I have two Canon Printer/scanners. Both Pixma models (approx $120.00). They came with OmniPage SE free. This is an optical scanning software which is so easy to use. I use this heavily in my work (medical insurance). It scans documents into Word, where you can edit. Or you can edit right in the software itself. I love this software. I believe it comes with every Canon Printer/scanner. Jane

Footballmom: Using a sink in a corner application is not anything new or carrying a high degree of difficulty - your success in doing this will depend on the kind of sink you are proposing to use and the amount of support (or lack thereof) that your sink and your stone countertops will have. IF your cabinet contractor is building a support system that will "cradle" your sink from UNDERNEATH - then IMHO - your cabinet contractor is dialed in and your application should be "no worries"..... Also - IF your sink is stainless steel - this would be another variable that will be positive. IF on the other hand your sink is cast iron - you will need to make sure that your contractor builds his support system strong enough to suport the weight of the cast iron sink, it's contents and the weight of the garbage disposal - ALL adding downward force to whatever is holding your sink up to begin with. IF you could post pics of the floor plan that show plan views of the cabinet layout and the detail illustrating the countertops and where they will sit - that would be a big help in having pro's like me and others that frequent GW to chime in with their .02 cents worth. PLYWOOD will NOT (alone) be enough to support stone tops. You'll need to have adequate cabinet structure to support the entire assembly. The plywood (used for a 2CM thick slab material) will help give support to the counters, but the cabinets will need to be set LEVEL and FLAT - and ATTACHED totally to the walls - most guys in the trades know this. IF your contractors are NOT total dufusses (or "dufii" - plural form of the singular "Dufus") my guess is that you should be OK..... Post some pics - OK???? HTH kevin

I do appreciate your reply. My absence from home delayed seeing it. I have Windows XP Pro. The EPSON SCAN feature worked fine for a few days and now will not open. I get the little window advising that I can use the troubleshooting guide if I wish. It does not help. I can go to Control Panel, Cameras And Scanners and use my scanner that way. But that way lacks some of the versatility of EPSON SCAN. So the problem must be in some software issue. I have uninstalled and reinstalled more than 3 times, no help. I got the newer version online from Epson, no help. I am even considering buying another computer for scanner use only, adding nothing to it except the scanner software, never using it online, so that software conflicts will not arise. Please post your suggestions. I again might be away for a few days.

Thanks, everyone, for your very helpful thoughts. I really appreciate the time that you took in making suggestions and giving me thoughts. This is a new construction home but with so many different constraints, we don't have much leeway. One thing is that it is a tiny lot (30 X 70) on a sloping lot, so getting everything packed in can be complicated. To that end, we have to have the steps going up from room to room. I can't get rid of them, and I think that there is a reason they are at a diagonal, but I will check on that. One self-imposed constraint is that it is REALLY important to my husband to have minimal interior walls in the main living space. Our ceilings won't be that high (a little more than 10' at the highest), but it will have what we call a "modern beach house" look, which includes the steel beams. I honestly have no ability to add more wall space; it would completely ruin the house for my husband. I realized that I posted a slightly older version of the kitchen earlier. The differences aren't that significant, but I hope the picture below gives you more information about the current set-up. Basically, the kitchen will be between the living room to the south, and the dining room to the east. The island labeled "countertop" at the right of the picture is two sided, with a bookcase toward the living room and cabinetry toward the kitchen. The dining room will have a halfwall that is shared by kitchen which should create a ledge blocking all the kitchen dishes. It is also where I plan for the dishes to be set after dinner in the dining room, hopefully to do away with some of the hazards of the stairs. One big concern I have is the couple comments about it being a one-person kitchen. That is exactly what I DON"T want. My kids already help me now, and I know that I will continue to want them to help out. Any suggestions for how to change that, I would really appreciate. Knowing that the refrigerator has to be on that wall, is there any other way that you can think to make it less of a problem for the prepping? You can have the refrigerator and freezer open the same direction, which I had planned on doing. I think that I planned to do the prep either on the island across from the refrigerator or on the counter next to the refrigerator. I expected that most people getting snacks would come from the living room, so I thought that the refrigerator would probably be out of the way from there. Thanks, again, for your help. I will try to find more specific dimensions so I can give you more information soon.