Volts500, Mark and Sue,

Thanks to your help and the help of others I now feel I know enough to keep
the electrician honest. I've got the soars book on order and I plan to do
some of the grunt work myself. I honestly didn't realize this thread would
get so involved. It's very kind of you to help out while keeping the focus
on my safety. To ease my guilt at having imposed on so much of your time, I
can only hope others will get some use out of it as well.

Keeping everything in mind, I'm going to follow Volt's advice for all the
grounding. I'm also going to replace the Service Disconnect (as Mark
suggested), and rewire the panelboard. Now, this opens up a few more
questions. If I had any shame, I would feel too guilty to ask any more, but
I guess I'm a bit shameless. If you guys would start giving crappy and
vague advice, you really would avoid people like me buggying you so much.

Volts: It appears that the metal housing of the water meter negates the
need to jumper it. In this case, I think it would be better to simply
attach the grounding clamp as near as possible to the point at which the
pipe enters the home. Agreed? (See image)
http://www.geocities.com/mydeadpresidents/index.html

As for outgoing circuits, what kind of trouble can be caused by having a mix
of neutrals and grounds on each bus? I'm gonna fix it no matter what, but
it won't be the first thing I do.

You've seen my Service Disconnect box. Is it common to have a separate
service disconnect box as I do? Had it been wired correctly, couldn't I
have just used the panelboard which has it's own 100 AMP breaker) and then
skip the current Service Disconnect box?

Tell me I have this right. Let's assume I keep the Service Disconnect at
100 AMP but I want to upgrade the box. I would then get a new box (that
supports at least 100amps) then add a 100 AMP breaker for the incoming power
and then get another 100 AMP breaker for the power outgoing to the
panelboard. In other words, because my panelboard has room for the circuits
I need and that I forsee needing, I see no reason to try to run circuits
from my new Service Disconnect box and therfore, the power should just go
straight through. Put another way, I'm not using the panelboard as a
subpanel in the traditonal sense. I'm using the panelboard for ALL circuits
and the Service Disconnect is really nothing more than a way to kill the
main power and provide a lauching point for grouding conductors. Is there
anything wrong with this setup?

My main service breaker only allows for 100amps. I've read that a 100
breaker usually means you can go 200 or more, but I've totaled up the amps
of the circuits in my panel box and it's around 500! However, in the two
years I've lived here, I've never once thrown a breaker. Also, some of the
circuits are used seasonally. I've got 60 amps dedicated to the AC, but I
also have 160 amps dedicated to space heaters which I almost never use, not
even in the winter time (because that same room also has a wood stove). Is
it time to upgrade to 200amps?

I regards to power coming into my home (2 hot/1 neutral), how much power is
available? I mean, right now, judging by the breaker in my Service
Disconnect, I'm utilizing up to 100 AMPs of power. If I wanted to go 200,
then can I just upgrade to a breaker and panel that support the extra amps?
Or, is there some kind of physical change the Power Co will have to make?

Thanks