Here's the July 2011 thread.

Rags, that's ingenious about the pants-leg pockets. I'm not surprised elastic could cause a problem because even slight constriction will interfere with circulation, but what about making something akin to a garter belt, that he could wear around his waist that would hang under his trouser legs to support the bags? Not a garter per-se, but suspended from his waist with two points, at each hip front and back for stability, and suspended in front? I drew what I am thinking of. Just be sure he's wearing loose pants! You might start with an existing belt of his, or might use an elastic belt and build on it. A Velcro closure or a buckle, whatever you have handy or feels okay to him to hold it up.

Asking a bank to correct a mistake in this climate is next to impossible. Unless you have the money to hire an attorney to sue them, you're shit out of luck. In hindsight, he probably should have walked away from it two years ago. This is the time that you wish you would win the lottery or be able to make things right with a magic wand, but in reality, you start making provisions for the move as far ahead as possible. Once this heat breaks I'll be working in the garage more to make space. For a while the house was a shrine to his deceased partner, but the reality of money spent on collections that have little value in this marketplace have made it clear that he should have been firmer with him about putting inherited money in a ROTH IRA, not in a collection of antique dolls and toys.

Kat, it sounds like you've picked a good dog, and in the next few weeks you'll see her begin to blossom as it becomes more real for her that she's really a part of your family and is going to stay in your home. For now it must be all so new that she's probably not going to show all of her passion until she's settled in. For now, you're getting the polite stranger behavior, and that's good. She'll be fine when you have people over.

Still working on the furniture positioning in the office. I want to have my computer desk far enough away from the wall where the window is that I can walk to the window without having to turn sideways and scoot through the narrow space. More papers out of the way. The 2 shelf thing that used to hold the scanner and underneath the VCR now is where my laptop is living and I'll put my most frequently used books on the lower shelf. There's a trunk on the floor under some wall-mounted shelves that I'll probably shift to one side so I can push the 2-shelf thing back against the bookcase. There are a couple of filing boxes on the floor that need to move also.

Lots to do on August 1 so I'd better get moving.

SRS