My lost & found experiences: Like a lot of people I often think how great it would be to find a bunch of money. But I always hope that If I do, PLEASE let there be no ID with it, because thanks to that guilt trip my Mom (very religious) laid on my when I was a kid, I'd have to do all I could to locate the rightful owner. I wouldn't ask for a reward either. I wouldn't turn it in anywhere because I believe that sadly in this day and age the average person would just pocket it. Found $65 on the floor of a nightclub in Avalon NJ, just the money, no ID. Sweet! Found $30 in Sears parking lot at Neshaminy Mall, NE Phila. - no car parked nearby. Again, cash only. Found a passport walking from the train to work. Tracked down the owner, called, said I'd bring it over. Knocked / rang the bell, no answer, car in the driveway. I think they didn't want to risk me asking for a reward (I wouldn't). I left it in the mailbox. When my 24 year old daughter was 3 she found a childs wallet in the playground with $3 and address / phone number inside. She wanted to keep it but I said we have to return it. The mother didn't eveen say thank you. I gave Kris $1 as a reward. When I delivered pizza part time I found $43 with no ID in the shop but it was where the drivers congregated and there was only one other driver working with me. I returned the money. Older peope are no more or less honest than the younger ones. Again as a pizza deliverer, I took an order to a florist shop. When they paid me I put the money in my jacket pocket, something I never did, usually. Walking back to the car I reached in to retrieve the money & felt only change. I turn back toward the door - I'm about 30 feet away - and the old lady who ran the register by the door is scuttling toward the bill, a ten, reaching for it when her eyes met mine. I quickly said 'Looks like I dropped my change.' She replied 'Yeah, I guess so.' or something like that. She got up and walked back inside.

Although it's annoying, this really isn't what's called identity theft. I know people who were victim of true identity theft, where someone actually assumed the person's identity, not just made a one-time use of a card or something, and the results are usually devastating to the person. You can't buy anything with a credit card, you can't get/keep a checking account, bank accounts can be frozen, retirement funds can be affected, your job is often impacted and you even risk losing it, your driver license is affected, insurance of all types and way more happens with an identity theft. That's some bad stuff. I've had fraudulent use of my credit card attempted before. And I applaud the cc company for being on top of it. Sad part is with the way things are now, we don't completely control our private data. Banks, employers, stores, health people, pharmacies, hospitals, insurance companies and many others are in possession of the data and we see on the news seemingly weekly where someone is broken into and robbed of sensitive data on millions of people.

All good feedback but if your heart is set on new then focus, learn and be prepared for mistakes. Personally I prefer older homes. I like the charm and character(aka flaws) an older home frequently offers. I am a commercial, high-rise demolition contractor and perform all of my renovations myself, so much as I can. I can't stand the residential contracting business. There's way too many "deadbeats" including an relative of mine. I haven't taken on the challenge your about to but I can offer some advise from a contractor's perspective. Many contractor's take on more than they can handle, It's the nature of the business. They rarely hit deadlines and will drag out your build while focusing on another project that is further behind schedule, or has a higher profit margin. Your best leverage is money. Negotiate into your contract(s) that you will not pay in advance for ANYTHING. If the contractor refuses to fund the purchase of materials then you should get the invoice from the supplier and issue a check to the supplier. You should be provided a Schedule of Values(SOV) upon selection of a contractor. This SOV is how you determine what is completed and how much the contractor is entitled to be paid. Be careful, many contractors will "front-load" the SOV to get most of their profit out in the 1st few tasks. For example, they will over-price the excavation, which is usually the easiest task so if the relationship sours, or you lose your financing, or whatever, he has made his money before anything happens. This is when ALL leverage is lost. It's also wise to negotiate that you will withhold "retainage". This is typically 10% of all progress payments and is intended to be your assurance that the work will get done properly, any damages will be fixed, all vendors will be paid and not lien your home. It will also give you time to see the little details that may be done poorly that need to be re-done. You WILL miss the little details from time to time. Upon 100% completion you will walk the entire home, flip every switch, test every outlet, flush each toilet, open & close each door and decide if you are satisfied. When satisfied and provided proper lien releases you can release the retainage. A "good" contractor will not be afraid to accept those terms. A "less than reliable" contractor likely will not. If you have little or no experience with contracting, building, etc. you would be wise to hire the architect or someone with the experience to manage this stuff for you or at least consult with you periodically to assist. Some contractors have mastered the art of the "change order". Fending this off is where someone with experience will help greatly. Things will come up that will cost the contractor additional money, you need to understand why it should cost YOU extra money before you agree to pay. For example, you choose a stove that requires 220 rather than 110 but the drawings show a 110 service in this location. This you pay for. While excavating they find bedrock that needs to be chopped out. This too you pay for unless the contractor was provided geotechnical reports showing the rock elevations. If the contractor has to reframe a floor to accommodate the toilet flange, this should not be your problem. Contractors will frequently use bully tactics to get their way. They will yell and berate unsuspecting homeowners to get paid when they are not entitled or to get the client to agree to pay for extra work which was really a result of their poor planning. Don't fall victim to these tactics. Your money is your money and not theirs. A friend used to just pay anytime a contractor claimed it was legit. After I yelled at him and explained he was being "taken" he let his wife handle it and they found that pushing back and not being accepting saved them thousands. Also remember, this is YOUR house and YOUR project, not theirs. If you don't like the way something is coming out, tell them to stop. Notify them in writing to stop, take pictures(MANY pictures) and document everything. If you tell them to stop installing the kitchen cabinets but they do so anyway, then when they request a change order for dismantling them and rehanging them you can reject it. It's YOUR house, it should be done to your satisfaction, not theirs. Moral of my long story... YOUR money is your only leverage. The more you hold back the more satisfaction your likely to get. Contractors can't be profitable if they cant get paid. Good luck.

Folks, I haven't contacted Tamara, but based on this feedback I will. I can imagine it feels as though this board was invaded, and something has been lost. But I also think some of us (me) benefit from camaraderie. For those who want endless debate, there is Hot Topics, where, it appears, people have much more experience being nasty and going postal than we have here. They seem to be good at it and enjoy the vitriol, LOL. The goal of a new board, for the time being let's call it "Progressives For Activism" or some such, would be to provide a forum for those of us Progressives wanting to confer on next steps and share thoughts. As far as trolls glomming on, Ida, I agree, that is a concern. More and more I do see people I have never seen before, which irks me.... if i wanted to chat with total strangers there are tons of ways to do that ... like Lynn said in her cooking thread, I want to talk to people I "know". Or are these just made up names for people not comfortable being honest (IDK i don't bother looking them up). I think the solution to trolls is not to engage. It would not be the purpose of the new board. We should all agree to just send them to Hot Topics or simply not reply at all and let the thread die. Hopefully they get the message. Just like there is no reason for me to go into the Roses forum and debate bathroom tile, there would be no reason for people to go to a "PFA" forum if they weren't like-minded. ETA _ anyone know the best way to reach Tamara?