This hot water heater was brand new, and none of the ones offered at Home Depot, Lowe's, or Sears, (all of which are popular sources of such appliances) had any sort of internet connection.

I'd have preferred to install multiple smaller hot-water-heaters, one for the kitchen, one for the laundry, and one for the bath (I'm a bachelor, so there's only one), but while the electric HWH's are reasonably prices, the upgraded power service from the power company would have tripled the cost.

I don't know about the benefit of being able to order groceries over the www, since the folks at the grocery store seldom know what it is they're selling. I once had the manager of the dairy department at one local supermarket tell me they not only didn't sell table cream, but never had, and, as far as he knew, never would, as there actually was no such thing. Ultimately, I found it and pointed it out to him, telling him I'd been buying it there for about 10 years.

I've been buying "white paint" for my coffee elsewhere for about 10 years, since I learned that half-and-half cost about 1/3 as much at another store as it did at his store. Since my kids left home, I've stopped buying milk. If a recipe calls for milk, I normally use the half-and-half. The higher fat content is not a problem since my total cholesterol is usually below 70.

The W2 is a U.S. government form that employers send, annually, to their payroll employees, indicating what was withheld from their pay to be paid in advance to the government for their income tax. It is a term used for employees on the payroll as opposed to contractors and consultants. That is the basis for most people's "tax refund."

edit: My point in including the W2 reference was that it is general practice in the U.S. to hire individuals in engineering for the duration of a particular task and then to "let them go" rather than to make them permanent parts of the organization as was the practice 25-30 years ago. This is because of the pace of technology. It impacts management, too, to some extent, though management is seldom as aware of and sensitive to changes in technology as they ought to be. Human Resources is normally the last to know of these changes.

RE