Ra1Der: try deleteing the history on both pieces before using the booleans. Seems to work better that way.

As for the PLE debate: There's nothing wrong with using PLE. It's still Maya, just a lighter version of it strictly for the purpose of learning the software. The watermark, although very obnoxious and annoying, is their way of saying, "Here's a free version of Maya, but if you want to make money from using it, then go buy the full version". Ain't nothing wrong with that. I know I would be pissed if I bought Maya for $XXXX.XX and suddenly they decide to give it away for free! OOOOH! DAT MAKE TAZ MAD!