i dont understand the frustration ... if the seller does not wish to make the buyer happy .. then ... as you note ... cancel the order ... i have never had a problem in this regard ... because i insist on them sending dormant plants ... when my garden is still dormant.. and i make them understand that i am well aware that the plant they send will look dead ... and in fact might be.. since the seller can not verify it will come out of dormancy ... so you are increasing their risk of loss ... if you then require replacement .... in effect you probably have to waive your warranty if you wish that they do this ... but any good nurseryman can tell a dead dormant plant.. from a healthy one ... regardless.. who needs to argue with idiots.. if they cant make you happy.. spend your money elsewhere ... this is all complicated by hosta ... if the seller sends leafed out plants ... but i dont think you are referring to that ... especially if you southern folk who are ordering from the great white northern hosta farms ... you will be in summer before ours even break ground ... one thing that took me about 2 decades to see the light on is this: YA KNOW ... you dont have to plant it in the garden when you get it .... pot them up.. and plant them at the next PROPER PLANTING TIME ... if they will struggle in the earth ... and that would be fall ... by doing this.. i found i can buy all summer long.. and HOLD THEM until proper planting time in fall ... this is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT when dealing with trees and conifers ... you just do NOT plant them in summer ok.. my afternoon coffee just kicked in.. and i dont even know if i made my point.. or what .. and i dont care anymore .... i have to hit send .... and i have to go run around the house for 10 mins .. lol ... ken

It does sound horrid, and I empathize about lack of sleep (if I don't get enough, I'm worthless). My mother has Restless Leg Syndrome (they make medication for it) and she does not stomp or thud around the house at night (or day). It's just as is sounds, her legs are restless during sleep and might involuntarily kick, jerk or twitch. I was thinking about the LL's perspective, tho. If I had a tenant that was disturbing others, but said tenant told me they had a medical condition that led to frequent need for nocturnal walks, I'd probably find myself in a pickle. Even if I knew the condition, and that symptoms or remedies didn't mesh, I'd still be in a pickle. I know this is a stretch, but say LL keeps after stomping tenant. Stomping tenant could well produce a doctor's letter that says 'my patient needs to walk at night for relief'. That's just something a LL really doesn't want to push, because pushing it hard enough might find them slapped with a discrimination suit or something. But obviously you can't continue to live like this. I'd suggest something along the lines of larke's suggestion. Be sure to let LL know you understand that she might be dealing with a tenant's medical condition, and you respect that. (That will help keep LL from being put on the defensive. A defensive LL is an uncooperative LL.) Then let her know that you are developing health conditions of your own, find that you can't perform your job as expected, find yourself nodding off at inappropriate times, your heart races at night when stomping starts, etc. (Yes, the hassle part of changing units would be as camlan mentioned in 1st paragraph, 12/5 post.) Despite LLs predicament, and upstairs tenant's stomping, you are still entitled to peaceful enjoyment. Hopefully you can get it with some good old-fashioned open communication and a little psychology thrown in when talking with LL.

How I Loooooove these cat stories!! I couldn't help getting a few tears in my eyes but so many more laughs!!! At 73, I can't say I ever remember a time I didn't have at least one weaving in and out of my legs, tail up, meowing either for attention or food. A few even tried to use me as a scratching post !lol My bff in IL takes in rescues, and at the moment has 21 or 22. The 100 yo historic home she bought 9 years ago came with 2 separate garages, one housing the majority of the kitties, the other is used for storage, but she always keeps the big door open a foot at the bottom, and knows *other* critters take part in the 'vittles' also. Sthe has either 4 or 5 in the house, one being a mama cat w/7 kittens, the very start of her rescue 'mission'. She gave away 2 of those kittens(after neutering!),and never stopped regretting it. They have all found a forever home with her. Her vet/food costs are insane, and when I visited in the summer we found worms in one of the litter pans, and in a two day period, took every cat into the vet to be dewormed. That was $400. It's neverending work! Whenever I call she's scooping, feeding, or rocking one of them in the old rocking chair that was moved out to the garage. She also donates to almost every animal organization known to man, even if it's only $5. She's a one-woman rescue shelter, and I wish I were closer to help. We always say we like animals more than people because animals can't help their situatuon, but people usually can.

Yes, a house is a very powerful concept, and thus, can be so frightening to us, like a house that is uninhabited anymore and is slowly decaying; or a house that feels like it's inhabited by souls of dead; or a house that reminds of a tragedy You know this ghost town, Bodie, in Sierra Nevada? You can go and visit there..had mines, gold and others..was abandoned in thirties, by its population or whatever left of it, rather abruptly. You can still see their school and church and houses, with things covered with years-long dust..Fascinating, yes, but it was extremely gloomy and unsettling ..also high up in the mountains and the sun was setting..very lonely, it felt. The most sad pictures I ever saw on the subject are the Chernobyl and Pripyat ones..the people who lived there were evacuated in the middle of the night..left everything behind. There are still dolls and books and clothes..but everything is empty, everything is poisoned too, no hope for the next hundreds of years..the woods are taking over, the buildings decaying..books and dolls and people's stuff..but no people. I'm especially sensitive to that subject since I was in Kiev at the time of the explosion..I was a young girl so I didn't realize how huge the tragedy is..but oh I remember so very well how the dear lying two faced damn government didn't say anything to their citizen and tried to, you know, sweep everything under the cover as per their custom..we knew the night it happened by a mere chance-my older brother flew from his university to be with us for his spring vacation, and the drive fro the airport to the city is an hour usually..he spent 8 or 9 hours in that taxi because the highway stood, and the cab driver told him "They say Chernobyl station blew up so they send firefighters there and it's a huge mess". So when he was finally home he told us. All the others were told after all the other radio and TV stations in the world caught on it and the government felt already uncomfortable like they should say something too. After they held their First May Parade, exposing thousands upon thousands of people with their kids, lilac blossoming and all, like nothing had ever happened. Then took them two more weeks to decide to evacuate schools. And yes we didn't get it as awful like Pripyat of course but we got it bad. I was sent to my relatives to a different city; they took this geiger counter(had one at work) next to me to see what's going on with my clothes and stuff..well the counter couldn't count because the arrow went off scale. The amount of people with problems that are haunting them since.. Of course whoever was there in the first place putting that fire off-dead, very soon. Goes without saying. It felt differently then I was a little girl. I was too little to really fully get it. I had a longer than usual summer with all sorts of adventures because so many kids were sent away there was not enough space sometimes to fit them all, so everybody got creative..And people as usual battling bad stuff with humor invented tons of dark jokes about radiation, some were actually pretty funny. But now when I see these pictures of city abandoned that people will never come to again, and no prayers will help, it hits me because now I understand. A house is a shelter, materials put together, clay and wood and iron and whatever. Us, people-we are the ones who give it meaning. We make it. We live there. It's alive only and because of us. And that's why this profound feeling of loneliness and sadness and sometimes of a doom when there is a house with no people. And no promise of people. and no hint of a promise.