The problem is larger than Frigidaire. A long time ago (1940 - 1980) many companies either made their own parts, or had the components built to their specifications. I call most of these 'manufacturing companies' - shadow manufacturing companies. They simply buy (outsource) most of the components, and assemble them into the finished product. A switch / fan motor / connector could be in any number of appliances - From Sub Zero - to the lowest Walmart brand. Another problem is China. They are capable of making quality items. What I have noticed ( dealing with Chinese manuf ) is that the initial run of an item is good - quality wise. However that quality can drift - the original manufacturer, may outsource to another, and never tell you about it. Additionally, there is a lot of corruption in China. Lastly, they're in China, not much you can do to them. For these reasons I think it's impossible to predict the quality for a line of products. It's now just a name plate.

It always boils down to personal preference, but the LR isn't going anywhere. Maybe some don't do a formal LR because they 1) don't ever use the one they have and would rather use that square footage elsewhere or 2) don't have the money to build a large house that includes "the list." In our last home, a one level ranch w/unfinished basement/garage (but we did add a second story later on), once the children were older they used the den and we used our LR Every. Single. Night. It was nice to use every single room in our home. I've never wanted a sitting area in my kitchen. But I have always wanted (and had) a large breakfast room/area next to/in the kitchen. We have an open floor plan, and I love our kitchen. Would I want my last kitchen in an open floor plan? No. But this one is not the norm, so I like it open. We were empty nesting, but have our CA gal back home now. She has two rooms in the lower level but no kitchenette... and I don't plan on putting one in (hate them). Besides, we'd never see her if she didn't use our kitchen. lol DD2 lives close by with grandson, so they come over often. DS and his family are planning to move back to our area next year. During family dinners, visits and holidays, I don't want to be separated from the chaos (aka joy) our adult children and grandchildren bring into the house. But, there is a ceiling height difference and if we, or someone in the future, wants to close off the kitchen from the great room, it can be easily accomplished - with a little mess and dust. And fwiw, it has nothing to do with me wanting to be with people all the time. I'm perfectly happy being alone and I'm not a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination. We built this house with DD1 living in San Francisco and DS in Chicago - both for 10 years. Planned for future spouses and grandchildren having to stay with us from out of town. But now, this might not be the case, so we are considering buying some land elsewhere and building a smaller home, but with a guest house or guest wing. If any/all of our three would like to build on the land, they can, as long as it's not too close to our house so that the land could be divided down the road to sell, if/when needed. In that house, I would do an even more unfitted kitchen with a enormous breakfast room, no formal living room and no dining room. If that's not enough rattling - we've had several second homes in the last 20+ years. At the beach, the kitchen was closed off from the LR. I would have preferred it open so that the view was better. In CO, we had an open floor plan with a large dining/breakfast area (L shaped with kitchen). It was nice to be included in conversations and the gorgeous view. Neither place had a formal LR. There was a small (3BR/3BR) condo in the TN mountains which was also open. So, in my experience, second homes in vacation areas usually have more open areas than year round...

stxmona Tue, Jan 11, 05 at 7:41 Okay all you vertical glass on glass people - I need help. Last night I decided to grout a couple of bottles that I used Weldbond to prime, Weldbond to glue the glass on and have been sitting for a month. Mix up my grout to about the consistancy of soft cookie dough. Used my hands to apply it to the bottles. This is when the disaster starts...when I began gently rubbing the grout into the grout lines...some of my glass started coming off..okay a few pieces I can fix that. But as I went along more and more came off. Finally I gave up and put the pieces in a bucket of water. HELP - what did I do wrong???? I have NOT grouted anything vertical before. Was my grout to wet? Am I not suppose to rub into the grout line areas? I NEED YOUR ADVICE - I have to grout the fish vase this weekend and am now frighten that the same thing will happen!!! Bianchi2 Tue, Jan 11, 05 at 10:05 klinger Tue, Jan 11, 05 at 11:04 I have used wellbond and silicone for glass on glass. I really prefer the silicone, I am determined to use up the large container of well bond I bought though. I find it needs to sit or a good several weeks before grouting. I have never had any pieces come off when grouting though. It makes me think it hadent cured long enough, and maybe the grout was perhaps too thick. I think soft cookie dough describes a good grout inconsistency though. Is the well bond still showing white at all? If so it isnt dry yet.On smaller pieces I have put them in the oven with just the light on over night, or even with a low temp setting to help this stuff dry. My last large glass on glass window will likely sit for a couple weks before I try to grout it, it is too large for my oven.Cindy RE: Vertical grouting disaster!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- misacreations Tue, Jan 11, 05 at 18:44 stxmona, I feel for you..that happened to me twice. The first time the piece wasn't glued properly, it was barely holding on. When it happened again I figured out that I was being too aggressive while grouting. I would wipe too hard to get the grout off and my sponge had too much water in it after I rinsed it out. Now, I used a plastic knife and put the grout on like I'm icing a cake. Next, I use a sponge and press the grout into the cracks, gently. I wait a few minutes and then start wiping away the grout. I grout the same or next day I finish a piece, so it doesn't have to be completely dry. I hope this helps you. misacreations Tue, Jan 11, 05 at 19:10 I use Weldbond because I have youngens and I'm pregnant. I'm probably going to try silicone after I have this baby. by: annsb (My Page) on Wed, Jan 12, 05 at 10:35 So from this discussion it seems that for vertical grouting then silicone is the suggested product although Misa has had no problems with weldbond so far! I take it then that if you can lay the piece flat when glueing and grouting then weldbond isn't as much an issue. But silicone might still be a good choice. How do you make sure that no grout gets underneath the glass tiles? And does it matter if a little of the adhesive squirts into the grout space? stxmona Wed, Jan 12, 05 at 10:46 Please ask questions ...it helps everyone!! Haven't had an issue with grout under glass pieces...didn't think it mattered if there is glue in the grout line as long as it is not a large clump....so I can't wait to see how everyone else answers that one!! I have had my vase (to large for oven) on the tiled porch in the direct sun for the last couple of days. I primed with full strength Weldbond (maybe my mistake). Will grout this Saturday so I can work calmly and wholely on it all day if need be...wish me luck!! stxmona Fri, Jan 14, 05 at 11:32 Thought you all would like to see Dawnmarie's reply to my email. Hi Mona, So sorry it took me a few days to get back to you. We are really busy trying to get the SAMA Conference ready to go in D.C. in March and things have been crazy! I am so sorry you had such a disaster with your project. If tiles were "falling off" I suspect is was a combination of two things. Not enough glue AND too much water used during grouting. It might be hard to tell from the glass diary photos on my site but I use ALOT of glue. There is that one picture where it is ooozing up to the surface of the glass tile. Back off just a bit from there and that is how much I use. The glue is usually 1/2 - 3/4 of the way up the side of the piece of glass. Waiting till it was clear was great but if there wasn't enough there to start, you can easily pop tiles off. You also mentioned your grout was soft cookie dough consistency. When using a glass base for a mosaic, you want to back the water down a bit when mixing grout. Soft Cookie dough is great for a terra cotta base, or even sealed marine plywood or cement fiberboard, but for a glass base that will not absorb any of the grout's moisture, you want to go more for Bisquick drop biscuit dough, wet but stiff, almost crumbly. I also do not use wet sponges during the cleaning phase of these glass based pieces. After the initial rubbing of grout, I let it sit for 10 - 20 minutes depending on the temp. in my studio. Then, I mist the piece with a spray bottle and wipe with dry paper towels. Let is sit for another 10-20 minutes and repeat until it is clean. It is on this second wiping, that I dip a gloved finger in a cup of water and smooth the top and bottom edges and leave them undisturbed until the final cleaning. With all the time we spend on a mosaic project, I completely understand how frustrating it is when things go wrong. Weldbond is certainly not the perfect product for every project or every artist. We all have several variables in our own work environments, work styles, materials, etc. that make the task of finding out what works best for the individual artist to complete their vision, the most challenging aspect of the work. For me, it is also the most fun! Best of luck with all your future projects! Feel free to share this with the nice folks on the Gardenweb forum. They have all been very kind to me, I appreciate it! Regards, Dawnmarie Zimmerman What a gracious lady for helping me!!! Below is the link...I did use her method closely for the fish vase.

I agree with Snidely, it is easier for a novice user to use a MAC than a window PC. MAC OS system and interfaces implemented/used by its applications are a lot more elegant, efficient and user friendly. MAC's hardware and software are less "open" than Window's, therefore, it has a lot less virus introduced by applications and less compatibility issues between OS and Applications. I like the 'almost' seamless integration among all the apple products/devices. In spite of having an IT division to support, we frequently have PC issues at work. I purchased my first MAC for home use in the summer of 2014, so far I have encountered zero problem. "At home with our computer nerd dad we were free to experiment on our own and get really comfortable with computers from an early age". YOU may not remember how much your parents had to pay to clean up your computers. While our children grew up we also highly encouraged them to have "hands on" experience. We are computer nerd parents working in Engineering, and with Computer Science degree, yet we still paid dearly to have 'professional' to clean up our children's virus infested Window PCs many times. For MAC new users, Apple's one year support program is a great deal. During one year, the new user could use it as many times as possible by attending trainings, group learning sessions and phone in questions to fully learn the system. The support is many times better than the technical support provided by any PC sellers.