>>>Actually, when we moved back to the states, we almost did pay cash for our house. We paid it off in a year because the way mortgage interest is compounded, we knew that we were saving ourselves a fortune. No, we weren't able to do this because we are wealthy. We were able to do this because we have been frugal our entire lives, never lived beyond our means and never accumulated any credit card debt. Also, we bought a very modest house that we could afford. What a novel concept...
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>>I'ts been reinvented all over the place, just not widely advertised. We paid ours in 33 months - couldn't do any faster because I was out of a job for a while, and we had two girls in college at the time. And even better, we found buying tools far more profitable than investing in contractors. Learned to do our contractions ourselves, it's not rocket surgery.
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>You learned to go into labor; interesting <g> (as you like to nitpick at others gaffes <g>)

Indirectly, expecting to get a 2nd grandfather chevron on my shoulder any day now. The knowledge base stays in the family - there are some things you never trust the contractors to do instead of you, specially those they advertise loudly.