Neither my wife nor I have prepaid funeral arrangements for a couple of reasons. There is a danger that the arrangements won't be homored should we live 10 yrs or more after purchashing the arrangement. Locally, there were several cases of that happening. The ownership of a cemetery had changed since a person pre-purchased a funeral and burial arrangement. The new owner would not honor the old agreement saying that it was with the former owner, not him, and that when he purchased the cemetery, none of there pre-agreements were included, therefore, the problem lies with the seller - go chase him down. Admitedly, this was a weak argument, but it would have required the services of an expensive lawyer to fight. The cost difference of the original purchase was smaller than the current going rate. The new owner did offer to provide the services if they would pay the difference between the two prices. The second reason is that we can not predict where we might die. In our religion, we are supposed to bury the body within one hour journey from the place of death. (This eliminates the cost of the unnecessary expense of carting a body all over the globe.) If I died in a auto accident 3000 miles from home, I would not be able to use a prepaid burial plot. Both my wife and I have instructed each other to use the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle. [My wife told me that if I spent too much on her funeral, that she would come back to haunt me. I replied, "Really. Is that a promise? That gives me an idea. I want you back." LOL Embalming is not a requirement in many places if the body is buried soon enough after death. But it may be in a closed casket for practical reasons. Long ago, it was decided that the next of kin should view the body before burial to verify identification. This need not be a public viewing. My only wish is to be returned to the ground from whence my body came from. I do have some advice about my grave stone should the surviving family decide to place one. If you are going to set a stone, do it right. This advice comes from my genealogical experience in researching my and my wife's families and walking many cemeteries. 1. No limestone. It weathers too much. A stone 100 yrs old starts to be unreadable. Use durable materials such as granite or slate. A bronze plaque is very durable, also. 2. Have the nomenclature deeply cut. Including a verse or saying is a nice touch, but the characters are often too samll to be of value after 50 yrs or more. I recommend against it, but if one must, apply a short saying with as large of characters as possible. 3. Many cementeries these days require grave markers to be laid flush with the ground level for grass mowing and ease of maintence. Be aware the a flush marker will be trod on by mowing equipment. Plan the stone with this in mind. 4. If the survivors place a conventional, vertical, headstone, do it right. It should be in three section: 1) a flat base for a foundation, 2) a pedalstal stone that is several inches wider and longer than the headstone, and 3) finally the headstone resting on the pedalstal. The pedastal protects the main stone from maintence equipment. It takes the knocks and dings that will occur. The foundation stone provides a grass free border and eases the mowing chore. Now, what we haven't done is to discuss with our children, put the results in writing, send a copy to each child, and store a copy with our wills. That we should do. That would simplify funeral arrangements and head off arguments in a time of family berevement. Both of my wife's parents willed their bodies to the medical profession with the proviso that their remains be disposed of in a dignified manner, probably by incenaration. There were no ashes or burial, just a memorial serice.

"..as for an obit, who knows if newspapers will even be around...." Obituaries are online now. Funeral homes in my area publish detailed obituaries on their sites as part of the funeral package. Newspapers nowdays have websites listing the obituaries they publish in newspapers. A funeral director told me the only reason they publish in newspapers now is that older people can't wrap their head around the idea of an online obituary and insist on spending hundreds of dollars to still put one in the newspaper. I'm sure that will change in years to come as people who were born in the Internet age die and see the Internet as the sole form of communication. The problem with obituaries is that they are written by family members and are filled with outright lies and exaggerations. When the "info" is submitted for publication no one 'fact checks' it like they would for an article and it is treated just like any other ad in the newspaper. When my uncle died, the person who wrote it up put in that he had received his bachelors degree even though he had never even attended college. My uncle was always resentful that he had not been allowed to attend college so I guess the person who wrote that figured that that made it all better by "fixing" history. A lot of people noticed and brought it up at the memorial service.

I am sure this is not totally true with all areas of the Country; and with even a few inspectors who work for the City of Seattle - but here in Seattle, it seems the only thing the Dept. of Land Use, Construction, and the Permit office - are interested in - is raising your taxes, and charging you fees. We're finishing up a remod on the house my lovely wife grew up in. About 6 years ago - we had a 96% efficient furnace installed. Permitted. After the install - we called a free inspection company - totally private firm - who sent out a man and inspected the furnace install. Stated it was a good job, but found a couple of wrong items, (a leaking fitting for example) - and fixed them free of charge. He spent about 40 minutes looking over the furnace install. His company is paid by a broad consortium of furnace installers who are fed up with shoody and bad work being done by some installers... However - when we had the City inspector come on out - to inspect the furnace - he wasn't even in the basement for 20 seconds. Surprised he even went downstairs. He walked in, said: 'Yep, that's a furnace. Where's the permit to sign?" He signed the permit, and then made a remark (because it was obvious we were doing some remod work) - Looks like I'll be getting some calls to come back here... Then he left. That was the city 'inspection.' This house had a foundation problem. We had it fixed. Several Engineers involved, etc. The structural engineer stated it needed 14 pin pillings. But the city office said: 17 The structural engineer told us: "It needs 14; but city says 17. So 17 it is." What did this do? Increase the cost of the repair, and the fees I paid to the City. Now, some time back - my wife become a RE Agent. A house down the street went up for sale, and the seller was making some claims about upgraded electrical service. (Wasn't.) But ALL the work (as it turns out) which had been done - had been permitted. But, out of curiousity - we inquired of the City to ask if it had been permitted. The city said: NOPE. No permits. We talked with his RE A; and the guy became rightfully pissed - because he HAD purchased the permits. (And the city did not change the status of his permitted work, and did not come out and take a look at his house...) So, that got us to thinking some more - and we asked the city about OUR Foundation Repair. And they said: NOPE. No permits. You never had that done... And after yelling at them for about a month, and contacting the Geo Technical Enginerer - who faxed us the documents he had submitted to the city - the City finally stated: You should have CALLED us (we had - the completed documents had been submitted to them...) and told us it was completed. At this point, the only thing we are willing to do - is if you will pay us another fee of $100; we will then reopen your permit; and send a guy out - who will then be able to look at nothing (since it is all closed up) - but we will then file your permit under closed; and put it into the records - that it was actually permitted and finished. So - NO - I didn't pay them ANOTHER fee! I had already paid them several THOUSAND dollars for the foundation permit, and all of the stuff which goes with that, and they had received the proper docments when the job was completed. They just didn't bother to do their job. And NOW they want MORE money!!?? I HAVE the signed off engineering documents! I am steamed at the city - but they have all the tax money, and all the power. And they don't care. So - I am FED UP - with the City and their regulations, and the permit process... In Seattle, it is not about safety, it is about City Revenue. And power tripping with inspectors. And you can find some court cases around the country, and some other stuff if you look in the news - where various inspectors have just been power tripping on home owners or contractors they decided they don't like. You don't want to buy a home - if some of the work hasn't been properly permitted. Fine. I DON'T CARE. I don't have to sell to you. I have permits, and I have paid thousands in fees - to only have the permit office not bother to even do their damm job. And the neighbor two houses down - experienced exactly the same thing. So - I don't call them anymore. And my words towards the permit office and process are unprintable.

Rainidame, as you probably realized, you can use that system on both lower and upper cabinets. You can also use it on bookshelves as well. OK, now that you have things figgered out, lemme throw another idea at you. Have you ever considered making lower cabinets that are 32" deep rather than the standard 24"? What you do is build the lower carcasses 24" deep, but mount them 8" away from the wall. Then you make your drawers and pullout drawers 30" or 31" deep. You can still use 24" drawer slides, but mounted at the front of the pullout. Your countertops would be a standard 26" deep. The space between the back on the counter and the wall could be shelves, cubby holes, swingout units  all 8" deep. You could even store staples or appliances like a toaster, mixer, blender, etc. I realize you are somewhat short of stature, but, if you can reach the backsplash, you can reach items stored in this extended area. As and added benefit, your upper cabinets could extend depth of your upper cabinets by as much as 8". Of course, you have to have a kitchen big enough to accommodate the additional depth.