esrosedotblog

For some reason, our refrigerator-freezer developed a lot of ice in the lower freezer compartment.

Can't have that.

So this morning, I spent time, off and on, taking all the frozens out and putting some hot water in to melt the glacier.

It was not actually back breaking work but it was wet and slow.

This is not supposed to happen but like a lot of things that are not supposed to, it did.

I will try to be vigilant around this issue in the future. Close the bottom drawer tight, monitor the temperature, don't put warm stuff into it.

I suppose no refrigerator is truly frostless. I have never had one.

I am proud of the fact that the last time this happened we paid some guy to come do the same thing. He had a hot air blower. I just let Mother Nature do the job.

Now it is ramping back up to what it is supposed to be. It is very tempting to open the door and check on the current readings. But I have only done this once.

I would not normally report on anything so mundane but since it took up a lot of my day's time so far, it is something to be noted.

Perhaps it is a good warning for you to go check your machine and see how it is doing. Or not. It will let you know eventually when you cannot close the drawer because of the ice.

Labels: appliances

No gym this morning. As I went to the car, I saw that the door to the freezer was open about three inches. Shit. This happens. Someone forgot to double check. A box got in the way. It felt solid on the closing but there was a waffle carton sticking out.

The real problem is that we did not buy a freezer with a positive latch on it. Be warned. This has happened several times in the past but this time, the worst. I had to take out at least half of the stuff mostly on the top three shelves. That is another thing. I buy two of stuff or buy ahead. The thing was loaded. Two black garbage bags worth. Ice cream, some meat, all the meat loaf I made the last time. That hurt the most. And I got over it fast. A lesson and what the hell. Maybe a hundred bucks worth of stuff. I could leave the lower half in there. Shut the door, let it go back from 50 to 0. I had to go to the store this morning anyway. I only bought for the next several days until the freezer got back to the bottom. There was some space in the regular freezer drawer. It has all worked out fine. Over and done with. I would almost just junk the goddam freezer that is there and buy one with a latch but there doesn't seem to be one. For $V800 I can get a 20 cf Frigidaire with an alarm for failure. Too much. Too little. We would have never heard an alarm. Unbelievable that there is no such thing. Well, I am sure there is but not easily found. Next time, if there is one, I will fucking find one.

The late Sixties (should I capitalize them?) were a special time for most of us of a certain age. A lot of what we thought was happening at the time was not. But we "happened" in the midst of utopian assumptions and a bunch of false evidence that things were changing. Oliver Assayas (a favorite director) has made a movie about his own experience as a 16 year old at that time. Something in the Air (2012) is a gentle, sweet film about the all the paths that opened up at that time and how some teens were diverted and at least one teen found himself and came out whole. Everyone is caught up in the aftermath of the 1968 student riots which open the film. Some drift off to India, others into militant politics. Our young hero is in the life selling papers, using and developing his art in making posters, following his interest in experimental film. Dad is a television producer and while he disdains the work, he cannot avoid being attracted and while repelled at the same time, he finds himself a niche. The film ends with a small film that he evidently made. Girls come and go, friends are not constant, well one is, but the kid keeps on his own path. I loved this film. It is very nice and the boy is extremely attractive in the way he deals with the two sides of his life, revolutionary friends and a conventional family life. We only see his Dad and the scenes with him, including an argument, are very nice to watch. Their relationship is so loving. You feel the struggle of the teen and the tug of the love. A beautiful balance. I had that myself so I understand it. I will give this a 4 out of Netflix5.

Labels: appliances, films

I have had to cut back on the cups of coffee I drink and what time I drink them.

"Aha"! I can hear you say. "That didn't take long, did it?"

No, it did not.

I had not had any coffee for about five years. Then I decided to try it again and to do a good job at it I got a new beans grinder and bought some beans. I also drug out my old Krups maker.

All is well now except the "need" to have too many cups in a day.

I have had to, first of all, stop drinking any coffee after 9AM. The caffeine effect lasts 12 hours and I was having funny repetitive short cycle dreams early in the night. See? I quit at 9AM today and I am yawning. But I will have a coke. Diet. One third of a cup.

OK. Adjustment made.

I would like to say that I am drinking less in the AM but I am not. The period from 3AM to 9AM, 6 hours uses up six cups. I get high. It is OK so far. What the hell. I will taper though, I think. I get a bit giddy by the time I go to a Meeting or have an 8AM visitor, my standard. Maybe someone should drape a wet blanket over me so I can get settled. No one has yet.

Now, on the equipment. Also an increasing "need". Progression.

The Krups machine just sucks.

It is a clunk. It works fine but it over heats the coffee so I turn the hot plate off and we drink the coffee cool to cold or out of the micro-wave, a short burst.

It also gets very dirty fast, somehow. It is white. Maybe that is it. And a matte finish which holds the stain.

And the pots. The handles come apart. In your hands. The tops are held on by these teeny tiny tits which break as you can't really keep the top open all the way. Or maybe they are supposed to do that. I doubt it.

So to the coffee sites. So many. Surveys of best makers.

Divided opinions here but it turns out that three machines keep emerging from the scrum. One is one or another of the KitchenAid brand. Another is the company that started out making cookware, Calphalon.

The third, and the one I went with, is made by the Japanese company that made my rice cooker. Zojirushi. Specifically the Zojirushi EC-BD15BA Fresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker.

This little baby has no hot plate. You put in water and coffee grounds. That works the conventional way. But the coffee flows into a thermal pot which is said to hold the coffee hot all day long. Well, I only need it until 9AM.

It is on its way. It does have a shiny stainless steel finish. Which I do not like. But I am good at wiping that down. I would rather have brushed or enamel but no dice.

It will match the grinder. Black, shiny stainless with fingerprints.

Labels: appliances, food

Our new dishwasher is rather plain.

Simple lines, under the counter, white with a narrow band of little pushers and lights all along the top.

Very simple.

No latches, no noise! Easy does it.

We did not go to the high end of visible counters, flashing lights and god knows what else.

We finally had to say goodbye to the wonderful old GE that came with the condo and, we believe, was original equipment when the place was built in the 80s.

It had a clockworks timer. Click click click.

I loved it.

But like an old car, it started dropping bolts and the top shelf broke a stop so one had to be careful pulling it out, whoops, broken crockery. That never happened nor did we want it to.

So, a normal decision process. The garbage disposal had already stopped dead, the shelf on the washer was wheezy and, the biggest thing, we had to admit that the dishes had streaks and other pieces of food stuck too often at the end of the cycle. So, we went for the combo. Weird, but the way we do things.

A little like starting the new car process yesterday mostly because we are worried the leather seats on the Volvo will not last another five years. (?!) Ba boom.

The new machine runs sooooo silently. And it is pretty and, well, there isn't a lot to complicate about a dishwasher.

Nice.

The guy installed the two machines in one visit. No savings actually, a flat fee per machine deal, but only one disruption.

Labels: appliances

CLEAN

A few weeks ago the washer started leaking and so we decided that was enough money trying to rehab.

Went today to buy new units and settled on a midrange solution.

Samsung.

Top load washer, front load drier. The washer is plungerless. It has some kind of waterfall thing that also turns the clothes around for better cleaning or something.

I deferred to John on the extra cost color of platinum. Good name that.

The drier will be gas. We discovered that we do have a gas connection. A guy is coming today or tomorrow to put the right fitting on the pipe so that when they install they can do the whole thing.

It is hard to romance washers and driers but they have tried. The units are good looking and for only about a hundred more apiece we get a bunch of features and larger size.

We are finding that the older you get there is more washing.

Please don't ask me to explain that.

Here is the thing. Of all the units for sale, the best selling and the best looking in this range are LG and Samsung. There are no Whirlpools or other familiar US names.

They have been lapped.

It is not too astonishing.

The last units we bought new were at the old house. We got Fisher Paekel. Very nice. More expensive. But when they needed repairs the guys had to call the headquarters and work a computer to get to the solutions. Not nice at all.

There are electronics on these machines of course but they are not the complete computer driven things. There are mechanical interfaces which seem friendly.

John does the wash but I may participate for awhile.

Labels: appliances

IT'S A GAS

No movie today.

The new gas range (not a stove) arrived just after 7AM. I was at a Meeting and came home to it fully installed.

It appears to be a lot more solid and even formidable than when it was sitting fireless in the showroom.

Everything works at the push of a button. Warm. Bake. Broil. Clean.

I tried it all except the cleaning part.

There are five burners. One in the middle where the space used to be.

John has bought a shelf to put over the back of the range. It doesn't have a flat surface.

The best part is the grills. They are not enamel. Rough iron which can char and not worry about showing burn.

The rest of the day was given over to some meetings with people and just playing around.

Our stove is white. Same thing though.

Labels: appliances, cooking, kitchen

HEAT

I had Mac n' Cheese in the oven the other night.

Stouffers.

After the alloted time, I went to get it out and it was still frozen. Well, a little melted.

That is the end. I have all but bought half a stove with the repairs we have made to a GE that I had a strong affinity for because of, well, nostalgia, I guess.

There were other things wrong. The self clean over heats and burns out the igniters. That is where the repairs came from. I had bought a can of Easy Off. Not yet used fortunately.

So, today, off to Pacific Sales, the premier appliance store to get a new one.

The three of us. Booker got a treat first thing. We will have to wait until Wednesday for our treat when the new stove arrives.

It will be a floor model. 10% off. And the end of the model year, another 10%.

A Whirlpool.

We started in the middle and that is where we ended up. A lot of new ovens have convection. I had convection. Hard to work with. Most have a meat thermometer so you don't have to guess but most of our baking is old fashioned stuff. A potato. No patience for hi-tech heating.

It has five burners! A central one with a grate that is big enough for a griddle. It will be fine for my most frequent baking utensil. The cast iron fry pan.

The grates are unfinished iron too. No more shit stuck to enamel.

The knobs come off for cleaning! Some brands do not.

The control panel is a little retro. That is OK. I can deal with that.

It is not one of those that heat water faster. Or come when you whistle. Just a stove.

Labels: appliances, kitchen

COLD STORAGE

We got the new freezer today.

It is a "little" one and fits right into the corner we found in the garage. And the door opens in the right direction too. We didn't know after we had picked it out.

Why a separate freezer?

I realized that I was spending undue time trying to figure out where to store stuff in the new french door, freezer drawer fridge that we got to replace the old unit that was here when we moved.

Neither begins to give the room I had in the old house with a huge side by side Ref/Frz and a small refrig in the garage.

What I am used to is to take advantage of discount ground beef (I get there in the AM when they turn the stuff from the day before and take off 1.50 to 2.00 per package. There is no room for bags of sliced turkey off a fresh breast. Or a quarter ham. Or the baked stuff I like to keep on hand. Bread from the bakery 5-6 loaves at a time. Less travel, although, now, the bakery is just around the corner.

So there it is.

I want to run it just above zero so that the ice cream dips easily. I know everything says you need zero except the one that says that dippable ice cream is the right setting. I will go with that.

So I am trying to get the temp settled. I have been going and looking at it every ten minutes and, of course, that heats it up.

I will get settled soon.

So will the freezer.

I am really glad to have it. John picked it out.

Labels: appliances

FULL DAY

It is one of those days where I have been behind for the whole thing. Or feeling like it.

This morning, the gym, of course, then off to grocery shopping where John and Booker meet me after their walk the same distance and route. I pass them on the way but do not beep anymore since I found, in my study for the driver's test, that it is illegal!

Back from the store, put away, and off to the dentist for the first steps toward being crowned. The impressions, the drilling, the fitting with a temporary. It is about an hour's work.

Then home and the guys (John and our two handy young friends, a couple, the Steves) are putting in the new disposall which is the Badger Insinkerator. Just like the one that got taken out.

I am an observer only for this one.

Then, PetSmart with John and Booker for the bimonthly (if that means every two months) for Booker's food.

Wouldn't it be great if we all had kibble? We wouldn't need new refrigerators. Of course, Booker eats a lot of stuff that comes out of the refrigerator too.

Then emails. God, I am having a lot of letter writing lately. It is very nice but it is taking time from the blog. And writing energy.

I am up to it though and hope to have my stamina up a bit higher soon. It is really up there already. It is just the volume that is going on. It is nice. It means that I am in touch with a lot of people who are away from me.

On to the dog walk, through the desert and down to Shakey's Pizza that has a trash barrel outside. For the products of the walk, nice timing and placement.

If you walk a dog regularly you get to know where all the trash barrels are in all directions.

Then home and prep supper and now this.

Dinner soon, maybe spa and that will be it for the day. A good one.

And the crown work never hurt. Not even the "pinch" of the novocaine going in. Which, I think is not novocaine any more but something else with some dope in it. I was a bit hazy afterwards.

Labels: appliances, Booker, friends, life

COOL

We got the new refrigerator delivered today.

A Jenn Air. French doors with a lower freezer. No ice port or water spigot on the outside. Inside. It has a "floating glass" finish. Shiny.

It is about the same capacity as the other one. A little less freezer space but I can handle that.

It is all about looks and just to have a new unit.

There it is.

Step right up. If you want some ice go to the lower freeze chest. If you want water there is a little nozzle inside the french door.

It works. We are waiting for the ice cubes to work their way out. Three sets to clean the system and satisfy Jenn Air's lawyers.

It is a Whirlpool really. Same company. The difference between a Chevy and a Buick.

It is not a birthday present. I repeat. It is not a birthday present.

I am getting the disposal unit which is awaiting installation in the garage. A hundred bucks plus whatever I can press onto the two guys who will put it in. They do all our handyman stuff. They don't want money. It is a good strategy. I overpay them. But it is in the form of a dinner out or something.

I still have trouble accepting something that someone wants to do for friendship.

Someday, maybe. I am saving it up until I am old and infirm and need someone to help me out.

Labels: appliances, condo, life

BUSY DAY

Thursday is an easy day at the gym which is good because I had a lot to crowd in today.

I got back and did my routine stuff and then met with a friend for quite awhile. She has been away for a couple of months escaping the desert heat.

Then, I had to have my nap which was perfectly timed for a call, right at the end, from the appliance repair people that the service man (the same one who did the refrigerator) was due to install the igniter in the gas range broiler.

A bit of excitement there. The gas line was too short to allow him to pull the stove out far enough to unplug it. So we had to find the circuit box.

I had no idea where it was but we found it outside. It has a lot more breakers than our house at 325 did. And they are nicely labeled. I always worried that there was too much power on a few lines. And there were weird pairings on each switch. We might have turned the stove off and it would also shutdown the lights in the back yard.

He did the job and I had lunch and wrote a long overdue email to a friend.

No time for a movie today. My movie was the igniter and the letter.

Got set up for tomorrow, clothes and stuff. Fed Booker. John is not here. He usually has the pm feed. He is having a busy day too.

Then it was time for the pool. Into the pool (no diving, I fall in), sun on the front for ten minutes, into the pool (fall in again, no diving), then sun on the back for ten minutes, into the pool again and home.

On the bottoms up part, I read. Time goes fast.

I walk home, all of a hundred yards, and by then the mail has come and I get to come home and sort it.

Then, this with a coke and pretzels to share with Booker. I say "I'm getting a coke" and he is right there.

John came home with some furniture left over after a friend moved to North California. Good Will got the rest.

Now it is blogging and cruising through the intertubes and on to supper which tonight is pizza. Home made. Well, assembled. I am good at picking out the pieces and handling the ground beef.

A typical day.

The water in the pool is in the high 80's. Very nice.

What a life.

We love the new home. It is just perfect for us. A great gift.

We have lots of circuit breakers.

Labels: appliances, food, life

COOL

We got the refrigerator fixed yesterday.

It had been out over the weekend.

A control board that regulates the baffle between the freezer (which supplies the cold air) and the warmer, temperate part closed down. So the freezer froze up and the cooler got no cool at all.

We lived out of the ice chests for a couple of days. Like a picnic.

It wasn't too bad.

But it is nice to be back to regular business.

Labels: appliances, housekeeping

LOSS OF CONTROL

Our washer won't spin. The other day, John was doing a wash and the process stopped just after the last rinse and before the spin part*.

It told us to call the technician. Reported problem number 49. It does that.

So we called for service.

The repair guy came today and he did his analysis.

It is the "motor control". He looked up #49 and it told him the three possibilities. He tested them and there it was. The "motor control".

7-14 days before we get the part.

We are the trouble shooting lab for Fisher-Paykel, the appliance manufacturers.

We did a thorough workover on the drier. Three or four things went wrong there. Then they replaced the drier.

This is the first defect we have found with the washer. Proud to serve.

We will get this fixed and then see how many other problems we can uncover.

Maybe we will get a new washer!

Moral of the story. Don't buy the new model and maybe, if you can, avoid Fisher-Paykel although, in our case, it was the only washer/drier that would fit in our limited laundry space.

It is a pain in the ass. On the other hand, it is part of living in this high tech age.

We had Kenmores in here that we figure were 20-30 years old. They were here when we came. We had the service man once for them. But we don't know how many visits there were in the break in period. I bet none.

They really and truly do not make them like they used to.

*incidentally, it takes 3-4 hours to dry unspun wash with a sweatshirt and towels in it.

Labels: appliances

IGNITER

Got the baking function back on the stove today.

It was the igniter.

They are pretty simple, stoves.

There is a pipe with the gas, there is an electrical line. The two meet at the igniter. The igniter glows and hums. When it gets hot enough, the gas ignites in a long pipe with holes in it.

There is a fan shaped piece that goes over the burning gas to diffuse the heat.

Voila!

Pumpkin pie!

Well, it would have been pumpkin pie if the igniter hadn't gone out the day before Thanksgiving.

This is one of those things you (not me) could fix yourself if you knew how to do it. Like a lot of things. You take out two screws and remove the igniter and put in a new one.

Of course, the old one sticks in place because it is rusted. You have to know that soap liquid will ease it out.

Then you have to know to turn off the electric before you unplug and replug it. Shit like that.

I like the repair guys. There are four of them. Same company. They all do everything. They apprentice to get their grade.

He says there is seldom anything he can't fix.

We finally got this company when we had all the drier trouble. They had to work from the manual on line but they got it right.

They are also amusing. Lots of anecdotes.

I can't remember a one though.

I guess they are only amusing if you are standing there watching them work. It keeps you out of the way.

This whole thing took about 15 minutes. Amazing. Efficient.

Labels: appliances, repairman humor, repairs

HIGH FIVE

We have the big Bose Acoustic Wave II FM/CD player.

It is our stereo set.

When we moved out here we left all our components behind and went to this one unit.

At a certain age you don't hear all the hi-fi sounds anyway but actually this set is unbelievably satisfying.

But there is a problem after ten years.

The CD player is defunct. It skips.

So I finally got the 5 CD player which goes along with the big unit.

It came today. It is pretty good. Well engineered in that it slips right under the old radio and wires itself into it very neatly. Well, I had to move the wires but the setup was easy.

So right now, it is on rotation with Jarrett, Evans and Brubeck. I can play discs randomly or in sequence. I can play cuts (bands?) in sequence or all five disc bands in random order.

And so on.

There is a new remote which replaces the old radio unit and incorporates all these moves.

Very nice.

And it plays without skipping!

Labels: appliances, music

LOADED UP

So, finally, after two duds, we have a drier that, apparently, works OK.

I want to say "apparently" because I am still a bit gun shy about the process.

What are the odds of that? Two lemons in a row from a line of appliances where lemons are said not to exist?

Not that we feel singled out or anything.

Our first drier, the highest tech model you could get, had a burp when the load was finished. It couldn't sense where the drum was to stop its spin so it 'felt' its way and missed. A grinding noise. The drum misaligned with the door. It had to be opened manually.

A guy came. He couldn't figure it out. A one time problem he said.

Wrong. It happened again.

Then another repair guy. He found a sensor not working. A part was ordered. We got an email telling us that the part was backordered.

This is when John went back to the store (which also runs the service) and they agreed enough was, indeed, enough. They ordered us a new drier.

When that one came, two weeks later, it worked for about ten minutes and stopped. No power. Yet another service guy says that this one has a faulty control board. A part was ordered.

This time, the store, Pacific Sales, is on our side and happens to have another drier in the warehouse.

They sent us that one yesterday.

This one seems to work just fine. No glitches. No power loss.

We did seven or eight loads.

When it works, it is a joy to behold.

The seven loads? That is how much laundry had backed up.

We had gotten pretty good at air drying sheets and whites. Some stuff is OK outside. Others not.

I know. This is a very high end problem. There are people who are still washing their clothing on rocks in streams. Putting them out on the higher rocks to dry.

It is surely a 21st century saga in a runaway materialistic world. But, for a few weeks, it was our world and we got a chance to see what it is like to be less fortunate. I don't want to get soppy about it but it does one good to get a shot of reality once in awhile.

It is a little humbling to realize that we can get nervous over a pair of gym shorts that we have to wear a second or even third round.

Time to get real.

Labels: appliances, culture, lfe

DRIER AND DRIER

I haven't written very much about our drier trials.

When we got our new Fisher & Paykel washer and drier we were very happy with their operation.

Then the drier began to malfunction when it unlocked.

We had two repair visits. The first inconclusive and the second ending with a new part ordered. A week later we learned that the part had been back ordered.

So we went back to Pacific Sales who sold it to us. After some running around, they ordered us a new drier.

It arrived Friday and almost immediately went dead. No power.

Today, we had another repair man sent on an emergency call by Pacific Sales. He says that this one's control panel is blown and needs a new one.

We had been afraid that somehow it was our power source but he said "no way".

Now, we are at another impasse. Pacific Sales has told us that if this one is bust they have yet another one in the warehouse and will send it to us. We will see.

In the meantime we are limping in the laundry department. We have learned how to dry outdoors which is relatively easy even in humid weather. But it doesn't fluff. Or soften. A lot of stuff wrinkles.

The likelihood of our getting two defective driers in a row are like a million to one. They say. They don't even have malfunctions.

Are we a drier trouble magnet?

We don't have this kind of thing very often. If ever.

Now we do.

Another challenge to our equanimity.

As life troubles go, this is fairly mild on the horrendous scale. But it is annoying.

Labels: appliances

DRIED OUT

We have been having trouble with our new Fisher/Paykel drier.

The washer is great but the drier seizes up and won't open automatically. Not every time. Especially when the repair guy comes.

So, today we had the second visit and this guy seems to know what he is doing. He even ordered a part.

When it comes, he will come back and finish the job.

We did learn what to do when it seizes up though.

It is simple enough but a pain in the ass.

We have 'never' gotten a lemon in any purchase we have made.

If this turns out to be one, it will be the first.

We are already on track to have it replaced if this doesn't do the trick.

We are not compliant consumers.

It is a great drier incidentally. When it works.

Labels: appliances

CLUNK

The new drier refused to open all the way this morning and displayed a message: "HELP! I Need Service. Fault Code 24. Please Call for Service"

Thank you for sharing.

So I called the dealer, Pacific Sales, who services all the appliance that they sell.

That part worked out well. They were nice. They had us on file. We will have someone here fucking Tuesday.

Well, it isn't the longest wait.

We will go on the 'cancellation' list. They will call if there is an opening.

It is kind of pissy to have the new appliance go bad. But we will have to adapt.

It happens. Bugs.

It is a new model.

I am not very patient.

It will be OK.

We have more sheets than the ones that are trapped inside there and we hadn't started the next wash. Mildew city if that had happened.

Labels: appliances, technology

INSTALL AND DELIVER

The two refrigerators came today.

I am exhausted from all the emptying and filling back up.

The big one in the kitchen has made its first ice cubes. We have to throw the first three loads away as it cleans out the line.

Everything fit back in both with more space left over.

They are pretty neat.

But when you come right down to it, a refrigerator is a refrigerator.

The big one has a bit more brain than the old one. It remembers glass volumes on the water spout and will fill to suit.

There is some control shit which looks like it doesn't mean too much inside. Door temperature.

Basically, the two machines are new.

At the same time, on the same day, we are getting the tankless water heater installed.

So far it is going pretty well.

Angel says that the old tank is about a quarter or a third full of calcium carbonate. No wonder we seemed to be running out of volume.

OK.

Nice timing.

It is over.

Well, if the new one works it is over. Our backup is to set up the old one with hoses until a new part or whatever is aquired. I hope we do not need Plan B.

Labels: appliances, life