The kitchen fan worked pretty well, but became noisy over time. Note, the fan was marketed as a bathroom fan, so the designers probably did not visualize the fan sucking up kitchen grease over time. It still is not very noisy, but I'm not sure if I would recommend this line for the kitchen. It has my highest recommendation for its intended use in bathroom.

The brand is Panasonic, they have a host of sizes such as VF-05VQ3, FV-08VQ3, FV-11VQ3, FV-15VQ4. I highly recommend these products.

Eleven score and fifteen years later, the American people were again being oppressed by the strongest power in the world. This time the enemy was within. The most powerful government in existence forgot the principles which gave it birth and spent most of its efforts stealing freedoms away from the American people, one regulation at a time. It taxed its countrymen at such an exorbitant rate that those who fought for freedom in 1775 would have preferred to stay under British tyranny than to live under current American rule. The American people again expressed their displeasure with government tyranny with tea parties. Confirming that those who do not understand history are doomed to repeat it, the American tyrants ignored the signs and continued to create new regulations and taxation. Again, it was the people of Massachusetts who struck back against the strongest government in the world. Despite the best efforts of King Obama, Queen Pelosi, Dirty Harry, and a host of other dictators, the freedom-loving Americans in Massachusetts peacefully fought back against tyranny by voting for a man who ran against the socialist agenda of American rulers who had forgotten the republic for which they were supposed to stand.

God bless these freedom loving Americans in Massachusetts. God Bless America. And let tyrants beware - this may be the birth of a peaceful American revolution that will eliminate many of these "leaders" who abused their power. Let these dictators live in fear of the coming judgment in the Novembers to follow.

God bless Ann.

It took me a while to find the plug in (I bought the Master Collection and Adobe hid this file on the Content disc (in a supplemental package that did not appear to have anything to do with the programs). The plug in had directions, but the directions were not correct. I finally figured out how to make it work, but I thought I better post it here in case other were having the same problem. Note: my directions are not endorsed by Adobe and differ from their instructions. On the other hand, my directions worked for me and Adobe's did not.

First, make sure your copy of Photoshop is closed.

Second, copy the plug in to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-Ins\CS3\File Formats.

Third, copy the other six profile files (that end with .icm) to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Color\Profiles.

Finally, restart Photoshop.

Once this was done, Photoshop could load my Photo CD files. In practice, a few files did not work, I do not know if this is Adobe’s fault or if a few files became corrupt over time. At least I can view the majority of my files. I also started saving them in more modern formats for future use.

It is sad when Adobe makes me wish they at least met Microsoft’s standards for usefulness. It says something about both how much Microsoft has improved over the years and how much Adobe has declined.

Tom owned a bar in Washington, DC. He mostly served legislators and the employed because most of the local unemployed were alcoholics and could not afford to buy drinks from Tom. Barney and Chris, two of the legislators who frequently patronized Tom’s bar thought this was not right, perhaps even racist, and passed legislation to "strongly encourage" Tom and other bartenders to extend credit to all alcoholics.

Bartenders were then forced to track all drinks imbibed by consumers. If the consumers did not have money to pay, the bar owners had to give the customers loans. Word got around about the new "drink now, pay later" policy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flooded into bars around the nation. Soon bars were doing better than ever before and more and more people were buying bars to help service the increased demand for drinks. Since the bartenders were a bit skeptical about the customers’ ability to cover these loans, they raised the price of their drinks. This caused them to lose some of their best customers, but they had so many new customers, especially from the previously underserved segment of unemployed alcoholics, that they were making more sales than ever. Most of the alcoholics did not mind the increased prices, many were not planning on paying their tab anyway.

Many national and international banks then saw an opportunity. They realized they could loan money to the bartenders at a discount and then sell these loans to investors. They were willing to do this for several reasons. First, the bartender’s business would be collateral. Second, the bar tabs themselves were additional collateral. Third, the bankers knew their friends in Congress created this situation. The big bankers had donated so much money to legislators, they expected Congress would cover them if needed. Thus, the bankers then loaned money to the bartenders and used the bar and bar tabs as collateral. The bartenders desperately agreed to the bankers’ terms because otherwise they would have gone out of business trying to comply with the government pressure forcing them to give credit to bad risks.

The banks loaned the bartenders as much money as they could justify and transformed these debts into DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS, and PUKEBONDS. These securities were then bundled and traded on international security markets. Naive investors didn't really understand that the securities being sold to them as AAA secured bonds were really the debts of unemployed alcoholics.

Nevertheless, the bond prices steadily climbed, and the securities soon became the hottest-selling items for some of the world’s leading brokerage houses. One day, even though the bond prices were still climbing, a risk manager decides that the time had come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers. His bank started informing bartenders that they needed to pay up.

Tom and his colleagues (other bartenders) were afraid this day would come. They then demanded payment from their alcoholic customers, but being unemployed alcoholics they cannot pay back their drinking debts. Since, the bartenders could not fulfill their loan obligations, they were forced into bankruptcy. The bars closed and the employees at these bars lost their jobs.

Overnight, DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS dropped in price by 90%. The collapsed bond asset value destroyed the banking industry's liquidity and hindered it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and virtually eliminating economic activity around the world.

The suppliers of the various closed bars were now in trouble too. They had granted generous payment extensions to various bars and had invested their firms' pension funds in the various BOND securities. They found they were now faced with having to write off these bad debts and had lost over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds.

These problems were almost insurmountable. Tom’s wine supplier also claimed bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations. Tom’s beer supplier was taken over by a competitor, who immediately closed the local plant and laid off 150 workers. These situations were mirrored across the world as many bars were forced to closed after being unable to pay their debts. The only bars that were still healthy were those that managed to minimize the loans they made to alcoholics despite the will of Congress.

The bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives were saved and bailed out by a multi-billion dollar cash infusion from Congress. The same legislators who created the requirement to provide loans to alcoholics were now on TV attacking the bankers and the bartenders. The funds required for this bailout were obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, non-drinkers.

For more information on the credit crisis, click here. Keep in mind, this credit crisis was caused by the same people who want to control our health system...

This upset the liberals at CNN so much, they "fact checked" the comedy skit. Are they trying to prove that they are completely biased? A recent poll showed that 89.3% of Americans believe the national media played a very or somewhat strong role in helping to elect President Obama. Fortunately, most Americans have a sense of humor and started posting their own CNN Fact Checks. Some of my favorites follow:

Twitter users have played up CNN’s silliness by creating a hashtag -- Twitter-speak for search term category -- called #CNNFactCheck, used for tweeting pompous corrections of SNL sketches, well-known hyperbolic metaphors, and other absurdities usually are not taken literally – except by CNN fact-checkers of course.

@discerning_con CNN Breaking News: Stepping on a crack will not actually break your mother's back #CNNFactCheck

@mikehassinger: This just in: "Toonces the driving cat" not real cat, can't even DRIVE! #CNNFactCheck

@tnixon16: We interrupt this program to bring you word that Buckwheat has NOT been shot. Repeat: NOT been shot. #cnnfactcheck

@andylevy That wasn’t really Obama - it was actor Fred Armisen! #CNNFactCheck

@adcdl #CNNFactCheck There are 57 states

So after a week of Obama being ridiculed for accomplishing almost nothing, he is awarded the Nobel Peace prize. No, this is not another joke, although that was my first thought. The Nobel committee actually awarded Obama the Nobel Peace prize. I cannot think of anything more likely to further call attention to Obama’s ineffectiveness and to further reduce the brand equity of the Nobel Peace prize which has not been the same since they gave it to Yasir Arafat, the terrorist, and Jimmy Carter. At least the Nobel committee and I agree that all three people have a lot in common.

Wonder what next week will bring?

Customer service is vital to the long-term success of a firm, but so many firms fail at this. Recently, I wrote four firms asking them to list which TV stands they had that would meet a specific set of dimensional requirements. I would prefer to have done this myself on their website, but not a one of them had a website that would allow me to enter a specific set of measurements and then give me a list. Instead, you could click on a variety of styles that were not well organized by dimensions. A task that should have taken 1-2 minutes would have taken quite a bit of time to do online. If I was going to spend that much time evaluating each site, I could literally build my own stand (which is an option I am considering).

So I sent Bell'O, StudioTech, Sanus, and Bush Furniture an email explaining my particular requirements and asked them to let me know what products that had that would meet my need. Presumably they should know their products and could have quickly narrowed down the list to a few options.

I was favorably impressed with both Sanus and Studio Tech. Each responded quickly with a list of products that were close to my needs. Unfortunately, neither had products that met my exact needs, but I will definitely consider them for future projects. Thank you Lyn and Cici.

I was not impressed with Bell'O or Bush Furniture. Neither of their customer service agents bothered to do any homework on their own products at all, they just sent me an email saying they would be happy to mail me a catalog. Bell'O was especially annoying, the anonymous agent referred me to their website (the same poorly designed website from which I had to use a form to contact them) instead of answering my question. Their poor service annoyed me to the point where I am leaning toward building my own solution even though I know Bush Furniture has at least one option that would work for my client.

Customer service is always important, but it is vital when the economy is doing poorly. It is an inexpensive and key way to differentiate your firm from the competition.

However, socialized medicine is not the answer. I do not know how long this link will remain valid, so I am going to copy the entire article by Rupert Darwall (a consultant director of Reform, a London-based think tank). All rights are those of the author and the Wall Street Journal.

1. Never trust a dog to watch your food. - Patrick, age 10

2. When your dad is mad and asks you, "Do I look stupid?" don't answer him. - Michael, 14

3. Never tell your mom her diet's not working. - Michael, 14

4. Stay away from prunes. - Randy, 9

5. Never pee on an electric fence. - Robert, 13

6. Don't squat with your spurs on. - Noronha, 13

7. Don't pull dad's finger when he tells you to. - Emily, 10

8. When your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair. - Taylia, 11

9. Never allow your three-year old brother in the same room as your school assignment. - Traci, 14

10. Don't sneeze in front of mom when you're eating crackers. Mitchell, 12

11. Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic tac. Andrew, 9

12. Never hold a dust buster and a cat at the same time. Kyoyo, 9

13. You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk. Armir, 9

14. Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts. Kellie, 11

15. If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse. Naomi, 15

16. Felt markers are not good to use as lipstick. Lauren, 9

17. Don't pick on your sister when she's holding a baseball bat. Joel, 10

18. When you get a bad grade in school, show it to your mom when she's on the phone. Alyesha, 13

19. Never try to baptize a cat. Eileen, 8

James was murdered by Harlan Drake simply because Harlan did not want James to show his sign to students anymore. Harlan then went to shoot another man who had apparently upset him, and was stopped by police before he could kill again. I bring up this story for two reasons. One, to honor the memory of James Pouillon who ended up giving his life as part of his dedication to the pro-life cause. Two, to draw attention to another key difference between the political left and right.

While keeping abortion legal certainly contributes to a culture of death that devalues human life, that is not the intent of those on the political left. I expect most Leftists are just as horrified by this atrocity as those on the Right. However, I am saddened that no major abortion-rights advocates have come out and condemned this killing. As the Romans used to say, Silence Gives Consent. When an abortionist was killed in Wichita, Kansas, the pro-life community immediately expressed their shock and disapproval of this action. By their words and actions, they made it clear that the pro-life community strongly disapproved of murder and would not welcome a copy-cat killing. Today the silence of the abortion-rights community sends the opposite message.

I hope the election of a black man will help heal those for whom race is a major issue. I look forward to the day when virtually everyone looks at the character, ideas, and experience of a candidate instead of their race and believe we will see this in my lifetime.

California shocked the liberals by narrowly passing a defense of marriage act. This is the second time the voters have done so, but four unelected tyrants - members of California’s Supreme Court - had previously overturned the earlier referendum and arbitrarily told Californians that same sex marriage was not an oxymoron and was legal. So this time the residents of California passed a constitutional amendment correcting this situation. We will see how well liberals respect the will of the majority this time.

I hope my liberal friends are correct that an Obama presidency, complete with Democratic control of the House and Senate, will lead to better times ahead. However, in my consulting practice, I am taking steps to ensure as much 2009 income as possible is billed in 2008. This is the opposite of my normal practice as usually it is smart business to defer taxes. However, it would not surprise me if the Democrats eliminate the Bush tax cuts in 2009, two years ahead of schedule.

However, last night put things in perspective for me. I was unexpectedly in Wal-Mart to humor my other half and walked down the book aisle. My eye was attracted to 23 Minutes in Hell by Bill Wiese [Click on the link to buy the book for $3.58 at the time of posting]. It was written by a man who claimed to have experienced Hell for 23 minutes on November 23, 1998. He further claimed that after the experience, he had a vision of Jesus who told him that he was given this experience to warn others about Hell and that Jesus was coming back very soon. Finally Jesus told him that Bill had been sheltered from much of the actual pain of Hell during his experience.

I had heard about this man’s claims on the radio a few years ago. I bought his book and read it last night. I do not know if I believe him or not, but his vision was horrifying. He also has ample discussion on what the Bible says about Hell, including an Appendix with all the Bible verses on the subject. I do believe in the Bible and in the existence of Hell and the book was sobering. I regularly pray for my country and have tried to persuade people to vote for the party that thinks human life is worth protecting, but I have spent very little time trying to help people make much more important decisions about Jesus and where they will spend eternity.

Today I will go vote for McCain (and against my Republican representative in Congress who voted for the $850 billion bailout bill - fortunately the Democratic option is pro-life) and pray for my country. However, more importantly, I will also pray that my countrymen find Jesus before their eternal fate it sealed. I will also pray that I will start making a positive difference in people’s eternal destiny by pointing them to Jesus.