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Today I played Frerer Jacques
Shhh don’t tell anyone I’m working on the draft for an article that will come out later this fall and I’m avoiding writing because I’m thinking and that takes a lot of avoidance tasks. Like reorganizing the pantry. There is something more behind that than simply reorganizing the pantry. One of our local stores is building a new store, significantly larger with an opendate scheduled for next week I think, with this right around the corner they are discounting items in the store which means stocking up on things we use regularly and then finding a place to store them. So that’s kinda done so now I’m writing until the rest of the thoughts come to finish the article. Also I’m in the mood to write some snark. Sometimes this is really cathartic, the writing of snark.
Before I get to the real reason I decided to write today may I take a moment to share with you the saga of the washer. Now please understand I am not going to give specific companies in the writing of this because Shock! Horror! This job isn’t complete.
Sometime in December maybe even earlier I noticed that the fabric softener isn’t draining into the washer. In January I called the whole home warranty company, henceforth known as WC. They contract with XYZ appliance company for repairs, the appointment is made, I’m given a four hour window to be home. This is doable. Tech shows up, runs some diagnostics, finds two things that kinda fall on us, he pulls out the drawer and cleans in there (I had no idea that could happen) and says all is well. Machine works well for one laundry cycle.
My husband did his laundry on a Friday night. Wednesday I go to do my laundry and there it is, the fabric softener right where my husband poured it into the drawer. Grrr. I pulled the drawer out, rinsed it, looked into the empty space, wiped it out, drained the washer (did you know there’s a spout at the bottom to drain the extra water and ick? Yeah Me NEITHER. I set up my first load, fill the appropriate dispensers and start the laundry. I hear the wee little song indicating the end of the wash, open the door, change the load over, and go to fill the dispensers. And you might be shocked to learn that the fabric softener dispenser is full.
Call is made to WC and XYZ is scheduled, this time with an eight hour window. That’s right. Tech comes at the end of the day, says he’s running diagnostics, he’s run them twice there is nothing wrong. Nope. Blah blah blah. And you know how you know when you’re being snowed by someone and it sounds just right enough and but you know you’re right and Tech is saying no you’re wrong there’s nothing wrong with the machine. Now before Tech left I asked him if you were me and this was happening to you what would you do? He told me he’d replace the sensor harness that tells the washer when to run water through the machine. Hulloooo.
My Sweetie was floored, and kinda pissed. He found a video that shows you as the consumer how to to put the machine through the diagnostics. He put the machine through the diagnostics. He found the problem which is, oddly enough, the same problem that a) I’d been telling the techs we have and b) that Tech said he would take care of it was his machine. I take images before running a load of laundry of an empty softener dispenser, then after the load with the softener still in the dispenser. Oh Tech. (Please take a moment and imagine my eyeroll here.)
A couple of weeks later the next tech comes. TechB runs the diagnostics, confirms what My Sweetie found and actually took the machine apart. He wanted to call Tech to ask a question. Go ahead and do what you need to do but please know I don’t trust him. TechB orders parts, the next appointment is set, again with an eight hour window. One box of three arrives. The other two boxes are somewhere out there and may never be seen again. When he arrives he checks the box to see what’s here and it’s not the part he needs. So the appointment is rescheduled for May 31 with the hopes that the boxes will arrive. In the meantime I’m reaching out to the WC because I’m both annoyed and not for nothing we have hard water here and the fabrics need the softener.
When we arrive at May 31 TechC arrives expecting parts to be here. No boxes have arrived and in chatting with a human at the shipping company the parts were sent through them to another carrier. At this point with what is on the website for the appointment I think the parts are with the tech. TechC asks about the parts, here’s what arrived, here’s what I know. He looks on the appointment site, discovers that I am in fact telling the truth, and begins a conversation with his boss. TechC and another tech actually carry some parts with them. The Other Tech should have them on his van. TechC’s usual van, and The Other Tech’s usual van are both in the shop. There is no way to run to a town 45 minutes away to get parts and return here then continue working to get through the appointments scheduled for TechC.
Boss tells TechC that parts will be shipped to me. Now what I’ve seen on the appointment site is a date and eight hour time window. There is currently no updated shipping window. And I am now at a total of five days waiting for Techs from XYZ to get my washer fixed. Le Sigh. Updates before heading out to New York!
Did you see the Summer Reads Edition of the Book Report?
And now back to our regularly scheduled program. You may remember that I decided I am going to learn how to play guitar. Oof its hard! And it takes daily practice. Today I played both Aura Lee, I still get stuck in a couple of places as I change notes; and I played Frerer Jacques. I brought the guitar down from the sewing studio yesterday so that I might practice whilst waiting for the TechC. TechC is a guitar player, noticing the pics my sister sent. They are pretty.
Playing Frerer Jacques is at once familiar as it is a song from my childhood and I have French heritage, and it is hard because there are 1/8th notes. 1/8ths! I’ve never played a half or quarter note. I wanted to do something a little different this afternoon so I flipped a whole bunch of pages and that’s where I landed. I’m reminded learning isn’t easy, it takes
practice
and commitment to practicing some of the same things over and over and over and over and over again. It’s like learning how to rotary cut and keep the blade next to the ruler, unless of course you are free-form cutting.
Any who I’m off to practice again before needing to make dinner. Also I need to go check the mail and it looks like rain.
Happy Quilting!
Teri
Oh my GOODNESS!!!!!!!! What a saga! Unbelievable. One would think the tech would be savvy enough to have figured out the issue the first time!
One would think. Except I am woman, my roar is ignored hahaha
That is a SAGA and a half. I had an issued with my internet connection going in and out at my NY house. Long story short… over the course of a year and a half of repeated calls to tech support and the phone company replacing outside wires down the street to my house, replacing control boards in the big station across the street, moved my line to a new position in the pedestal, moving the control board to other areas in the station. They must have been at my house at least 20 – 25 times. Finally, a seasoned phone company tech walked down the street to the 2nd underground pedestal, opened it up and cleaned out the resident mouse and it’s nest. Problem solved! They must have spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to fix what a little old mouse did.
ooof. Let’s hear it for seasoned techs, problem solving skills and apprenticing with seasoned techs.