Trevor and others, Sorry for the black-out. I have been and am still traveling and have not had a chance to respond. Here is the situation: We have used the new oven two times. The first time it exhibited the beeping described above, as well as a much short exhaust fan cycle. The second time, it do not exhibit the beeping, but it did exhibit the shorter exhaust fan cycle. I speculated to myself that perhaps the beeping was some sort of heat warning because the fan was not running, however the manual does not describe the beeping in the troubleshooting section. There is a 1/2 hour differential between the two oven with regards to the exhaust fan cycle. At this point I have not called Capital because I wanted to do another test. Clearly something is wrong. Two identical ovens set to the identical temperature and heated for the same amount of time should have an identical (or nearly identical) exhaust fan cycle. I have not called Capital because I feel like I need to do one more test with both ovens to verify the results. Obviously something is wrong, but I am not sure where the problem lies. Perhaps the longer exhaust cycle (of the original oven) is incorrect (1 hr exhaust fan run-time in every situation) and the beeping was anomalous in the new oven. I have also not timed the other original oven that we still have w/ regards to the exhaust cycle. I will report back after I return home and do further tests. C.

Blakeas, there's something else I'd consider. There's a new kind of American slum forming. It's happening in neighborhoods of large suburban or exurban houses that you can't get to work from or afford to heat and cool. From 2000-07 the average size of new houses went up 30% or so. Some believe that it wasn't because people wanted more space but it was a way to put more money in RE and so get richer in the end. Take a cold look at the health of the neighborhood that you're building in. Here are some pictures of abandoned and bank owned houses by somebody who makes a living that's related to them. http://tinyurl.com/23qse4f He also runs a RE blog with some savvy people posting http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/index.html Look for more than one family in single family houses. Because banks are overwhelmed and can't take care of the houses they own, sometimes squatters move in. Ovarall, RE is unstable and a little treacherous but when it sorts itself out it will be the houses that people really want to live in that will be in demand. Realtors are wrong a lot but they're right when they say that location is important.

I agree that there ARE people out there who live in houses much longer than the average. In NoNJ both of my neighbors had been in their houses for 10+ years (one for 12 years, the other for 15 years). The couple who'd been there for 12 years plan on staying for at least another six and will think about moving after their son finishes college. The couple who has been there for 15 years will be there another two years and then once the husband retires they will move to Nashville to be near their son who recently got married and settled down in TN. So you are looking at 18 years for one family and 17 years for the other. I'd say that's major longevity! My parents bought their latest house in 1991 and are still there with a plan to be there at least another 3-5 years. Once my dad retires they will move south with an eye on buying acreage to build a house and business on. So that'll be another couple who stayed in a house twenty years. My grandfather stayed in his house for FORTY YEARS and only sold when my grandmother died and he couldn't keep up the house by himself. If she hadn't died I guarantee they would have stayed in that house. In my own instance, my DH and I are planning on living in this current house until our children go to college (they are 3yo and 4yo now). We're already planning some minor renovations (add a bathroom to create guest suite being the major one) knowing that we're going to be here a LONG TIME (read: at least 15 years).

"Let's not kid ourselves about Home Depot. First, it employs more than a single hardware store--but not more than the sum total of all hardware stores it drove out of business." I am not in denial about the impact of the big box phenomenon but if the idea is to shop local as a resident of the core of a mid size city the landscape of local hardware here hasn't been that changed by big boxes in the burbs. "Nor does it treat those employees particularly well." I know a few people who have worked at local HD Canada stores who indicated they did not find them to be a horrible employer. I haven't surveyed the employees of the local hardware stores but I have seen enough recurring faces to think they must be decent employers. However I am not naive enough to assume that being local makes you a good employer either. "Nor are its profits retained in the local community." I live in Canada and I am under no illusion that HD Canada profits are staying in Canada. However I would note that HD Canada does offer some significant Canadian made products (cabinetry and mill work for instance) that I can't get at my local hardware store. Same cabinet company HD Canada uses has made some inroads in the US as a result of their HD Canada success. There are not enough stories like this but there are some. Services are subbed out to local businesses here. By a counter and a local business does the install, same for floors and cabinet re-facing. Yes it would be better to buy from small retailers but we can't pretend there is no local revenue generated for those companies HD subs to. "Nor does it supply anything like the level of service old-time hardware stores did. Nor is it responsive to customer needs--rather, you have to respond to what Home Depot decides." I have visited an HD or two and I find the quality of assistance varies. It has also steadily declined as profits have shrunk and there are fewer full-time employees. I rarely go to HD for actual hardware - poor selection that has to be bought in bulk and products are not selected or stocked based on quality. "It's great that people can buy things cheaply when they need to, but sweeping the exhaustively documented, and far-reaching negative effects of megabusinesses is just a rationalization." Who was doing this? Reality is consumers must choose from the choices made available to them using the resources they have available. If someone can afford to patronize only small local establishments I think that is fantastic. In my area that could often mean shopping at fairly expensive retailers that are beyond my means. I am not prepared to cede any moral ground to folks who spend thousands buying exclusive, often foreign made, goods in local boutiques that employ a handful of underpaid staff and profit only the owner while I'm shopping for more affordable goods at HD where 100's of locals work, where they sell some products that are made in North America and they work with local businesses. As consumers we have to do our best with the reality we are faced with, climbing up on ones high horse seems counter productive and rather disingenuous(it's hard to shop at retailers that have already closed and I am doubtful they pay all that well).