Well, I can tell you what happens when you tumble dry a marmalade Persian for 15 minutes on permanent press... Thanksgiving eve a few years back, I took half a day off from work to make the trek home to PA for the feast. Was running around like a headless chicken trying to get the last of the laundry dried, suitcases packed and into the car, gathering up all the contributions to the feast, taking care of the DS and all those things that people do while their DH's (now XDH) take a shower. I couldn't find one of my running shoes and offered DS $5 if he found it. Maggie, the autistic dog, had a fondness for my shoes and I swore she hid it. We're searching and searching when I hear a thud...thud...thud...coming from the dryer. How in the heck did that little dog get the shoe in the dryer? I opened the door and there lay Sam, my marmalade Persion, looking like Bill the Cat from the old Bloom County comic strip! Even meowed like him...I'll never forget it. Blood coming from his mouth, eyes bugged out, he just laid there. I screamed, afraid to touch him because I just KNEW he was busted to pieces. So, I ran to the bathroom for the DH, screamed at him that Sam had been in the dryer for the past 15 minutes. Took him a second to realize what I was saying in my hysteria, he bolts nekked as a jaybird, shampoo in his hair, dripping water the whole way to the laundry room. Sam was still laying there looking like Bill. DH reached for him and I reached for the phone. I still had the vet on speed dial from when I had Casper the $5 million kitty. I get the receptionist on the phone and hysterically tell her that Sam had been in the dryer for the past 15 minutes. She told me to bring him right in, they'd be waiting. DH had wrapped Sam in an old towel, handed him to me, threw on some clothes and we were out the door and on the way to the vet within 5 minutes. We reached the vet in record time and they were waiting for us. My vet never shows any emotion, I use to think he was void of emotion, until now. The tech had taken Sam's temp, the doc walked in, looked at it, and immediately started to bark orders. Poor Sam's temp was 108 after riding in the car for 10 minutes in the cold November air. Vet started him on IV fluids, gave him a shot to help bring his temp down, gave him another shot to help keep his kidney from shutting down, and whisked him away. Then he looked at me and I thought the lecture was sure to follow. Instead, he put his arm around me and said "don't berate yourself, this happens all the time, he should be ok". Whew! Then he laughed and said "Poor guy just used up one of those 9 lives! You must have a padded dryer to not have heard him after two spins!" Well, what can I say? I hate doing laundry so I turn on the dryer and let it go. I don't hang around any longer than I have to! Five days later, we were handed a bald cat (they shaved him completely) and a bill for over $400. When his hair started to grow back, the hair on one ear that had been scraped and bleeding came in pure white. Since then, he's not only jumped in the dryer twice (I caught the sneaky devil tho!), he also jumped in the washer while it was filling and jumped in the dishwasher after DS emptied it. Some cats just never learn... Running a "Home for Wayward Cats" as I am these days, I've had a kitten crawl under the dishwasher and get one of the wires wrapped around her paw, one crawl in the freezer, another in the ice box, and I've had to wire tie my cupboards together to keep them out of the pots and pans, plastic ware and anything else in the lower cupboards. I had to move all the glass canning jars off the shelf where I keep them and swap them with all the canned goods in the pantry. I had one kitten who liked to tear the wallpaper off the wall, another one who liked to push the buttons on the answering machine, and another who was fascinated with turning on the kitchen sink faucet. I celebrated when I found homes for the last kitten...until I ended up with another pregnant stray who delivered two solid black kittens this past May. These two enjoy shredding the kitchen chair cushions and playing hide-n-seek with the throw carpets. Anyone want a kitten?

jejvtr, tell your friend that house is just adorable!!!! we have a 1926 house (plainer but similar). our kitchen remains separate from the dining room (no door, but a doorway separates them). i understand where she is coming from. some things that i can add (having redone our old kitchen) are: 1) that by living there only part time, she seems in a good position to do this kitchen in slow fashion which is best for a lower budget and an older kitchen (our DIY budget was around 10K. and our kitchen is actually larger than hers--includes the old porch they had). if possible, can she put a temp kitchen in place in the dining room, remove old grandma hutch to storage, and rip out the present kitchen to the studs? then she will know very quickly whether it's best to remove or keep walls, etc. that pocket wall could hide a beam or something, who knows. 2) i have learned that walls that seem illogical in 1920's houses have their own logic that is not visible at first (must remove plaster). Even though we wanted to change them at first, after looking inside, we have often chosen to leave things right where they are and NOT for historical reasons! ;-) 3) if she opens the room to other spaces, she loses her wall cabinet space, so i understand that. 4) at least she still has a radiator, our kitchen rad was removed by the POs and replaced with.....no heater at all. good luck, it is challenging. kren

Thank you all, and thank you Dyhgarden. Yes, I agree. My heart hurts for him and his dibilitating head injury. But, he was former military, big, stocky, mid-thirties, and able to own and drive a car. So, in my mind (and others) it was possible that he could have harmed her. He didn’t. He abided the police order and I’m so thankful for that. I’ll keep him in my prayers for his recovery and a happy life, though.

Yaya, that sounds lovely! I live in a city that's demographic is about 70% Asian population. So while we have most of the larger chain restaurants, the majority of our smaller restaurants are Asian cuisine. People here regularly frequent restaurants for Dim Sum. (A casual meal, usually enjoyed anytime from morning until midday, with a huge variety of items to select from, via serving carts that are wheeled amongst the tables. Choices are typically presented in small serving sizes, to afford tabletop space for sampling many items.) Restaurants that serve Dim Sum are very popular places to meet, so no prior plans are usually made by locals, as one just knows their chances of bumping into friends, is quite high. Traditionally, Dim Sum is the one meal that Asian restaurants usually NEVER have any qualms about allowing customers to sit there drinkng tea, after they've finished eating, despite new arrivals lined up to wait for a table. Not growing up in that culture, I feel uncomfortable if there is a lineup of people waiting, and tend to urge my family to not 'dawdle.' But if DH's father is with us, he will take his time drinking as many after meal cups of tea as he wants, as Dim Sum customers traditionally know that no one is expected to hurry, line ups or not. I can't say if this is typical in all cities, but in mine, the restaurants are very traditional.