Storm Brewing?

crazy clouds -- photo taken with my cell phone on the way to work this morning.

Air Hogs Acro-Jet

I got this cool little $30 remote control airplane from Target today. Somebody at this weekend's rocket launch had one (or a similar model). For $30, I was going to track one down and play. So far, so good. There are apparently many "mods" for the plane, none of which I am willing to try on the first day. After all, I don't want to throw $30 down the drain since I simply don't see the mods the same way others do. Perhaps I'll let my son at it, after a week or two of flying in the purchased format! After a quick test on my street (and being berated by my 11 year old twin neighbors), I took it to my pool which is virtually empty this time of the year. We have an empty field - perfect to test. The three kids there all thought it was cool and wanted to fly it. Maybe next time, after the mods!

Metropolitan Police Call Box rocket

jake pic, originally uploaded by sealexander2010.

Here is my son's metropolitan police call box rocket - before having a pseudo successful flight. There was a bit of damage after yesterday's flight due to a shock cord that burned through (so the parachute and top landed safely but the bottom didn't). With some loving care, it will fly again! You can graciously ignore my thumb in the bottom right - I'm still not used to my phone's camera capabilities!

The 4 month dishwasher saga

Nice dishwasher to the left, huh? Well, here's my story about how long this took to get. It's installed now, but that's just the end of the story. It begins like this...

Back in April, we received a recall notice from our dishwasher manufacturer (Maytag). It seems that the JetDry reservoir was leaking on many of those (or other brand) dishwashers. It would leak onto the wiring harness, causing fires in many cases. Of course, we should stop using it immediately and contact them for both replacement parts and recommended dealers. We have been using this every day since I installed it long ago, not long before my employer stopped selling appliances. It was dependable, quiet, and certainly not dangerous -- not until the reservoir started leaking on the wiring. We contacted Maytag, received the new part (inner door and new wiring harness), then contacted the dealers listed who was closest to our home out of the three possibilities.

A few days later, a technician from the dealer came to make this simple swap of door and harness, but ended up shorting out the main circuit board and apparently the heating element. Of course, he indicated that we would be the recipients of new components to get it working, after he tried once to tell me that I would have to pay for the heating element. Of course, I reminded him that it was working when he walked in the door, and certainly expected that it would be working at no additional charge when he completed his work. After speaking with his company, they ordered the part and a new technician showed up to replace the part. He refused to actually install the part until we paid for it (which I had zero intent of doing), so drove off in a huff. Okay, now we were getting PO'd.

After multiple calls to the service company (they knew our phone number by now), we finally talked to the owner who assured us that this type of rude behavior would be dealt with in the strictest of manners. Yeah, right. She also assured us that she would have the parts replaced at their cost. Maytag sent us several other parts, and their technician came back to install them. No good. Another round of calls to the service dealer left my poor wife just fit to be tied. At this point, she initiated calls to Maytag. Now, let me assure you that if you can ever get through the phone tree at Maytag, you are a better person than I.

The trick, it seems, is to just never press anything. The phone system then presumes that you don't have touch tone service so will finally let you talk to someone. We finally spoke to someone in their executive response center who was somewhat sympathetic after we explained that we had been without a dishwasher for over two months due to the incompetence of a representative service company. They came to the determination that they needed to review the situation and get back to us. After no call backs, we tracked down the same person at Maytag and she determined that the only solution was to provide us with a replacement dishwasher (cheaper for them). She would call us back with details... and the saga continues...

Many voicemails later (another month had gone by), we finally spoke to another human being. It seems that Maytag Executive Response person #1 had left for maternity leave. No one was picking up her voicemails -- it was just allowed to collect without review. This person actually provided her extension so we could reach her directly. She provided us with a model number for our review (to ensure that it would be acceptable as a replacement), and told us that if we agreed, it would be 3 - 4 weeks until our replacement would be able to be installed. Of course, it would be installed by the same company that fried the original dishwasher...

Earlier this week, we received two boxes from Maytag containing parts (a pump and logic board). This after they had the new dishwasher order in process. After calling Maytag again, they sent us one return label for one of the two parts. My wife determined that she was holding those parts hostage until the new dishwasher was actually installed. This was the only thing she could do to provide some sense of power in this whole fiasco. We also had a voicemail that the new dishwasher had arrived at the dealer.

When she called the dealer to arrange installation, the dispatcher told her that they didn't install the dishwasher. She about came through the phone. The dispatcher put the phone aside to talk to the owner who told her that they would do whatever the customer wanted. Zero cost, all parts and labor included to get this done. I finally think that they wanted to be done with this mess as much as we did. Of course they hadn't been doing the freeking dishes by hand for the past 4 1/2 months!

Yesterday, they were to show up between 1 and 4 to install. Of course, 4:00 came and went as you would expect. Finally, at 5:00 they called and said they were on their way. They remove the old dishwasher and found that the hose would not work (the old hose, not the new one), so had to head to Home Depot to get parts. When I got home from work, the old dishwasher was sitting in the front yard (very attractive), and the new dishwasher was unboxed and in the middle of my kitchen. To make a long story even longer, they finally finished their installation at 7:00 last night.

Ocracoke Island

We headed south to Ocracoke Island yesterday to visit with two families that are friends of ours. The word “friends” is an understatement – they are part of our extended family. We have five other couples that we have intertwined our families with – and spend a great bit of time with either as a whole or with the women, the men, or just the kids. The women are my daughter’s “other mothers” – met through girls scouts, school, and the neighborhood. Our lives have been part of each other’s lives ever since. One of the couples moved to Pennsylvania two years ago, but remain an integral part of our circle. The men all get together to fish once each year in the Chesapeake Bay; the women have an “off-site” get together, usually at the beach. The women and boys even took a road trip to PA for last New Years Eve since it was their PA friend’s birthday and a great excuse for the boys to visit their friend and missing comrade.

At dinner last evening, we were sitting on the porch of their Ocracoke rental. We were talking about being family – all of us together. It is a chosen family, rather than a birth family. None of us are close to all members of our birth families – we don’t even live close to many of them. Our group knows that these friends are the ones that we can call, without reservation, to help in any crisis. It’s a great support structure that we have built, and is one that will truly last a lifetime. In most cases, it took a while for everyone to gain the trust in each other, to understand how much they can count on each other. That trust is now in place and won’t easily be broken. These friends are the reason we won’t likely leave the area – they would be the one thing that we simply couldn’t replace.

Oppressive heat...

The oppressive heat wave continues… time to spend on the beach or inside.

Kayaks and fishing

We rented the kayaks yesterday from Kitty Hawk Kites. The rental side of their business is apparently not big, but they are competitively priced and don’t nickel and dime you to death with charges for paddles, PFDs or back rests. We rented one shorter open, sit-on kayak and a longer, sit-in one. The girls and I took them onto the sound at a public access area to get a feel for how they worked (both the kayak and the girls). After about 30 minutes of using the kayaks, the girls were bored and just wanted to go swimming. They swam and I farted around with each of the kayaks for about 15 minutes before deciding that I needed to put a shirt on before I got any more burned. The girls are obviously having a great time together – Kara was a good addition to our trip.

Sue and the boys were successful in their half-day fishing trip. Our son caught the first fish for the boat and Sue caught two more. The friend caught tons of sharks, most biting through the lines just before being brought on board. A bit of sea sickness for our son, but he was a trouper like always.

Later in the afternoon, Sue and the boys took the kayaks into the sound from a private dock to which we apparently have access (it’s a resident/renter thing). They were out for a long time, including when Sue went way out / down the shoreline. Our son was very impressed that she was able to go that far and make it back. The water is about 2 – 3 feet deep until you go something like one-half mile out, so if you get stuck, you can just get out and walk back. The footing, however, is filled with oyster shells, so will cut your feet if you don’t have proper waterproof shoes on. Today, we’re heading back to Cape Hatteras to hit the beach. We’re going early because of the heat, and will head back in for a late lunch or a bit of air conditioned shopping.

Avon, NC

Overlooking the sound in Avon, NC.

Cape Hatteras extended family photo

Cape Hatteras extended family photo

Here is a photo minus yours truly of our extended family on vacation this summer. Taken in Buxton, NC - right in front of the Cape Hatteras Light Station sign. The lighthouse was just behind them.

Cape Hatteras lighthouse

lighthouse, originally uploaded by sealexander2010.

Taken with my eNV phone, here's a look at the Cape Hatteras lighthouse on Monday, August 6th, 2007. It was over 90 with high humidity -- one of the hottest days of the year. The windows were open which helped a great deal. Later in the afternoon, we went swimming in the Atlantic with this wonderful image in our background. That would have made for an interesting photo if I had a waterproof camera!

Lighthouses and waves

Avon, North Carolina

Today, we climbed what is inevitably the most famous lighthouse in the US – certainly the most recognizable. The Hatteras Light House is actually the tallest – 267 feet in height if I remember correctly, equivalent to a 12 story building. It was a long climb, but made easier by the strong breeze blowing through the open windows. I took a few pictures and hope to have some of them made into a vertical panorama. I was meticulous to take all of the pictures for each panorama with the same focus, shutter speed, white balance, etc. I set the white balance with my white balance Expo Filter which does a great job of managing the balance. I have looked at the photos on my low-res laptop, but want to probably take another set or two if time and weather allows just to be sure I have one to remember the vacation by.

It has been as hot as ever here thus far with little relief in sight. You know it’s a warm week when the weather forecast includes the words “near record heat all week.” The kids each have a friend with them – both very good friends from school and other social circles. Our son’s friend spends a great deal of time at our home so we know him very well. Our daughter’s friend we only really know from school (they play strings together), but is a really nice young lady who is finally coming out of her shell with us. We have some lively dinner conversations on a regular basis, so have included her and gotten a few laughs.

Today we found a protected beach, right by the Hatteras Light House. This includes a lifeguard, as well as parking and great sand. The water was warm (although not at first), and the waves were manageable. We left our dog here in the crate, so he was happy to see us after a couple of hours. We even saw our son get into the (ocean) water for the first time in years. One thing about Asperger’s is that the huge influx of unknowns that are present in the ocean can be somewhat overwhelming. Last time we were at the beach was before he was diagnosed, so I was far less accepting what I thought was an irrational fear of the ocean. This time, I just sat back and watched him take the whole situation in, and processed it in his own time. I must say, this works much better.

Tomorrow, his mom and friend are going fishing with him – a half day trip into the ocean. I hate to go on boats such as that one, and will need to stay behind with the girls in any case. We are renting kayaks, so will try to not drown for the entire day!