The average person looking at a wing cross-section would think it pushed down, not lifts up. Common sense would fail them there. And not wanting to be disagreeable, but I think common experience (emperical results), not common sense, guides most good gardening. We often don't know specifically why something works, at least in any rigorous sense, but we know what has worked reliably for others and ourselves. Reasonable, common sense solutions can sometimes lead us astray. Common sense might easily have all our pear pruning in the dormant season (as with most other deciduous fruits): practical experience shows that some summer pruning is often more effective. Common sense had us removing lawn clippings from the lawn ("leads to thatch buildup"): actualy experience (experiment) shows that leaving them is best apparently and has nothing to do with thatch. It is often hard to figure out when to defer to authority (whether university or neighbor) and when to go with the gut, with common sense. Fortunately in gardening, experimenting and failing occasionally has little risk.

advisor - maybe we just are reading this differently: "contractor is saying we can run 10 inch off the hood and then "choke it back" to the 8 inch for the majority of the run. " You see , only an idiot would got to the trouble to install an 8" to 10" transition at the hood and then immediately add another one going in the opposite direction to go back down to 8". So what is likely happening is there is the takeoff at the hood at whatever size to 10" for a run of between 2 and 24 feet at which point there is to be another reducer of 10" down to 8" for the rest of the run - or majority as o.p. says. This leaves a big belly in the middle of the assembly. If you think this is good design then you are certainly entitled to your opinion, but fancy website aside I say you're wrong. You are correct about the transitions 8" to 10" is quite common , you can get one of the shelf at your local home depot, and VAH will even sell you one. They'll even sell you one of their wacky 8" plus 6" dual takeoff to 10" round if you get one of their larger hoods. BUT, I'm not letting any contractor go from 8" to 10" back down to 8" again in our projects. You can do what you want, and I'd suggest mrd gets someone that knows what they are doing locally to advise him/her because 1. neither you or I are on site to see what's actually going on, 2. have not been engaged to design the system, 3. seems that the onsite HVAC guy is not quite on the top of his game based on the quoted gameplan. RE: the 600 cfm, might be enough, but what if it's actually not in this case. Are you going to pay for the swap, refund the consult fee, ect.??? I know 900 + will work because it there is a lot of xtra headroom built in. It might cost more, or maybe not as VAH is proud of their hoods, but that cushion is nice. You also do not mention how loud that VAH is going to be especially on full tilt ! May not be important to mrd as (s)he didn't mention it - but what if it is???? Doesn't seem prudent to make a rec to a stranger that is too conservative - but hey it's a free country.

Ooooo, the LE one is very cute. As Faron points out, you'll need some nice dresses for your future trip to the Maui Four Seasons so maybe the others you've ordered will still be worth keeping. I like the look of the Betsy but reading the material is nylon makes me hot and itchy. You might not have that problem. I like the theory of the Sundance dress but the color doesn't appeal to me. But I'm not wearing it. The AT stripe is definitely a keeper, you'll find a use for it even if it isn't this party. I think you should start the tradition of having a 50th birthday party every year from now on (since you'll have plenty of dresses to wear). It could be the fun, quirky thing that defines you. It doesn't always have to be a rented venue, just a celebration. If anyone questions it, tell them they are dropped from future guest lists. Who doesn't love a chance to celebrate life and wear a pretty dress?

Sally2, I went and checked my son's other allergies. Regarding the cobalt allergy, it's easy to avoid clothes that have rivets and metal zippers and when it's not avoidable you can cover the metal with clear nail polish. Toluene free, preferably. And I forgot to mention the BIG one that he's allergic too: Fragrance. Fragrance is not always listed as Fragrance, sometimes it is listed are Parfum. I don't know why the French spelling is in otherwise English language labelling, but there you are. As an aside, there are chemicals called Pthalates that are the carrier for the fragrances. Pthalates are bad for you, I think they are petrochemical based and carcinogenic too, you want to avoid them even if you aren't allergic. They are in most personal care and scented home products. For cleaning more often than not I used organic Dr. Bronner's with either the Peppermint or Tea Tree essential oil. You can even use this as a body wash and some people brush their teeth with it, it's that safe.