We have had GE appliances in every house since our marriage in 1963. We moved into our present home back in 1996 and we bought all GE profile. Yes, our microwave died after a respectable number of years…the same happened to our dishwasher. Their replacements did not survive as long as the originals did. Our 18 year old GE Profile fridge gets a huge hug and an "I love you" from me each day. In truth…her ice maker was replaced twice and we finally gave up and started buying bagged ice at the grocery. Our 18 year old GE profile slide in electric range was removed to make way for a brand new Viking D3 series electric range…there is no gas in our area…last week our Viking range was removed after a short three month stay with us…it arrived with several damages. I never used it. The Viking OTC microwave…made by Sharp…was a horrible piece of junk…it arrived damaged too. The Viking dishwasher…made by Blomberg…was so beautiful but we never used it either…it needed special salt and at a cost of anywhere from $14.40 to $20 per one pound bag we felt that in our extremely hard water area…the cost of running this appliance might be ridiculous. Plus the fact that we were concerned about the condensation and the problems with getting the dishes properly dried. We are old and we are creatures of habit…we are not stupid but we felt in this case modern technology might be too complicated for us. Now because we need both a counter depth and a fully stainless wrapped free-standing refrigerator, we are purchasing a GE Monogram which is the only fully stainless freestanding wrapped fridge available. Viking discontinued the one we originally purchased and they have yet to replace it. This is why we sent back all of the Viking appliances. We heard that their new refrigerator will be made by Electrolux…the one we bought was made by KitchenAid…Jenn Air also made their freestanding fridges. All were rated equally pretty good…not great. A solid good. We are not doing a full kitchen remodel…so we do not have the option of a built in fridge or a wall oven. We do plan to purchase the 240 Advantium OTC speed-cooker and the top of the line dishwasher. We are considering the Dacor induction range or perhaps just their electric slide in or freestanding. Once again, we need a range with at least some stainless on the sides and the Dacor has a choice of handles. Their fully integrated handle will be our best option to go under the GE Advantium. I like my appliances to match. Sort of. For those of you who point out just how many of these GE appliances need repairs each year…remember that no appliance is perfect. They all need repairs. For people like us who have specific needs, we can't go with a Sub Zero or Wolf. It isn't always about money or who has the most to spend on what. If we could pick anything and there were no restrictions…I would probably still go with GE because for us their products have aways performed admirably. I know that they are now or soon to be owned by Electrolux…GE selected a very reputable well known company rather than selling out to some lesser known foreign one…our Viking dishwasher was from Blomberg…I have yet to find anyone who has ever heard of them. I realize that GE Monogram is considered by many of you as a Profile in disguise…as the men were removing our new Viking appliances they walked past our old Profile and they told us that it looked brand new. And it does look and perform as if it were new…perhaps it is because I hug it each day…I tell it that it must hang on until it's replacement arrives. Middleby, who purchased Viking or perhaps Viking, decided that they were no longer going to sell the freestanding stainless wrapped fridge that we purchased. We had no choice but to go with Monogram. Time will tell if it performs as well as its predecessor. In the meantime…please do not scare off people by saying that GE Monogram and their other products are inferior to Sub Zero and Wolf. I too would love to have my kitchen full of their products but that would mean a complete remodel. After just redoing two bathrooms and putting brand new Fabrica carpeting throughout our home…and doing a few other things around the house…our budget would not allow us to renovate the kitchen. Besides…our cabinets and tile floors look as good now as the day we moved in here. We are from another generation…we learned to value what we had and take care of it…that said some things last and others are replaced…but in this reuse recycle world…we decided that our money could be spent elsewhere. And so no Wolf or Sub Zero…they are admirable brands…but for those of us who simply can't afford them or can't use them…no matter the reason…there is nothing wrong with the GE brand…they have a few bad apples just like anyone else. My cousin has Sub Zero…she just had her fridge worked on…so they are not 100% perfect. Sorry for the long read but I am tired of seeing GE badmouthed…they are an admirable company…yes they have been sued…I know all about it…but in comparison to their satisfied customers…those of us who purchased extended warranties…we have always received great service from GE. Always ask who does the warranty work…and when we had our NON- GE HE washer and dryer repaired a few months ago…twice…we were told by both techs that ALL appliances now are made with planned obsolescence as a "built in" feature. Depending on the appliance and of course the manufacturer ever appliance made today is made to last only a short while. We all know that automobile manufacturers do this…but now our kitchen appliances are programmed to fail…some faster than others. Everything is made that way. For months I have been researching kitchen appliances…reading reviews…and I have yet to find anything that is 100% perfect. I did however discover that my OTC Viking microwave…made by Sharp…cost me twice as much simply because it had the Viking logo on it. I refuse to buy a Dacor OTC for the same reason…it costs $700 MORE than the same Sharp version. We all have our own unique needs…so for you to badmouth one brand while urging someone to buy another brand is unfair. Yes voice your opinion…but remember that what is right for you and your home might not work for me. Do not say I should buy a KitchenAid fridge…I did…disguised as a Viking…but along the way not only did the KA fridge morph into an Electrolux…but it lost its pretty stainless sides. Life is a gamble…we all take risks each day…just because a tech was late arriving at your house or because you had an appliance that was a lemon…we got stuck with an experimental model clothes dryer…had no parts available…we have all had bad experiences with appliances, cars, etc. I just can't believe that GE Monogram has been around for as long as it has without some degree of success. Remember…we all love to complain about everything…appliances included…but we rarely get online to leave compliments about products we love. Before I sign another contract…aren't there any people reading this who own and love the newer GE Monogram appliances? You can't blame the entire company because one tech arrived late at your house…or did a lousy job…and that goes for a few appliances that didn't work properly…hasn't anyone read or heard anything good about GE Monogram…something recent…the internet is filled with stories dating back to 2005 and earlier…they must sell a lot of this brand for it to still be around. Thanks to all of you who read all the way to the end…next week I MUST decide what to buy…the people who sell this stuff always love it of course…I would like to hear from some of you who are happy with your Monogram appliances. Surely there must be some of you who are glad you bought it. Right? Right?

lazygardens and debrak - Thanks for the support! Snookums - Those are the numbers he provided. The cabinets I couldn't believe. They are a small company from a rural area, family owned. Everything is hand-crafted and gorgeous. Glowing reviews. I didn't even know they existed. If I did I might have just subcontracted everything and done it myself. The man from the cabinet place seemed to be like the only one who knew what I wanted. He provided a detailed estimate with comments and came to my home to explain how they would install and have me inspect everything prior to installation. We thought about dropping the contractor and just working with him and finding other companies for granite, etc. Since he works through our contractor, I doubt he would sabotage his relationship just to do our cabinets or else I would ask him. Certain things like the granite are special pricing because the company has a deal with contractors on 6 types of granite (also my friend's parents happen to own the company which I didn't know at the time). For the flooring and backsplash, I talked with the company directly and that is what she quoted for material and installation for our size kitchen. Everything else the contractor will be doing. Kitchen Size = 20' x 10'. It is an awkward shape. JoaniePoanie - I'm afraid of the idea of overages. Also, he charged the $500 at the beginning of the "design and final estimate" process. It was after his ball park estimate. His ball park was looking at the kitchen and spitting out a number (it was free). Gooster - Those are the numbers he provided. Cabinets, Flooring and Backsplash, and Granite are all separate companies he works with. Also, I think it is worth mentioning last year we researched several contractors. Received estimates from about 4. And we only liked two. It was funny the other company we liked gave us a figure of $24.5k (detailed and precise). However, we liked this guy better because he lives in our community, felt it would be easier to work with him, and he came in at our budget around $18k (rough estimate). Sorry for the super long posts. But I know I like nitty gritty details. :)

Agree with the manual transmission! Getting harder to find. When I was buying my new car, my mechanics, inspection guy, etc. all urged me to go with automatic transmission, but I stuck to my guns and got a manual transmission ('08 Toyota Matrix). There are very practical reasons for going with manual. They're about $1,000 less than auto transmission, they get better gas mileage, you have A LOT more control in snow with manual transmissionâ¦and shortly after I bought the car (my old one was also manual - I was taught to drive manual in Beacon Hill, Boston, by my father!), gas went over $4/gal. With manual transmission, you can "hyper mile", which means coast in neutral down hill. I still do it to this day, now out of habit, and I get on the highway as much as between 50 and 60 mpg by hypermiling. The manager at Toyota told me that the trend now is that women are asking for manual transmission. Interesting. However, I don't recommend it if you live in the city or do mostly city driving. And definitely not if you live on Beacon Hill or in San Francisco! I am very nervous that it is going to be obsolete by the time I have to buy my next car.

Hi Donna, Joey, Fred and Carl ( and everyone else ), Stella Lace came my way early this year as a mislabel from a very generous gardening friend of mine. Not the one I expected when it came to flowering, but most welcome. No seed was set this time round for me, but I have read of one other gardener having no trouble with seed production from this variety, but she didn't mention if the resultant plants looked anything like their parent. I will be happy to send over any self-seed or pollen produced on the next flowering- although I think seed would be the safer of the two. The plant looks healthy and happy enough, but I haven't had it for all that long, and I would hate to send any unknown problems along with the pollen. As for the other varieties- if seeds matures next year from the ones you like, you are welcome to it. I have more than I can possibly use. The Maguire's are very strong pod producing plants and germinate well ( except for 'Nana Parnell' and 'Margie Bruton'...I haven't had any luck with them so far ) . Maybe I could try sending seed over to a few of you ( if it manages to get through ) and you could distribute it among yourselves once over there? I know, Fred, had his eye on one or two of them :) Joey- I will look after that spotted one a little better, and try for seeds for you next October/November. Let me know what others you are interested in. Thank you for your generous offer- I'll keep an eye out for your blooms ( you never know! ), but to tell the truth, I think I have already over-done it here! The above is not a complete list! And then there are all the seedlings coming on! I really will have to do some culling over the next year or so.....but which are the ones that should go? Not a decision I can easily make!! The seedling table! These three pots are last year's seedlings. They grow quickly here, and it's easy to be over-run with hippeastrums in a very short time ( happy thought! ). Julie