Maryanne, those plumber visits can be horribly expensive. I had one place tell me last winter that when my heater was fluctuating all over temperature-wise my best move was to replace the hot water tank. I got a couple of opinions and the guy who actually did the work simply replaced a thermostat in the hot water heater. I am seriously considering making the switch to an on-demand (tankless) hot water system next time I have to replace a heater. There are simply so many reasons why keeping 50 gallons of water always hot in a closet isn't the best way to go. And this time of year, I have to cool the house around the closet with 50 gallons of hot water. :-/

Here's a U.S. Dept. of Energy sites about them. I stayed with a friend last winter who had a system and was astonished at how well it worked.

Son wasn't thrilled about going to class today, but he went. He's big, he could simply put his foot down and say "no." But he didn't, and I'm glad. Plus, having taken this class he'll have a good certification to list on any job applications he'll submit, and sometimes these classes can make the difference in getting jobs, especially the types of summer jobs that are open to college students.

We have several days of rain coming, to be followed by extreme heat. Joy (not). More mowing the lawn in really hot weather.

SRS