You got an excellent bargain on the oven. Do call Gaggenau and see if they'll honor the warranty. Congrats! Mine was FedEx'd from England. I think it was $70 U.S. duty, plus $5 for FedEx to handle the paperwork. Since you'll be carrying yours as luggage, you should be paying (if it hasn't changed) according to the following equation, with the price in U.S. dollars of your cooktop being X: duty=.03(X-800) That should be a lot less than import duty. That is, assuming that there isn't special duty on hand carried electronics or some such. If there's VAT in Germany, ask the store if you can have it waived since you're taking it out of the country. I don't know if you've seen the caveats. For your self-imported cooktop, you should get a letter from your insurance company saying that they know it's European rather than UL approved and that that doesn't affect your policy (mine said so long as it was installed by a licensed electrician). Also, you should make sure your building codes don't specify UL. If they do, you'll need a waiver. The Euro certification is just as good as UL, but you want to make sure that you have all the bases covered so they can't use a technicality to weasel out of the help you'd be given if there's a fire or something (like from a lightning strike). I'm also in California but local codes and inspectors vary. Do check with the airlines about the measurements they allow as well. It should be fine. My cooktop would fit, with its original box, into my old large pullman suitcase. I'm not sure about the newer ones, but it's the three dimensions added together they go by, with a maximum diagonal, so I think that part will be fine. Actually, if you have an old large pullman case, you might consider taking it, with some old towels or rags, and bring home the cooktop in the case, with the cloth for padding, instead of having to get an outer box and peanuts. Worse comes to worst, you can always send it FedEx. :)

PLEASE research the purchase of a Viking refrigerator extremely well. We have a Viking refrigerator that's only 9 years old and are going to replace it. We have spent the last 14 months with repair problems. There were so many visits from the service man that I lost count. The refrigerator NEVER sealed with a strong seal but we were told by Viking that that's the way it should be. Besides the closing problem we've had the freezer stop defrosting not once but three times and lost ALL the food three separate times and it was supposedly fixed each time. I read a post on this website where someone wrote that his Viking refrigerator was the most expensive stainless steel bookcase he ever bought ~ now I'm writing that I SECOND that statement !! We're sick that we are now in the market to buy another built-in refrigerator with another expensive price tag because of the shoddy workmanship from Viking. I purchased the cheapest Kenmore for our downstairs that's just as old as the Viking and it seals, defrosts and purrs like a dream ~ what's wrong with this picture. I feel that Viking just doesn't care about customer satisfaction. As for the salesman that is pushing the Viking really check into this ~ maybe the salesman gets a bigger commission for selling a Viking ~ please do your homework !!!!! I learned a VERY expensive lesson by taking the salesman's word for it.

After DS was born I only worked 4 days/wk, so had Fridays with him (and to run errands). He was in daycare onsite with DH so DH had all the "carpool" duties but DS's schedule was his schedule. After DD it went all to heck b/c she was always sick, crying, not eating at daycare so I took *lots* of time off, finally pulled her out, DH, my mom and I took turns watching her til I finally quit my job. Then started driving around just to get her to nap. And it hasn't stopped 5 yrs later! Sometimes I feel like the kids and I try to live our lives *between* car rides. DH just goes to work 4 days/wk (telecommutes 1 day), and other than Scouts on Tuesday nights, just stays home once he gets home. When I was working (and earning more than he was) and we only had 1 kid, we split the housework. Since I quit to be a SAHM, housework is my job. Except for occasions like when he decided to vacuum the FR while DD and I were at dance class on Saturday, and he ran the vacuum cleaner under the edge of the sofa bed or something and scratched it all up! He's ruined every vacuum I've ever owned, but since we don't have electric baseboard in this house (and he doesn't ever clean), I didn't think he'd scuff this one up. At least it's not all cut up like the old one was (he ruined that one for good when he used the carpet cleaning head to suck up water in the basement. The motor was OK - meant to be a wet vac - but the concrete ruined the plastic nozzle).

With the prep sink, Lavender's plan alleviates the issue with the barrier island but it doesn't do anything to make it safer to be at the cooktop with traffic coming through that door right into the cook. And the aisles are quite narrow at 36". Yikes!! Sorry, your kitchen is one of those that is too wide to be an efficient galley but too narrow for an island. A small, movable counter-height work table should suffice. This plan moves your range where it's out of the traffic corridor and safer to use although I would prefer to see a wider counter between it and the door for safety. I would go for a 30 range and be done with it. 36" max. Also, hoods should be 6" wider than the cooktop. A 48" cooktop means a 54" wide hood. Expensive and will probably need make-up air. This plan also has all the prep/cook functions on the same side of the kitchen will be a lot more efficient. And all the clean-up functions on the other side. It's much safer to get bonked by a passer-by when you're doing dishes than it is when you're cooking, for them and for cook.