I did exactly this last Sunday 6-26-11. I am not totally allergic to the planet but have some issues with cats, chilis etc. but mostly if touching sensitive skin under eye. Last week a water leak in the old converted Victorian home I live in had us all trying to figure it out with the manager. They opend back cellar door blocked by fig tree. Being the efficient woman that I am, got out my saw and hacked off some branches. Because they didnt want us to use water right then and a nice morning I walked downtown with no shower and in sunlight! I work at a grocery store so on Monday when I showed a slight red spot on my wrist I thought it was a chili that ran away from me as I was putting bagging it. (Amazes me still that some customers roll all their unbagged veggies down the belt after their unbagged oozing meat packages! Yes we clean the belts but that is lazy to me!) Anyway, last night, Wednesday, I noticed more small red spots around other areas of my left wrist and forearm. The larger red spot abut an inch wide and 2 inches long was now blistering. Wemt to store and got calamine lotion, hydrocortizone and large bandages. (I can't be seen with this at store bagging groceries!) Covering it with bandaids makes it feel better for some reason too. Maybe blocking the air and just touching hurts somewhat. The larger one is having more pain. I looked up pictures someone had of tree pruners getting fig contact rashes and it looked almost as bad as poison ivy. I guess not much on internet as more factors need to be in place like what happened to me, not washing the UNSEEN sap, and being in sunlight and probably one more thing to go on my list for sensitivities. I am sensitive to milky plants but only get a slight welt that goes away in a day. Learned my lesson, gloves and long shirts before I touch anything!

Thanks for your thoughts les -- you make good points but I think I'd rather continue to work with furniture placement than make a change now ... for several reasons. I appreciate your efforts, tho ... :) Southernfrenchie - the space over the garage will be a 22x13.5 bonus room primarily for exercise equipment plus a TV and sofa/pull-out bed for when more than a couple of our kids are with us (maybe once a year?) -- or if DH wants to get away from any female "gatherings" going on downstairs ... :) We can shut the door when we get too old to climb the stairs ... which, with the exercise might not happen for several more years. :) It will have 5' knee walls with some limited attic acess for more storage ... :) I can send a picture of it if you'd like ... I'm not at the right computer just now. Yes, the whole storage thing has been a goal for me since we're downsizing pretty drastically. The closet nearest the kitchen is planned for a back entry coat closet, but could be an extra pantry, too if we need it (I doubt.) And even though the kids have carted off truckloads, and we've sold a bunch of stuff, and altho we'll likely not need all the storage, I guess I'm a little insecure that way; I'm an "order" freak and want everything to have an organized place for a home. BTW, we made the garage deep enough (no SUVs here) for the entire back wall of the garage to hold floor to ceiling shelves if needed. :) Lezli

I usually try to avoid commenting on these situations but I couldn't bite my lip here. I guess I have a few other thoughts on it. First a disclaimer: I have problem with the way divorce has become so commonplace and people have chosen to re-write their vows (remember them?) to be "till irreconcilable differences do we part". To me, divorce is acceptable in a very small percentage of cases so perhaps it would taint my view. I'm bothered when someone questions how a person can live with themself for not walking out, yet no problem living with themself as a liar. And now that I've offended 2/3 of the married populace, I'll move on. That said, IMO you gave wise advice to think it over and she surely should consider all points, and not just the financial. Is she using the term "revenge"? If so, it says something. No, revenge won't make you feel better and if you're leaving for revenge, you'll likely only hurt yourself. Just as he's damned by his non-denial (but with this limited info, he didn't admit to it and we don't even know what the allegations are), she is equally damned by acquiescing to and thereby condoning his alleged discretions in the past. Now she wants to go back in time and change her mind on her decisions made way back when. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all go back and change our minds? I surely would have invested in Microsoft, bought an oil company, not dated ____ and well, needn't say more. That was then, this is now. The allegations are important. And by the sound of things, they're probably relatively minor and to blow it out of proportion isn't sage advice. Let's face facts, if he raped the co-worker, there'd be a termination and criminal charges. Likewise if he grabbed her inappropriately (as in assault/battery), yet no mention of charges so likely there are none. Actually, he KEPT his job and that says a LOT. What does that say? In today's society, with the fear of legal liability, political repercutions and otherwise, few companies would stick their neck out to keep an employee that would be a liability. If it was something truly serious the boss wouldn't have just said "don't do it again". If the boss said not to do it again, it sounds like it was possibly something lik a verbal issue, possibly something that could have been taken wrong or was tasteless or whatever. The term "sexual misconduct" is an explosive term as evidenced here. But it's also a blanket term. Emailing someone a cartoon of a vision-impaired caterpillar propositioning a french fry can be construed as "sexual misconduct" and would probably result in someone being similarly disciplined as what happened here. So to everyone charging forth with the torches, pitchforks and nooses, I'd urge some calmness before selecting the tree. The consensus is that the lack of sex is because he's been fooling around. Interesting. She had nothing to do with it? It takes two to tango and again, we know NOTHING and what we do know is clearly one-sided. Perhaps there's more to this story. Perhaps a LOT more. I'm not going to go on, I'm sure I've ruffled enough feathers. But I will say she needs a good friend and you are that. But she also needs to confide in someone trusted to give her counseling while knowing as much as possible (perhaps both sides), and very possibly it takes a professional view. Clearly so with the legal issues if she should decide to proceed. Without knowing what the situation ACTUALLY IS, there's no way to give sound advice other than what she's received. I think the best advice is to be there for her but be careful on advising without knowing all the facts. My best to her and her husband and I hope I have caring friends like you who I can talk to if I have a troubled situation.

I'm going to pull the plug on this topic--please let it die. Thanks so very much for all input. I think it's interesting that there are such strong opinions, esp. as to the style being too dated. And yet, I see a new finished kitchen posted today on the GW with minimal Ikea pulls on a modern styled cupboard face and although not made of the shiny metals, they're cousins in style and function, straight out of the 60s-70s--yet timeless. I've learned that some viewers find the Omnia pulls truly "upscale" and some see them as opposite. I actually budgeted for pricey hardware because I've been able to scrimp on a number of other things and because my old handles came from an outlet store. But when it comes to pulling out the checkbook, I usually balk. I had planned to put granite or clear glass knobs on the cupboards but I found the Omnia one and liked it better. Then the project got dragged out and I got design fatigue and just abandoned the plan. Once we got the decidedly chromy-stemmed pendants with salad-plate-sized top plates, the eBay handles seemed to be appropriate. Yes, I've tried the bimetal ones. They're in display at Twin Cities Hardware and I drool on them every time I'm there. I imagine on the six upper cabs how it would look with the two D-shapes paired across from one another and on our many lowers they'd be mounted horizontally they would add some textural interest both horizontally and vertically toward the floor. Because we had to sell a 7-foot wide sideboard in order to modify a wall, the lower cabinetry on the right side just outside my photo above is my replacement sideboard--it will hold china, some glassware, napkins, candles, party stuff. Maybe it's because I come from such humble roots--these glitzy pulls have glamor for me. But, I'm going to pass. Thanks for the fun run, folks. countrycottageklutz, I screamed with laughter at your post. My tone deaf DH is on a different planet from your DH, I suppose, but here we are, mania-widows messing around with computer-induced friendships and conversations as a salve. marti8a, now you know the official name of the concept, you can invoke it: Hunter's Wife's Revenge. There are all kinds of other similar concepts: Fisherman's Wife's Revenge, Arctic Explorer's Wife's Revenge, whatever. Fill in the blank and have fun. My children still recall the November when they were small enough to fit into a grocery cart. A local store was going out of business with a dutch auction to incrementally increase percentage of price discount and we walked the aisles pulling all kinds of exotic things off the shelf. My girls got to pick out exotic ice creams, I got to try caviar, you get the idea. One of our first Revenges. mnerg: You have quite a memory. And you've got some good psych intuition skills also. buehl: I think I'll pass. I'm not THAT upscale and arty and rich. But I think those might be the handles that were the pick of the nutty old lady on the "Flipping Out" show I saw this fall. Thanks for that laugh--I needed it. cpartist: It's a good thing we don't live close to each other--we'd make a dangerous duo! And leela4 would be another bad influence! To all who voted for the "cheapies" I appreciate the validation, but DH will do so even more. Lotsa love, everybody!