Bill,

It is preposterous to say that the electrons flow out and go somewhere
mysterious and never return during normal operation. There is
definitely a return on a 240V circuit going to a welder. Electrons flow
down one leg, thought the transformer winding in the welder, then back
up the other leg. Re-examining the situation 16.6mS later, of course
the current is flowing the opposite direction. But whatever electrons
flow out on one leg of the circuit come back up the other side. Thats
why its called a "circuit".

I'm not sure what point you are shooting for here, and you are correct
in many cases, i.e. saying that there is no current flow to earth
ground. But you are mistaken in saying there is no return. A conductor
can provide a return path without being at earth ground potential.
Similarly on 120V circuits, the return path is the neutral line, which
is also not necessarily at earth ground potential (indeed, because of
the return current flowing across its resistance).

-Holly