I found an email I could cut/paste so here it is... Hi - I can't recommend the Bertazzoni I'm afraid. There are a few details posted on the 3 Bertazzoni threads with issues I have had. (Obviously those seem to be gone) Mainly, the delay feature in starting the range. You have to hold the oven door open, push and hold the knob and wait for ignition. This took us about 18 seconds each time to turn on the range. (While holding the door open and the knob down) Also, I never had good results with the oven. The temp was off and it never was quite right. I never could get results that I have had before from other ranges on standard items. (service was out twice and we were deemed "normal" for operations purposes) Also, the oven area is quite small on the 30" range. The space used for the storage area makes the oven smaller. We had the 4 burner - 30" range. Many posters have 36". (And, I know many are pleased and don't seem to have the issues I had, or it the operation of the oven doesn't bother them) I know there are quite a few that are pleased with their ranges, but I was not. I would suggest looking at some other models. Also, try to see one live. (You just can't know until you SEE it - at a minimum download the user's guide from the Bertazzoni site that outlines in detail how to start the oven) There is no way you can understand how this range works without seeing it on. I would not order it online, as I did, because I had no recourse with the issues that I have had with it. (I did write to Bertazzoni and go no response from the retailer, the distributor, or the manufacturer. Since it was such a hassle to use my husband wouldn't use it, my aunt (cooked w/gas all her life!) wouldn't use it and my son, who was just learning to cook wouldn't use it. Also, the cooling fan runs all the time whenever the oven is on. It was very noisy. (The American and a few others Wolf, Blue Star, and not sure of others - let you turn the fan on/off....many do run if the oven is on) Oh, the temp doesn't go that low - I think 275 is the lowest (we use warm sometimes) and the temp knob has very few markings so it is a guess of where you really are on the temp guide. If you can see one, you will notice this. Good Luck, Let me know if you need more info. Hope that helps, but I wouldn't recommend the Bertazzoni.

It's probably the vet visit and surgery. They smell different to the one who remained home. One of my cats had dental surgery earlier this year. Our other cat, who normally grooms the other, and is protective of her, hissed and growled at her for a longer period of time than I'd have expected. Probably the fact that the cat who had had the surgery came home with stitches in her mouth caused her to continue to smell different for days after she returned home. We went through something similar when one of our previous cats had major surgery to remove a fibrosarcoma. Until her fur started to grow back in after she was shaved for a very long incision down her back, our other cat would have nothing to do with her besides hissing and growling at her. Give it time, and things should return to normal on its own. Good luck!

the best advice I can give is: STOP caring! Not that I would say don't care about your SS. Just stop caring what he thinks. Every time you go out of your way to please him and he craps on it, he is in control and has the power. Take your power back. Learn to say "oh well, sorry you don't like it." and move on. I wouldn't run out and buy him ANYTHING as long as he treats you that way. "Oh, your dad can take care of it...." and not worry when dad lets him down. I'll give two examples from my family: SD was 5 when I met her. She didn't have a birthday party when she turned 6 or 7. When she was about to turn 8, I suggested to DH that if BM wasn't going to throw her a party, maybe he could. DH called BM and right away, BM said she had plans for a party. They agreed to split the cost.. yadayadayada. It got ugly when DH put the brakes on the cost, BM whined that he wasn't paying enough... big fight... result: custody battle. So, SD had a party at a bowling alley on her 8th birthday with BM and DH at opposite sides of the room scowling at each other and nobody from school showed up.. BM's mom didn't go and it was less than pleasant. I felt terrible. So, before SD turned 9, BM had met BF and moved away and her 9th birthday was approaching. DH had already decided no more joint parties. BM could have SD on her birthday but chose not to, saying she'll make her a party the next weekend. I decided to go all out. She invited all the kids in her class (about a third showed up), we had a tent with a ton of balloons, castle bounce house, popcorn machine, and the cake I made looked like a three tier wedding cake with butterflies and roses. (it was a princess party) and she was truly a princess that day. She had a blast! THAT DAY.... The next day, she reverted back to not talking to me.. not looking at me.. and I felt she was ungrateful and unappreciative... I felt a little used. She had been so chummy with me as we planned the party, shopped for everything and I stayed up three nights baking & decorating her cake... got up at 5am to start filling balloons, etc. and then she wouldn't even talk to me? So, I had to let it go. The reason I threw such a lavish party was because I felt she had been shortchanged the last few years.... and of course, it probably wasn't MY place to step in and try to make up for it. I guess I also hoped it would be a bonding experience for us.... to help us get along better. I know her mom was laying guilt on her, telling her how I refused to invite her and she couldn't be there so I'm sure that had a lot to do with SD treating me that way. (to make matters worse, the following weekend when her mom was supposed to make her a party, her mom left her with her boyfriends parents and went out... no party with mom. The boyfriends parents sang happy birthday and gave her some cake. She was very upset by that) Anyways, I vowed to not make a party for her this year. (not my kid, not my problem... because her attitude continued for a while) As her 10th birthday approached, I asked DH if he was doing anything... no. I kinda made him feel a little guilty so he took her to pizza with his parents and I made her a small cake. She was supposed to be with her mom on her actual birthday so DH put BM on the spot and she agreed to take SD. Well, she sent her mom and I've already posted about how that turned out. She spent the day calling & texting us and trying to start a fight, instead of actually celebrating with her daughter. She left at 4pm to go back home when SD expected to be with her until 8pm... they did nothing BM had promised. SD came home in tears. I think it made her think about all I do for her. I don't know if she thought about the party I made her but I noticed a difference in her attitude with me. I don't think she would have ever had the opportunity to appreciate me in any way if I didn't back off and let her experience that. It was tough and sometimes I want to jump in and figure out a way to make her like me... I finally realized it will never happen as long as I am trying. It has to be HER idea, not mine. My second example is my dad's relationship with my stepmom's biological daughter. My dad knew her before he knew my stepmom because she used to be my younger sister's best friend in high school. He would do favors for her, like drive her home from work because she would want to hitch hike at 16. After he married her mom, he treated her like his own daughter. For 22 years, he did more for her than her biological father, who treated her like crap. When her mom had an aneurysm, my dad continued to help her and her family... treated her entire family to a trip to Disneyland. I guess the day her mom had the aneurysm, she was planning to leave the next day to Disney with her family and they had to cancel the trip. A few years later, my dad wanted to make up for it and took (and paid for) a week at Disney for her, her husband and their kids. That was something he hadn't done for any of his own kids. She would give him cards on Father's day, his birthday, etc and call him Dad. She would tell him how thankful she is for him and loves him as a dad and so on.... Well, a year before her mom passed away... after she had gotten all the possessions that belonged to her mom.. and then some, she joined her brothers in a court case against my dad. It really crushed my dad.. to this day he still gets upset when he talks about her. He honestly believed she thought of him as a dad and for her to turn on him like that was a slap in the face with a Mack truck! and on a smaller level, I can relate to his pain because my SD will hold my hand, hug me, tell me she loves me and treat me like we are family as long as she is getting her way... then I am the b*tch that said no.. as soon as I impose a rule or say no. I have had to accept that she is someone else's child that is never going to love me, no matter how much I love her. I have to choose to love her knowing it won't be returned and give, knowing it won't be appreciated. Now, someday she may mature and love or appreciate me, but I cannot do for her with that expectation... I do it because I want to. I feel bad that her mom treats her like crap, but that's HER mother. I can't make up for it. I feel bad that her dad isn't 'into' planning fun parties for kids and she may never have another party.. unless her mom makes one or if she asks me. I won't offer ever again. It's the hardest thing to wear your heart on your sleeve and keep a child at arms length at the same time. Over time she is seeing that I won't be manipulated and yet, I still care about her and will do whatever I need to for her protection, but I am not going to kiss her ass and I am not going to allow her to use me. I do what I want for her and when I don't want, I say no... sorry ask your mom or dad.

Dear Kim, You are frustrated because to are trying to win at a game but, you don’t know the rules or how to play. If you keep trying the same things you’ll never get different results. If you allow the architecture of your building, your window, and door locations to limit your creativity you’ll continue to produce similar results. Because you become fixated on what’s not working - and blind to other layout possibilities. This is when you’ll need persistence to keep sketching until you finally run out of things that don’t work. Then you’ll discover what does work and a whole new set of possibilities will open up to you. But you must not quit! I can guarantee you haven’t tried every possible combination of appliances and cabinetry that will meet your criteria (what you expect to get from your new kitchen) and perform well for you aesthetically & functionally. So you can get the most value within the space you have available. Our Kitchen Design Ground Rules: The Purpose Every Residential Kitchen is Designed For Is to Provide Food and Beverage Service As Efficiently As Possible….to make your like in your kitchen easier and save you valuable time. All Kitchens Perform These 5 Basic Tasks Storage – Preparation – Cooking/Baking – Providing Service – Clean Up Rules For Kitchen Space Planning If You Want Your Kitchen To Perform Efficiently & Work Intuitively The Appliance dictates the Task & Its Location The Task dictates the Kitchen Items you’ll need to perform that Task The Kitchen Items dictate the best cabinet configuration and accessory to store and retrieve your Kitchen Items most efficiently. Store your Kitchen Items used frequently as close to the Appliance as possible to increase efficiency. Understanding these rules and how to apply them is how you Evaluate how well or poorly your kitchen layouts work once you create them. I like to start with the existing kitchen layout – because kitchen space planning is an evolutionary process – and evaluate it. To discover clearly with proof, Exactly where we’re starting from. What problems this layout has, and what can be done to improve its performance. This initial Evaluation will supply clues to help you resolve the problems your kitchen layout has - leading to other layout possibilities. In my experience Never less than 5 - as many as 12 to 20 different kitchen layouts. Providing you Very Different Results than, “ Here are 2 or 3 similar options pick the one you like best.” As an example of what's possible doing this Kitchen Planning Analysis, these clients of ours got to decide from 21 different kitchen layouts. Resulting in 6 very different kitchen possibilities! And yes you should do the work necessary. If you really want to make the best decisions possible in investing. Both in making this kitchen home improvement last, and making your life in it better for as long as you live here. New Kitchen = New Life...if you do it right. It’s shameful but in most cases you’ll wind up with a kitchen not much different than the one you so desperately wanted to replace...just a new version. I wish this didn't happen to anyone...but this is not the world we live in. Thorough kitchen space planning is how you avoid this from happening to you. Having no conversation with you I have no idea of what you really want to accomplish or what appliances you would love to have in a perfect world. But to get you to keep going I have attached 4 different kitchen layout possibilities 5 layouts in all. Also, You can take pieces and parts of these plans and Frankenstein them together to create still more possible layouts for you to consider. Good Luck! Demand Better Performance Joe Brandao Kitchen Performance Consultant