t-bird, surgery is 1/31. On the list: Everything! (But we've painted most of what has to be painted, so my job, unlike yours, is just getting rid of stuff and cleaning every surface, like an old-fashioned spring cleaning.) We're empty-nesters so there are no kids' rooms to clean or kids to give attention and time to. Kitchen is about 90% done, foyer (only a little coat closet and some tile and the front door) is done. Workout room was just painted and is finished except for the closet, which is full of old political-campaign paraphernalia I need to box up or get rid of, and I don't really care much if I get to that or not. Downstairs too is my office, which is a sea of papers, and a TV room and guest bath. Upstairs I have the LR, dining area, and MB, along with 1 1/2 baths. So I may be able to get all of this done. I move very slowly because of my knee, so it takes a while. I'm not going to stress about it; whatever I get done will be better than what it was before I started. Storage area in basement and garage will probably wait until later. I'll join you in a 2012 cleanup project. Mine will be to finish up whatever I haven't done, if anything, before I go to the hospital, and then to keep things in order. I'm the messy one and DH is very neat. Good luck to both of us, t-bird. And may we enjoy the process!

Actually, they are useful for so much more than protecting against scratches (which I don't care about anyway): Water doesn't backup into the colander when draining pasta When I rinse down the sink, items in the sink no longer block the drain or block the "path" to the drain so I don't have to "chase" specks of food, etc. around the sink! There is less scratching of the bottom of the sink (this is minor to me since I don't mind the scratches) When I dump something in the sink, whatever I've dumped doesn't wash all over everything sitting in the sink....whatever is dumped goes straight down the drain I can rinse and drain dishes on the grid and still run water in the sink w/o running it all over the items again Things lay flat on the grid (no slope like in the bottom of a sink bowl and items in my sink no longer slip down the slope and cover/block the drain) If I'm handwashing dishes, I can use the grid tines to hold things up, especially plates & bowls (similar to a dish drainer) and dishes air dry faster b/c air circulates all around them If your sink is too deep for you on a daily basis, the grid will raise the bottom of the sink an inch or so Less need to clean/wipe the bowl b/c things aren't as likely to "stick" The stainless steel ones in my cleanup sink also act as a trivet for hot things (when the sink is clear, of course!) -- I needed a large "trivet" once and used one of the grids from the sink, it worked great!

I've lived in 8 kitchens in the past 13 years. We're currently remodeling now, so when it's done, that'll be 9. So this info is from what I've expereinced overall, not my current kitchen. Ceramic floor tile grout. The tile itself doesn't show dirt, but the grout is another story. In my current house, the previous owners installed the tile to sell the house. I was pretty certain the grout hadn't been sealed, but I didn't do it when we moved in. It also has a couple of gouges from dropped cans or pots in a few tiles even though it's not quite 3 years old. Ceramic glass/radiant heat electric cooktop. UGH. Everything boiled over, then proceeded to cook to a hard gunk on the top. To clean, you have to get a razor blade to scrape up the mess. NEVER AGAIN! I second the person who said, if you have to go electric, go induction. My single induction unit has the same type top, but since the surface itself doesn't heat, it stays relatively clean. Anything on it just wipes away easily. For those trying to acheive that streak free shine on ceramic/glass, you can forget windex or anything of that ilk. Use Weiman's cooktop cleaner and the red scrubbies they sell at Walmart. Apply the cream with the red scrubby, allow to dry to a film, and wipe off with either a microfiber or plain ol' paper towel. The cream turns an icky greige color, but once it's been wiped off, the cook top really shines, at least until the next mealtime. Another stainless fridge hater here. Ooh, that's a strong word, I know. Well, I've got 4 kids, um, I mean, 3 kids and DH and between the lot of them they can't seem to wipe their drips from the in door water dispenser. Or use the handles even though they're huge and conveniently mounted right on the front of the doors. If I had the money, I'd definitely go paneled. Downdraft. It just doesn't capture as much as an overdraft, if that's the right term. So, it causes more grease to settle on cabinet doors, backsplashes and walls. Cabinets that don't reach the ceiling. They're huge dust collectors. I don't really like the display idea, and really can't abide the fake ivy. It's just a personal thing, please don't flame me if you like that look. I'm a bit worried about what others have said about polished granite. I got a bunch of it when I bought my kitchen display cabinets. I'd just assumed we'd use it. It's a dark-ish, spotty stone called Baltic Brown. It's not my favorite color but, I've never had granite before, so it was kind of an upgrade from the tile, laminate and BB I've had in the past. I'm wondering if I should just sell it on CL and get butcher block. I've had it once before and loved it. I'm defintely not a great housekeeper. I want something that can take a quick swipe and look half way decent.

It isn't practical to test everyone, all the time to determine who is or is not a carrier on any given day. It's not even practical to test everyone who feels like they had covid 19 and are recovered. It's not cost effective. Just like it is not cost effective to drug test 100K welfare users at a cost of 1M to catch the 1000 who might test positive on any given day, thereby saving 300K. Do the math. To be economical, one parses sparse resources to where you will get the most bang for your buck. Not sure that all these people who feel like they should be an exception to the rule are liberal or conservative. In fact, they are just folks who get off breaking rules in some cases. Don't get me started on folks I know who work in retail and have to argue with people saying their dog is a "support animal" so that they have to bring them into a store. Or any number of safety rules that I have had to enforce that someone argues for because their case is special. No dogs allowed in the park but my dog is special, no collecting of plant material but I just took one small flower, etc. If the rules don't apply to everyone, that isn't fair. And if everyone gets to break the rules, then they serve no purpose. Rules help people survive living together in groups. Stores have safety rules. "Don't climb on the shelves" for example. Does that impede your civil rights? Perfectly reasonable for businesses to employ safety rules to keep their customers and employees safe. Also perfectly reasonable for an employer than to ask that their workers comply with safety rules. I had to handle lots of hazardous materials in science lab and in landscaping. I got in trouble if I didn't follow company safety regulations. I never felt my civil right were being trampled on. See someone get thwapped in the eye once by a branch ricocheting off a tree being cut down, and you'll never again whine about having to wear safety goggles when using a chainsaw, even if said goggles are hot as blazes.