thanks again, you are great, on the 3 sided bin idea, I didn't do that as thought? maybe wrongly that the material needs to be held in to build up heat??, I used the bungy rope on the forth side so I can take that side down to turn it, unfortunatly it has been prove that I am the world's weakest women, and I find that task imposible! so I thought if I build a second bin, I can sort of empty one into the other? and then back again, this I can manage as I can do it methodically, and for this year at least, should work, I will need more pallets I feel next year, but hopefully the pallet litter bug will abandon some more, if not I will have to actually start doing some phoning round businesses. I like the wheelie bin idea (thats what we call them in the UK?) and funnily enough saw them in BJ's yesterday when we joined and a first thought they where composters, $20, which kind of proves my point, I suppose, moulded plasic on wheels $20! (is BJ's costco ect, what a big box store are? I would call it a cash and carry! and writing that, even to me I suddenly think "cash and carry" what does that mean?? I digress) we have chipmonks, see them out and about but so far they have left the heap alone, even when it was a cold pile, I can only assume that the population is getting its food needs from the wood, or they just don't like the fact it is normally a bit stinky by the time I transfer it to the heap, I have a small closed bin the the kitchen, and I normally empty it every 3 days or so, so its gone abit smelly by that point, I am sure I am going to empty more frequently as the summer progresses, which is why I loved the wheelie bin idea.

equipment cost 1/2 labor and expenses the other 1/2. costs money in insurances, training, keeping trucks and installers on the road. best of luck

Ladytexan, you are spot-on, as usual! There is so much that needs fixing I just shudder to think of it all. So many dishonest politicians and officials that think anything's OK as long as they don't get caught. So much out-and-out fraud by those who can afford to hire slick attorneys. So much indulgence by large corporations. And our schools have become little more than 12-year babysitting programs -- I see disillusioned teachers all the time -- can't discipline, some of the kids are practically animals by the time they reach mid-high, disrupting class, making it impossible to teach, bullying the ones who are trying to get an education, in the halls and on the busses and sometimes right there in the classroom. If I had it all to do over again I'd home school. Kids graduate now knowing so little. Then they go off to college if they're lucky and so many of them party for at least the first two years. I blame the real estate problems on the realtors and loan institutions. Sorry, folks, but when you get a commission on a sale you're going to want the highest sale price, it's just basic math. And greed. I bought my first home for $30,000. Lived in it for 20 years, kept the property well cared-for, and made improvements along the way, here and there. Worked by backside off to get it paid off early. Sold it for $75,000. Good for me, right? Not really. Had to pay almost all of that for another house in a near-by town that wasn't probably worth more than $30,000 considering all the work it ended up needing. My real-estate taxes doubled and my insurance company insisted on insuring it for $125,000, which is what they say it would cost to replace it. My situation is on a small scale as compared to other places, where you can't buy even a simple little frame home for less that a couple hundred thousand dollars. What's up with that? Of course the seller wants as much as the market will bear. But really. And the LOAN COMPANIES! Young couples taking on a debt of 100,000 on an ADJUSTABLE loan? That's the biggest rip-off in all history and it ought to be illegal. Then we have these individuals who buy a house on a loan that is structured to start out with low payments, with the payments increasing gradually with time -- the thinking being that the homeowner's income will increase with time. So the homeowner gets this bright idea to live in the house while the payment is low and then when it starts to climb, sell it at an appreciated price, thus actually living there for free and getting out of the loan before the payments get too high. Then the bottom falls out of the economy and they can't sell that house for any price. Not according to plan, huh? That's when they walk off from it, leave the keys in the mailbox. Banks need to go back to the conventional way of loaning money. Now many people can't even pay off their home early without paying some kind of penalty. Paying a PENALTY for paying off your debt ahead of time? Unreal. And folks, for heaven's sake, live within your means. If you don't plan to have 8 kids, do you really need 10 bedrooms? Fifty years ago, we only needed three bedrooms regardless of how many kids we had. All the boys in one bedroom. All the girls in another. If we fought, we were disciplined. I watch that home channel and I see so many couples say, "Well, we NEED a pool. We NEED two living areas. We NEED four bathrooms. We NEED granite counter-tops." (*snort*) And the auto industry! The average car shouldn't cost as much as the average house did. It costs this much to build a car or truck because those auto workers make goooooood money and have great benefits. If we all made what those auto workers make, maybe we could afford to buy one of those vehicles every couple of years to keep them afloat. But we don't. And their company officials are paid outrageous salaries. So they want a bailout without wanting to change their ways. Wouldn't we all. If politicians, corporations (including drug companies), physicians and banks cannot govern themselves with honor and integrity (and obviously they can't) then they need to be forced to do so somehow. I agree, being regulated by the Government is like getting a fox to guard the hen-house. And that's something else that really gets my goat. When a bill is passed in the H of R, it shoudn't have other provisions tacked onto it as a way of getting enough votes. It should stand on it's own merit. If it doesn't get approved, then let those who voted against it be known and be accountable for it. It's just dirty to withhold your vote till they tack on something that will benefit you personally, or the state you come from, or some lobbyist who is paying you under the table. The founders of our country must be literally spinning in their graves.

If you were willing to comprise and get the American Cream instead of the Luce di Luna (and others were as well), it would not be that more expensive. Companies will charge what people are willing to pay. In addition to demand for material, pricing is also related to the availability of the material. Stone is a naturally mined material with a long lead time so just ordering more is not always the answer (we wish it was.) If everyone wants it there is not as much to go around and costs will be higher. Prices for different granite vary the same way prices for different quartzite vary. Though I don't know detail about the general demand for LDL, but I live in the Boston area and called at least 8 distributors and only found one lot of Luce di Luna in late winter this year. We decided on Super White in the end (which I have had mixed feedback on whether it is quartzite or granite.) We were able to find several different slabs to choose from, but it was still more expensive than other things (particularly in my case when I was asking for a specific slab.) Once you have your "one and only" slab you loss much negotiating power. I would suggest calling around to different fabricators to see if they have or can get Luce di Luna and letting them know you are getting competitive bids. Even if they are all sourcing form the same distributor you may be able to save some money on the fabrication side for those more interested in your business. Good luck.