LOL at not putting Goodman in a dog house. I just had two Amana systems taken out and came here to read and sort through a lot of differing quotes before I did.. My Amana units were 6 years old and supposedly had 10 year warranties except we didn't get the paperwork and the installer didn't register them. In just over half their expected minimal life span, we paid for multiple repairs and even labor only can easily set you back $500-1000 at a time. I saw what the inside of those units looked like when they were taken out and still on my front walk. We were in for more repairs before long. I wouldn't use Goodman or Amana either. I'm not sure I'd take them if they were free. The advise you are getting about having a more efficient matched system is good. Not sure if your installation is horizontal or an upflow, but especially with an upflow, you are in for more labor if replace later. I had a 6 yr old system and decided not to go piece meal. When I go to the these parts and those parts, knonwing this sytem would be mismatched and so would the "new" stuff when I had to replace the furnace later, I felt like I was winding up with the chicken nuggets approach to AC, Never as good as the real thing, I decided to clean the slate and start over. With a 20 yr old furnace, I would definitely replace and have a matched system running at peak performance. Just don't get Goodman. I'm not a pro and don't know all the model numbers, but the dollar amount on the Infinity looks pretty good. We replaced with 2 Infinity systems and are very happy -- but the main reason I opened your thread was to encourage you to sift through the quotes, ask question and even get another quote or two if you need to. Check references and things like Angies list or local review sites. The installer is a big part of your long term satisfaction. . .

Well, I spoke with the builder this am. This fellow is a former site-superivisor who did such a thorough job (thus taking him a little longer to finish his jobs) that he was essentially demoted to being a guy who does the warranty repair work. Anyhow....he gave me the scoop. The 2x10 floor joists are not being dried as well as they should be at the mill. He is seeing this in a lot of houses and he has even called the supplier and voiced his concern. He said probably that along with the fact that we still don't have our humidifier hooked up (which was supposed to be done by now!) accelerated the rate of the wood drying and shrinking. He said he is very surprised about the granite separating. He said he is glad it didn't break...uh, yeah, me too! So, we are going to hopefully get the humidifier hooked up right away, and maybe it will slow it down a little bit. He thinks once we get into the coldest part of the season and the heat is really running a lot it will get it all the way dried out and then we can fix the stone. I'm off to call the granite people and see if there is anything I should do to the seam temporarily to prevent stuff from running down it! Thanks again for all the help. Bee

Pattisue, did you read the .. study(?) that compared canned veggies with frozen and fresh? The canned came out no worse than frozen. Now, I can't remember if they were looking at no sodium ones, but I remember being pleased as I ate a can of corn with a spoon from the can. BFelton, shame on 'ya. Everyone has to have a guilty pleasure and some of ours is Velveeta. At least no one is eating space food sticks now. Rest assured, had someone hoarded them they'd still be fine. Total chemicals. No wonder American bodies didn't decompose in the Vietnamese heat like locals did. (Now that's a picture for the morning.) I wanted you all to know I'm on my 4th meal (breakfast, dinner, repeat) without any Reese's cups. That's 1600 delicious, empty calories of waist fat. No sugar withdrawal, which is surprising. And I'm noticing already the HABIT it is to grab one of these packs of heaven-in-orange-plastic. "Awareness is everything," said every yoga teacher I've ever had in 35 years. I also went to the grocery store after work. 10:30 at night. I bought stuff to make some freezable dishes. Soup, grain dishes, maybe some spaghetti. $149 later I had: Kamut, barley, amaranth, quinoa, cous cous (N. African kind, not Israeli), brown rice, millet, and a couple other kinds. Whole wheat pasta (not sure about this). Soy milk (can you cook with this like regular milk? Will it freeze?) Raisins, apples, pineapple, Savoy, Chinese, green cabbage and bok choi. Onions, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, and lots of colored bell peppers. The latter I can cut up and freeze, too. Some 93% fat free ground chuck for a monstrous vat of soup I plan. Some hot Italian sausage. and Lentils. I've never eaten a bean in my life I didn't spit across the room. But. (Big But) I tried the Carraba's spicy sausage and lentil soup by accident and absolutely loved it. I've looked up some copy cat recipes and think I'm going to try it. If it bombs, I'll pour it in the garden. So wish me luck in cooking, better choices, and that they "stick."

ok,,so lets start w/the kitchen. well, paint colors actually. it's ok to do different colors in other rooms,,,if you can see both rooms, slightly, then either do the same or do similar coordinating tones. The rest of the advice is if you plan on keeping what's there. If you're going to rip it out and get a new kitchen in a year, then live w/it if you can. If this is all you can do for many years, then see if the changes, below, are something you can do. if you plan on keeping all of that wood trim (if it was me, I'd prob paint every thing except the beams on the ceiling, and maybe the trim going up the staircase. In the kitchen you have so many dark and heavy elements, I feel you need to lighten it up. I can live w/the black tile, for now, but that brick? hell no. that has to get painted. You can paint the brick on the island, or, I'd cover it up w/panels/trim and paint it a soft charcoal to match the floor (or whatever color you like) Grab some thin wood or mdf panels from HD or lowes and cut to fit the 3 sides. Use construction adhesive to adhere to bricks (or get some masonry screws and screw them in) then get some 1x2 primed trim pieces and secure all around the borders..like so if you want a bit fancy, do the stiles along the back (above,,the vertical pieces) otherwise, just do it like pictured below. see how nice and clean looking it is? More ideas, search "trimming out kitchen island". you could try doing it in this color or if you feel like you want to have a painting party, do all of the cabinets in one, two or all four as they've outlined. This combo would look great w/your flooring. you kitchen ceiling needs to be skim coated and smooth out. or, have it retextured, primed and painted in a flat bright white. if you will be getting some retro fit recessed lights (Costco LED's,,,great price) then wait until the holes are done for those. Minimum of six 6" cans (8 would be better) , and two spots for pendants over the island. BTW, replacing the top on the island is a piece of cake. either check a granite fabricator yard for a remnant piece (you have a slender top so it should be easy to find) or look on craigslist for a remnant or even an entire island, or get an inexpensive butcher block and cut it yourself to fit. Whatever you get, leave an extra couple inches off the back end for an overhang. you could do a few more inches. The brick around your oven? paint it. white, black, gray, pick one. use a satin paint for that. clean and scrub that brick very well before you PRIME it (if using a dark paint, prime it with a gray primer. white for white,,,but don't skip the priming part) as for baseboards, if they're all small and short, pull them and replace w/these. Any questions? and yes, if you have the budget, call in a designer to help you out with what needs to be done, what should be done, etc.