First, go to Home Depot and get a book on Home Repairs. We have one that has
an orange cover, and it is a good all purpose book.
Second, listen to what the others said re the tree. My husband is just plain
stupid when it comes to home repairs, and risk taking, and even *he* had
enough sense to call a professional when we needed a tree cut down in our
backyard.
Next, an 'appliance repair' person isn't going to touch a gas line. Odd as
it sounds, the people that work on gas lines are licensed plumbers.
Best thing you can do is ask your neighbors for references. Go with
neighbors who have lived in your neighborhood for years. Then, check out
those referrals with the Better Business Bureau.
And last, you will learn most of what you need to learn about home ownership
the way most of us have, through the school of hard knocks.
Good luck to you,
lucy

"v" wrote in message
...
On 25 Oct 2004 23:47:03 -0700, someone wrote:


THIS IS NOT A GOOGLE GROUP.

2) i've got to take down a tree but all of the information online is
about falling a tree. I can't do this because the tree is far too
big, too many nearby houses and telephone wires. I want to climb up
there and chainsaw it down piece by piece

If you don't know WTF you are doing, the last thing you need is to be
climbing with a chainsaw. As a beginner, climb with a handsaw. Do a
little. Then re-evaluate whether this is something you really want to
take on. BTW, if you get a cheap bowsaw stuck in a collapsing cut,
its a much cheaper problem than if you got a $400 chainsaw stuck up in
a tree. You will need quite a bit of gear to climb, saw and lower
safely. Do you want to invest in all that?

Why ever did you buy a house if you are that clueless, and how did you
live the rest of your life? Even if you rent, you could try fixing
little stuff yourself rather than calling the LL for every little
thing, it's good practice if you plan on home ownership.

Good luck.

-v.