Yes, Roberta, it was reg upon reg, for better or worse, that eventually forced my parents out of their farming livelihood. At middle age, with no formal education they were forced to find city jobs (or move and rebuild the barn etc. etc. etc.). Unfortunately, their story is not unique. I'd love to see a documentary of the saga during this era - but the window is closing. I do have one question related to your comment though, before this thread folds completely. Our pullets aren't laying yet - though one of them jumps into the raised nest box and stirs it up good daily, so it shouldn't be too far off. Our ducks ARE laying however - but their nest box isn't so clean. I'm wondering if the tidy habits chickens keep goes for ducks also...If so, perhaps one of the drakes or the pullets are messing in it. It's ground level and doesn't belong to the pullets (paybacks?). Anyway, I have to tidy it up for them each morning. -lf

Your original message said, "Can anybody tell me how to post a pic in word and then type over it?" So, I thought you were using Microsoft Word, not WordPerfect. They are two totally different programs. It's been many years since I used WordPerfect, but I used to add graphics and type over them; or add graphics and then add another graphic so that it would be positioned partly over the first graphic, etc. I couldn't give you instructions now, though, because it's been too long. Sorry! :-( Have you checked the "Help" feature in WordPerfect?

Hi everyone! Thank you all so much for the information - it helps me to make sure all my bases are covered before I start looking, go to get pre-approved for a mortgage, etc. My past work history is as follows: Graduated college in May 2009 June 2009 - began working in my field through a temp agency September - 2009 convinced my employer to buy out my temp agency contract and became full-time June 2011 - left my former job to begin this "full-time temporary" job, a contracted position So this June I will have had 3 solid years of employment in my chosen field, with the pay stubs and tax returns to back it up (well, tax returns for two years, but you understand...) My original contract was to run out in March; it was just extended to August 31, 2012. At that point, it may be extended for another year (likely), I will be offered a permanent position (somewhat less likely, but not out of the question), or I will be let go (from what my boss is saying, far less likely, but I do know that unexpected things can happen). Finding a lender who works with these situations is a great idea - I do work for a large, national company but their presence in my community is small. However, there are a lot of freelancers and other similar job situations in the county, so they must be working with banks somehow. Again, thank you for the input - keep it coming with whatever else I may need to consider, it's very much appreciated.

There is quite a bit more equipment in a sprinkler setup. You say you dont have a box. Do you have a pump somewhere on your property connected to a well possibly? Do you see any piping attached to a spigot outside? Depending on what kind of system they had setup you may have some buried solenoid valves somewhere that would control the separate zones. Again, depending on what type of system you could have had there in the past you would be looking to install a controller, solenoid valves, piping from valves to heads, piping from a water source somewhere. There are MANY variables. If I were in your shoes, and REALLY wanted to get this figured out, I would start digging. That is really the only way to get this solved. Once you find out what you have, then you can go from there... As far as cost it depends on what your end goal is. Watering a small yard, watering a garden, or watering a large yard. You could pick up a relatively cheap setup, from your local hardware store, that attaches to your spigot and runs to a sprinkler head. These usually have a controller and valves built in. Orbit makes one that is popular. The other item you would need to think about when doing this is the amount of possible heads you have hidden, and what water pressure/ flow rate, the whole system was setup with... Sorry there is no easy answer. Again digging will be your best friend, if you REALLY wanted to solve the mystery. Just go slow and be cautious as to not rupture a piece of piping.