Cathrugg (& all!)- I just found out about "Clay-barring" cars this summer, when I was in a Cadillac forum for a while. GREAT info. there about all kinds of car stuff! Also...on Youtube, there's a few good videos on the subject. There's some where a guy in Europe is detailing a $1.5 mil. Bugatti Veyron...WOW! Faron Others get more involved with Porter-Cable 7424 buffers, and polishing bonnets. I may have to get one of those P-C buffers!! Another good Youtube vid. shows a guy with a 2-light stand doing a door on his black Escalade. I thought it looked great b4 he started, but when he takes ya thru it....WOW! >>> With the buffer, it's so simple!!! The Clay-bar stuff itself is SOOO simple. It's like rubbing a Play-doh chunk on your car! * The kit I got was ~ $23 retail thru ACE. * It's a Mother's product, with 2 clay-bars, & a spray-bottle of detailing solution. * Just spray the detailing solution on a section of car, flatten-out your soap-bar sized claybar, and gently rub over the paint! Use the pressure you would for taking a shower. Random motions are fine. * When you've done an area, wipe/buff off. You'll be amazed at how smooth the paint is!! * Re-mold/flatten the claybar, and spray another section, and repeat. * It gets kind of addicting! Faron Here is a link that might be useful: Mother's clay-bar video...

More than a month has passed since I updated this thread so here goes.... I had mentioned that I planned to write that letter to the other mother, but at this point I still have not done it. First, I want to make absolute certain that DD is still having contact with her, but have not been able to substantiate it as of yet. Of course I -know- their friendship remains intact, just no proof. It's not as often as it had... no where nearing being as often since she now has returned to seeing her other friends. DD attends a community college, going to the Gateway to College Program. This is a satellite campus with stores surrounding it. Her hours are 8AM to noon, and I take her and pick her up. One day last week she called and told me she had a ride home with another student. I told her fine, but still went to the campus anyway. After waiting awhile, I finally called her cellphone and she said she was on her way home... class had gotten out early. So, the next day I got the same call.. she was riding home with another student so I made sure I got there early. Saw DDas she was coming out the door and she stated that she was waiting for the other student to finish up. I pulled off, circled around and came back. Just 8 parking spaces from the campus door sat the other mother. This is what I had been expecting. So, I got out of my car, asked her where DD was, she asked me how the "f" was she suppposed to know. Well, I was livid and got in my car and pulled off, my phone ringing. Of course it was DD, mad because she saw me go to the other mother's car. And I can not prove that the other mother was there to pick up DD. Anyway, DD ended up riding home with me. Hasn't called to tell me she was riding with another student. If I get one of those calls, I'll be checking up. It's not time to back down yet. Other than that, things are going fair. She comes home on time, goes to school daily, makes all her counseling sessions. But, I never know where she is when she's gone during the day. I have not been successful in getting her to check in with me. This is something she will answer to her PO for.

Thanks so much for taking the time to create this image! It's quite helpful to see what it would look like. I agree that a mansard roof can be an issue. We were thinking of making the roof the same as that of the solarium (as seen to the left of the house). It's like a mini version of a mansard. Also although the idea of heating the driveway is a practical one and less expensive, it doesn't address the aesthetic issue of the steep driveway. We're hoping to come up with a plan that will incorporate a new garage and some surrounding landscape for both safety and aesthetic reasons.

The 15-day plan refers to this from the CDC. It seemingly relies on collective cooperation, which is not occurring. My state first shut down colleges and universities (which made sense because kids were going to/coming back from spring break). Next, they shut down k-12 schools, which initially made no sense when the news the next day showed revelers out at bars and restaurants at pre-St. Pat celebrations. Personally, I didn't understand why we were closing schools but allowing families to hang out in McDonald's playlands and go to libraries, etc. Our governor announced a statewide closing of bars and restaurants the Sunday before St. Pat's, and then less than a week later, our current stay-at-home orders. It's too early to tell based on numbers here, but the goal is to lessen the spread, especially since we are now learning about more infections among first-responders. If the spread slows, it's because of the responsible actions of many. But any continued spread--especially after about 2 weeks from now--will likely be the result of those who have not been following the recommendations in place. I battled this with my kids last weekend, who wanted to go out and visit old friends who are now in town. I told each of them outright: you are not an essential worker, and you don't need to go out for essential supplies... Just Stay Home. There are many people who are making sacrifices for the greater good. You are not an exception to the rules.