<p>MoWC - how are you feeling this a.m.?? 
And thank you mstee and jym and others who have responded to meā¦you are so very kind and you go a long way to making me welcome here again. (I was starting to think I was a going a little nutsā¦and admit to still being a bit confusedā¦lol!)</p>
<p>HUGS to everyone here (whether you want them or not, you are GETTING them!) ;)</p>
<p>"Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives. </p>
<p>In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.</p>
<p>As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring.</p>
<p>In the Spirit of the free hugs campaign, PASS THIS TO A FRIEND and HUG A STRANGER! After all, If you can reach just one person"</p>
<p>Juan Mann is not his real name.</p>
<p>binx-
Safe flight to your d. Lots blowing in the air around here. Hope that doesnt affect her flight. I fly out tomorrow. Hope the air is calmer by then.</p>
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<p>Well said, collegemom. There seems to be a misperception that olive branches have thorns.</p>
<p>Thanks collegemom - fresh start! :)</p>
<p>Okayā¦how bad is this. The cab company is running late, so I took my husband to the airport for his trip to Bogota. As I drop him off at Mickey Leland, he leans over and kisses me and says āI canāt call you from Paris because it will be the middle of the night, but Iāll call you from Cairo after I check in.ā Ackā¦I need to keep better track of my hubster right?? Is this a symptom of too much CC or what?? lol!!</p>
<p>Keeping track of the hubby IS hard when he travels a lot.</p>
<p>Just recently, I was stranded at the high school when my car battery went dead. I called H to ask him not to stay late at work tonight so he could bail me out of troubleā¦ONLY TO FIND OUT HE was thousands of miles away! </p>
<p>A little embarrassingā¦</p>
<p>haā¦ellemenope. I can so relate!</p>
<p>And right now I need hugs because SOMEONE in my house spilled SOMETHING on the kitchen floor and it splattered on the front of my stainless dishwasher, ruining the panels. And since the thing is about 7 years old, the panels are discontinued. It looks really, really bad and Iāve tried every possible stainless cleaner. No go. Just checked online and a similar dishwasher that would match the rest of my pro-style appliances costs about $1200. The cheapest one! It is a great dishwasher and I JUST replaced the racks, which was a couple hundred bucksā¦ and now this. aaargh.</p>
<p>Any stainless steel cleaning hints out there? I donāt know what happenedā¦but the big marks appeared right after workers polished some chips in the kitchen countertop, so Iām afraid it is somehow related to the work they did. They were using acetone at one point. I wonder if I can have stainless steel panels made for less than the cost off a new dishwasher.</p>
<p>Sighā¦my husband is going to be even less thrilled than me when he hears this one.</p>
<p>IDMom- it might have been the acetone that did the damage, in which case the workers should be responsible- if they work for a company etc.
Thatās terrible.
No hugs from me, though.</p>
<p>Call the company that was doing the work on the counters. If it was their fault, they should cover it.</p>
<p>The idea of getting a new panel made is excellent ā Iām sure a metal fabricator could do a good job. Or, maybe the front could be polished professionally, sort of a light sanding, if you will, to take off the top layer.</p>
<p>Binx ā hugs to you as your daughter flies away ā mine is flying home from Germany today, and will be home for less than a month before she goes off to college in Ohio. </p>
<p>Things are so peaceful here right now. The 13 year old is sleeping in after a big night out with the swim team coaches, sneaking around in the dark with a group of 10 other kids. The eight year old has been caught up in the Harry Potter excitement, and is starting to read Harry Potter #1 ā she has created a <em>reading space</em> which consists of a towel laid out on the floor with all of the Harry Potter books lined up on the sides with a space in the middle for her to sit and read #1. </p>
<p>The 13 year old and I have started watching Monte Python and the Holy Grail together, which neither of us have seen. </p>
<p>The point is, everything is so peaceful and non contentious in the house right now, which it definitely has not been for awhile ā I would like it to remain that way for the next few weeks ā please send all your peaceful thoughts over this way as the prickly 17 year old returns for a few weeks . . . trying so hard to be independent ā easier for some than others, it seems . . . love her dearly, but she is SOOO hard to get along with right now! She has already said in e-mail that as soon as she gets home she wants to go straight to a girlfriendās house. I simply cannot take this stuff personally. I just have a feeling I am going to need you guys a lot the next couple of weeks. </p>
<p>DON"T LET THIS THREAD CLOSE!!!</p>
<p>My parents are HORRIFIED that I usually have no idea where my H is when he goes out of town for business. He goes all over the country. They live back in the day when the only way to get in touch with someone was to call the hotel they were staying at.</p>
<p>mstee,
Monty Python and the Holy Grailā¦that movie brings back memories. Our kids went through a period of semi-addiction to that movie when they were around 13. Practically had all the dialog memorized. </p>
<p>The other day I was cleaning out an old desk and found a pair of coconut halves that my son made way back then.</p>
<p>MoWC and moom - Iām going to call them, but I can hear their excuses in my head already. I wondered if these panels are not reversible too. Iām going to get my trusty Phillips out and remove one of the edges and see if I canāt slide one of the panels out and take a look. There is a big logo attached to one of the front panels (in keeping the with the professional chef look which is a hoot since Iām not exactly known for my gourmet cookingā¦), so that logo may be a problem. Worth a look though.</p>
<p>mstee - donāt take it personally. The turnaround will come when she goes off to school and she begins to appreciate those she left behind. Butā¦take it from meā¦donāt expect it before thenā¦lol! Mine was a delight in 9th and 10th gradeā¦and returned to being a delight after she went off to college. </p>
<p>doubleplay - weāll put yours in the wandering husband club. Who knowsā¦ heās probably sat in an airport right next to mine and ellemenopeās without even knowing it.</p>
<p>AND guess what everyone? Iāve been informed by ldgirl I have the same birthday as Harry Potterās mother. Iām so honored. lol!</p>
<p>People who knew him --and this includes WC and MOWC-- easily remember the warmth and genuineness of Gordie Bailey. </p>
<p>Indeed, Gordieās family and friend joined up for The Worldās Largest Hug! as they remembered the worldās biggest heart: a person who never met a stanger and never turned his back to a friend or an enemy. Actually, when Gordie died because he trusted the wrong ābrothers,ā he still had to meet his first enemy. As a true hugger, he found more joy in forgiving than in showing his affection. </p>
<p>In Gordieās Memory, a CU Hug!
Boulder, Colorado
September 16, 2006
In an attempt to break a world record, students at the University of Colorado participated in the āGordie Hugā at Folsom Field, during the second quarter of the football game against Arizona State on Saturday, September 16. Approximately 50,000 in attendance were asked to hug the people standing around them, in memory of Gordie Bailey and honoring the āhug clubā which Bailey formed at his high school to promote unity. Following the game, 28,000 GORDIEcheck cards were handed out by G.O.R.D which was formed at UC Boulder following Gordieās death</p>
<p>You can read more about Gordie here:</p>
<p><a href=āhttp://www.thegordiefoundation.org//GordieContent/File/TGF_Fall_2006.pdf[/url]ā>http://www.thegordiefoundation.org//GordieContent/File/TGF_Fall_2006.pdf</a>
<a href=āhttp://www.thegordiefoundation.org/home/default.asp[/url]ā>http://www.thegordiefoundation.org/home/default.asp</a></p>
<p>That is so cool, Xiggi. Thanks for posting the links and the info. That high school has had SO many tragedies in the last few years (alums and current students). Benny, Gordie, Brendonā¦Faculty and parent deaths, too.</p>
<p>ldmom what are the panels like? Back when I had a dishwasher with removable panels they were pretty simple. Anyone could have cut a new one and inserted it. Any possibility you could have a new panel made to order?</p>
<p>So sad. [Edit - Iām responding to the Gordy posts, not the dishwasher - althought that is sad, too. ;)] Reminds me of the Sam Spady program, where distraught family members decided to use a tragedy to help others. </p>
<p>I took D to the airport today. They gave me a gate pass so I could accompany her. I stayed till she boarded. H called me 1Ā½ hours later, saying sheād called him and was still sitting on the plane. She only has a 2 hour time for connecting in Paris, so I hope they make up some time in the air. Appreciate the good wishes, everyone! (If I remember correctly, itās happy thoughts that make one fly.)</p>
<p>Mstee, I think thatās funny that my D is flying to Germany the day your D is flying home. And then both our Dās are going to Ohio! The folks in front of us at the ticket counter were from Vienna. We heard them talking in German, so I asked them (in German) where they were from. Then my D continued talking to them. It is so fun hearing folks think sheās native because she speaks so well. I love the doors the extra language has opened for her.</p>
<p>Mstee-my 17 yr old has been gone in NYC for about a month. He has called only a few times. Each of those times he needed information from me. We have called him a few times but we get no info at all except the line I am doing my homework. (if you knew this child you would be laughing at that line). He is due home this weekend. I love him and miss him but the house has been so peaceful. His plane gets in really late and my husband wants him to take a taxi home from the airport. I said if he takes a taxi he would probably take it to the girlfriend not home. I am pretty tough and know that this phase will end at some point but his 13 yr old sibling worships the ground he walks on and will be crushed if he doesnāt come straight home.</p>
<p>mathmom - they are just flat stainless panels that fit into an almost invisible frame. And I was messing around with the door a little bit today and it looks like the big logo thingee can be removed. So Iām thinking what your thinkingā¦I get a stainless steel fabricator to cut some panels to size for me. Surely has to be cheaper than $1200. You wouldnāt believe how bad these spots are. They are brown and look like some sort of chemical reaction took place on the steel. There is a big splotch that looks like the initial splash area and it is surrounded by about 12 other splotches the size of quarters. Definitely not something that can be ignored.</p>