Just as an FYI, I'm writing this on Saturday, because Sunday is Easter and we've got familial obligations to look forward to.
So....There I was...* It's early March, I'm up early. Mrs. J is using one of the sleep late coupons she's earned, so I'm emptying the dishwasher that had been run the previous night. Get it unloaded and notice that the bottom is full of water. Having phenomenal plumbing and mechanical skills, I deduce that something must have blocked the drain. So...After several dozen scoop and dump's of water, I see a few leaves in the trap and clean it out. Aha! I triumphantly trumpet. "I have fixed it." Do a little victory dance and go about my day.
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| Looks good, right? Hidden beyond that sheen is a heart of evil. Loud as all get out. Frigidaire used to be a good product line All appliances in our new house are that brand. Big Mistake. |
You know how this is going to end, now, doncha? Hubris begins the same way as humiliation.
In any case, on with the story. A couple of days later, the dishwasher is run again and....Same thing. I get the name of a guy who works on dishwashers and he comes over. Looks the thing over, checks some things. Then says the dishwasher's circuit board needs resetting. I ask how that's done. He asks me to go turn off the circuit breaker outside. I'm skeptical, but comply.
Indeed, in the circuit breaker box there's a CB for DW. I pop that, leave it for about 30 seconds per his instruction then reset.
Voila' Ze Dishwasher is draining. He says this action didn't fix the problem which may return. If it does, the procedure may or may not work again. If not, we'll have to replace the circuit board. OK, I thank the man, write him a fairly large check, and go about my dishwashing business.
3 days later, I get up early, go into the kitchen and...you got it. Water in the bottom. I call my good friend and relay the issue. He says he'll get the part ordered and let me know when it arrives.
So far, so good. He calls back about a week later and says the circuit board is on back order (Yes, Beans, from China) and it may be another week or so. Ok, I can live with dish pan hands that long.
I call him around the end of March, and he says there's no expected delivery date for the part, what do we want to do?
I relay the last to my beloved, who says "Let's go to Lowes!" While we didn't buy from Lowes, (Backorder for the one we wanted), we did find it at Home Depot.
Just got a call from them. It's expected to be delivered and installed in the next 45 Minutes. (Remember it's Saturday as I'm writing this, but I'm optimistic). (Update 1: Delivered Saturday at 0900, installed and tested by 0951.) First load of dishes, not washed by hand in 6 weeks, tonight. Small pleasures...
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| AHHHH! Quiet. |
On a separate note, MBD, SIL and MG decided to come visit for the Easter Vigil. While we'd like to see them more often (a lot more often), one of the hidden advantages of monthly visits is it's a lot more apparent how much and how fast MG is developing.
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| MG rockin' some High Fashion! |
Not quite 6 months, she's pretty much able to sit upright. They've got that form fitted chair (above) that provides back and side support if needed, but she's pretty much mastered it. She's also able to stand as long as they provide a little lateral support. She's getting the leg strength, just working on the balance part now.
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| She's teething. The carrot is gel filled, so squishable and, when cooled in the fridge, comfortable to gnaw on. |
She's also much more interactive. If you talk to her, she "answers" back. It's just babble of course, but it's progress.
Yeah, I like being a granddad.
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| New Granddad skill learned. Feeding MG and taking a picture simultaneously. Whoop! |
She didn't seem interested in the Brisket or Sausage but, she did enjoy a pickle. Didn't eat it, more like licked it. Girl's got potential!
Another bit of progress was made this past week. As many know, SIL is working on a Doctor of Divinity degree. He's still got a semester or two left, but got hired by a local church in CStat as a junior Pastor. So, having run it by the naming committee, (OK, me) his Nom du Plume has been changed to "Pastor Bob".
So it is written, So it shall be!
On a tertiary front, progress on the Pen Making skill set continues. Still learning quite a few lessons. The key one from the latest project is how to remove a pen blank from a pen mandrel that it's been superglued to. Actually, the key lesson is check to make sure there are no gaps between the bushings and the blanks. The next one is how to fix it if you screw the key one up. Apparently, superglue while quick drying, is still a liquid and therefore flows towards the lowest point. If that point is the juncture of the mandrel and the hole drilled through the pen blank for the pen mechanism...well...things get a little sticky. Duh!
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| This is early in the turning, but if you look at the right center bushing, you can see the small gap causing the issue. Hindsight=20/20 right? |
Fortunately, as with all things woodworking, YouTube is your friend and there's no woodworking related mistake that hasn't been made several times before by better skilled people than I. So, I learned the fix is take the mandrel off the lathe, turn it so the pen blank is pointed towards your workbench, Grab the mandrel with a pair of pliers butted up against the glued blank. Take a small hammer, (frustration level demanding a sledge hammer should be kept under control) and tap the edge of the pliers until the glue breaks free.
Carefully clean all glue remnants off the mandrel (only if you intend to ever use it again). In the future, spray the mandrel with WD-40 prior to putting the pen blanks on.
See how easy it is?
That having been said, the pen I was making was both a Birthday Present and a Congratulations present for Pastor Bob. That works because the wood used for the pen was Olive Wood (Olive Branch = Peace offering) and was harvested in Bethlehem (not Pennsylvania, THE Bethlehem). I thought that would be an apt gift as that's where someone else started His Pastoral journey.
As mentioned earlier, I'm writing this on Saturday as Easter Sunday we've been invited to visit Pastor Bob's extended family gathering in Austin. Just a little out and back, but should be fun.
(Update 2: Proven once again, the saying "No plan survives first contact with the enemy" is still valid. MBD, Friday Evening, developed a Fever and was feeling pretty rotten even Sunday morning. Since she'd been fine prior to Friday while she was here, we figured it might be a slow gestation flu and we may be coming down with it also We feel fine now, but.... Since one of Pastor Bob's Sister in Law is very pregnant (due date in a couple of weeks) we all decided not to risk it. Would have been fun, maybe next year.)
In any case, Happy Easter to all. Peace out!
*SJC
I'm thinking through my list of baby "How to be a Texan" starter items. Tiny cowboy boots and a hat would look both awesome and cute.
ReplyDeletePen turning. I've not yet made that exact mistake.
I have learned that gluing a lot of tubes into the blanks without enough ventilation is not a good idea.
The use of olive wood from Bethlehem is a great idea.
Philly was chilly this morning. It went down to 34 degrees and I think there is frost on the cars.
Going to be a Texan?? Let me recommend some apparel from Buc-Ees . I have Buc-Ees shirts for almost every holiday and I note they usually have toddler sizes.
DeleteJiP,
DeleteYep, that ventilation lesson has already been learned by me. Fortunately, the weather down here has allowed operation in my old shop to continue with the door wide opened. That made it pretty bearable. We've reached a point where time, money and weather are all cooperating so the move to the new wood shop will commence. That first step, of course, is getting the old shop straightened up a bit. Always one of my favorite chores. Mrs. J has decreed that the heavy lifting will be done by younger backs than mine. I'm VERY OK with that. So, Soon.
I just got back from feeding the horses. Temp is a chilly 58 with a bit of a breeze. Warm/Cool I guess is a matter of perception.
Thanks/
JG,
DeleteWe are long time denizens of the Buc-EEs in Bastrop. From our point of view, it's either a reward for having made it through Moscow on the Colorado with vehicle, sanity and blood pressure intact, or, something to steel our nerves for the westward version of that trek. Been doing that since 2002 when Little Juvat started school in CStat and I think the longest between visits is about a month. Gas, Bathroom, Soda is the typical visit sequence.
Dishwashers, making pens, my goodness, the excitement never ends down in Texas, does it?
ReplyDeleteThat wood is gorgeous. So is your granddaughter.
Sarge,
DeleteYep, it's an exciting life we live down here. Hard to sleep at night, the plans for the next day keep running through my brain.
I was pretty happy with the pen. Pastor Bob loved it. Spent the rest of the evening twirling it between his fingers. A good sign.
Thanks, we're very happy. I don't know if I mentioned there is one bright spot in Communist China's Covid lockdown. One of the few available activities for the lockdown-ees resulted in another expected grandchild in October. Very much looking forward to that.
Juvat, we have lived the same dishwasher issue. In our case we were saved a costly visit by a very generous serviceman on the phone, who simply said "Your circuit board is burned out. I can replace it, but it is likely to burn out again. You should get a new one." So I can definitely appreciate the "First dishes not handwashed in six week"! (As an amusing side note, there was not plug on the original unit; it was just wired into the circuit itself. So I also got a bonus lesson on installing a plug).
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to SIL (Hereafter "Pastor Bob") on not only being close to getting his Th.D., but actually finding a job. I have known plenty that graduated and had nothing (and double congratulations that they are still relatively close! The pictures are adorable). Once upon a time in the dim past, I had an inkling to be a Pastor but in the wisdom of God, the earth opened up and all that fell in. Probably for the best, in retrospect.
The pen looks wonderful - does it still smell like olive wood? The Ravishing Mrs. TB bought me an olive wood cross (same origination of wood) and I would swear to you it still smells of olive wood.
THB,
DeleteOne lives and learns. Growing up, Frigidaire was the brand my Folks had for virtually everything. They always seemed to work, so when the house was being spec'd and Frigidaire was one of the brands, Mrs. J and I went with that (She'd grown up with it also.) We've got a few "Wish we'd of..." things about the house, most are very minor. Appliances however are not. Dishwasher when running sounded like it was throwing dishes around and could be heard in the bedroom. The Refrigerator/Freezer sounds like a 747 starting engines when it starts a cooling cycle. The exhaust fan is deafening. The gas stove burners only have three settings, heat of the sun, 95% heat of the sun and off. Birthday and Christmas presents for Mrs. J and I for the foreseeable future are set. As I said, hindsight=20/20.
Re: Pen. Unfortunately, no. The CA finish pretty much sealed that in. But, You're right about the scent. I've still got 2 blanks left of it, I may just keep one intact for scent referral.
Juvat, when we bought our home it came with LG. The dishwasher and the refrigerator both died. I think the dishwasher is now a Whirlpool (whatever was on the "slightly scuffed" aisle) and the refrigerator a Samsung. And now, I hear tell, the oven has started to "heat slowly"...
DeleteTHB,
DeleteWe've got LG Washer and Dryer. So I hope I have better luck. Only 18 months old, so....We'll see. The frigidaire ovens have ALWAYS heated slowly. If I could average out the Stove and the Oven settings, I'd be a lot more comfortable cooking. Got nothing good to say about that company any more.
Pen looks good, nice touch with the type of wood also. Not much longer and MG will be ambling when she comes to visit. What with the supply difficulties the last two years when an appliance acts up the repair cost vs replacement cost becomes paramount. A quiet machine is nice. Here near St Paul it's 28 above and there's .....a......trace.......of.....snow........again.
ReplyDeleteNylon,
DeleteThanks, yep, Pastor Bob liked it. Which was a relief.
I think that replacement was the right answer. Not only was a repair going to be delayed indefinitely, the cost would have ended up being very close to replacement cost, but it still would have been a loud, lousy dishwasher. So...I think we made the right choice.
Actually got a little rain down here yesterday. 1/4" or so. VERY much needed and still is. Got a decent chance of rain every day for the next week or so. We'll see. Burn ban/Fire Warnings, obviously, still in effect.
After the rain yesterday the 29°F has me thinking "Ice!" I should go see if I need to spread some salt on my steep driveway.
ReplyDeleteDishwashers are a pain, Love it when it works, hate its little woes and failures.
Sitting up. She'll be running in no time at all.
hTom,
DeleteAs mentioned above, got a little rain yesterday. Still....
The Dishwasher in our old house was the same manufacturer of our new one (Bosch). We had it for 10 years before we moved. My sister is still using it, so we have high hopes for this replacement.
Yeah, that is obvious in the changes we notice between visits. I had similar feelings as I walked my Daughter down the aisle, that it had only been a couple of weeks ago that I was feeding and burping her. Time DOES fly, doesn't it?
So Lowes was able to deliver that new circuit board, but it came wrapped in a new washer! Expensive fix, but completely understandable.
ReplyDeleteEaster Vigil? Isn't that the MOAM? Mother of all masses? 3 hour evolution last time I went. I was extra good this year though, attending 3 quarters of Catholic Superbowl, which I also hadn't done in a long while.
Your baby feeding technique reminds me of tanking off the KCs- you almost pulled out to pre-contact. Completely understandable there too, as you were always on the other side of that operation!
Tuna,
DeleteWhile I am a Lowes Denizen, the Bosch DW they had was not in stock and....maybe later. Fortunately, the Home Depot about 2 blocks away had the same make and model in stock. The delay in delivery was they were two weeks out on installation appointments. So we bought it then and there and had them store it until it could be installed. We're very happy with how the whole process went.
I remember when the KC-10 first came out. In comparison to the -135 it was ginormous. Getting into the pre-contact position was like being in the danger close position on the -135. Took quite a bit of deep breaths to actually get into contact. The good news at that point was the boom had enough wing to basically fly your jet where it needed to be. Took a while to get use to, but it was a better platform of the two.
Both were challenging in the Viking. We didn't have a lot of excess thrust and depending on a/s & alt of the tanker, we had trouble staying in.
DeleteHad similar problems in the Phantom. If weather forced us into the 30's mil power wasn't generally enough to hold us in position when we started getting full. Then it got pretty tricky. One would light one burner and set that throttle to the min burner setting. That would induce some yaw, which you'd add rudder to counteract. Then you would use the non-burner engine to control fore and aft. Course adding more or less power also decreased or increased the yaw, so you were moving the rudder pedals almost constantly. Not a lot of fun, especially if you were on a deployment, say to Korea and you were on the lonely stretch from Hawaii to Kadena and in the weather most of the time. Yep, slept pretty well when we checked into the Q that evening. Pretty Tired.
DeletePastor Bob...... Papa Bravo..... PB.... PB....... Peanut Butter.....
ReplyDeleteDishwasher? Never had one. I guess I don't know what I'm missing. Last August, literally the last clap of thunder in the storm, was a very close hit. Right out front... The Square D surge protectors I installed in the main power box kept everything safe minus the following: All network gear, including a laptop; 11 month old fridge; drill charger. I think it came in via the network drop.
6 week wait on the fridge service call, the little board that fried took 2 months to arrive. I found an extra on ebay and it came the day before the warranty replacement. In the interim, I bought a 7 cu ft chest freezer, and put an external thermometer in it with a relay box that shuts off the power when it hit 34 degrees. Nice little fridge to help me through. I miss bi-metal thermostats, and bullet proof equipment. Timer motors used to burn out, but replacements were easy to find.
Pen looks really cool. I sure hope Peanut is one of the guys that graduates Semitary with his faith alive. I've met so many that buried it at graduate school...
STxAR,
DeleteWhat electrical repair skills I have were learned in two places. In the F-4, I learned, if an electrical component failed, to let the WSO know and he'd cycle the circuit breaker to try and reset it. In the F-15, I learned, if an electrical component failed, to turn the box off then back on. In either case, if the approved technique didn't work. turn it off and explain the problem to Sarge (or his counterpart) when back on the ground. This late in life, it's doubtful that I'll gain much more skill than that. I'm ok with that. Although, I do admire the people that can do more, and generally am happy to pay for that knowledge.
Thanks, I think he will, he's pretty close to the end and still is enthused. MBD is enthused about it also, which always helps. We'll pray and see what's what.
(Don McCollor)...Yes, accumulated wisdom is good. Long ago at work (I was a chemist) with a malfunctioning instrument and suspecting the power supply. Tech (ex-Navy) at work showed up (with a meter studded with buttons) said the DC output was fine, just a little low. After some argument, I made him switch his meter to AC. Suprise! AC voltage on a DC supply (if he had an old analog voltage meter the needle would have been fluttering). I felt the four power diodes for the bridge rectifier in the power supply - three hot, one cold. Told him that the cold one was the problem. It was.
DeleteDon,
DeleteYeah, once I got out of the service and into teaching, then into the district's tech department. I very quickly learned to keep my mouth shut when I got called to look at a problem. It usually was operator error, but they didn't want to hear that. I would try whatever they were having a problem with. A lot of time, the problem didn't occur due to "MAGIC". I'd ask them to show me what they were doing and if the problem occurred, I'd ask them to "Try This" and walk them through the way I did it. Then I'd blame Bill Gates for only making one way to do that procedure. That generally, but not always, kept them on my side.
Happy Easter, Juvat! He is Risen!
ReplyDeleteOur newest little one is about MG's age. He can pull himself up and cruise along on the furniture, but *not quite* ready to walk unassisted. Yes, being a Grandpa definitely has attractions.
Our dishwasher "install" from Home Depot (done before we bought the house; it was a 'failed' flip) never worked right, so Sweet Little Wife called them, and they sent a guy out. Turns out the "installer" hadn't opened the water valves all the way, and it was starved for water. Worked A-OK after he opened up the valves!
DrJim,
DeleteRisen Indeed!
It's a fun age isn't it. Looking forward to a little more stability in the vertical as well as talking (and not looking forward to Talking Back).
Even the experts make mistakes. When they make them and fix them, I'm ok with it. No blood, no foul. Two dishwashes in we've discovered we can turn it on when we go to bed. It's that quiet. The previous one, would make all kinds of loud clanking noises as the spray nozzles were hinged, so they were slinging back and forth. Thankfully it died, after the warranty ran out of course, because this one, so far, is WAAAYYYY better.
Ours has the rotating spray bars in it. It's also very quiet, but it's sloooow. Has lots of settings and doodads that we don't use, except the timer, which tells it to start the cycle after the "Time Of Day" power restrictions have passed.
DeleteDrJim,
DeleteThe normal cycle on this one usually shows a 2+10 time on it. I don't recall how long the old one was, but it was so loud it seemed like forever. This one is nice and quiet so we generally turn it on when we hit the rack. So the wash time isn't all that critical.
Time of Day power restrictions? What are they?
It's like what the power companies used to call a "Demand Charge", where if you use more that your 'baseline' amount of power, you get hit with a surcharge during a certain "Time of Day".
DeleteFrom May 1 to Oct 31 it's 1400 to 1900. From Nov 1 to April 30 it's 1700 to 2100. Go over your baseline during those times, and they TRIPLE your power cost for the whole period.
It's meant to relieve some of the load on the grid during those times.
Glad that's not in effect here. That would be expensive.
DeleteAh yes, those pesky lessons learned... CONGRATS to Pastor Bob! And yes, He is Risen!
ReplyDeleteI suspect the only time you stop learning lessons is when you're in the ground. Maybe not even then.
DeleteRisen indeed!