June I would suggest MDG might well catch you for a tidy sum to do the repair. I Googled your model number but never found anything, should we consider the 2002 as the year you bought it? If so the repair bill might cost more than the worth of the computer. You can buy a nice power supply and install it yourself. Not sure where you live in Ontario but Canada Computers have an Antec and a Enermax power supply in their clearance section for under $50. Both are top names. NCIX of Vancouver have a Thermaltake for $46.65 Canada Computers have branches from Kingston to Waterloo but are not a very helpful bunch so you need to know what you want and expect little assistance - but the prices are good. NCIX are great, order before supper and it gets shipped that day and they have a good reputation

Hi, Audrey - I have a PC8500. Make sure the needle is not too large (I usually use an 11 for embroidery). Also, take it all apart in the bobbin area and clean it, and take the cover off the left side where the thread tension is and clean there - even tiny little bits of thread or fuzz can mess it up. I also tend to have trouble with designs where part stitches on top of something already stitched. It makes a lot of noise and tends to break the thread when it's punching through the first embroidery. Usually fine thread and a fine needle help. Also, make sure you don't have your design "over-stabilized". I was doing some free standing lace ornament covers and using the 2 layers of WSS they recommended in the instructions, and discovered that one layer is plenty and the machine didn't have to work nearly so hard.

johnatemp, you're right, I don't want to move the tv. That alcove next to the fireplace is really too small for the tv. Besides, there are cables coming from all over the house that get wired to the stereo that is with the tv. I had thought many times that I would like to make the area where the eating area is move of a lounge area. There are really too many doors in that area to make it a very cozy area. I have another area next to the kitchen that I'm doing that instead (and bigger). I have thought about removing the leaf in the table to make it smaller to fit the space better. Most of the time there is only 4 of us eating. Chris, the rug is situated the same way it was in the old location. I have it setting back a bit so that the lamp cord can hide under it and remove the trip hazard. I like the idea of the sofa table under the window. That statue is over 50 lbs, so I need help with that one (and we were in a hurry to go furniture shopping). I got some pretty good ideas while I was out. I'm thinking instead of a sectional, maybe an oversized chair with a couch or love seat? Either way, I'll only have seating for about 4 people (the corner in a sectional is pretty lost). I did find a curved sectional I liked, but it still only seated 4. I'm going to work on the end where the chair and ottoman are along with the table and chairs to see if I can come up with some more room. I'll take some more pictures and post when I'm done to see what you think. Also, any light recommendations for the table where the recliners are? I'd like to have something that doesn't sit on the table, but still worked as task lighting. The guys do play chess there frequently, so I need something that doesn't sit on the table, but will still give hoof task light. You're also right, Chris. I'm trying to get away from the log or cabin feel, and more or a transitional feel and try to accessorize with our horse "stuff". Robbi

I agree that 17 years is a good long life for a fridge, and that your electric bills will drop like a ROCK if you got a new Energy Star fridge. It's also likely to be a lot quieter, and your frozen food will keep its quality better if the temperature is not constantly cycling. We had to buy a new fridge when we moved into this house in '04 because there were mice nests IN the coils and compressor area and the stench inside the fridge was unreal - I don't know how the OPs could stand keeping food in there! I bought a really nice Kenmore (made by Frigidaire) fridge, basic as basic can get except for the "upgrade" to glass shelves, for only $499 at Sears. I don't like icemakers and suchlike, IMO it's one more d@mned thing to break and cost me pots of money in repairman bills not to mention leaking water all over Creation (can you tell I've had such gadgetry go kaput before?), not to mention it takes up a good chunk of freezer space and I always need every cubic inch of that. It's a great fridge, very quiet, keeps its temperature, doesn't slurp electricity in vast amounts. I don't personally like having the freezer on the bottom, we use a good bit of frozen stuff (esp. in winter when we eat the largesse of people's gardens that I froze for later) and so I prefer having it up on eye level so I can see what's on hand before it gets freezerburnt, and getting down there to rummage around just doesn't do it for my creaky bones. So, your mileage may vary depending on how you use you fridge. (If there was one bell-and-whistle that I could have "a la carte" it would be pullout shelves, those are awfully nice.) I wouldn't go stainless just on the basis of a trash can, no way nohow... SS can be kind of a pain in the patoot to take care of (fingerprint city, and matching across and sometimes even within brands can be a nightmare, for instance, there are complaints on Epinions that Frigidaire's "Easy Care" stainless does NOT match other Frigidaire SS appliances well so you're kind of locked into buying only the "Easy Care" line), you have to really want it bad. You can accessorize with SS quite easily and choose appliances that take less fuss to keep looking nice. Do you have a good stove or is that on its way out too along with the dishwasher? If your stove is good enough that you expect to get a decade or so out of it, and you're cool with the color then by all means get the almond although it may not be easy to match it exactly. But if you'd rather have white get white even if it doesn't match the other things right now; we put up with a white fridge and almond-and-black stove and black-and-white dishwasher for 3 years because we knew we wanted to replace the stove (which I just got for Solstice, yay!) with white. DH just said in a couple of months we'll get a new white range hood to match, double yay. :-) I'm crossing my fingers for the 14yo dishwasher to hold out another year, at which time it'll be replaced with all-white and finally everything will match. :-) It's a process but eventually we'll have all things we're really happy with. Another thought, if you want to go white with the appliances, I haven't done it myself but people have repainted stoves with high heat enamel spray paint, which is available in many colors in auto parts stores catering to the hot-rod crowd - the range of colors is much bigger than you get in hardware stores and it'll stand up to the heat of car engines. Prep would be the most time-consuming part: clean all surfaces with a greasecutting cleaner and rinse well, then sand all surfaces thoroughly to remove the gloss, wipe thoroughly with microfiber "tack cloth" (regular ones leave a residue), then prime and paint per the directions from the paint company. If you didn't want to DIY, auto-body shops repaint appliances too, although you'd have to pull them out and schlep them over. There are also housecall appliance refinishers, but IIRC they don't do stoves on-site, although it's worth asking - look for "appliance refinishing" in the yellow pages. That would be much cheaper than replacing even with the cheapest appliances, and buy you time to research the dishwasher and stove while waiting for them to kick the bucket. ;-) I hope your cramps get better soon. Got a heating pad? If you don't, fill an old sock (no holes) with rice and microwave it for a minute or two until it's hot, and cuddle up with that, a good book and a cup of tea.