Pennsylvania's primary is coming a little earlier than the usual this year.
Our primary usually falls the second full week in May. This time it's the fourth full week in April.
It was a bit exciting locally, at least until very recently.
Now-former Republican Rick Santorum, also Pennsylvania's former U.S. Senator, announced the second week in April that he was quitting his bid for the Presidency.
At the radio station for which I work, we paid particular attention to the campaign, because Rick has a local tie to the area.
For about a decade, he grew up here. Not born here, no family here, but as the son of medical professionals assigned to our local VA Medical Center, Rick attended our local schools, and still recalled fond memories when back in the area and talking to the local media.
When he gave us time, that is. Rick earned a reputation over the years for being somewhat truculent with reporters, with some of those moments chronicled on the air and in print.
He's also earned a reputation for being one of the most conservative politicians in modern history. His views on homosexuality, women working outside the home, pornography, Social Security, and gun control have been widely publicized and criticized.
He ran an underfunded campaign but still managed to produce results that yielded in his winning 11 primaries and caucuses...amounting to more than three million votes.
And now, he's out.
It never ceases to amaze me how many candidates drop out of the presidential election. Why?
Because nobody wants that job.
Not anymore.
It wasn't but half a century ago when every little boy's ambition at some point in his childhood was to be the President of the United States.
The real power lies in the hands of Congress. Yet one man takes the bullets for everything that's wrong (and right) in this country.
That's a hard job. And for what it pays, you make more money in the private sector. Chief executive of the U.S., $250,000. CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation, put another zero at the end.
At least.
It's food for thought.
If we don't have a capable leader at the helm, we put ourselves in a very vulnerable position against the rest of the world.
We've already seen what happened when the self-styled 'working class' takes over a country.
Freedom reverts from reality to a dream.
NEXT WEEK: Calling the Doctor
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Doing Without...for One Day
Guys just don't understand women. I'll be the first to admit it.
I don't think we're allowed to.
Especially when it comes to the 'shoe thing'.
About 13 years ago, me, my younger brother, and his then-girlfriend all rented a two-bedroom duplex after they were done with school and I was saving up to buy my first house.
Jenny easily owned more than fifty pairs of shoes. I don't remember an exact number, and chances are, neither does she.
What I did remember is that with all of these shoes in her closet, she spent the majority of her time in the house padding around barefoot or in socks.
"You just don't understand," is what she said when I inquired about it one day.
Perhaps not. But I do know I regularly wear every pair of shoes I own. I have about twenty pairs, and I'm told that's a lot for a guy. The oldest pair is my burgundy wingtips I bought at a Montgomery Ward going-out-of-business sale, and the newest pair is my Nike Cortez retros (same style that Tom Hanks wore in "Forrest Gump") that I got for Christmas in 2010.
And in a lot of countries, I have enough shoes to take care of a full classroom in a Third World country.
It's something to think about.
I became aware of TOMS Shoes annual "One Day Without Shoes" initiative about five years ago, when the local city clerk announced she was going to go barefoot for a day in the office, and encouraged her co-workers to do the same. She's done it consistently since then, even with below-freezing temperatures last year in western Pennsylvania.
This is not a college kid either I'm talking about. Without advertising her age, she has two grown children, one of whom babysits my daughter on a regular basis.
This year's is this Tuesday.
For those of you who aren't familiar with TOMS, go to their website at http://www.toms.com/. Better yet, go to the website http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/.
Both sites explain the story behind TOMS and the 'barefoot challenge'.
Are you up for the challenge?
Today, take a moment if you will, and remember how often you've said to yourself about a particular article of clothing "I wouldn't be caught dead in that!"
And think of someone else half a world away saying "you should be so lucky".
Be a better person tomorrow than you are today. Start by taking nothing, and I mean nothing, for granted. Including the clothes on your back and the shoes on your feet.
Oh, and how much did you pay for those Uggs again?
NEXT WEEK: Primary Colors
I don't think we're allowed to.
Especially when it comes to the 'shoe thing'.
About 13 years ago, me, my younger brother, and his then-girlfriend all rented a two-bedroom duplex after they were done with school and I was saving up to buy my first house.
Jenny easily owned more than fifty pairs of shoes. I don't remember an exact number, and chances are, neither does she.
What I did remember is that with all of these shoes in her closet, she spent the majority of her time in the house padding around barefoot or in socks.
"You just don't understand," is what she said when I inquired about it one day.
Perhaps not. But I do know I regularly wear every pair of shoes I own. I have about twenty pairs, and I'm told that's a lot for a guy. The oldest pair is my burgundy wingtips I bought at a Montgomery Ward going-out-of-business sale, and the newest pair is my Nike Cortez retros (same style that Tom Hanks wore in "Forrest Gump") that I got for Christmas in 2010.
And in a lot of countries, I have enough shoes to take care of a full classroom in a Third World country.
It's something to think about.
I became aware of TOMS Shoes annual "One Day Without Shoes" initiative about five years ago, when the local city clerk announced she was going to go barefoot for a day in the office, and encouraged her co-workers to do the same. She's done it consistently since then, even with below-freezing temperatures last year in western Pennsylvania.
This is not a college kid either I'm talking about. Without advertising her age, she has two grown children, one of whom babysits my daughter on a regular basis.
This year's is this Tuesday.
For those of you who aren't familiar with TOMS, go to their website at http://www.toms.com/. Better yet, go to the website http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/.
Both sites explain the story behind TOMS and the 'barefoot challenge'.
Are you up for the challenge?
Today, take a moment if you will, and remember how often you've said to yourself about a particular article of clothing "I wouldn't be caught dead in that!"
And think of someone else half a world away saying "you should be so lucky".
Be a better person tomorrow than you are today. Start by taking nothing, and I mean nothing, for granted. Including the clothes on your back and the shoes on your feet.
Oh, and how much did you pay for those Uggs again?
NEXT WEEK: Primary Colors
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Winers Are Winners Here
"I love wining with you!" (in a 'whined' voice)
"And I love wining with YOU! (likewise)
These are frequent exchanges between my wife Margie and me. Usually it's when wine is consumed.
Most of you who know us also know that we're wine aficionados. We love wine. And now for the third year, we've looked forward to our annual spring trek to Erie, Pennsylvania.
It's called "Wine on the Lake".
With more than 40 exhibitors (not counting the wineries themselves), this sell-out event is one where you make sure you get your tickets early.
This year, Margie and I decided to spring for VIP tickets, which are $15 higher than the general admission tickets. It allows you access to two private tasting rooms with tapas, plus you get access to purchasing and tasting on the main show floor before the lines start building from the general admission crowd.
My wife asked me why I had this permanent grin affixed to my face at the event. She was probably convinced that I love wine more than I love her.
And nothing could be further from the truth.
Since becoming parents, our freedom to take off and go where we wanted whenever we wanted has now become restricted. As some couples become disconnected from each other after children, we've managed to stay connected.
We can still take our bike rides on the trails when the weather permits, thanks to the child carrier I tow behind my bike; we can also take road trips provided we pack toys for our daughter, extra pull-ups, and snacks.
But Wine on the Lake harkens back to the days when we were a carefree power couple that could get away with being somewhat irresponsible, if only for a moment.
And some of those moments make the pocketbook a little lighter than it was.
A good example was the end of the day yesterday, when we bought dinner at a Mexican eatery, after Wine on the Lake and before we got home and realized how much wine we had bought.
Seventeen bottles.
Though we have a 24-bottle wine rack, we still had bottles in it before we left. After we filled the rack with our new purchases, we had some to put aside until there was room.
And we made room last night.
Perhaps tonight too.
NEXT WEEK: One Day Without Shoes
"And I love wining with YOU! (likewise)
These are frequent exchanges between my wife Margie and me. Usually it's when wine is consumed.
Most of you who know us also know that we're wine aficionados. We love wine. And now for the third year, we've looked forward to our annual spring trek to Erie, Pennsylvania.
It's called "Wine on the Lake".
With more than 40 exhibitors (not counting the wineries themselves), this sell-out event is one where you make sure you get your tickets early.
This year, Margie and I decided to spring for VIP tickets, which are $15 higher than the general admission tickets. It allows you access to two private tasting rooms with tapas, plus you get access to purchasing and tasting on the main show floor before the lines start building from the general admission crowd.
My wife asked me why I had this permanent grin affixed to my face at the event. She was probably convinced that I love wine more than I love her.
And nothing could be further from the truth.
Since becoming parents, our freedom to take off and go where we wanted whenever we wanted has now become restricted. As some couples become disconnected from each other after children, we've managed to stay connected.
We can still take our bike rides on the trails when the weather permits, thanks to the child carrier I tow behind my bike; we can also take road trips provided we pack toys for our daughter, extra pull-ups, and snacks.
But Wine on the Lake harkens back to the days when we were a carefree power couple that could get away with being somewhat irresponsible, if only for a moment.
And some of those moments make the pocketbook a little lighter than it was.
A good example was the end of the day yesterday, when we bought dinner at a Mexican eatery, after Wine on the Lake and before we got home and realized how much wine we had bought.
Seventeen bottles.
Though we have a 24-bottle wine rack, we still had bottles in it before we left. After we filled the rack with our new purchases, we had some to put aside until there was room.
And we made room last night.
Perhaps tonight too.
NEXT WEEK: One Day Without Shoes
Sunday, March 25, 2012
March Mildness
This time of year, at least for my wife Margie, is a time of basketball bliss.
Yep, March Madness.
Margie and her side of the family are THE sports fanatics. Especially where college sports are concerned. Having to often write sports stories for the radio station where I work, I've been able to brush-up on my ability to relate to things going on in the world of sports.
With this being one of the most mild winters in western Pennsylvania history, this weekend marked the first in years where not only could you watch the NCAA Championships on TV, you could go outside and enjoy a half-court pickup game in our driveway.
Even I couldn't believe what I was seeing in the weather forecasts I was poring through while at the radio station.
Highs in the 80s...lows in the 50s. Enough to turn the furnace off and open the windows.
This past week's weather in particular made me wonder if I should scrap our vacation plans to Hilton Head this fall and stay closer to home, with gas prices now hovering at $4 a gallon with predictions of price hikes so great that Americans will be crossing the border to Canada to buy our gas, thus reciprocating the situation there.
Uh, no. Not gonna happen. I'll take a second job to pay for my gas first.
I had made an hour-long drive from Butler to Hermitage (near the Ohio state line) to cover a board of trustees meeting at a branch campus of our local community college.
After the meeting, I walked outside to what felt like near 90. Three female students were impromptu sunbathing on the sidewalk, all wearing tank tops, shorts and flip-flops. Outside of Wal-Mart, that attire is unheard of this time of year in western Pennsylvania.
On my way back to the radio station, I decided to stop and pick up lunch at one of the few remaining Arthur Treacher's franchises nearby. Enroute, I saw a convertible and a Jeep Wrangler with their tops down.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Even I gave in to the urge and fired up the station van's air conditioner.
NEXT WEEK: Winning at Wining
Yep, March Madness.
Margie and her side of the family are THE sports fanatics. Especially where college sports are concerned. Having to often write sports stories for the radio station where I work, I've been able to brush-up on my ability to relate to things going on in the world of sports.
With this being one of the most mild winters in western Pennsylvania history, this weekend marked the first in years where not only could you watch the NCAA Championships on TV, you could go outside and enjoy a half-court pickup game in our driveway.
Even I couldn't believe what I was seeing in the weather forecasts I was poring through while at the radio station.
Highs in the 80s...lows in the 50s. Enough to turn the furnace off and open the windows.
This past week's weather in particular made me wonder if I should scrap our vacation plans to Hilton Head this fall and stay closer to home, with gas prices now hovering at $4 a gallon with predictions of price hikes so great that Americans will be crossing the border to Canada to buy our gas, thus reciprocating the situation there.
Uh, no. Not gonna happen. I'll take a second job to pay for my gas first.
I had made an hour-long drive from Butler to Hermitage (near the Ohio state line) to cover a board of trustees meeting at a branch campus of our local community college.
After the meeting, I walked outside to what felt like near 90. Three female students were impromptu sunbathing on the sidewalk, all wearing tank tops, shorts and flip-flops. Outside of Wal-Mart, that attire is unheard of this time of year in western Pennsylvania.
On my way back to the radio station, I decided to stop and pick up lunch at one of the few remaining Arthur Treacher's franchises nearby. Enroute, I saw a convertible and a Jeep Wrangler with their tops down.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Even I gave in to the urge and fired up the station van's air conditioner.
NEXT WEEK: Winning at Wining
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Washer Whoas...Part III
Two blissful loads of laundry in our new washer/dryer stack.
Then "IT" happened.
Even I couldn't believe it.
Putting the third load in the dryer was what I expected to be rather uneventful.
A loud squeal, and then suddenly it made more noise than a busted chainsaw.
It still dried clothes, and it still did what it was supposed to do. Except to do it quietly...and without vibrating the house apart.
Much like losing your muffler...the car still works fine, but eventually the noise is going to drive you bonkers or further damage is going to occur.
Fortunately, it was still under warranty, and we did buy the extended coverage.
I called the customer service number to Concord, North Carolina. A deep-drawled Southern belle came on the line to assist me.
"What's it doing, sir?" she asked.
I had the dryer going at the time, so I simply brought the phone up to it.
"Hear that?" I inquired.
"Dang...sounds like a lawn mower!"
That's a bit of a stretch. My 1975 Gravely 812 doesn't sound that loud, though my two-year-old daughter would disagree as she holds her hands up to her ears.
She sets up the appointment for the tech to come out. He takes off a couple panels, turns it on and takes a look.
"I can't find anything mechanically wrong with it. So we're going to order all new parts for it and just go through it one at a time. They'll ship them here, and then you call us back and set up the time for me to come back out."
Not something I have to waste an entire day for. I called my dad, and he agreed to come out and let the guy in.
Then the day came...and the repairman said the part he needed wasn't included with what he had shipped to us. He'd have to order another one.
Uh...no. We called Lowe's and got them to exchange it for another dryer.
Lowe's came out and delivered the new unit. It tested fine.
We've done two loads now without any problems.
But I'm still going to wait awhile before I write my online review.
Just in case.
NEXT WEEK: March Mildness
Then "IT" happened.
Even I couldn't believe it.
Putting the third load in the dryer was what I expected to be rather uneventful.
A loud squeal, and then suddenly it made more noise than a busted chainsaw.
It still dried clothes, and it still did what it was supposed to do. Except to do it quietly...and without vibrating the house apart.
Much like losing your muffler...the car still works fine, but eventually the noise is going to drive you bonkers or further damage is going to occur.
Fortunately, it was still under warranty, and we did buy the extended coverage.
I called the customer service number to Concord, North Carolina. A deep-drawled Southern belle came on the line to assist me.
"What's it doing, sir?" she asked.
I had the dryer going at the time, so I simply brought the phone up to it.
"Hear that?" I inquired.
"Dang...sounds like a lawn mower!"
That's a bit of a stretch. My 1975 Gravely 812 doesn't sound that loud, though my two-year-old daughter would disagree as she holds her hands up to her ears.
She sets up the appointment for the tech to come out. He takes off a couple panels, turns it on and takes a look.
"I can't find anything mechanically wrong with it. So we're going to order all new parts for it and just go through it one at a time. They'll ship them here, and then you call us back and set up the time for me to come back out."
Not something I have to waste an entire day for. I called my dad, and he agreed to come out and let the guy in.
Then the day came...and the repairman said the part he needed wasn't included with what he had shipped to us. He'd have to order another one.
Uh...no. We called Lowe's and got them to exchange it for another dryer.
Lowe's came out and delivered the new unit. It tested fine.
We've done two loads now without any problems.
But I'm still going to wait awhile before I write my online review.
Just in case.
NEXT WEEK: March Mildness
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Washer Whoas...Part II
You read the first part last week, how our $2000 washer/dryer stack suddenly went south on us.
Once we got the news about the repair costs, I began to wonder about just how much this machine was really worth.
I believed that finding a comparable replacement would probably run maybe $2500 based on general inflation. But I also believe in spending as little money as possible without sacrificing quality.
I went to my handyman father and cried on his shoulder.
"Just get a side by side," he said.
It got me thinking. I had been looking only at replacement stack units, believing them to be my only option, due to space restrictions in the laundry room.
I measured the distance between the gas valve about a couple inches from one wall and the other in the small alcove we have the foyer, which is where the previous homeowners moved the laundry once steps became a problem in their sunset years.
56 inches to work with. A very tight fit.
We could fit a side-by-side in there, but it would call for removing the door to the laundry closet, and restricting our use of it to the two top shelves, plus removal of the moulding around the door.
Doable. But frustrating.
We could have returned the washer and dryer to the basement. But we didn't want to give up that convenience of a ground-floor laundry room.
Especially with my "forty-something" knees that are going to surely turn on me one of these days without warning.
After a 'day date' on President's Day, we decided to go washer/dryer shopping. A few stores were offering sales in honor of the holiday.
Sears first. Then Home Depot. Then finally Lowe's.
We hadn't had much luck with the first two. But then we got to Lowe's. And there it was.
A laundry stack, but much better designed than our Neptune.
Stackable separates, they were called.
Separate controls for each unit. They did not need each other to exist. If one died, the other didn't need to die with it.
I like that. So did my short-statured spouse of five feet, two and a half inches, despite having to stand on her toes slightly to reach the dryer controls.
And it was within our budget. $899. Add in the stack kit, a new gas connection line, a three-year extended warranty, and tax, it came out to about $1300.
Sold.
But then the man who sold it to us had some bad news...they had the washer in stock, but not a gas dryer. They did have an electric one.
This would have meant getting my dad out to do an emergency 220 volt install so we could have our own laundry capabilities back.
Margie decided against that and decided it was worth the wait.
They put us in their computer for a delivery date of ten days after the sale. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait that long.
In fact, the phone call came four days later...after I had spent six hours at my in-laws condo doing about six loads of laundry.
The dryer was in, according to the message on my voice mail.
I immediately called them back.
"Can you bring it tomorrow?"
"We can do that, but we're not sure of what time."
"Fine."
The next morning, they called.
"We have you down from nine to eleven, sir. We'll try to make it as close to nine as possible."
They arrived at 9:30. They were on their way within an hour, after uncrating them, taking away the Neptune (but not before I harvested it to try and get money back through selling parts on eBay!), connecting the hoses and testing it, and explaining its operation.
Then the moment of truth.
We brought down a small load of clothes.
Washed and dried, then folded and put away. All within an hour.
And the world makes sense again.
It's amazing what we sometimes take for granted.
NEXT WEEK: Part III (oh yes, there IS a part 3!)
Once we got the news about the repair costs, I began to wonder about just how much this machine was really worth.
I believed that finding a comparable replacement would probably run maybe $2500 based on general inflation. But I also believe in spending as little money as possible without sacrificing quality.
I went to my handyman father and cried on his shoulder.
"Just get a side by side," he said.
It got me thinking. I had been looking only at replacement stack units, believing them to be my only option, due to space restrictions in the laundry room.
I measured the distance between the gas valve about a couple inches from one wall and the other in the small alcove we have the foyer, which is where the previous homeowners moved the laundry once steps became a problem in their sunset years.
56 inches to work with. A very tight fit.
We could fit a side-by-side in there, but it would call for removing the door to the laundry closet, and restricting our use of it to the two top shelves, plus removal of the moulding around the door.
Doable. But frustrating.
We could have returned the washer and dryer to the basement. But we didn't want to give up that convenience of a ground-floor laundry room.
Especially with my "forty-something" knees that are going to surely turn on me one of these days without warning.
After a 'day date' on President's Day, we decided to go washer/dryer shopping. A few stores were offering sales in honor of the holiday.
Sears first. Then Home Depot. Then finally Lowe's.
We hadn't had much luck with the first two. But then we got to Lowe's. And there it was.
A laundry stack, but much better designed than our Neptune.
Stackable separates, they were called.
Separate controls for each unit. They did not need each other to exist. If one died, the other didn't need to die with it.
I like that. So did my short-statured spouse of five feet, two and a half inches, despite having to stand on her toes slightly to reach the dryer controls.
And it was within our budget. $899. Add in the stack kit, a new gas connection line, a three-year extended warranty, and tax, it came out to about $1300.
Sold.
But then the man who sold it to us had some bad news...they had the washer in stock, but not a gas dryer. They did have an electric one.
This would have meant getting my dad out to do an emergency 220 volt install so we could have our own laundry capabilities back.
Margie decided against that and decided it was worth the wait.
They put us in their computer for a delivery date of ten days after the sale. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait that long.
In fact, the phone call came four days later...after I had spent six hours at my in-laws condo doing about six loads of laundry.
The dryer was in, according to the message on my voice mail.
I immediately called them back.
"Can you bring it tomorrow?"
"We can do that, but we're not sure of what time."
"Fine."
The next morning, they called.
"We have you down from nine to eleven, sir. We'll try to make it as close to nine as possible."
They arrived at 9:30. They were on their way within an hour, after uncrating them, taking away the Neptune (but not before I harvested it to try and get money back through selling parts on eBay!), connecting the hoses and testing it, and explaining its operation.
Then the moment of truth.
We brought down a small load of clothes.
Washed and dried, then folded and put away. All within an hour.
And the world makes sense again.
It's amazing what we sometimes take for granted.
NEXT WEEK: Part III (oh yes, there IS a part 3!)
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Washer Whoas
No, that's not a typo.
That's my reaction to what I was told when two different repair services quoted me a price of almost a thousand dollars to replace the rear bearing in our aging Maytag Neptune washer/dryer stack.
When we bought our home in 2009, all of the major appliances had been replaced within the past decade by our home's previous owners. Maytag stove, washer/dryer, and a Jenn Air refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave. All top-of-the-line stuff and just in time for the 21st Century.
I wrote previously about how the 'brain' went on the fritz for the dishwasher, at what couldn't have been a worse time...when our then-infant daughter was nursing and keeping her bottles clean and sterilized with this life-saving device was the most necessary of necessities.
Knock on wood here...we haven't had any problems with it since, once it was fixed, and it turned out to be fairly inexpensive.
Then went the washer.
We had grown accustomed to the washer sounding like a 747 taking off from JFK in a blizzard during the spin cycle. Then one day, it decided to stop spinning in the spin cycle altogether, leaving our clothes soaked.
The tech came out and said we should invest in a new washer and dryer. The motor control unit was responsible for the spin cycle failing, and the noise was caused by a faulty bearing in the washer drum that could fail at any given moment.
I dug out the papers on the stack (the previous owner saved all the paperwork), and found that he had paid close to $2000 for it brand-new. Uh...NOOOOO!!!!
I'll fix the dadburn thing myself.
I found a motor control unit on eBay. Changed it out, and put it all back together.
Then the moment of truth.
The bearing that could fail at any given moment did.
"*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*!!!"
Yes, the bleeps are expletives.
So I called two repair shops, one being the dealer that sold it to us. Balking, I called another.
Same result.
Almost $1,000 for the part...NOT including labor.
Ralph Nader probably had a field day with this thing. It was the subject of a class-action lawsuit in 2002...five years after it was introduced to the market, I would later find out.
"*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*!!!!"
Time to go shopping.
NEXT WEEK: Part II
That's my reaction to what I was told when two different repair services quoted me a price of almost a thousand dollars to replace the rear bearing in our aging Maytag Neptune washer/dryer stack.
When we bought our home in 2009, all of the major appliances had been replaced within the past decade by our home's previous owners. Maytag stove, washer/dryer, and a Jenn Air refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave. All top-of-the-line stuff and just in time for the 21st Century.
I wrote previously about how the 'brain' went on the fritz for the dishwasher, at what couldn't have been a worse time...when our then-infant daughter was nursing and keeping her bottles clean and sterilized with this life-saving device was the most necessary of necessities.
Knock on wood here...we haven't had any problems with it since, once it was fixed, and it turned out to be fairly inexpensive.
Then went the washer.
We had grown accustomed to the washer sounding like a 747 taking off from JFK in a blizzard during the spin cycle. Then one day, it decided to stop spinning in the spin cycle altogether, leaving our clothes soaked.
The tech came out and said we should invest in a new washer and dryer. The motor control unit was responsible for the spin cycle failing, and the noise was caused by a faulty bearing in the washer drum that could fail at any given moment.
I dug out the papers on the stack (the previous owner saved all the paperwork), and found that he had paid close to $2000 for it brand-new. Uh...NOOOOO!!!!
I'll fix the dadburn thing myself.
I found a motor control unit on eBay. Changed it out, and put it all back together.
Then the moment of truth.
The bearing that could fail at any given moment did.
"*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*!!!"
Yes, the bleeps are expletives.
So I called two repair shops, one being the dealer that sold it to us. Balking, I called another.
Same result.
Almost $1,000 for the part...NOT including labor.
Ralph Nader probably had a field day with this thing. It was the subject of a class-action lawsuit in 2002...five years after it was introduced to the market, I would later find out.
"*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*!!!!"
Time to go shopping.
NEXT WEEK: Part II
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