The saga may be ending, I hope!!!

The saga of the non-functioning washer/dryer stackable unit, that is. The day after my last post-----it died! Right in the middle of a load, too. Failed to spin the water out of a batch of towels, and even using the 'paddles', it never showed any signs of life. Original thought was an off-balance load, but the usual things did not restart it. Carol called an appliance place, and they finally figured out that there was a switch under the top that needed to be reset. Finding the switch, did
not do the trick. Would not reset and hold, for one thing. And when held in position, the motor only growled, and would not start. Having been in use for 13 years, we felt it was time for a replacement.

Off to Lowes, Thursday night almost 9 pm. (Open till 10, thankfully.) Found a close replacement, for a reasonable price, but a warehouse item, not in stock. The fiasco begins, when the salesman sets up a sale for the basic model, not the upgrade we decided on. Going up to pay for everything, (unit, delivery, new duct, clamps, power cord,) it did not seem like the right total, but the service girl could not, or did not, get a look at it before sending it to the credit card machine. Just as the card was swiped, the salesman called to tell her of his mistake, and rebilling the correct one. Of course, the charge goes thru IMMEDIATELY, but the credit takes 48-72 hours to get to Discover! And she only credited the washer, not the whole thing. The salesman however, rebilled everything for the better unit, so it took two credits to cover the original sale, and of course, Discover rejected a second billing as suspicious, so it took a phone call to get that covered.

Item arrived from whse on Tuesday truck, and was set for Wednesday morning delivery. Barely was up and had a couple of sips of coffee, when the truck pulled up at 7:05am!! Old unit seperated into two pieces, wheeled out for take-away, and the new ONE-PIECE unit brought around to the door. Would not go in past the pedestal sink and water-heater, like the original went out!!! Even tried laying it down endways, but still no-go. Sent it back, and had the original returned and set back up. Carol called a local appliance repair, and he came by within a couple of hours. Took a look, and checked a couple of things, and gave it the last rites. Said the transmission had locked up, and burnt up the motor, and that it would be $7-800 to get it running. He was paid his service call fee, and he went on his way.

At that point, I started working to remove the sink in order to have room to bring in the new unit. It had been siliconed to the wall for MANY years, but after a couple hours of work, it was laying in the backyard, out of the way. Calls to Lowes for redelivery (several calls!,) and a promise for Saturday morning. Promised a call between 7:30 and 8:30, and when she called them at 10, discovered that they had credited the second sale, and had no intention of redelivery! After another sale, and calling Discover again the try and explain, we finally got delivery at 4 pm on Sunday afternoon!! And today, I reinstalled the sink, and only have to make some patches and repaint around the dryer vent in the back wall, to get everything back in order. What a week it has been.

Oh yes, there was a little matter of getting ahold of my dentist, and seeing him during the midst of this, for a tooth that broke off, under a crown, at the gum line! I get to see much more of him in the near future. LOTS MORE!! As I said, what a week it has been.

Where have I been???

Or was that your question? Well, we did go out of town for a few days, over the Fourth of July weekend. Definitely not far enough, or long enough, but at least it was a break from routine. The bad news is: in doing so, we lost our usual sea-breeze, that even when we are quite hot, we still have a little air moving. It seems that the sea-breeze just does not reach 100 miles inland, so central GA was a hot one. Registered 105 on Saturday afternoon, and 100 on Sunday, so outside activities were somewhat limited during the afternoons.
We did help Pat design and assemble an adult swing-set on Saturday. It had been supported by a fair sized tree limb in the past, but the limb was becoming questionable, due to age, so we got 4x4s and bolted up frames to take its place. It should be good for a long time, now. It makes a pleasant place to set and relax, once the sun begins to set, and things cool off a bit.
And of course, we have been 'glued' to the TV, devouring every braodcast about MJ, his funeral, his kids, his money, ad nauseum. Sure will be glad when the announcers get something else to talk about, although I am afraid it will be about the economy, or unemployment %ages, or something else that Obamessiah has his hand in, or finger on the controls of, that will probably be just as unpleasant as the constant blab about MJ. As Carol says, he was a cute kid--(MJ that is, not Obamessiah,) --but unfortunately, he grew up, (after a fashion,) received and spent an obscene amount of money, and got to thinking he was invincible. WRONG!! And the latest news makes him a homicide victim, according to LAPD. Just what we needed when things were about to quiet down. And who cares where he is buried?? I would rather visit Graceland than Neverland. He was wierd. Talented musically, at least as a youngster, but very strange indeed.

Rough week in Tinsel-Town

OK, so maybe Billy Mays does not qualify for Tinsel-Town, but he was on TV as much or maore than the others that passed on this week. I haven't shed any tears over MJ, or any of the others, for that matter, but Farah had put up a good fight, for a long time, and Karl Malden was old enough that his death should be no real surprise. MJ had looked like walking death for some time anyhow, and the news reports of Rx and drug usage should surprise no one.

Billy Mays was about the same age as MJ, but certainly looked and acted in much better physical shape. He was reportedly due for a hip-replacement this week, which is a surprise. Rather young, at 50, for that kind of replacement. With the enlarged heart he had, he may never have made it off the table alive, but it seems strange that it had not been detected in pre-op testing, or other checkups. How did they miss it? Probably saved a doctor, or anesthesiologist a law suit for mal-practice.

Wonder what next week will bring???????