dtel's wife

Thank you DrWho. What was the 4? about? Are you confused about whether all four of us are actually women? Max, maybe Klipsdude was pretending to be Kathy? BTW, I can assure all of you that I have only one personality, although it does change ocassionally based on which one of dtel's personalities is present.

With all due respect.....did you not read the post where Damon said that he is TAPPED OUT with regards to available funds? So if Damon can't come up with the bucks for a deck, how's he gonna retain an attorney? And how much of Damon's future funds is he willing to part with?? I mean, if Damon took the moola he'd spend on this and put it in a college trust fund, he'd have his kids education covered by the time they hit 18. All this get a lawyer stuff is all well & good, but not every place in the U.S. is suffering the same kind of swindling that the Katrina disaster folks are. And here's a possibility no one seems to be considering (which BTW has nothing to do with my support of Damon). What if Damon is that one in 100+ homes anomoly where everything that could go wrong does? It's kinda tough to portray the builder in a bad light if he's got plenty of satisfied customers. 3 sides to every story: yours, their's, and the truth. Tom The example of Katrina cases was simply to point out there is a possibility that "theft by misrepresentation" could have ocurred on Damon's project. If I am correct, he was given a "firm" price to complete construction on his house. That "firm" price has increased considerably. In addition, the "completion date" has been postponed numerous times for various reasons. There are contractors who will "low ball" bids in order to secure the contract (usually the contract is severely flawed). Once the dotted line is signed all the loop holes in the contract are utilized by the contractor to continue the deception and fraud. Some attorneys offer free consultations, or at least reasonable consult fees. I am not a "sue happy" person, but Damon's house project seems "out of sorts" with normal construction practices. Dtel and I have landscaped a lot of custom built homes and we have never heard of anyone having as many problems as Damon is experiencing. Being the last contractor on the job we hear every complaint a homeowner has about their contractor and I can assure you, all of the complaints combined don't equal to Damon's problems. The builder should have known that a deck would be required. I would also be real surprised if this contractor doesn't have a few other dissatisfied customers. Displaying of appliance manuals are a requirement to protect the homeowner. The inspector can then assume the homeowner will be in possession of the manuals.

I would suggest you consider working very closely with the builder's association once the project is complete. The state licensing agency responsible for contractors could prove very helpful. I would recommend you work on getting any documentation you may have in order. Documentation, witnesses and a time line will prove invaluable in your quest to "expose" these guys. I would also suggest you consult with an attorney (maybe you have a friend/attorney that would help you out). You could have the attorney review any actions you wish to take. Especially those in writing. Even the truth, if not absolutely backed up by witnesses or documentation could prove costly to you. In any event, I would take the "risk" and expose these guys. If you let them get away with this others will suffer the horrors that you have. I am really surprised there is no criminal element to everything that has happened with your house. Since Hurricane Katrina a common criminal charge being pursued in this area is "theft by misrepresentation". Because you have a written contract this could be considered entirely civil. I would recommend consulting with your local authorities. If I understand all this correctly you have been paying the mortgage on this house for over a year now? This situation may be considered "theft by misrepresentation" because of the money you have spent and conversations etc. you may have had with the builder regarding completion. A demand letter for extra expenses you have incurred may be an appropriate course of action. In any event, see if you can "rustle up" an attorney for advice and make your move(s) as soon as construction is final.

I was going to suggest contacting the local and state builder's association, as well as any other associations the contractor may hold membership in. I was also going to recommend that you contact the contractor's licensing board for your state. This is generally the quickest way to get something resolved. The third option, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. At least your complaint will be documented and the builder will have to satisfy your complaints, or the complaint will remain as "unsatisfactorily resolved". I hope the builder has accepted responsibility for the deck and the cost of the deck. I would at least consider a 4x4 deck. 3x3 is extremely small and could actually be dangerous, especially if you have small children. Last but not least, if you have "taken title" to the property, you should be able to "pull a building permit" for a deck yourself. I am not sure about the laws in your particular state. Most laws heavily favor the homeowner. The trim carpenter that worked on your house may be able to the job for you.

We got home late last night. What a treat, it snowed all day Saturday, but cleared up for us to be able to drive home on Sunday. Had a great trip, two of our daughters, three of our grandchildren, our niece, and "dtel's daughter's" fiance went with us. The grandchildren love the mountains, this is the third trip to the Smokies for the 4 and 5 year old and the second trip for the 3 year old. It is so wonderful to hear their reactions. The snow in the higher elevations was loose powder about a foot and half deep. We actually had to pack the snow to be able to use the sleds. We found one area that we could slide down without sleds. A steep short slope. Talk about fun. The four year old granddaughter is a dare devil. She jumped right on the hill, slid down spinning, ended up sliding face first for about thirty feet. She climbed right back up the hill and went again. We played in the snow for three days and on the way home took the kids on a cave tour. Racoon Mountain Cave in Chattanooga, TN. We have toured a few caves, but this by far was one of the best. The live formations in this cave are superb. It is one of the top rated caves in the United States. Our five year old grandson really liked the tour guide, she was only sixteen years old and related very well to the kids. All in all, a wonderful trip to my favorite place to visit.

Gary, All the weather reports indicated 3 feet + in the upper most elevations? The area we usually sled is a hill right beside a vehicle pullover about 1/4 mile from Newfoundland Gap in the Smokies. One report said 41" at Mounte Leconte!!!![H] Stays lots colder at the top as much as 10 to 15 cooler. And our hill is under the trees!!![] So the snow melts a little slower. You are right, we are going to head out about 6:00p.m. tomorrow evening.[*]

I was so excited when I saw this thread. No snow here, so what are we gonna do...drive almost eleven hours to play in the snow. We are leaving Wednesday, heading to the Smokies to play with the grandkids and our "grown" kids in the snow. Dtel thinks I am crazy. The first thing you see when you open our attic...snow disks...they stay close at hand... I LOVE the snow and try to go to the Smokies every chance I can. I usually have to drag Dtel screaming. He says we have a picture of every overlook in TN [] And his point is.... Imagine snow disks in South Mississippi[] Will take some pics, suppose to be almost four feet of snow at Mt. LeConte. Moon, catch a plane and meet us....[]

Dtel might fight Seti over the flamethrower suit. Dtel is known as the "Neighborhood Pyro".[]

Very interested. Why couldn't he also do high quality t-shirts? Would love to see pics.

For any of you that are not familiar with fire ants I would strongly recommend that you bring some Benadyrl along for the trip. Most "yankees" and maybe some others have not developed a tolerance for fire ants and they can cause a serious allergic reaction. Another suggestion Trey, there are some granular fire ant treatments available that work very well. A local feed store would be able to assist in that area, if you care to check it out.

We live in a dry county also. In our area, if the "event" is a private party, the "dry county" law doesn't apply. Just a thought, as afar as loopholes go.[]

Trey, In another thread, I think it is entitled "Saturday Night" this was offered up as a suggestion. It seems everyone is very happy with the "farmhouse" idea. It is apparently far enough "out of the way" that we wouldn't bother anyone and it would be safe in the event of a "rain out".

Jagangjee, Great pictures! Looks like everyone had a blast.[]

DKP, Please continue to keep us updated. It is so wonderful to hear Sophia is doing well. Her continued improvement gives us all comfort and hope.

You guys better be careful.[] If I am not mistaken Amy is a blonde.[]

Picky, When our girls were younger we kept the volume low. When Buddy, our grandson who is now 5 came along we "cranked the volume up" whether it was music or a movie. Buddy stays sound asleep, even when the volume is "rattling the windows". It's all in what they get used to. So...our advice..."turn up the volume."

We are up to seventy t-shirt requests...If you have not already posted please try to do so this weekend, so we can see if Klipsch will take care of the orders, or if we can get permission to do it ourselves. Would love to have the shirts in time for the Pilgrimage to Hope.

Okay dudes and dudettes, Just took a rough count from the previous thread and we have approximately seventy five t-shirt requests. If any of you have not already posted your wants...sizes, colors etc. please try and get around to posting this weekend. Jeff, you posted but did not mention whether you were interested in shirts or not. Also, I noticed a few familiar faces had not posted at all. Try and let me know so I can let Amy know how many are interested and see if Klipsch will place the orders for the store, or if we can do the t-shirt thing on our own.

Come on gang! I am trying to sell Amy on selling t-shirts. A lot of you have not responded to the questions. If you want us to have any chance of Amy even considering this you might want to post. I am thinking for real good quality shirts we would probably be in the $25-$35 range. If we can post 10 pages on Nostalgia TV, surely we can five pages on Klipsch shirt orders. I think if we can get close to 75 or 100 shirts, she may, just may consider it. If not we will try to get permission to get the logos and produce them ourselves. Multiple colors are an option if you would like to purchase multiple shirts.

I'll second that.[]

Dtel's gang would purchase a minimum of four, preferably in black.

This is just a thought... Who would like to be able to purchase Klipsch t-shirts? What color and how many? I am anxious to see just how many t-shirts would sell. I am hoping if we can "rally the troops" Amy may be willing to help us out.

I can safely say we would buy at a minimum four T-shirts, probably more the way the dtel gang is growing.

Congrats Picky! Our three girls are 24, 25 and 26. Each one has a child, they are 5, 4 and 3. And yes, we have been saying we would have had grandkids first if only we had known.