Buehl, please do! I was just trying to save something of use. I'd been checking the GW all night, turned my back for 15 minutes to watch the Health Care vote, and whammo! all the posts were gone. I kept refreshing, thinking, "This can't be!"

Same issue here. The film was on for maybe 18 months. It came off With some effort, although definitely tougher on windows that had more direct sun. But the residue was a bear. We tried many of the things suggested here and a lot of elbow grease but came up with a hands-down winner-- Turtle Wax spray-on Bug and Tar remover. We sprayed it on a window or two at a time and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Used a rag to rub it in a circular motion and then another one to wipe it off. It saved us DAYS of work. It's definitely an oil based product but does not leave streaks as long as you use a relatively fresh rag for the wipe off. We were surprised but I guess since it's designed for use on cars, Turtle Wax figured that one out.

Also, just FYI, it is typically that a symmetrical layout is not a functional one, and vice versa. For example, this is a very common symmetrical layout with the sink and range both centered and lined up: This causes two problems: 1) The counters are all chopped up into small pieces. If you look, all the stretches of counter you have to work on in this kitchen are roughly 2' wide. That would be IMMENSELY frustrating to get anything done on. On any given counter, if you center your range/sink, it divides the counter on either side into two small pieces. Whereas if you place the range/sink off-center, you get one longer stretch of counter and one shorter stretch. This latter situation is WAY more functional because you can actually get something done on the longer stretch. 2) The sink and range are directly back-to-back. This means a person at the sink will be bumping into a person at the range, and both will be crowding each other. When the sink and range are staggered in the kitchen, a person at the sink and a person at the range will not be in each other's way. It's not as if you can't have some things centered or lined up in a kitchen, but you will curse perfect symmetry any time you try to DO anything. You might need to have a talk with your husband about maybe getting his symmetrical kicks in from other parts of the house where it is not at the expense of function.

Helen "As for dripping on toes, again I guess that's a personal thing, but I don't know what would be dripping especially since I would be able to better ensure that all items were level " It's a safety thing. I am not talking about a little drip but an accidental sloshing of a water bath, roasting pan with fat or unexpected bubbling of sphagetti sauce out of a pan onto your foot, ankle or leg. It can run in your shoe. This is also why I mentioned about the rolling racks here. They are a relatively new thing and some come out much more quickly and you can slosh liquids right out of the pan and burn yourself. I know people who have had bakeware shatter when taking it out of the oven because you exceed the thermal tolerances of the dish taking it out of the oven. You might have an unexpected child or animal come out of nowhere. You can teach and warn them to stay away from the stove and no matter how carefully you watch them, accidents happen. In my line of work I have seen people wind up with skin grafts with kitchen spills and resulting burns so I am more aware of these things than most people. No one intends for these things to happen and being a kitchen, you can't eliminate all risks but it is a good thing to be aware of them. I know you said you can only access all the wall ovens from the side so while a consideration for you, I have no trouble at 5'3", standing in front, as my oven door (Electrolux) is only about 20" tall (Bosch is 22 3/8) and I can reach the racks with my back straight and my arms bent, so not everyone loses "all ergonomic advantage" by choosing a pull down door and the protection of the door providing a barrier may be important. The great thing about this forum is that there are often many sides to a coin. You consider pull down oven door a hinderance while I consider it a benefit. Some people are strictly concerned with the design for its aesthetic value so make their choice based on that. Each person has to balance the benefits and risks of each configuration for themselves and their situation and the more information you can gather, the better the decision.