Meyermike, Why grow citrus? Many years ago my then girlfriend had unlimited access to citrus at Christmas. I ate lots of it and put several seeds in a potted plant. I think every seed sprouted. I was hooked. I gave them all away. Later I raised orange trees on purpose (for the challenge). They were left out and froze. Several years ago I received an orange tree as a gift. It has produced some fruit for three years. 1. For the challenge. 2. For the envy of those who are either unable or unwilling to grow them. 3. The one that I have produces the best tasting orange that I have ever eaten (in memory). 4. I have four grown children that covet my oranges. 5. I would like to have enough to share them with my 12 grandchildren also. 6. The aroma is so intense that we cannot keep it inside the house. We keep it in the attached garage in the winter. 7. There are too many reasons to list them all.

There have been several occasions on this forum where posters have been "outed" and discovered by others involved with their transactions. -On the kitchen forum there was a lady who'd been chronicling her kitchen cabinet builder's problems. She ended up having to go to court over it. Somewhere in all of this, the cabinet builder found her postings on the forum and threatened to sue her for publicly disparaging his name. -On the pool forum there was another example of a poster who chronicled his rotten pool build. The pool builder was informed of the posts, and also threatened to sue. -Right here on this forum, a poster was venting about some RE transaction problems he was having. Someone told his realtor, and s/he ended up here on GWeb and confronted the poster about it. There's just no way I feel comfortable posting specifics, and also a location. General questions/comments, maybe. But not specifics. That won't stop others from figuring it out (for example, maybe remembering me posting my location or specific city in a previous thread), but if there are details that are ongoing in a RE transaction, I wouldn't advise anyone post too much info. You never know who will see that info or how that knowledge may be used against you.

Are you talking about a wall oven or range? Before I could recommend any oven for you, I would have to know more about how you use your oven. I would consider Bosch, Electrolux, Gagganau and Miele. I would have at one time recommended Wolf and I bought my DF range because of their reputation for service. My dealings with them have been very unsatisfactory. Although they make this claim on their website, they DO NOT "resolve any issues you may have to your true satisfaction". Read about their blue porcelain chipping. BlueStar is new so there are not that many reviews yet and nothing long term. In the past you could buy appliances and not pay much attention to the warranty but now it is key. You can read all kinds of stories of failure on this forum. I would carefully read and understand what the warranty says and read online how well the company stands behind the warranty. I would consider an extended warranty if buying an oven with extensive electronics but you have to read it very carefully looking for exclusions. Also read the use and care manual usually found online very carefully for any oven you are considering. I would read as much as you can and understand the differences in gas and electric ovens. Understand how convection works. This is a post I wrote earlier to get you started. "These are some differences in the way electric and gas ovens bake/roast. These features can vary quite a bit brand to brand. -You will commonly read that gas is moist heat and electric heat is dry. This is only if you look at the source of heat without considering what goes on in the oven. Electric ovens hold on to more of the moisture from what you are baking or if you add steam. This actually ends up "moist" heat. This promotes starch gelatinization.This is mostly a benefit for those that want a particular type of crust when baking bread. It also will delay the setting of a cake or things that rise a little giving it a better rise. Gas ovens do not hold on to the moisture very well because they are ventilated much more. Gas actually releases moisture as a product of combustion but it leaves the oven chamber quickly so a gas oven has "dry" heat with more movement of air. Also more heat into your kitchen. Some bread bakers cover their bread to keep the moisture in the first half of the baking process in a gas oven. Some have even tried blocking the ventilation to keep moisture in the oven. This dry heat is good though for the second half of baking because it promotes browning. In some blogs I have read, bakers open the electric oven briefly after a cake has set, to release steam and/or turn on the convection fan. The dry heat of a gas oven is better for roasting as it evaporates moisture and promotes browning. The convection fan will do that in an electric oven. I think this makes an electric oven more versatile. -Some electric ovens have a very narrow range of temperature. The normal swing is about 25 degrees on either side of the set temperature. I have not found it that important to have the very narrow swing in temperature. -Some electric ovens have modes with the ability to direct more heat from the top for roasting and from the bottom for baking. The convection fan speed may also vary, slower for baking, faster for roasting. You might also have two fans. Electric ovens also might have third(and fourth) elements called European or true convection which is only in a few gas ovens. This is a benefit when the oven is full in having things bake more evenly. You can't always tell when these elements are being used in a given mode. My Electrolux oven has a little indicator that shows the rotation of the elements but most do not. You can hear a difference in fan speeds. Gas ovens typically have just an on and off switch for the fan. I like the different modes but some people do not find utility in them and consider them needless "bells and whistles". They do require a computer board to coordinate them which some do not like because some ovens have had boards that fail in self cleaning. Some also do not like the sound of cooling fans that can run after you turn the oven off These features do have the potential to heat an oven more evenly if they work. I would avoid any new models with these modes until they are proven. Some electric ovens have an "auto correct" feature for convection. It is ok if optional, but I don't like for an oven to automatically lower the temperature for me. This is not always necessary. Electric ovens are more likely to have self clean. One model of the Capital Culinarian AG has self clean but is $$$. Many people avoid use of the self clean because it seems to be a possible source of problems with computer boards and interior porcelain enamel failure. Look at the broiler. Some higher end ranges have a infrared broiler that can be narrow, but widths of the broiler can vary. I need a wide broiler because I mostly use it to toast trays of appetizers or something like that. Look at the range of temperature and how can you use the fan? Some ovens only go down to 225F. Others might go down to 80F for proofing. Consider the size do you need to fit full baking sheets in the oven? I personally would avoid any oven that uses " logic" to maintain temperature instead of a thermostat. Capital does on its electric ovens as does Dacor Discovery ovens. There are threads on this. I would also want a rapid preheat to be optional because I sometimes put food in my oven to start either using the timer or I just want that option of starting it in a cold oven."

We've had this discussion regarding purchasing slabs on other threads. Suffice it to say that it depends on where you are located. In Los Angeles, the homeowner BUYS the slab at a stone yard and then the fabricator picks up the stone. The homeowner owns the slab because they have paid for the ENTIRE slab and paid for the fabrication and installation separately. Other localities are different in that you hire a fabricator for $x with what I believe is some kind of allowance at the stone yard he is affiliated with. Ownership of remnants would depend on the contract. However the OP seems to have had an explicit contractual relationship in which the remaining portions of the slab were her property. The fabricator is not saying she didn't own them - he is saying he LOST them which indicates that if he hadn't "lost" them, she could come on down and pick them up.