Well the Gangs up- a- early today.

And not just our Rain Drenchee in LA, but Missy's aching for some extra light too. What? with the 335 days of sun and that MASSIVE window on the way? Oh right, it's for night time activity.

Plllog, shame on you. I found your Chinese herbal soup remedy this morning floating in the Garage in a sealed Tupperware container. I was hoping we wouldn't have to tie you down for future doses but looks like we're going to have to.

Pharmaceutical Companies

OK, I see we've struck a chord. Several years ago, I was in a Pub sitting with a brilliant Doctor friend of mine (in Haiti right now with Doctors Sans Frontiers) and he asked me, Do you know what the difference between Western Medicine and Eastern Medicine is? Western medicine is developed to treat Disease. Eastern medicine is developed to keep the body At Ease.

Ask yourself, how can poor Rural people worldwide in India, Nepal, Myanmar, Peru, Africa, China etc. live healthy lives relative to the big rich Western nations? Even today they use a simplistic model of Doctors roaming the countryside. The Doctor literally lives in your house! For maybe a week or more, he observes all the members, their ailments, and then prepares remedies or suggests simple life changes based on your actual daily life. After he leaves your house, he moves onto the next. His reputation rests on his shoulders. If he is bad, the entire village will be informed by word of mouth and no one will ever allow him to serve. This doctor appears almost monthly or whatever his schedule and can also come for emergency.

My "dissing" the Pharmaceutical companies has some merit. But, it is also the North American (includes British) Medical System at blame, which they unfortunately control. Our system is based on Disease and symptomatic treatment instead of the cause. This works into their hands because once Disease strikes, you are ultimately a victim to it an their "super" drugs can "shield" you from it, as long as you continue to take them.

And how does it make you feel knowing that your Doctor gets huge Spiffs from these Giants for pushing their drugs? We've all seen it on 60 minutes. It's not a secret. His motive is not necessarily your health. It's $$$.

Change page. Germany. As a Canadian, coming from a very high standard of FREE Medical Care, we don't hold a candle to Germany. I have been in German Hospitals that make ours look like Dirty playgrounds. My German Ex found it comical! Their Apotheke's (Pharmacies) are world class masterpieces. Trained Pharmacists will guide and consult you in the Naturopathic Remedy prior to giving you the "Novartis Special." That is good awareness to natural health. And I don't have to go near the German record of healthiness as they are the true pioneers of Healthy Living. Think Birkenstocks, Wasa Bread, Weleda Cosmetics, etc. etc. Interesting enough, Germans are also the #1 Western visitors to India for the practice of Ayurveda and Yoga.

Which takes me to one last thing. Years ago, I was a "pill popper" of Vitamins. Then one day, I was opening a Litre of milk and at the top of the spout was their words of wisdom, "Let Food Be Your Medicine". I digested those words and to this day have never taken a Vitamin supplement.

P.S. I guess I didn't mention the GMO seeds that lovely "Angel Monsanto" has spread into the Third World (correction The World) so that Farmers MUST rely on and buy only those. And heaven forbid what the Frankenfoods that those seeds produce will do to the coming generations of man.

Missy, I really appreciate the hugs and sympathy. :)

Butttt what about mine!

Hombre Valiente Para La Mujer

"What is MOW, anyway?"

MOW is the name you gave me LOL!. So, I figured you knew. I looked it up and it's Meals On Wheels which I gathered was your reference to my TO eating performance this week.

Which reminds me, I need to sink my teeth into a nice Ambrosia right now> California, I love you!

When I arrived there last night, it looked like X-Mas. The parking lot was packed
all the way to the back!

So, in we go to the Restaurant, yes told you about the disgusting Batter and Chips or as it says, Haddock and Chips on the menu.

While inking the Oven order, I asked the lady a few sales questions.

Gas vs Electric Cooktops- No comparison, "People love Gas", 8 out of 10 cooktops sales are Gas. Nothing to panic about, since the alternative to Gas is non existent when looking at regular Ceran. And virtually no one has Induction to date in this Country.

Oven size-Again no comparison. 9 out of 10 sales 30 inch. When I told her that I switched up from a 24 and the Mural size above was 38, I kid you not Plllog her exact words, "The inverted Triangle of a 24 inch
would drive me nuts".

On Induction-The one I got is just Induction. Not "true" European induction. All the people that come in said they saw no difference in performance just like Consumer Reports. Induction period is just great. Missy, haven't I heard that before? Too bad I'll never use it for cooking Lasagna.

On Checkouts- The Cashier said I was a funny guy and make her laugh. Oh.

Missy- I do like that example from Stef's link. It's quite different from your choice but nice.

Stef-I almost forgot. I want switches under the cabinets with the Plugmold too. FYI I did see all that stuff at Home Depot. I didn't study it deeply, but will do so. There were switches and stuff for sure.

Plllog-thanks for the Hinge find. I did pick the hinges up last night in the name of giving to Carpenter today. And yes, he didn't show up. Go figure! Then I got a morning message that said I tried to cut the L in the cabinet with a jigsaw but didn't quite look good. GRRRR;;;;; That's MY cabinet you're carving I mean practicing on.

Pffffffttttt! Nasty herb glop man!!! Send a man out for Advil and he brings back musty yuckiness that he makes even worse by turning it into a soup, and then he wonders why you don't pat him on the head and tell him he's a good boy? Typical male.

I didn't say that pharmaceutical companies are unalloyed angels of mercy. In fact, I think we need to make all of American health care not for profit. There should be some monetary incentives for the hands on inventors and healers, but not for stockholders. That would get rid of a whole lot of the weirdness---take money out of it and leave the scientists and healers alone.

On the other hand, I would be long dead in one of your rural villages. I am not a pill popper. In fact, I avoid it as much as possible. And I find it hysterical that Whole Foods doesn't allow GMO's and additives and all that but sells tons of additives of the vitamin and partial food variety. People eat brewer's yeast and gluten, and take yeast killers and anti-glutens, they eat amino acids, and vitamins but won't take any dairy which has those things as part of unadulterated food. But to each his own neuroses.

Regarding "cures", most of the homeopathic ones are placebos. Most mild ailments in healthy, clean, warm people will just go away if they have decent immune systems. If it makes them feel better to take something, these are harmless. And simple remedies that cause a little inconvenience are superior to pharmaceutical remedies. For instance, I've heard time and again that vaporub will kill toe fungus (something I've fortunately never encountered myself). The jelly starves it for oxygen. I think the aromatics do something too. But then you also have to have gunky toes and keep them well aired and otherwise dry too, which isn't convenient, and is potentially embarrassing, especially to guys, so people take poison in pill form for weeks, which doesn't work as well and is bad for them but easier.

BUT, while willowbark tea is "natural", an aspirin tablet will give you a much better controlled dose of exactly the same thing, without the pollutants and other potential nasties. And while an onion poultice is very useful for a respiratory infection, its efficacy is limited, and without modern medicine, if one gets past the crisis, the recovery time is a minimum of six months.

The reason those poor villagers are so healthy is that without public health, cures, etc., over the last several hundred years that health has improved in the Western world, they've been culling the herds. Those with good luck and good immune systems live. The rest don't. Makes for healthy children.

I come from a culture that values intelligence more than physical robustness. As a whole we tend to have more diseases. And more inventors of cures. I value my life and those of my relatives and neighbors, and so refuse to believe we'd be better off if we'd been left to die aborning. So we have diseases, and we cure them, and we make advances in other fields. And if that doesn't please you and your German friends you're welcome to disregard us, as long as you leave us alone.

:::snicker::: Oh! Mow! Blame the iPhone! It "corrects" as you type, which is a convenient way to get apostrophes into common contractions, but sometimes it slips in a weirdie that goes by unnoticed. You can't touch type on screen, so there isn't a lot of looking at the message, and there are more difficulties with Preview. That word was supposed to be "Maybe". When you first said "This is Mow" I thought you were talking about the oven. Especially with your absurdist style it's not always easy to know when something is off and when you kept repeating it I thought it was just that. But then it didn't even make absurdist sense, and since you all capped I looked it up and Meals on Wheels seemed to make sense--until it didn't. And the closest I could find was Man Or Woman, but that still didn't really make sense so I thought I'd better ask, since I was pretty sure it wasn't the oven by now.

I'll just start calling you Maybe.

Well you did strike a chord and I see I need to explain a bit more. Just over four years ago my husband was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia. We were thrilled to learn that there is a pill that puts it into remission in 87% of cases. This eliminates the need for bone marrow transplant which is very hard on the patient and roughly half as effective. Within six months he was in remission and remains there now. There are a few side effects, but they are quite manageable. Should he ever become one of the 13%, there is another drug that is effective in most of those cases.

Before he was diagnosed, he was one of the healthiest people I have ever met. A competitive runner in high school, he continued to stay active and maintained a healthy lifestyle and diet.

Volumes of research have not identified a specific genetic, environmental, or lifestyle cause for this. No herb or village dance exists that will do what this pill does.

So yes he is a "pill popper" and all the healthier for it.

Hmmm.

Stef-THAT is a happy ending. And really a very nice story for no doubt a nice DH. I don't advocate against ALL "piils". As my Doctor friend clearly said, once there is Disease, it's time to ring the Bell to modern medicine, which has moved society forward. Polio, Malaria etc. Your Husband is the inexplicable medical example of illness and so it is a good solution and has saved his life.

That's not what I'm talking about. I mean the anxiety, sleeping, blood pressure, etc etc medications that are handed out like confetti by Doctors. The bread and butter drugs of these Pharmaceutical Giants. Drugs that cause reliance or addiction.

No herb or village dance exists that will do what this pill does.

Let's not belittle Homeopathy and Naturopathic science please. After all it was around a few thousand years before the modern stuff. It is still valid and used by Pharmaceutical companies to emulate their "drugs". There must be a good reason why the German Gov't has made it law that a Pharmacist must show you the natural alternative. Novartis and the like have teams of researchers analyzing the very Barks used by tribes in the Amazon.

We must never let the arrogance of modern man overwhelm the foundations laid by our ancestors.

Stef-How silly of me. I forgot a story that oh so close to home.

My Father. A man who suffered an Ulcer for at least 15 years. "Pinned" to a drug by his Doctor for yes, 15 years. Some Novartis "Ulcer Drug". One day someone notified my Father of an Australian Doctor's Ulcer cure that was being practiced in Canada as well. So my Father took it on.

This Doctor identified a certain acid that produces the ulcer. By doing a physical operation to stop the body from producing the acid, you would no longer be able to trigger the Ulcer.

My Father has not had an ulcer for the past 15 years. No pills.

That's a nice story. He relied on the "magic" of Pharmaceuticals but was cured by the science of identifying cause.

Well hurrah for the inventers of the leukemia pill!!!! And special blessings to those who invest their time and skill in rare things that don't necessarily bring fame and fortune.

BTW, while a huge proportion of users of Viagra are drinkers who can't abuse alcohol and still get it up anymore, it is also a blessing to people who suffer from debilitating conditions that otherwise would just make them miserable and depressed.

Well, that's an interesting twist on Viagara. I like it Senorita.

Yes, of course, too many people rely on drugs for conditions they could probably "cure" with a lifestyle change.

That is a good outcome for your dad also. If I remember correctly, Ulcer research took quite a jump forward just a few years back with several important discoveries.

BTW the key to the leukemia pill, Gleevec, was discovered by a scientist who decided to work part time from home so she could spend more time with her family. She literally had her work spread out on the dining room table when she hit on the idea for a cure.

Okay, my sister and her son are visiting so I'll sign off now.

¡Ay! ¡Sr. Solman, por favor! ¡Me duele mucho la cabeza! ¡Yo lo quiero! ¡El Advil! ¡Por Favor!

¡Ay Yay Yayyy, Mi pobrecita! ¡

No te preocupes mi Amor. Tengo una muy buena medicina solamente para tu cabeza.

Una Botella de Ron Blanco Havana Club
Tres Limones
Azucar
Agua Mineral
Hierbabuena

Un disco de Juan Gabriel

Oops forgot that we have to get Mr. Portland into Canada and release him of the musty, dusty Warehouse where he presently resides.

Imagine his face when he is finally erected into position, in Mexico!

True story, since I haven't seen him for awhile, the link actually gave me a little pleasure twitch. ((( Ohhhh )))).

wooo busy in here today!

Thank you for your input on the lights. :o) After posting earlier, I had googled and found some nice examples. There are even a few threads here that I had missed.

We 'went to town' and got them. Purchased the chandelier for above the island (I still can't believe the price), and ordered the other ones. I am very happy. I think they will throw much more light than the other ones, and I really like the 'old' glass.

Steff, that's wonderful that your hubby is doing so well! It's nice to hear something positive - a nice change from the usual stories we hear.

I am a firm believer in taking advantage of both 'holistic' and 'pharmaceutical' information. There is *so* much more info available to all of us now via the internet. I think it's great that we have access to it all.

Missy congratulations on the Chandelier!

Looks like we're all in full HRTC mode LOL! BUY BUY BUY for the Feb 1, deadline. Actually surprising how well this program worked.

Anything else coming up? I'm hoping to get these Appliances out of the way as in purchased. Also, I'm going to re-glaze the Cast Iron Clawfoot tub in the Bathroom.

Aha !!!

Ya see. First she snubs my Holistic herbal, head saving, brew. Then she just leaves my new Health Mojitos after I personally went all the way to Cuba and assembled the finest melody of fresh exotic ingredients, just for her.

Typical Woman, you'll never please them.

Take a look at photo #106 under "Kitchen eye candy" (napagirl's post) in Missy's linked thread. It looks like we have a Colorful Mexican Kitchen. And what is that sink? Tile or Talavera, can't be sure.

So glad you were able to get that chandelier, Missy. It's going to look great.

I'm sure plllog will be back soon, Solman. She probably needs to have her own space for a while.

Aha !!!

Ya see. First she snubs my Holistic herbal, head saving, brew. Then she just leaves my new Health Mojitos after I personally went all the way to Cuba and assembled the finest melody of fresh exotic ingredients, just for her.

Typical Woman, you'll never please them.

Steff-thanks but I couldn't find it. I went to Missy's Thread and can't see the napagirls's thread.

Also, my replies are nowhere to be seen.

The title is "With Much Intrepidation"

Here's a direct link. Scroll down to 106. If this doesn't work, I'll post it in this thread.

Thanks Stef!

Wow. Is that BUSY? But yeah, looks to be a tile Talavera sink.

Hmm. Too bad we couldn't ask the owner how it went.

Did you see the first or second photo with the Yellow Counter tiles?

I'm so glad we went with Blue for the edge tile. Yellow edge just looks...yellow.

OK, trying my best.

Hey Stef-Missy, have you noticed Flipper our Pacific Dolphin has been missing today?

I hope she's not out swimming... literally. I told her not to go in the Garage until I came back with the Life Preservers.

Missy- please book me out again, I'm off to L.A. on another search and rescue. If I can't find her, I'll go to Whole Foods and pick up a crate of Sardines. Dolphins come very fast when they smell those.

She's around, I think I've seen some posts on the discussion side today.

I saw the yellow sans blue, definitely blah compared to the blue edge.

That is a really nice fridge.

Thanks Stef. It will be a great grab for someone indeed.

Shame that White is the new option. But I don't regret it since the Titanium was designed to go with the Black Appliances and at the time it was the right choice.

The irony of it all is that I sold the exact model in White to get the Titanium. LOL!

Oh something I wanted to share. When I was at Sears' Appliance Dep't, I asked the Salesman what the number one selling color is. It was White, by far. Really shocked me since I thought it's Stainless Mania out there.

I wonder if the colored Washer craze will carry on to fridges. Europe has Green and Red and Blue. I think Mexico too. Would be nice actually.

Back in 1995 we purchased a white refrigerator. I really thought white would be the best option and not get outdated like colors did. After 14 years the white one looked very outdated due to the boxy shape, the handles, and the yellowing trim. When the icemaker quit and could not be repaired, we purchased a stainless steel model with slightly retro styling. Now I look at the fridge as just another appliance that may need to be updated again. That's a completely different view than my parents generation. I'm pretty sure the colors that are popular now will seem dated in a few years.

The question of how quickly a kitchen will look outdated is something I have given a lot of thought to this past year while planning updates. It's why I have opted for a warm, eclectic look and hope it will be a little more timeless.

Good eye, Steff. It def looks like some sort of unique tile sink! I still really like the looks of them. They look very authentic to me.

I agree on the appliances. I have always had white from personal preference. I have no complaints about my fridge, and it suits our needs very well, but it def looks dated. As you mentioned, the handle, shade of white, shelving type etc all gives it a label.

With that said, if they come out with coloured fridges that are a reasonable price, I will be hard pressed not to bite. I've always loved the mid-century coloured appliances. I've been tempted to paint mine 'just because'. I know that if/when we sell, whoever buys the house will want new appliances, so - what would it hurt to paint it? lol

Prairie-I agree with you. You have NOTHING to lose. I say paint!

This concept of doing something for future resale is silly because then you don't enjoy what you want in fear of pleasing the "future" unknown buyer, who BTW ma love your look.

What I liked about this IKEA Wall Oven is that's it's not really like the typical White Appliance because it's not painted. It's actually White Glass. The entire front. Kind of like Glass tiles on the Back splash. As the IKEA girl said, it sort of just blends into the cabinet because of the slight transparency of Glass.

I would never be able to paint because of this fact.

I'm still surprised that White is a top seller in 2010. Looks like it's Classic.

I saw the white stove with the glass at Ikea. I liked it, too. My stove has glass on top of the control panel. I like the look, as well as how easy it is to clean. :o)

Prairie- I forgot to ask what color your Chandelier was. Was it excatly like the link you gave us?

Prairie-Did you see the Stainless version of the same Oven. It is literally like a mirror. Impressive, but holy fingerprintarama. But certainly flashy.

IKEA is interesting that way. Their Appliances have a lot of pop for the buck. You get the same Euro design as Miele and the big German names for half the price.

Does anyone think that the prices for Miele is really worth it? Or is it bragging rights and name dropping when guests come over. They never top any Consumer Ratings that I have ever seen; either here or in Germany.

Hi Solman, I didn't see the stainless oven, sorry. I will look next time I go.

The chandy we got is diff than the other lights we got. I didn't realize till tonight that it is by the same company.

It's this chandelier

with this glass

I have no comment on Miele vs other brands. I have a regular old stove. :o)

Nice indeed Missy. 5 Lights! It will really give a lot of light. I really like the little stems the shades are on. Good clean shape.

Congratulations.

OK Just dialing in guys,

By the way, LOVE the weather here. It's Spring!!! All the snow is non existent and melted from the weekend rains. How's California Plllog (where ever you are) . Has it stopped yet?

Stef-Missy, I've done the numbers on the back splash and looks like we can go with the Double Barreled Brothers. But just want to see if you agree with me on the layout. Also, the style of Double Barrel. Do we want just one grouping (4) on either side of the window and Mural. Or 2 groupings to the right of Mural and left of window? Rendition Photo below has one grouping only in all 4 positions/walls.

Window Elevation

Left of Window- 2 arrangements (true double barrel)
Right of window 1 Arrangement

Left of window is 47 inches
Right of window is 39 inches

Cooking Elevation

Left of Mural- 1 arrangements (true double barrel)
Right of Mural- 2 Arrangements

Does that look right?

And we leave the wrap around on the walls blank-yellow tiles only?

OK Just dialing in guys,

By the way, LOVE the weather here. It's Spring!!! All the snow is non existent and melted from the weekend rains. How's California Plllog (where ever you are) . Has it stopped yet?

Stef-Missy, I've done the numbers on the back splash and looks like we can go with the Double Barreled Brothers. But just want to see if you agree with me on the layout. Also, the style of Double Barrel. Do we want just one grouping (4) on either side of the window and Mural. Or 2 groupings to the right of Mural and left of window? Rendition Photo below has one grouping only in all 4 positions/walls.

Window Elevation

Left of Window- 2 arrangements (true double barrel)
Right of window 1 Arrangement

Left of window is 47 inches
Right of window is 39 inches

Cooking Elevation

Left of Mural- 1 arrangements (true double barrel)
Right of Mural- 2 Arrangements

Does that look right?

And we leave the wrap around on the walls blank-yellow tiles only?

I've been looking at the screen paneled doors. We were talking about the Green painting. Now do we mean Green only on the edges of all the squares with an ultra fine art brush? But that's a lot of edges isn't it? And the front face of the squares White? And the outer frame White?

So you don't have enough to do the hopping frog or lace mantilla as we discussed before?

You do need more deco tiles on the 47" left side to keep the the double barrels from getting lost in the yellow when compared to the right side. Would you skip one column of tiles and then another double barrel? Depending on how many you have, you could do a rectangle on the left and a square on the right. This would be reversed on the mural wall. The yellow frames would relate to the rectangle shape of the mural, but not compete.

The green line would take a lot of patience, but it would make a big difference to brighten up the plain white. I would not do the green line on the grille doors. The plan is to do the cabinet doors and frame in white.

Yes to green in holes. You don't want the brown of the fiberboard or whatever that is to show so the insides of the holes have to be painted anyway. Use a small foam brush and just wiggle it around inside the hole, at least on the first coat(s) rather than dealing with the art brush. Then use a foam, not pressed too hard, for the white, trying not to get it in the holes. Touch up inside the holes with your art brush.

Totally confused on the tile question. Do you mean you have enough tiles altogether if you do the double barreled? Can you do the full layout, like you did before, turning the corners, etc.?

I'm with Steff, wondering what happened to the other (more checkerboard) tile patterns ...

I bow to plllog's wisdom on the whole 'green trim' thing ..

I'm off to HD to buy floor tiles for our entryways. c ya'll later :o)

By the way, LOVE the weather here. It's Spring!!!

GULP;;;; Anytime you laugh at Mother Nature, you always pay the price.

Brrrr, it's FRIGID!

Thanks Stef for the suggestion. I started thinking just one grouping because the Mural elevation right of Mural has that boxed in pipe sticking out and that ruins the double barreled 2 groupings look.

I like the sponge idea Plllog, the art brush had me worried.

Missy,I see you're also trying to beat the HRTC deadline. Good luck. Hope you get this message before you leave. They have a fantastic resilient floating floor called Traffic Master. Super easy install, comfortable, durable, ultra realistic. If I was going for a wood plank look, I would have bought it in a flash. Nice stuff. A local high end restaurant here used it and it looks and feels great. They ripped brand new ceramic tile out for this stuff!

Solman, I didn't get your note before I left (I'm home again), so I didn't look at the Traffic Master. I did some googling, and it looks like it's a laminate type flooring. We are doing hardwood throughout the main floor, except for right in front of the front and patio doors. I don't think laminate would work alongside the hardwood (Ipe). I just got some plainish very dark brown/black ceramic tiles. I don't want them to be a 'feature', just practical landing places for wet/muddy footwear that will mostly disappear. I likely will have area rugs on top as well, so you won't see much of the tile at the end of the day. :o)

but thanks for the suggestion! :o)

Prairie-the Double Barreled Brothers was one of the checkerboard patterns. Do you mean the Lace Mantilla or the Hopping Froggy?

Yes, I suppose the Lace Mantilla or the Hopping Froggy, sorry I never exactly got which was which.

Ooops. We've reached the limit.