Eengstro’s Blog » Personal

Warm

Eengstro — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:03:01 +0000

A week ago, it was still cool enough here that I was wearing sweaters and using the space heater in the morning.

Today, as I write this, it is 89°. The warm season is officially upon us.

The joys of appliance repair

Eengstro — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:26:51 +0000

Recently my Kenmore “Evenheat” dryer refused to start: it wouldn’t keep running after releasing the Start button. After a rather frustrating conversation with someone at 1-800-4-MY-HOME who spoke very little English, a Sears tech dutifully came out, installed a new controller board, and left with a bunch of my money.

A few days later, the timer started acting up: the cycle would end, or end prematurely, but the timer was still in the middle of the cycle. Then the timer would continue to advance, right past OFF, and continue to spin slow circles until the dryer was unplugged. This time, I used the fairly slick Schedule a Repair service on the Sears website. The tech came out, ordered a new timer, and took more of my money.

On Wednesday, he was scheduled to install the timer between 8am and noon. These four-hour repair windows are a pain, since you’re basically trapped at home, hoping for arrival closer to 8 rather than noon, instead of doing something useful, like, say, going to work. At 11:45, I got a call: he won’t make it until 2:30.

I realize this isn’t his fault — sometimes shit happens with other appointments that screws up a tech’s entire day. That said, I am now sitting at work on a Saturday to make up for the time I was trapped at home on Wednesday.

I’ve also spent a significant fraction of the dryer’s original purchase price on these repairs. There was even a class-action lawsuit about the reliability of these dryers: www.evenheatsettlement.com. Unfortunately, my Evenheat dryer held on until past the compensation deadline. Asshole.

Kenmore vacuum, back from the dead

Eengstro — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:06:28 +0000

I noted that my Kenmore vacuum tried to swallow its own brush bar recently. I was surprised to discover that the vacuum was still covered by an extended warranty that I had purchased. I say this is surprising because I normally don’t purchase extended warranties. Naturally, I discovered this additional warranty coverage several days after I had purchased the Dyson. Oops. That said, I’m keeping the Dyson; it’s too good of a vacuum to return.

The itemized ticket shows that Sears spent about $58 fixing my vacuum. The extended warranty cost about $20. So, I guess that extended warranty was worth it.

820

Eengstro — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:20:12 +0000

Today being August 20, also known as 8/20, and the time being 8:20, it is time to pay homage to the Mustang Band By The Numbers.

Update: A somewhat more up-to-date Mustang Band by the Numbers.
Have a nice 820 Day!

Kenmore 35726 vacuum, K.I.A.

Eengstro — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 00:53:45 +0000

A few weeks ago, my two-year-old Kenmore 35726 vacuum (Epinions here) suffered an interesting failure. While vacuuming, I began smelling a burning odor. I stopped, and took the cover off, expecting a failing belt. However, the belt and brush agitator were fine. I put it back together and resumed vacuuming. A few minutes later, it began emitting smoke and spraying bits of plastic from the underside. This time, removal of the cover revealed that the right end-cap of the brush agitator had melted. The agitator, no longer supported on the right side, then struck the underside of its cover, liberating parts of it onto my carpet.

I was never a very big fan of this vacuum. Emptying its bin was a dirty chore, as most of the dust would compress itself onto the filter rather than settling into the bottom of the bin. The most effective way to clean the dust off the filter was to beat the filter against the inside of the Dumpster. Obviously, this was rather messy.

More importantly, the parts that suffered damage in the failure were very flimsy plastic. I was quite annoyed to discover just how flimsy the guts of this vacuum were.

I may still fix this vacuum at some point (possibly for donation), but in the meantime it has been replaced with a Dyson DC07. What finally sold me on the pricey Dyson was the five year warranty and the bottom-empty bin. And it really sucks — in a good way.

(Note: the cyan Dyson DC07 “original upright” sold at WalMart only has a two year warranty. If you want the five year warranty, you need to buy a yellow DC07 “all floors” at a normal store.)

Discover Card shenanigans

Eengstro — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:56:59 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I received yet another sales call from Discover Card. This time, they were trying to sell me some sort of “payment protection” insurance. I told them “no, I’m not interested”.

Yesterday, I received a letter in the mail welcoming me to their payment protection program. Those fuckers. Now I remember why I canceled my first Discover Card back in the late 1990s.

Lessons learned the hard way

Eengstro — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 22:00:58 +0000

Do not spray Pledge onto something while over a linoleum floor, and then walk across that floor wearing socks later. “Black ice” is an apt comparison.

Class reunion pics

Eengstro — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 17:17:26 +0000

A web gallery of my class reunion has been posted by Tye:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CatGrlmycuKA

I had a ton of fun and look forward to seeing everyone in 2015.

I’m old

Eengstro — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 06:40:48 +0000

I just received my 10 year high school reunion invitation. Yup, 10 years since I left home. Four and a half since I graduated from Cal Poly. Time marches on.

Thank you George

Eengstro — Thu, 19 May 2005 20:04:31 +0000

You didn’t fuck it up. Great, kid! Don’t get cocky!