I agree with you Ellendi, when you borrow money, it should be paid back based on the agreement but a lot of lenders have changed the terms of those agreements and made it almost impossible for people to repay making the banks even richer. It's a vicious cycle. Some, not all but some of the scenarios we're seeing today involve a lot of good money conscious people, who had every intention of paying their debts and because of circumstances beyond their control, are now forced to make a choice between housing and feeding their family or paying debt. Which would any of us choose in those circumstances? I personally, feel the banks are responsible for a large part of what's going on economically and they should be willing to help those deserving of it by any means they can, but they're not. Instead they are calling loans due, forging foreclosure documents, making more risky transactions, raising rates on people, charging grossly exorbitant fees and the list goes on, so it's very hard to have much empathy, KWIM? BTW, when I say deserving of it, I mean those who are not spend alcoholics abusing a system. With a shortage of jobs and change in the working climate many qualified people can't find work in their own fields and are taking jobs at whatever pay then can get just to keep afloat. If you live in an area that isn't in decline or working in a field where you see a lot more of these scenarios on a daily basis, it's hard to relate but I do and let me tell you, good, hard working people are finding themselves in situations they never dreamed they'd be in and it happened quick. It's horrible and it's scary. In addition to the above, debt Collectors are obligated to follow certain procedures and will often times have no problem breaking the laws to collect because they're betting the person they're contacting isn't aware of their rights. I suspect that that is the case with the caller in the Dave Ramsey conversation.

Kitchenredo- Thanks! My faucet is Kohler Simplice. The water wasn't hooked back up until yesterday, so I haven't really used it yet. I like the look of it. I had purchased a PricePfister (Ashfield, I believe), but based on some of the commentary/opinions on the boards (some posters reported quality issues with PF), I exchanged it for the Kohler. Golddust - I hope the grey works for your bathroom. I have to settle on my backsplash in the last few days. I liked your marble backsplash and have preliminary chosed a honed marble w/some warm beigy undertones. I'm trying to decide between doing subway tile for the entire backsplash or doing a row of 4X4s on the bottom, a pencil, and then subways on top (all in the same marble). The backsplash will also be installed on this wall (see below) where there will be 2 shelves installed above the bar - and I'm wondering whether I want to include a simple box/feature/pattern (I'm having trouble articulating this), centered under the shelves: Thanks!

Sharon said:[I thought it was interesting that in the pattern I bought, the templates are referred to as male and female. I'd never heard of using those terms in quilting before.] Sharon, are we talking about quilting, electricity or hardware?? Not sure... :)

I like the first picture over the second. I just installed 12"x12" natural black slate tile with a 6"x12" border in my kitchen. I put it on a diagonal. If I were using your size tile, I would do the running bond across the room rather than the length of the room. I also used a dark grout, charcoal rather than lighter grout. I had to use a transition strip because the proper underlayment raised the level of the tile enough to require a transition strip. You may have to do the same. It's not the end of the world. It protects the tile and wood floor and provides a visual cue that the level is changing. We don't even notice it anymore.