Sears'd

Sears, oy.. Last week 4 large boxes showed up on our front porch, so I called Sears to schedule an appointment. Their voicemail system said I already had one. Wow - is that great or what. They probably tracked the parts via UPS and proactively set up an appointment for me. Ten points for doing that, you're on your way to winning the house cup.

But you lose the points, because you didn't actually ever tell me that was when the appointment was, you left it to me to call and find out.

The repair man arrived - it seems that all Sears repairmen smoke and have wired cellphone headsets. Or maybe it's just the ones they send to my house. Anyway, he arrived, and went right to work, banging away in the garage. For two hours he banged away.

And then he was done. Quite proud of his work he was. My washer will be silent (I wonder if that includes the buzzer) he said.

Then he gave me the bill.

Parts: $575
Labor: $120
Total Cost: $695

Warranty covering it all: Priceless

You have to wonder though. I only paid $650 for the washing machine.

iSpeculate

It seems everyone is speculating about what Apple is going to announce next. Will it be an SDK for the iPhone, will it be a better MacBook Air - signed by Michael Jordan maybe?

No, it won't be any of that. They are going to announce the newest member of the iPod family, the iLash. It works like the Sansa Shaker - using subtle flicks of the wrist for changing tracks and volume. As always, Apple innovation shines through - the iLash uses kinetic energy for charging; a couple of violent thrashes are all it takes for hours of pleasure.

Clapper

I was flipping through Popular Science this morning and came across a story about the "PC Clapper" - just like the original Clapper, but for your PC. I had to check it out (I'm like that).

It's super cool! The installation was a snap (there was none, the best kind!) It took a couple of attempts to find a working microphone, but once I did, I was off and clapping. I set it up so one clap brings up my email, two brings up the Google, and three brings up stock quotes!

I'm sure the neighbors are wondering what I'm clapping about :)

(note to self: a couple of good sneezes apparently sound like a single clap!)

Veni, Vidi, Vindication

The Sears man came back to look at my washing machine this morning. This time I was prepared.

It started much like the last visit - he came to the door, I showed him where the washing machine was. He asked what was wrong, I said it leaked, he played with the dial and went through some of the cycles.

But I was prepared (did I mention that - I'm such the boy scout) Over the weekend, we did a bunch of laundry and I made videos of it leaking! Yup, that's right, I stuck a USB camera inside the machine (not in the tub) and filmed the leak. Many times in fact.

When it didn't leak for "the man" I said "it won't leak until 43 minutes into the cycle; why don't I get the video and show you." And that's exactly what I did - I took out my computer and showed him the leak, starting at 43 minutes, getting worse for the next couple of minutes, and then stopping.

He watched the video, and then said "ahh, the main seal is leaking" (I think he might've said "I don't know how long she'll hold up Captain" with a Scottish accent as well), and proceeded to tighten the various bolts and reseat the dilithium crystals.

Cool beans, I was thinking, maybe it'll be fixed. He said "if it still leaks, call me" just like last week's contestant. But this guy gave me his cell phone number! Holy crap - what service! Before he could finish writing his cell number, the spin cycle started and he got this "oh damn" look on his face - apparently the "washing machine" noise that I've always heard was a bad bearing. Bad bearings put pressure on main seals, cause leaks, etc.

So Sears man will be coming back when the parts arrive, it's apparently a "two man job" - maybe he'll bring the jerk from last week.

Comcast, Progress?

Finally, after over three months, I've gotten some sort of response from Comcast regarding "the case of the disappearing channels." Sadly, it wasn't worth the bits it was written with. The reply went something like this:

We're sorry it took so long to get back to you. I've talked with assorted people here at Comcast and can assure you that we are under no obligation to notify you about channel reassignments from one tier to another.

Ahh, marketing people, that was slick. "From one tier to another" - that would be "from analog to digital" presumably. Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. But, not only did you change the tier, but you change the channel positions. And that, my friend, is exactly what the FCC says you need to notify me in writing about.

Upon pointing this out, I received a "we'll need to research this with our lawyers."

Fast-forward 10 days or so, another email shows up - asking if I had only received voicemail messages about the changes.

Doh! Where have you been? What do you think this is about? Read my blog, sheesh. No, actually, don't read it, I say mean things about you.

Yes, that is correct, I am complaining and trying to get my local government after you because you only left me voicemail messages and didn't notify me in writing at least 30 days before you changed my channel lineup.

Why do I feel like I'm repeating myself? Is this a strategy - wear me down? Ha! It won't work. I've got the law (and cut/paste to resend things) on my side!

Mitt Quit, Current Events

It seems like I'm always the last to find these things out. I had no idea that Mitt quit. I don't really care that he did, I just like saying "Mitt quit" because it rhymes :)

Seriously though, I was just about to get started on a map showing which candidate won which state. I figured I could put a dollar sign in each state that Mitt one; a cross in each state that Mike Huckabee won, and for John McCain, maybe a picture of Bruce Willis from Die Hard (McClane, McCain, close enough). Right, I left out Rudy Giuliani. Sort of a no-brainer - that'd be a silhouette of the World Trade Center..

On the other side of the campaign trail, the left lane as it were, the more traditional gender symbols seem appropriate for Hillary and Barack.

Oh well. On to new and exciting topics..

I saw that Condi paid a surprise visit to the troops in Baghdad today. I thought "how nice." But then I thought.. Why a surprise visit. If everything is so peachy keen there, why wouldn't she make a scheduled visit there. Well? I'm waiting...

On a related note, apparently Al-Qaeda is now training children. Good to know the President's "No Child Left Behind" program is working somewhere in the world.

1-800-4-MY-HOME

Update: I looked around some online. Apparently I'm not so special, Sears just sucks when it comes to customer service.

A few months back, our washing machine developed a small leak - somewhere on the inside, water seemed to come from the right-rear leg. It didn't always leak, and it wasn't a lot of water, but I called Sears anyway (it's under warranty).

The lady who answered the phone was not too helpful - she asked where it was leaking from - underneath, I said. She asked if it could be the hoses - maybe, I don't know, I said. So we agreed that I would check the hoses and then call back with what I found..

Fast forward a couple of months - I checked the hoses and none seem to be leaking. And worse, the leak is getting pretty serious. So I called Sears again to schedule an appointment (still under warranty). They're a fun bunch, those call center people. The call went sort of like this:

Her: The earliest appointment is between 8am and 4pm on Monday
Me: That's fine, can you give me a four hour window?
Her: That was
Me: Uhm, 8 to 4 is an eight hour window
Her: Oh, right, sorry, 8am to noon.
Me: Ok.
Her: The technician will call before he comes; if you don't answer, he'll assume you're not there and you'll need to reschedule:
Me: If he calls before 8 and I'm not here, why would he assume I wasn't here; the appointment is for 8 to 12, I think I can be elsewhere until 8.
Her: No.
Me: Fine, he can call my cell number, I'm always "there"

Phew. That was rough.

Today was the appointment. At 9:30AM, the doorbell rang; it was the Sears guy - early (sort of), but no phone call. Apparently they don't do that for the first stop of the day - someone should share that with the woman who answers the phone.

I showed him to the washing machine. He pulled the top off and shined his flashlight around. Then he pulled the front panel off and did some more shining. Then he turned it on, spun the dial a few times, watched water flow in and out, and pronounced it "working fine."

I explained that it doesn't happen right away, and doesn't happen always, but that I had pictures. He said "maybe it's the seal, keep watching it, if it leaks, call back" - that's sort of how we ended up where we are right now. He pointed out that he couldn't sit with me for 2 hours while I did my laundry. I asked if he would be available if I called in 2 hours when it was leaking, he said no - kind of defeats the purpose of my watchng it leak, no?

I went upstairs and got my camera with the pictures to show him. He looked at the first picture and said "that couldn't come from the washing machine."


Uhm, really. What did it come from? Did it come out of the wall? Did it come from the dryer? "No, probably not." Did it come from the hoses? I checked them and they were dry. "I don't know where it came from, but it didn't come from the washing machine, it's not leaking now."

There you have it - it's not leaking now, therefore it never was. That's what service is all about.

Shopping for a clue

For a computer project I'm working on, I needed a cable - a 44-pin IDE cable, to attach a notebook drive to a motherboard. When I set out to find it, I thought it'd be easy - lots of places sell notebook drives, a bunch of motherboards have connectors for them. I couldn't have been more wrong.

The first stop in my journey was at Frys - the home of everything. I looked through all of the drive cables they had and couldn't find one. If I needed something that glowed in the dark, I was set, but nothing with 44 pins (only 40 for those that are counting). I asked a sales clerk, thinking maybe they were elsewhere. Rather than helping, he told me I couldn't possibly need the cable - sure, notebooks drives have 44 pins, but you can't plug that int a motherboard. Is that what they teach salespeople these days - the customer is wrong, make sure to point it out?

Moving right along, I went to a different Frys. They had the same selection - lots of glow in the dark cables, cables that lit up, cables that would bear your first born. But no 44 pin cables. I threw caution into the wind and asked a sales lady for help. I told her what I wanted and her eyes lit up, she knew what it was. She led me around the corner and gave me an adapter to go from 44 pins to 40 pins. Doh! Does "cable" sound like "adapter"? I picked up a cable, showed it to her and said "like this, but with 44 pins on each end instead of 40." Alas, she was a graduate of the same school as the other Fry Guy, she told me I wouldn't need something like that.

Giving up on the stores, I hit the Internets (one of them, I think it was number 8).

The first place I found was Central Computers - they've got a couple of stores nearby, I figured maybe one of them had it. I called the Sunnyvale store and asked the guy who answered the phone whether they had this cable. He quickly said yes. I didn't trust him, so I said "are you sure? I'm looking for a cable to connect a notebook drive..." He stood by his answer..

Then I realized the Santa Clara store was closer, so I called them. Larry (his real name) answered the phone. I asked him if they had the cable. He said no. I said "bummer, your store is closer than the Sunnyvale one, I didn't want to drive up there." He said "they wouldn't have it either, we don't carry things like this." But Curly (made up name, seems to fit in nicely with "Larry") said they had it in Sunnyvale.

So I called Curly back. "Hi, I called a few minutes ago and asked about the 44-pin IDE cable, you said you had them." He agreed. I explained "but Larry at the Santa Clara store said you wouldn't, none of your stores carry them." Curly thought for a minute, then said "wait, you said 44-pin IDE cable? Oh, we don't have them." But you told me you did when I called a few minutes ago.. "I thought you meant a different cable." Curly, you suck.. 'nuff said.

The next (and last) place I called was kinda funny too. I started by asking "Are you a retail store?" And the saleswoman said "yes." I asked "do you happen to have a 44-pin IDE cable to attach a notebook drive ..." She said "oh, we're not really a retail store, but we could order it for you if you want." Doh.. Did you train with Curly?

I gave up and just ordered the damned thing online, can't wait to see what I end up with..