He then ruled that out due to medications, & limitations. I'll say one thing, my disability attorney going on maternity leave might have been the best thing to happen to me. It just happened that my divorce attorney took on her work load for letters A through K. Since I know he can argue cases (haven't lost a case against the Ex) I wasn't worried going in there this time. I thanked him on the way out & told him how much better he was than her, he said she's a good attorney altho I haven't seen that. Punky, (((HUGS))) man, I could have written that post! I know all too well about emailing people, even people who also suffer from pain- they don't want to hear it either. I got an email from one "friend" who also suffers from pain. We used to vent to each other, I enjoyed chatting & emailing with her. One day, I made a post at another place about new problems (colon / stomach related) I was having. No one replied- I was shocked. They supposedly were my "friends" it was a rough time, I was at that place where you wonder why you stick around. We chatted & I mentioned no one replying, she then hit me with a wake up call, pretty much what you said. I don't remember if she even mentioned my new problems in that email, but I made a vow not to update everyone about my health. If someone emails asking, I'll say there is no change, or something to that effect but won;t get into it. I don't think anyone could prepare us for what this does to a marriage. This has to be the worst year for us, the 6 years we've been togather. He used to be patient & loving, now he's moody & loses his temper & throws things. Recently a "paver" came flying 2 ft to my right. It has been the worst year for my "dark cloud", I can't wait until 2005. Every time I turn around something else happens. I'm dealing with failed back surgery (fused Nov 2003), a daughter with problems in school due to ODD (funny, she's fine home), an Ex that blames me for her problems, a son who's father I fought & won for him to go to a really good art college, dropping out due to depression, my son then moving to CA to get away from it & having to move back for our next court battle against his "father" to enforce an order that he finish paying the loan he was ordered to pay. Unfortunatly he beat us to filing, & now my son is faced with the realization that his "father" cares more about $5,000 then him. Add to this my back problems got worse after surgery; all the 2nd opinions I went to said the fusion is fine, and my most recent colon / bowel / stomach problems. How much can a person take? I know there are people in much worse shape than me, but even knowing that doesn't help when hit with other things popping up that I don't need. I just want to be able to do things again, to go to work & have money to spend. I want to be able to go on an airplane & go on vacation. I want to take my daughter to the beach & swim in the ocean without worrying about the tide, or someone knocking into me. I want to take her to Great Adventure & ride a roller-coaster again. Heck, I'd be happy to walk the park! lol Who has $40 to rent a scooter? I'd love to bake & sew again & ride the Harley we bought right before I stopped working. Thankfully, there is gardening. The one place I can go & take my frustrations out on the dirt or prune the perennials down, or even rip them out when they get invasive. I save jobs like this for those bad mood days. I now pot up any invasive plants I pull out & will start selling them in the spring. I purchased a shelf / greenhouse from BJ's wholesale club & have it set up inside. I started trying to grow clematis from seed, it's actually coming up (let's hope it's not weeds). I also started a few rose cuttings, knock on wood, but so far they aren't dying- woohoo! I've been trying to root roses for years with no luck. I just harvested rose hips last weekend & will try to grow from seed. Hopefully, this will give me something to do in the winter months. This is the greenhouse I have if anyone is interested. I'm sure it can be found cheaper, I paid $25 for it. Best price I could find was $50, oh well, not allowed to mention the site here. On preview of post, it said this vendor not allowed. If anyone wants the link, email me. It is $49.99 with $2.95 shipping. I found a few on Ebay, but shipping kills you. You know, I'd really like to see a venting forum. Here is a link that might be useful: My responce on another post.

Your bottom foto shows 2 distinct leaf types; the broader, darker green leaves look like lemon; the narrower leaves look like Macrophylla, a common rootstock for lemons in California. If you can see a graft union near the base, check to see if the broader leaves are coming from above the graft... if so, cut off the macrophylla sprouts, cut off the trunk just above the new "lemon?" sprouts; and give it a shot of Vitamin B-1 and pray. What likely happened to your tree was some type of twig bore... maybe Peach twig bore, which got into the limbs and followed down; if that is true, when you cut the trunk, you will see evidence in the center. Spray your other citrus with Sevin as well as your remaining sprouts here. In the future, if you experience this type dieback, the only solution is to cut below where the bore has gone.

Hi Christy, Mike is right. He has taken a lot of crap here. Mainly from one jerk who has mysteriously dissapeard. Hmm....wonder why he isn't here anymore? LOL...GOT WHAT HE DESERVED!!! I am glad you found a great organic fertilizer. I have to say that Mike has never steered me wrong and his fertilizer regimen has done tremendous things for me. IF you go thru the posts on the forum, you will find a post that I did on my new 'Dancy' tangerine tree. Not to many people looked at it. I think because they checked it once and realized there was no picture, so they never went back to that post. I also wanted to show people how the FP, white vinegar, and some liquid iron spray saved a sick dying tree. Since you want to go the organic route, can I still suggest one thing? Use the capfull of white vinegar! I have seen such a HUGE change in the health of my plants. I started the white vinegar treatment before I even had the FP. Good luck with your citrus. Your in the right place with this group of fantastic dedicated growers. Mike, Rhizzo, Josh, Al and Pug have all been extremely helpfull (There have also been others that have helped but this group has gone above and beyond being just helpfull!) Just one word of advice. If you are not trying to by more citrus trees, stay away from Meyer Mike's pics!! Since coming here and meeting him, he has been solely responsible for my buying my 6ft Improved Meyer lemon, and my Oro Blanco grapefruit tree! LOl. Love ya Mike! Andrew

Sue you made my mother crack up :) Yes, the canned food would be perfect behind the bed...we can haul it out every time I have to make soup for the little guy :oP Great idea you pest :oP PC I"m trying....LOL We'll see. lascatx...the question about squareness is an issue I'm concerned about. The granite and cabinet are both set level (I checked) and the granite does rest on the entire box so I don't currently see any gaping issues, but I do worry about the situation down below getting worse. I'm thinking that a fix much like Rm's is probably going to be our option, but if the cabinet isn't solid, that's just a bandage, and then, I do have another in the same situation, but it isn't showing wall board behind it yet. (Same tray shelves and pullouts) I will say, after this I really wish that Woodmode would have been able to do our kitchen. They couldn't do all of the custom pieces I needed (mostly our bay window) so we went Omega. I regret it, which is sad to say given the price of these stupid cabinets. My mother has been complaining about the plastic supports since she arrived LOL I think I'm going to reorder metal ones from an after market source. I like the idea of more than a piece of plastic holding up my dishes. I personally think the system is flawed. In a smaller cabinet, perhaps it might work, but when you pull the shelf out, it is front heavy if it's loaded. The two cabinets we have like this are about 50% of our storage, so being without them for a period of time is really an incovenience. Well we'll see. I'm honestly at the end of my rope on this remodel.