Hello. Thanks for the great information! It'll really be nice to get the grass looking it's best. The dying "junk tree" in the corner will be coming down, and I'll be tearing down the concrete wall and putting up a nice 6' stockade fence (with metal poles; the best way to go, IMO). In the corner where the wall is, there's a concrete foundation of an old stone shed; I will be putting a shed there for the lawn care items to free up the 2nd garage stall. My tenants deserve more parking... The last thing I'd like to do is wrap a deck around the sunroom. Just enough for a good-sized table, the grilles, etc. In the middle of the stone wall, there's another (weirdly placed) concrete slab. To the left of it is where my garden is. I'll be building a better vegetable garden this year, too, with raised beds and watering pipes, and whatnot... I was REALLY depressed after de-thatching the grass; my yard had brown strips all over, and I could see the soil in some spots, even ant hills... I thought I did more damage than good. But, after reseeding, applying the fertilizer and Epsom salt mixture, and watering every single day for a few hours, (I've never once fertilized or watered the grass before!), everything turned out beautifully. I think I had it set in my mind to reseed just because I figured seeding twice would be better to get nice, thick turf... Perhaps it won't be necessary. The grass seed I use is University of Rhode Island Number Two Improved. It's a mixture of Kentucky Blue, Creeping Red Fescue, and Chewing Fescue. A couple questions. When mowing, what is the best method: Mulching and Discharge, or bagging the clippings? I've never had a bag for my old Cub Cadet mower, so, since I've owned the house, about 14 years now, I've always used the mulching blade and side discharge. I think this helped cause the thatching problem... Before reseeding the grass, however, a neighbor threw away a little 2-year old mower that they used twice... It has a bag, so since I've reseeded , I've been collecting the clippings. What's the best method? Also, what's the best watering schedule for "normal" times, ie. when not seeding? I know morning time is the best, but how often should one water their lawn? Hopefully, after everything is done, the grass will look even better this year than it did last fall.

It looks like I got the problem resolved. I used REVO to totally remove FF and all references to it, including personal settings. I opened I.E and browsed the web and all worked well. I.E. is using the FIREFOX version of FLASH PLAYER 10______.34 which I manually installed into I.E. and it accepted. I then ran the install for FireFox 5.0 As it was loading it asked me if I wanted to import settings from I.E., I opted YES, I was then asked if I would like to make FF my default, I opted YES. Once done and without making any changes or additional additions or actions of any kind, FF imported everything I had in I.E. I went to several sites I knew Flash Player would be needed and everything worked fine. It appears as I suspected, there was a toggle somewhere in FireFox that got toggled to either TRUE or FALSE. I wish I could have determined which one, to have made this problem go away sooner. If time permits, I may play with them until I can recreate the problem. Thanks much to all of you who responded and were so willing to give up your time and effort to help me.

I too thought you were in Mexico again, Jen, with a margarita in your hand and sand between your toes. :-) beache and amysrq, thanks for the nice thoughts. My computer croaked in mid-December and it took me a while to get another one. (Freecyclers tend to have an interesting definition of "working" when it comes to computers...) While the library has computers for public use, lines were long and time limited so that by the time I got through basic email and "business" (one of the drawbacks of being on electronic payment and paperless billing for everything!) there was no time left for fun. Hey, has anyone else been here long enough to remember that there was a lot less downtime, lost posts, and general messed-up-ness when Spike ran this joint? (That'll probably get me a Friendly Reminder, eh?)

Austin, TX Aug 2021. Quotes for a 300sf room mini-split not incl electric which I would guesstimate to add $500-800: 1) $4900, 2) $5000, 3) starting at $4800. The only more reasonable one was 4) $3400 which I MIGHT give up and just take, meaning paying about $4000. The thing is I would be HAPPY as hell to get the 2nd floor central AC to be exactly like our first floor central AC system and pay $5-7000 for it. The 1st floor's Sept 2020-installed 2-ton HVAC, despite being a single-stage, actually cools at 47 dB directly at the intake, 39dB 10 feet away, most of the time. Then it's like 63dB when it has to cool things down multiple degrees but that's not for very long. The 2nd floor's furnace was installed at the same time and is the same exact unit as the 1st floor's but the 2.5 ton outside is not same brand and not the same coils. When I asked the AC co. this summer to just make the 2nd floor like the first floor - replacing the coils and condenser, he hemmed and hawed and said I can't guarantee you the same situation and static pressure, blah blah blah. He couldn't explain why the 1st floor unit had two fan speeds. Isn't there a way to kind of estimate how the thing would work? Funny thing is the 2nd floor furnace is loud as hell all the time when running - I think 67dB with vibrating noises - and will cycle on and off A LOT at night - literally on for 5 minutes then off for 5, then on again for 5 minutes for part of the night, driving me crazy. It's louder than the previous 30-year system which ironically still worked. The first mini-split estimator to come to the house (the rest I just got ballparks on the phone to not waste anybody's time) - they mostly do full HVACs - when I asked about the 2nd floor, he stared at the grate and said "you need more duct board." Hilarious. Didn't even mention the fact that the intake is too small which I found out on my own but I still doubt that would help because pulling the grate off does nothing except maybe make it louder still. So I don't feel like these HVAC people know much about systems either. One of my installer AC's folks said it's the thermostat - you mean the fancy Honeywell? I called Honeywell without much luck. And when I called the manufacturer to supposedly find a compatible thermostat, the guy said X and it was their $800 thermostat. Um, why? I'm definitely looking at the Mr. Cool unit. Not crazy about learning yet a new skill and taking forever figuring things out which is how I am - I'm good, just slow but willing. I may also just install a Midea u-shaped inverter window AC - I bought my daughter one and it's remarkably quiet - crazy quiet. Luckily the window in question is on the side of the house far from the front. But I can't believe I have to resort to a window AC. $500 window AC vs $4000-$5000 Euro-style system vs $5-7000 new HVAC compressor and coils which may not do what I want and the guy really doesn't want to sell me. Geez.