I'm still around, and on facebook Louise Yvette Radau Smith Hensley I still don't feel like crafting outside anyway:) I stay in bed, I am SO TIRED and I know one day I'll snap o ut of it. Nueropathy,fibromyalga,24-7 back and bone pain,my eyes have suffered from the chemo/radiation,cardiologist informed me i had a heart attack at some point in the last few years,lol,wow. i think it was after the storm when we were building the front porch!i did go to the hospital for chest pains back then. just had foot surgery for a bunion,will do other foot in a few weeks. hoping this may help with back pain! tests show no fractures breaks or anthing,bone density scan and tests are good,so it's not that.just lots and lots and lots going on. husband deserted me over a year ago,kharma caught up with him and now HE has cancer, lung cancer stage4 and brain cancer. i'm also a pinterest junkie! same name as above and mskudzukween. i see lots of members garden junk pics! and new stuff i've never seen before i save in a garden junk category. miss all ya'll! kudzu

Searching_2008 No problem with the questions! I know how hard it is to get first hand info, so I'll provide all I can for you. 1. The only issues the in-laws have had are with the cooktop. It is a five-burner, 36" model. The stainless surface gets very hot with continued usage, and oversized pans can actually allow flame escape out of the side near the handles... they actually melted a handle! (Electrolux sent them 2 new ones... they are more careful with pot arrangement now). Their ovens have been great, very even. The DW is very nice too. 2. Our range so far has been wonderful. Both ovens are very even (much more so than any other oven I've owned, and other convection ovens I've used). I purchased a oven thermometer to check accuracy of temperature... the big oven is spot on, the little oven seems approx 10 degrees cooler than the knob says... we simply adjust for this now. Standard bake, convection bake, and convection roast work very nicely. Using the smaller oven, I baked 2 quiches last evening (convection bake). They came out perfectly. No hot or cool spots to speak of, crust was very evenly browned, no difference between the top / bottom / front / back. We haven't made multiple sheets of cookies yet in the larger oven, but single sheets have been very good. We end up using the smaller oven 90% of the time, but both are wonderful. The ovens come with 4 racks each, which is too many, so I've taken two out of each one. I guess if someone was doing large batches of cookies, this would be handy, but for us 2 racks per oven is plenty. 3. Burners / Simmering. The power burners (17K btu) are very powerful. The simmer burners do go "low" well, but not low enough to keep a wine reduction sauce in a 8" pan from evaporating too quickly without the simmer plate. We have ended up keeping the simmer plate on the range (over the small, back right simmer burner), and this has worked out fine. It comes with a wok ring, but we haven't used it yet. It also comes with a griddle / grill pan cover for 2 burners, but we haven't used it yet either. 4. Broan Hood. We decided to go with Best by Broan for a few reasons. We liked the idea of an in-line blower, and wanted to go with a manufacturer who makes a lot of hoods. The style was exactly what we were looking for. The Best was a few bucks cheaper than the ICON, and seemed like the best choice for us. (pun unintended). We also have the baffle filters for easier cleaning and reduced airflow noise. The unit came with mesh too, but I haven't tried them yet. 5. Cleaning. Cleaning is pretty straight forward. The grates come off (very heavy, but in a good way), the burners have a cap and brass ring, which also simply lift off. The "pan" under the burners is glossy enamel / porcelain which I clean with Windex Vinegar. It can look a little "streaky" at times, but I think I'm the only one who notices. The grates I clean with soapy water / plastic scouring sponge. They say the grates are dishwasher safe, but I haven't tried yet (nor have I had to... the grates stay pretty clean and are easy to sponge off). The front of the unit / oven doors are very simple to clean (I use Windex Vinegar (not the blue stuff!))... the design keeps drips from really getting onto the oven doors. 6. Reliability / Value: I'd agree that the ICON is in the same class as the Monogram and the DCS. Function wise, it is virtually identical to the Dacor 48", but is much less expensive. I guess that is because of name, but also because it doesn't have Dacor's fancy computerized controls. Which gets me to my second point... reliability. I have a general distrust of computerized controls where they aren't needed. I'm no technophobe (In fact, I'm a bit of a gadget freak), but I've never liked electronic displays / computers on my appliances. I researched the Dacor model, and the electronics seemed like the major source of complaint / repair. Give me knobs any day! Living in a cold / snowy environment makes a gas range of any type a nice thing... you can still cook without power. As far as Wolf / consumer reports... take those ratings with a whole lot of salt. CR is great, but for "niche" products, they often don't really "get it". If money was no object, I'd have picked the Wolf 48"... but for us it was literally twice the price of the ICON. All in all, though we've only been using the ICON for 9 weeks now, I feel I can safely say I'd purchase it again without question. Same goes for my Advantium 240. Jury is still out on the fridge.

Graywings wrote: I think we all sort of knew that the home-town stores like Marshall Fields in Chicago, Hechts in Washington, DC, Kaufmann's (or was it Hornes?) in Pittsburgh were owned by conglomerates. But speaking as a shopper, I think it was a mistake to homogenize them as Macy's. It felt like we were losing part of the city's identity. I'm pretty sure most people don't know and it's evident if you listen and read to what they say and write. Who cares what a store is named? So, basically it would be okay to shop at Field's even though it's a 100% Macy's store? Where was all of this clamor when the discount mass merchandiser, one small step above WalMart, Target owned Field's for over 10 years? Why weren't people crying then? Oh wait, they left the name alone. So, even though you were shopping in a glorified Target/Dayton-Hudson store that wasn't anything close to the original Marshall Field's, it was okay because they *called* it Marshall Field's? Got it. People with handouts about bringing Marshall Field's back in front on the State St. store are laughable and silly at best. How exactly are they going to accomplish that? I'd love to meet some of these retail geniuses. From their website: Our group continues to work hard to restore this icon's distinctively Chicago quality, service and culture, as well as the name "Marshall Field's." What? There has not been a Marshall Field's culture in Chicago for at least 30 years - where have all of these brilliant business people been?

Yes we do live in the city. Right at the edge as Steph said. I am three long blocks from city hall,my office. Tonight my office was my recliner. Needed to work but I do not like to work in the building all alone late at night and when I do have to I let the sheriff know. Living in the city still allows the critters. Our city is so tiny (about 165 people now) even the critters hardly notice it is here. LOL The dog that got the worst of it the first time is the one barking at them still. The other dog heads to the back bathroom to hide as fast as he can. We laughed at him so hard. I do not think he wanted to have to have another bath.