Floota; Yep,I done it again and have the wrong name on the first one.The right name for it is CHERRY VALENTINE. Rita, corrected me on it,and I knew she was right the minute she said it is NOT DRAGON KING.. I do use a Digital Camera, too,and it does have the auto focus on it.If it didn't , my photo's would probably be a lot worse :)I do not hold it at arms length, but don't hold it right at my face either.I probably have it 10 inches from my face most of the time,and hold my arms in close to my body to be able to hold the camera more steady.Too much trouble to get the tripod out,and I imagine the neighbors and passer bys think I am nuts anyway, out taking photo's of flowers. I can use all the help I can get to take better photos. Jean

I just have to report back...And I agree, Ann is the BOMB DIGGITY! I posted yesterday, and then basically flew around until I had to leave at 3:30 to my Baseball Concession stand for the night..so I didn't get to come back to the thread. I'm glad Ann had her proto type, to share with you guys! My husband wanted to know all about the stuff on the table. (see above..no time to put away and why would I want to?) LOL He thinks the glasses are so cool...And kept picking up the cutting board and rubbing it! LOL He and Kellan (my middle one) decided that the Strawberry Shortcake should be SERVED on the placemats right away! And when I told my HB(Honey Bunny) that the "shortcake" was made with her scones...He said.."ooh yeah..I know those scones"..... So at some point this weekend (if I get a moment) I've got to make strawberry shortcake, with Ann's scones... Ann, the next time you want to send me a parcel..just drive it down...I'd love to sit and chat!

@ Live wire oak. Just a few points. As far as viewing templates at fabrication time, I wasn't even aware that such a service was offered as standard practice - it was certainly never offered to us, or we most certainly would have taken the opportunity to participate as we were nervous about getting a close color match. We have since had two people come round to take a look, and each one has said the same thing, that the mismatched section looks like it comes from another slab that only approximates the rest of the counter in color. It has more of a reddish base to it, while the remainder of the counter-top is more creamy. Secondly, the gap is an issue because the counter overhang is not covered by the back-splash, a point we clearly made to the measurer - the back-splash is going to be in line with the edge of the end wall cabinet and the matching end base cabinet below. Thus the protruding section of the counter top isn't in play - to take that into account would leave the back-splash protruding past the wall cabinet by nearly two inches, leaving an illogical and untidy section jutting out past the cabinets. The guy who did the measuring gave us his assurance that the template would take the issue into account. I have since been told by another fabricator that a common practice with uneven walls such as ours is to notch the drywall on the 'bumps' in order to seat the granite firmly against the rest of the wall. That's actually what I expected them to do in order to fulfill my request for the end piece to sit flush against the wall. I'm also intrigued about your point regarding the back-splash in so far as how one would approach shaping a tile cut to approximate the rounded edge of a counter top? Also, I'm a bit confused about your point for the oven cabinet to be 'skinned' - it must be American woodworking terminolgy that I'm unfamiliar with - I'm an expat Aussie. I installed the cabinets myself and know that the oven cabinet is perfectly in square with the base next to it, because I made sure it was with a view to the granite installation - I even indicated as such to the measurer by placing a builders right angle on the base cabinet butting up against the wall oven unit. Unfortunately there's a slight hollow in the wall directly behind the cabinets - I had to shim them about 3/8" away to compensate - and showed the measurer where the issues were in order to ensure that he didn't throw his measurements off by taking readings off the walls - or of the installers sliding the granite in hard against them later (which they did, accounting for the inclined gap). Had the granite been lined up on the front edge of the cabinets (with the overhang taken into account of course) and trimmed at back then the slab would have lined up near perfect with the wall oven cabinet. As for the sink, we bought the unit from the same guy, so you'd think he'd have a pretty decent idea of the cut out required, particularly as he's carried it for at least the year or since we first started browsing in his store. I could have mentioned all this earlier, but it would have made a long post even longer. Regarding the irregularities in thickness, I have been told that it is quite common for slabs to have variances because of the way they are cut, ground, and polished. But I was also told that a good installer takes this into account. What I didn't picture - I didn't want to bombard everyone with a multitude of photographs - is that the sink looks very odd because of the irregularity. They were able to grind away the difference on the front, but as for the sink you can clearly tell the difference. On one side the granite sits nice and tight near the stainless steel of the sink. On the other side of the join there is a distinct separation all round the visible section of the edge. They had to put a big gob of silicone in to fill up the gap.

Seems to me much depends on how you would react. It's a pretty good bet that you've both changed over the years and maybe you'll be closer or maybe you'll be farther apart. If the person is much younger, perhaps they'll be involved more in their own life, raising kids, work, hobbies, etc so you might not get a lot of time. If that sort of thing would bother you, don't do it. If it wouldn't bother you and you really are interested, I'd say go ahead. The issue of their arrest, to presume that they'd "know" or "think" that you'd know is pretty presumptuous. If it's a concern, maybe you should find out what it's about. Sounds like you don't care so no big deal. I'm concerned as anyone about personal safety and the like but I don't run scared thinking that everyone in the world will attack me. Checking with someone to see how they're doing is a pretty LOW likelihood of great danger or of them camping out on your doorstep or moving in with you, unless you want it. There's been a couple people I've wanted to touch base with over the years. On research I've found some are dead. Others I didn't find, though I didn't search too hard either. Good luck with whatever decision you make.