To jump my RIO, I located the polarized plug at the reverse pedal switch which has two wires in it. The connections are the 1/4" solderless connectors. I made a 1.5" wire with a male 1/4" connector on each end and plugged that into the polarized connectors slots (jumping it), applied elect grease and then wrapped it with good tape to keep it clean. The switch is normally closed. Your going to get a lot of flack for doing this- so prepare yourself. :) I have to do way too much backing up to worry about that switch and have done fine for 20 years without one. Kids are grown and women don't follow me around anymore- so I feel it's safe. :))

Well, first cut has taken place. The mulch kit was dealer fitted but looks different from the photos above, as there is no block on the side discharge (should I check this out with the dealer?). Having only used a 16inch push gas mower, it's quite a big change to use a fancy smancy tractor. It took several passes before I figured out the blades weren't on! It's also shown up the big dips I have on my lawn and the two holes! I must fill those up and toss in some grass seed. The plug in hose thingy worked great. I'm just thinking about smoothing out some of those tight bends in the plastic border that separates the gravel from the grass. I will have to reset some portions. Can anyone tell me what I should be aiming at when setting the plastic border height? Are all plastic borders the same? Thanks.

On the comparison between a car accident and a chimney fire: Though most people don't know the details of crash tests and safety ratings - and driving may be the most dangerous thing to do, they regularly do what they can to prevent being involved in an accident. They check their oil, tire pressure, have their brakes inspected, etc. Anti-lock brakes (now a standard, I believe) used to be a oft chosen safety option. The same can be said of many different industries in which a potential regular risk is involved. But my question is this: If you had a vehicle for which a passenger side air bag was not standard but would cost extra to have one installed; but you know that if you were in an accident that airbag may prevent your passenger from being injured, wouldn't you spend the extra money for the airbag? I would say the same for the liner. Though you have the chimney swept every year, that doesn't prevent creosote from building up in the meantime. Even an experience user, one who uses the hardest, driest wood available will still have creosote build up. I have seen chimney fires in between annual maintainance. So, if you knew that if you had a chimney fire, the liner may help prevent damage to the masonry chimney as well as to your home (and the fire may not even damage the liner), wouldn't you consider spending the extra money for that peace of mind? Now, I'm interested that the sweep you had out agreed that "all this BS about needing a liner and all is nothing but profiteering by the Sweep industry" because as a CSIA sweep he is supposed to be familiar with NFPA-211 code requirements which speak extensively of the having the appropriate liners for appliances that have specific manufacturer requirements. Addtionally, those of us who have given you advice on a chimney liner have nothing to gain from suggesting you get one. I can assure you that the local professionals you spoke with are not going to pay us for encouraging you to have one installed. These suggestions were given because of our professional experience, expertise, and knowledge. In this situation we do need to have a perspective relative to the risks you will be taking when using your stove. Will it be used everyday? How many hours per day? For how many months? Years? How often will it be inspected based on how often you use it? Many stoves used everyday require sweeps/inspections as often as every two months. One last note: last year in my area there was a family who had a woodstove vented into a masonry chimney - I do not know specific details as to the condition of the chimney; whether it had a liner, when and how often it was swept/inspected - and they had a chimney fire. The fire spread to the walls and the house caught on fire. Three children were trapped in the home and were killed. A rare story, yes, but not altogether unheard of. Is it worth the risk?

I am just finalizing a contract to have a Lock-Dry deck built. I got samples of it and the Arridek and felt that the Lock-Dry seemed to be a better product (and certainly has more color choices). The Lock-Dry units are thicker aluminum, more secure fit, and are powder coated to a more stringent standard (and it shows!). Both far exceed weight requirements for decking, but the test reports are a bit different so it is not a direct comparison. This will be about a 600SF deck over a walkout basement, so about 11 feet high with steps. The builder has a lot of deck experience and has worked with Arridek. We are doing Trex transcend railing, a Trex faschia, and wooden framing. Would love to have done the aluminum framing but $$$$$$. The framing definitenly different since the boards are at right angles to the house**. One of our beams will be gluelam to carry more weight with fewer beams. Will upload pictures when it is done. We went with the saddle brown. I like the Dakota woodgrain but felt the cost was not worth the difference in price for me. **you can run them parallel to the house but the wall of our house is 57 feet and the deck width will range from 6 to 14 feet.