I agree with Bay . Sounds more like a Belt or Friction Disc Slippage . Also if the shear pin within the drive shaft is broken this may also occurr .

If you have access to a design engineering office, see if they have anyone who works with 'strain gages'. Strain gage technicians and engineeres routinely solder tiny conections, sometimes under a low power microscope. A special soldering gun is used. Make sure that the soldering gun is electrically isolated and grounded to preclude imparting a damaging charge to the pins. (I am trained to apply strain gages.) The next source is an engineering college that offers strain gage application courses. There will be experts among the staff. A third source is a solid state chip design group. They may have access to specialized equipment. However, at this writing, I have little hope that you can recover the data. It all depends on the damage and where the breaks are. The damage can extend into the packaging. If I understand thumb drives, I think there is an internal, very small 'keep alive' battery that maintains the state of the memory junctions. If this battery is damaged or the connections to it interrupted, then all data is lost. If the 'die' (chip) has been cracked or over strained, then it is lost. This damage can not be seen as it will under the potting compound. If the leads have been broken flush with the packaging (potting) material, then there is little hope in making a solder connection. Before you give up, examine the thumb drive under a low power (10 to 20x) inspection microscope. Look at the leads. Hopefully, these are not broken, but misshapen.

Sorry for the delay in responding. Was working on a big yard project and too tired in the evening to think about the inside remodel. Great ideas from all of you. I did want to put the kitchen where the LR is as it has a room on the other side that is perfect for a mudroom, but DH absolutely does not want to touch the LR and take out the fireplace. Also the floor is dropped in that space and running plumbing would be difficult and expensive. And, college attending DD lives in the spare space(access is from garage). The office is only around 9-10 feet deep and I think putting the PR in it would make the desk area way too small. It is also my library/reading/get away space. IÂll have to consider moving either the outside ref or freezer in the laundry room. However, the room is pretty small and I want some counter space for my sewing machine and desperately need an ironing board space (both are currently in formal dining room). I know all the doorways in the kitchen are messy. The opening by the office is important as that will be the way we get to the new courtyard (thru the office) and the kids and I use the computer in the office a lot. I like to keep an eye on what they are doing on-line. IÂve thought about trying to leave the coats and boots outside the door, but we have pushed the wall out as far as it can go under the eves as we can without disturbing the roof (cost concession). Also when it is snowing, one does not like to take off coat and shoes outside. Sigh! Anyway, I reworked the plan after the first round of ideas but before see all these additional ideas. I moved the pantry and changed the PR. Pantry is not as big, but an okay size. Takes some space from the dining area, but I want a banquette and so do not need to walk completely around a table. I think the separation between the fridge and stove is better. The fridge is close to prep sink which will be used for working with food and does not block the stove access. Also gives me more cabinets. This house is dismally short on storage. Not sure if we are doing a range or cooktop yet. If I put ovens somewhere else it would be on the same run as the refrigerator. That area will probably be where I do baking related activities. Dish storage will be by window sink and relatively close to dining area. Any thoughts on this layout?

Although the house looks a little remuddled on the exterior right now, some relatively cosmetic changes (if you consider enlarging that window cosmetic) will go a long way to making this house at least fit its context better again. This isn't a house surrounded by classic colonial revivals in Fairfield County Connecticut. This house is surrounded more or less like houses just like this, in a post-war development, with smaller, sometimes odd-looking, sometimes remuddled houses just like this. Fix the patchwork colors on the front, try to correct the remuddle a little and it will be fine. I am a pragmatist about stuff like this, maybe because I live in an urban environment in a mid-century infill development with some pretty homely houses with very functional interiors. My house looks pretty okay in its context. It would not look great sandwiched between white clapboard houses with shutters. I think the same about this house. And I am not sure that if this were turned into something beautiful somehow that it would fit in its older suburban development context anyway.