Often no contact info is a new member who has failed to get set up properly for trading. They have either not noticed the sticky post, or chose to ignore it, or else didn't understand 'getting set up properly' for trading. Often when they start a trade thread, they fail to check the box to have follow-up replies emailed to them. Often I post pointing out to them that they don't have their email link enabled, thus there is no way to reach them for trading. I would guestimate that 50% to 75% of those members never get set up properly and nothing more is seen or heard of them. Occasionally later I will notice someone looking for a way to reach them, particularly if a trade has not been received. I would recommend 'never entering into a trade with anyone who is not set up properly. I think often it is just asking for trouble. Just my 2 cents. Sue

Hi Carol, Best wishes for finding David. Does the email have his screen name? -Robin, (screen name rob333)

KKNY, I guess I don't see it so much as controlling phone habits, but rather as setting appropriate boundaries for an adult relationship between co-parents. In my case, I feel too often DH's phone calls with BM are much too personal. And that has nothing to do with who she is--she could be a co-worker at his job, or a neighbor. I just find it inappropiate to be discussing extremely personal things with one's ex--especially considering our particular circumstances. I think some people are able to remain on friendly terms but those are generally the people that are mature and civil about most things. For example--what prompted BM's last fight with her DH (the one that caused her to be drunk at our house) was because--two nights earlier he had tried to have....ahem....rear-entry sex with her. WHY do I know this, might you ask? SHE TOLD MY DH ON SUNDAY AT THEIR SON'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!! She was late to the party because they had been out drinking the night before, came home, and he tried to do that...it caused a major blow-up, and I guess they fought for much of the night. IMO--THAT is crossing a major boundary. I am NOT comfortable with my DH talking about THOSE sorts of issues with his ex, his co-worker, my mom, or anyone! That goes for anything personal. If they need to discuss school or other issues pertaining to their son, that is one thing. Calling about every little issue is unnecessary. The other morning, BM called at 8 AM to complain about her son's new backpack that we had bought--that HE loves and picked out himself--she thinks it is too bulky. I mean, really? That really necessitated an AM phone call? As if there were ANYTHING DH could do about the backpack at that time, anyway. But again, this is up to my DH to set and enforce his own boundaries. I do feel, though, like I am well within my "rights" as his wife to ask that he keep contact to only what is necessary. I would expect he would feel the same about me if I had a very personal relationship with an ex.

The best way to level your lawn is with a tractor and a box blade. For those of you with smaller lawns, or no access to a tractor, here's a summary of how you can level your lawn yourself... 1. Mow with a rotary mower at the mowers lowest setting. 2. Scalp to 1/16 inch with a rented, self powered and propelled, reel mower. The purpose of this is to scalp the yard as low as possible and remove the debris. If you cannot rent a reel mower, mow at the lowest possible setting of whatever you have and remove the debris. 3. Core aerate (if you think you must, sigh) 4. Top dress with [*****your local topsoil*****] mix. 5. Drag a large mat over the topdressing to make it super level. Drag in all directions until you are happy with it. 6. Seed or sod. 7. Roll the seed or sod with a rented water fillable roller. 8. Fertilize. NOTES: 1. This step may hit roots, soil, or hidden rocks in your soil. Be careful. 2. The only way to completely remove the turf and keep the roots alive is to mow as low as possible. This exposes all the high and low spots to make step 4 work better. 3. Dont aerate before step 2 or you will have trouble mowing. If you have low spots you want to raise, dont aerate the low spots but aerate heavily in the high areas so you can sweep all the cores to the low areas. 4. *****Were still working on what to use in this step.***** I also want to come up with an easy way to estimate how much top dressing to buy. Basically you get 1/4 to 1/3 inch per cubic yard per 1,000 square feet. So 4 cubic yards will provide about an inch of cover on 1,000 square feet. There are probably issues with how to get this out of a pile and relatively evenly distributed before dragging. 5. You can use chain link fencing with boards to weight it down or an inverted shipping palate. 6. Use the best seed you can find. It will be the seed with the lowest % weed. 7. The roller is needed to push the seed into the soil and provide good contact. Sod needs to be rolled so that the bottom of all the sod is touching the soil. Roots cannot grow through air. 8. If you were doing this in an organic program, you would fertilize with alfalfa at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet about 2-3 weeks prior to starting this process. Written By: DCHall_San_Antonio