Some of the earliest signs of the present economic troubles appeared in the nation's housing industry.  Presently, new home starts (as indicated by permit activity) have dredged 25-year lows, and existing home sales have fallen even as they become seemingly more affordable amidst heretofore unseen devaluation.  As lenders tighten their practices, real estate finance has become markedly more conservative, decreasing the ability for many to obtain credit for purchases and improvements.

While the daily headlines emphasize these and other domestic economic problems, is it any surprise that

Mason:

It appears that we have a leak from an upstairs shower, right over our dining room table below. Is this a job for a plumber or a handyman service, or what?

Bob S., Glen Allen, VA

Bob,

Most know that the works of Frank Lloyd Wright were fraught with technical problems.  I recall the story of an angry letter from Edgar Kaufmann (owner of the famous Fallingwater house) to Mr. Wright, complaining of a roof leak over his dining room table.  Wright's flip response:  "What a perfect place for a bowl!".

Seriously, though, let's first get familiar with the particulars of your shower, toward

Hello,

We are remodeling a home in Midlothian and we are trying to come up with very efficient and eco-friendly technology to integrate into the home including, solar panels, radiant heating, water recycling, geo thermal heating, heat recovery systems and smart technology.

 Is there anyone out there selling these services in Central Virginia for one stop shopping that could provide a plan to achieve the highest efficiencies based on what is available.  We moved from England and it is much easier to find these services in London as they seem to be further advanced in eco-technology. 

 Let me

Who thought the interest in gambling would be so great that the World Series of Poker would be televised on ESPN?  Obviously, somebody's watching.

An interesting point in that regard, quoting Pug Pearson, 1973 World Series of Poker champion, made this observation about human nature:

"The real thing to know is that folks will stand to lose more than they will to win.  That's the most important percentage there is.  I mean, if they lose, they're willin' to lose everything.  If they win, they're usually satisfied to win only enough to pay for dinner and a show..."

I was thinking about this

 Dear Mason,

My house was built in 1938. The walls are plaster over lathe. I'm noticing more cracks in the ceilings, including one that runs parallel to the chimney bump out, about 3 inches away from the wall. It actually looks like the part of the ceiling that is closer to the fireplace is a fraction (1/32"?) higher than the part outside the crack. The crack follows that chimney exactly. Is my house sinking? And do I just repair the crack, or is there more that needs to happen? Last, what sort of contractor takes care of this sort of issue? 

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Lisa C.

Lisa, Dear