Knock, knock! Anybody still here? Any Plain Jane coffee maker suggestions for a non-coffee-snob, non-foodie? DH drinks two cups of coffee at breakfast. I have one cup, cafe au lait. (Acid tummy.) Our 15-year-old Krups drip coffee maker with thermal carafe is acting up -- failing to use all the water in the reservoir, despite de-scaling with vinegar. It uses #4 Melitta cones. I use a separate small burr grinder. I warm the thermal carafe before making coffee. My main objectives are a decent brewing temperature, a thermal carafe, and a medium-low price point. Among the medium priced five drip coffee makers that Consumer Reports says reach high enough water temps, only the Capresso MT600 did not have bad user reviews on the carafe. (Complaints about drips; some people resorting to pouring *over the sink*.) Costco has a Capresso CM300 for $60. The MT600's MSP is $140. Would you encourage/discourage me from buying either one? (At least I could return the CM300 with no loss.) Would you encourage any of the 'pod' type coffee makers? (I would not be spending hundreds per year on pre-made pods, but using our own freshly ground beans.)

Too cool, your bathrooms look like mine. Just amazing. I guess I grew up in the 50's-60's (born in 48) and am sick of those fixtures. First thing I did when we moved here was tear out all the old bathsrooms. But I never touched this one because we didn't use it. I always planned too, but never got to it. Now I see how younger people would find it cute. Your bathrooms are beautifully done. Much better than mine were. The toilet is exactly what was there. Weighed a ton and was a job to remove. Funny part is it survived all those years without any repairs. All the other toilets in the house were replaced and repaired numerous. My other toilets are all Kohlers. That old toilet never had a part replaced and we have really bad well-water. It took a drunk, 300lb man to send it off to toilet heaven. I looked around for vanities and a 55" would have to be a special order and take months. I have the men working in the house and want to get the bathroom done. I would buy a 55" immediately if anyone carried them. They are all 48" or 60". Can't squeeze in a 60. Yes, I live in NY 40 miles north of Manhattan. Jane

Thanks everyone! Annie, I looked at Stanley's site and found many different sizes to choose from. Not sure about shipping outside the US though. Amazon.com won't do it and Amazon.ca only carries things that I don't care for. None of the retail/hardware stores listed on Stanley's homepage are available in Canada, but Wal-Mart. Of course, the Wal-Mart stores here in Canada are very different than the ones in the US. AM, I completely agree with you about the fact that Wal-Mart stores don't carry high quality stuff especially the ones in Canada. Anyway, after searching for an hour I finally found one local store: Home Hardware, that carries Stanley Thermal bottles. They are small, 1-L and 24 Oz are all they have. Maybe the 1-liter will work. Compare to what he eats right now (basically nothing), 1-liter of hot food will seem like a huge meal to him. Mara, I don't believe we have Chick-Fil-A in Canada, at least not in our city. Even if we did DH probably wouldn't bother to go look for Chick-Fil-A for a meal. A chocolate bar from the vending machine and a cup of coffee at the office lobby would be much easier to him. Jessica, I could never get angry with people who try to help me. I will consider the Bento box idea once the weather is less brutal. Definitely would try sushi because DH loves sushi. A salad is good too as long as the box has lot of compartment so the greens, protein, and dressing won't mix until he's ready to eat. Will off to Home Hardware next week to see if I can find the Stanley bottle. They have it listed on a national site doesn't always mean they have it in a certain store. Thanks again, everyone! I will continue to try. Al

When I still worked I used to take bentos all the time since there were no readily available food sources near my office. Leaking was not a problem with the ones I had. Www.justbento.com has lots of good ideas, not all of which are Japanese. Maki at Just Bentos also talks about storing a "stash" of bento fillers in the freezer. Other than that, dinner leftovers were my staple. I would also pack bread, filling, and lettuce separately to combine on the spot into a nice, non-soggy sandwich. Also, if you look around a little you can find small packages of real cheese (processed cheese is just industrial (i.e. "cheap") cheese melted with salt -- nothing yucky or chemical added to it despite the name) from France where cheese is more highly respected. A handful of crackers and some fruit will round out a meal. Pink Lady apples resist browning when cut and will be perfect in appearance at lunch time if tossed into a solution of a pinch of Fruit Fresh (vitamin C) and water as you cut them. If nuts were not an issue, then almond or peanut butter would be great accompaniments instead of cheese.