Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Dealing with Boneheads.

Not that that is anything out of the ordinary of course,  but today we've had a bit of time wasted doing just that.  I said to Travelling Companion,  "What if you were working,  and had to deal with this?" 

The answer is:  probably wouldn't.

There were a couple things.  My little "thing" was,  we had a recall a while back on the dishwasher.  For some strange reason,  the very clever engineers decided to make the electrical connection "hard wired".   Well,  the previous model had a plug,  which meant putting in a GCFI outlet in the next door cabinet and plugging the thing in.  Then,  fifteen years later,  that machine had to be replaced,  and the new Bosch wasn't like that.   Both "German" companies by the way,  but seemly Bosch USA had a different idea.  Hard wired.
Fine.   But apparently,  some customers were experiencing overheated cords,  and there was a recall.

This tells me that whoever was hooking the things up had very little clue as to what was required,  but whatever.

So,  we had the Service Dude come out,  changed over the cord etc.   Of course,  I had to redo his installation,  since he f**ked that up but,  whatever. 

One of the reasons I tend to not let trades people in the house.  I'm a bit funny that way.

Then in today's mail,  I get a "Second Recall Notice".   "Urgent!"    I'm like,  "What?"

Well,  it's from the same Boneheads.   I called them. 

And you have to understand,  I really could have just turfed the letter in the round file (well,  these days it's blue/recycling,  and rectangular)  but I thought I'd phone anyway,  just to torture myself. 

There's no direct connection of course.  You have to press a bunch of buttons before speaking with an actual person,  who then simply told me to ignore the letter. 

"So we're done,  right?"   was my only question.  And I'm guessing here,  but my suspicion is that,  the very fine folks who sent a "Service Dude" to the house didn't bother to let The Mothership know what had been done.  Wouldn't that be part of the process?   Don't they want to get paid?


On another front,  completely different,  both T.C. and I have these fancy schmancy electric toothbrushes that are supposed to do all sorts of wonderful things.

Problem is,  T.C. has been finding the odd bristle in her mouth after brushing her teeth.

No bueno.

So she spent the better part of an hour "live chatting"  with a Bonehead from another company.   No resolution to that one.   There were a bunch of minuscule part numbers given and the outcome was, "Our Safety representative will contact you within the next five business days".

They have a "Safety Representative"?   That sounds like a load of fresh air if I ever heard one.

Now,  onto Bonehead Number Three.

I'm looking to purchase a new camera.   So fine,  Daughter Number One and I went into a camera shop across town over a week ago to take a gander.   I had gone with her back in November to have a look see for a camera she was about to receive from her company in recognition of ten years service.  Nice arrangement,  I thought.  Of course,  I got a little bit of "camera envy"  (this is why I stay away from camera and stereo shops,  but whatever) and might have mentioned this particular affliction once we came back home that day.



oooo....look at all that "stuff"!


*ahem*


Where was I?



Then like magic, Travelling Companion gave me a rather generous gift card from said camera shop for Christmas.
I wasn't dropping hints.  Honest.   But...I am hard to buy for.   Or so I'm told.   Socks,  underwear,  and funky t-shirts are pretty much the norm when it comes to my "Christmas List".  And by the way,  I''m never thrilled with a "Christmas List",  but that's beside the point.
Hey,  I even asked for and received bungee cords this year.  I kid you not.

We go, we take a look.

Nothing to stop me now. Turns out,  there's a 'used' model on their website.  I'm intrigued.  The used model and their three year warranty (normally I don't drink that koolaid,  but it's used and the warranty covers a lotta stuff)  still comes in well over a hundred bucks cheaper than a new model.  But,  they have to "bring it in".

Along with that,  I'm considering a flash to go on the hot shoe of the small Canon I have,  as the flash on that camera died a sad death one day on the boat.  Long story,  let's not go there.   Something to do with water,  let's just say?

The model of flash that I want is ALSO not on the premises,  and has to be "brought in". 

Helpful young salesperson orders both items from ....wherever.   The warehouse?  Another location?   Not sure.  Don't care.

And,  I get a call last week saying the camera is there.  "Great!   And what about the flash?" 

 *silence*

 I explained that,  I'm across town,  would prefer not to make two trips.  They have another delivery this week.
OK so,  we wait. Because you know,  it'll be in today's shipment,  right?


Today,  I called.   Yup,  the camera is (still) there,   but that flash?   Well,  there's only three in the whole bloody system (this is a national chain)   and all three of them are either spoken for,  or something else that the fellow on the phone mumbled.  Apparently Canon hasn't released any yet this year. 

Da f**k?

Not sure why this wasn't explained last week when we had our last conversation.  I just figured I wouldn't make two trips,  but had I known this flash was coming on a slow boat from China,  I would have my camera by now.  Good thing I'm not going anywhere,  like on a trip or anything.

I think I'll just go for a little walk down to the grocery store.   Try not to slip on the ice.  You know,  relaxing like.

Thanks for stopping by and letting me vent.

Keep your stick on the ice.




Monday, January 29, 2018

Not sure how this is going to go.

So,  we've had our "January Thaw",  and no,  I didn't make up that term,  I heard it on the Weather Network.
And now,  it's supposed to get cold again.  Usually,  the month of February is cold and nasty.  Some sort of "short month"  syndrome.

Of course,  first it has to snow a bit,  just for good measure,  which is exactly what it's doing right now.  Like,  gobs of it.  Coming out of the East.

The title for today refers to a Stereo Receiver that these days resides out in my garage/shop.  It's somewhat old school,  with nary a digital component in sight.   It's still a great working piece of kit,  and only got relegated to the shop,  as I had nothing out there to listen to.  It did reside in a somewhat cumbersome cabinet once upon a time but sadly,  that cabinet outlived its usefulness.

So the problem?

Well,  the tuner won't tune.  Being old school,  there's something called  "Dial Cord"  that runs around a wheel on the tuner,  then back to the indicator that is visible from the front,  over to another couple wheels,  and then around a shaft on the control knob that gets turned from the front of the unit.
Problem was,  the dial cord was so worn that it no longer would do squat,  and I wanted to go back to a station that I listen to the most,  and couldn't.

I decided to take a look.




I've opened this thing up before,  mostly to clean it.  It needed another cleaning,  among other things.  I noticed that three of the 10 volt lights at the front are burnt out,  and generally,  the controls are all scratching and gross. I'll pick up some Contact Cleaner possibly tomorrow and sort out the pots and switches. 





The dial cord dilemma is another issue.  I'm not so sure I can find the proper cord,   unless I resort to fishing line or some such thing.  I'm going to give this a good try,  and as a last ditch,  I might just try and source out someone in the repair business who is willing to look at it. 
I suspect it's a dying art.

Let's just say,  I could have bought a half decent car for what I paid for this receiver back in 1975  (yes,  1975!)  and the fact that it still works and only has this somewhat perplexing issue is pretty much just a minor hiccup. 

I suspect it will outlast.... me,  basically.

Meanwhile I've tuned it manually to a station that I listen to just about 100% of the time,  put the wood cover back on and put it back in its spot over the drill press.   Oh,  and by the way,  the wooden "jacket"  that it sits in?  Honduran Mahogany!   Ha!   Of course,  I didn't really know or appreciate that at the time that I bought it. 

Ah,  youth.

I'll try and do some sort of update at some point since,  you know,  I got nothing else.

Thanks for stopping by.

Keep that stick on the ice.



.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Cold. Cold. Cold.

That's it.

Well OK,  maybe I'll also add that,  I haven't gone outside yet today,  and I very likely will avoid it if at all possible.


I do less than fondly recall the very last winter we spent on the farm back in rural Nova Scotia.  (February of 1967)
Lordy that was cold.  I'm pretty sure our house was just one step up from that "Little House on the Prairie"  R-zip type of construction.  You know, write your name in the frost on the windows?  Load up cherry wood into the furnace that only managed to heat the middle of the living room downstairs,  while you froze under so many blankets you weren't sure if you'd die first from hypothermia,  or being crushed to death?
 Oh ya,  fun times.

So,  comparatively speaking,  even though this house is now over fifty years old (built in 1958) we're very comfortable.   So much so that,  most mornings we have no bloody idea just how cold it is outside,  until we either check the weather somehow,  or take a glance at a little gizmo that came from Santa at Christmas.
Too lazy to go downstairs,  take a pic,  upload it etc.   Stole that one off the net.  But it looks very much like this.

Just another "toy" really.

Now,  speaking of cold,  or exceptional things for that matter,  (hey, my segues aren't that strong today,  OK?)  our Christmas Cactus that we've had for over seventeen years has finally bloomed.






This too may very well be due to the cold,  as it's just a wee bit cooler in that particular upstairs bedroom,  and allegedly,  these plants need a bit of cold to shock them into blooming.   Allegedly.
I really have no idea.  It just happened.  I've threatened to throw that bugger out on a few occasions.  Bad thinking, I know.
Because well, as the plant was given to us by the Mom of a good friend of ours (and the Mom has since passed away)  turfing the plant out would have been really poor form.   Or whatever works for you .  "Bad Karma"?   Likely.








So,  the three wise guys have showed up,  so that'll be it for Christmas.   The tree has started to really ramp up the needle dropping program,  and is no longer taking on any water to speak of.
Of course,  that means that Muggins here will be back in the attic once again to bring down whatever totes all the ornaments go back into.  At least I had the presence of mind to put one of those closed cell foam pads inside the attic door,  so my poor old knees aren't right on the hard plywood.  It's not the going up there that I mind so much,  it's the crawling around on my hands and knees that I find to be somewhat less than fun.

But hey,  could be worse.  It could always be worse.


Meh,  I've got more drivel floating around in my pea brain,  but I think that'll do for this missive.

Keep your stick on the ice.

And bundle up.

Thanks for stopping by.