So I posted around the net some months ago about perhaps replacing my 18 year old GE range that has started occasionally smelling of propane, that may have a leaking valve that would cost $350 or more to fix. At the time I was leaning towards another on sale GE from Lowes. Well, a couple things happened. 1 - the smell went away after the tech looked at it, so I figured I could wait till the issue came back. 2 - I went and physically looked at the current GEs, and they were the cheapest feeling things I've ever seen. Ideally, I'd like the "Speed Queen of gas stoves" and those aren't it. I've never seen such thin sheet metal - it looked like I could accidentally dent it with an aluminium pan. So I went back to looking at Blue Star, but quickly realized there's no dealer closer than 50 miles, so service might be an issue, forget about getting to physically see one on a weekend or after work - I'd have to take a day off or leave painfully early on a weekend to get to some far out of town dealer that's open till 1pm on Saturday. Not enticing. I went to my local appliance store where I bought my Speed Queens, and they don't sell Blue Star, they claim because of reliability issues, but maybe they just don't have a deal with them. They do sell Thermador and Wolf that compete (at a higher price). They really talked up Thermador - but it had a tiny oven. Like 2-3" shorter than the current model GE (that they had in store that we compared). As my main interest in Blue Star was build quality as well as oven size, a smaller oven is right out. I also don't simmer - if I did need to, I have an electric induction cooktop I can set to any temp in 10 degree increments. So while the Thermador simmer was "cool", I might use it 2 times in my life. After talking about the desired quality but also desired good sized oven, they pointed me to a Bosch hgi8054uc. It's an 800 series but I don't know if that still means made in Germany or if this was also outsourced to china. While not made in USA like Blue Star, and not quite as solid as the Thermador, it seemed closer to that than the modern GE and an solid improvement over the current ailing GE in build quality and features. It doesn't hurt that it's like 1/2 the price too of a Blue Star or Thermador. I have had really good luck with Bosch in the past, I love my 800 series dishwasher, I love the power tools I have, and I like their Universal Plus Kitchen Machine. But I really don't know about reliability in stoves - I didn't really know they made them till I started looking this time around. Like everything, there seems to be mixed reviews online. My local appliance store does have a contract with a local service person, so I know I can get it worked on, but I'm hoping I never have to ;) My concerns are around the electronic touchpad for the oven control - I did go electronic on the Speed Queen, but for an Oven it doesn't really seem necessary, and a potential major point of "stupid failure". What do you all think? Should I stay cheap in the GEs even though they seem like crap - the last one did last 18 years. Should I step up to the Bosch as it will feel nicer to use, and might bake more evenly and is sold by a somewhat trusted local dealer with service? Should I go with a different, more simple "pro" brand even if I have to hunt a bit for a dealer and service and trust to the internet to get someone, even if it's potentially from 50-100 miles away? Should I wack my current stove and hope it stops leaking propane smell again for a few months?

Have you looked for remnants? In a market like NY, you should be able to find some high-quality remnants. Most of the Pental colors are sold by half slab. Did they check if Misterio is one of them?

Sorry, you asked for pro input and I'm not one, so I kept my hands under the desk and didn't respond before now. But a few things jump out at me here. First, I have to wonder why you contracted with an electrician you'd been unhappy with before. I also don't understand what really happened at your house. You say "I got a general contractor who has a good electrician to do the meter move instead," but then you seem to say that the first electrician came out and moved it again? So both electricians moved the meter? How did that go down? Though I'm not an attorney, I'd have to say that if you signed a contract for the panel installation, but not for moving the meter, IMO that's all that the first electrician should have delivered. I'd think you were within your rights to have a different contractor move the meter pan, if that's what you wanted. And it does seem really odd that even after you told him not to, the first electrician went ahead and did the work. But if you had a verbal agreement with him to move the meter, that could muddy things. You should probably discuss this with an attorney, to figure out where you stand in this. BTW, a week to swap out a panel seems excessive to me. I had a new weatherhead, mast, meter pan, and panel (same capacity as the old service, 100 amps) put in one of my rentals several years ago. IIRC, the electrician did it all in a day, maybe even less (I wasn't there the whole time). My panel swap also cost less than half what you quote as your first estimate, but that was quite a while ago, so maybe it's not indicative of current costs.

I'm not sure, but I can tell you that my granite is polished, but only softly so -- it is not the high-gloss, super-reflective surface you see on the majority of granites (which is fine with me). In some lights, there are spots that appear to be not polished, but they are -- just very, very subtly. If you're not happy, I wonder if you could have it re-polished on site?