Appliance Repair | Part 2

Part 1 of this post is here.  After installing the thermostat, cleaning the lines (more on that), the dryer (due to MASSIVE blowback), it was clear, after running a load of clothes, that there were still problems.

I actually thought the line was clear because (confession time), I ran a leaf blower through the line.  Now, my confession is that it was a gas powered back pack Husqvarna.  Yes, I know that you don't run gas motors inside, but I was only going to do it for a minute.  Even with all the best rationalization, it was not a wise thing to do.  You would be surprised how much noxious fumes are emitted.  I opened the doors, let out all of my cool air into the humid Virginia midday heat, and I ran a fan. 

Yeah, it was a stupid woman trick. Two minutes worth was about 30 minutes of clearing the air.  Kick.

Due to the size of the leaf blower, I didn't get ANY blowout of crud.  Granted, I hadn't wrapped a towel around or anything else.  Given that it blows at about 200 mph, I figured that I didn't need to.  Plus, I just couldn't manage it.  (It is a monstrosity).

Mark suggested we consider getting a Makita hand held blower (battery powered).  I ordered one, and he picked it up at Home Depot.  It was smaller than I expected, but it worked fine blowing the line out.  There was an embarrassingly large payday.

The hand held blower will be a great tool around the house for quick clean ups--if not for anything more than blowing that @$%^%$#$@&^^ duct out.

 


Appliance Repair | UGH!

It was appliance repair time in Leisa-land.  The dryer failed.  I looked up the schematic and bought 3 things that I thought would be the problem--most importantly the dryer element (which has failed in the past, and I gave it a 95% probability of being right).  I didn't want Mark to come home and say that it was not the element but rather the fuse.  Bought that, too, and a limit switch.  The latter two can be returned so long as they are not opened.

As it turned out it was the element.  When we opened the dryer there was the biggest fur ball that you have ever imagined. MASSIVE. MONSTROUS.  It looked like a Persian cat of large proportion was stuffed in every open area of the inside of the dryer. 

In the past (and most currently), I had cleaned out the dryer back vent, and a normal amount of stuff came out.  However the only way that amount of lint/fur/dirt could have blown back into the dryer had to be due to some sort of blockage.

In addition to my periodic cleaning of the venting assemble, I'm going to open the dryer up and ensure that it is clear.  I had to not only vaccum, but I had to reverse the nozzle and blow out entrapped hair.  (I donned a particle mask).  I even had to get a wooden skewer and pick out hair that had accumulated tightly in the motor.  Yes, it was turned off.

Part of our problem (aside from having too many animals), is that we have three 90-degree turns.  That makes for a long run.  Did you know that for each 90 degree bend, it adds 5 equivalent feet to your run? 

Checking your venting on your dryer is important. According to the NFPA


In 2010, an estimated 16,800 reported U.S. non-confined or confined home structure fires involving clothes dryers or washing machines (including combination washer/dryers) resulted in 51 civilian deaths, 380 civilian injuries, and $236 million in direct property damage.. . . In 2010, clothes dryers and washing machines accounted for 4.5% of all reported home structure fires, 1.9% of associated civilian deaths, 2.8% of associated civilian injuries, and 3.1% of associated direct property damage.

In our case, we could see that the lint/fur had entangled quite a few things, and was surrounding the heating element.  I'm not clear why we could not smell any singe-y smell while the dryer was operating.  It was a disaster waiting to happen.  Which brings me to my public service announcement to avoid being a statistic in 2016:

  1. Check your venting on your dryer frequently (monthly probably a good idea if you have shedding vermin as I do).
  2. Do not run your dryer while you are sleeping or while you are away.  No need to be crispy fried at night or crispy fry your inside pets when you are away.


We saved a some $$$'s not calling a repair person. Good thing, as I believe that I need a dryer booster.



My Friend, John's Passing

I learned that my friend, John, passed away on July 3.  He was 62.

 I knew that he had been battling oral cancer, and because part of his tongue was removed, talking to him on the phone was not an option.  His last email to me some months ago was cryptic, and I got the sense that his treatment options were not expected to be efficacious.

I met John through business.  He worked with Herman Miller, and the dealership that I was working with was availing itself to the dealer financing offered by them at the time.  He was the associate on the front end of it. 

It was a stressful time for me, as we had to unwind one loan transaction (involuntarily) and move into this one.  Recessions and business furniture are a tough mix, and I attribute all of my gray hair to weathering 3 recessions in business:  two in business furniture and one in advertising.  Both are the first to go when corporate belts tighten.

So enter the Herman Miller team.  These guys are from the midwest.  I am given the loan document, and as is my job, I read it carefully.  At the time, Jody De Pree was in charge of these contracts, and I was explicitly told that there were to be no changes to the document.  The loan document was too unilateral, and I simply could not recommend our signing it as is.

My HM team assured me that although the clauses that gave me heartburn appeared onerous, "never have we enforced any of these clauses."  They said these things in the spirit of helpfulness and in their typical straightforward transparency.  While history combined with needfulness might have been sufficient salve for some, I simply said, "If it is in the contract, I fully expect that it is a right that you will assert with impunity." 

My goal was not to escape the clutches of a lender's rights, merely to make a unilateral contract a fair contract.   And after a minimum amount of back and forth we achieved that. (And they were surprised that any changes were made, but in my experience when you come to a business transaction; achieving parity is a noble ideal.  Parity forges trust; and engenders motivation to make the business deal a success.  It is a practice that I adhered to always, and still do.  It has NEVER failed me.

Nevertheless, at the time,   I was surprised by the great transparency of my midwestern business partners.  No duplicity or hidden gotchas.  I was later to learn in my professional life that such straightforwardness in a typical trait.  An admirable one (and different from east coast business culture as I knew it) and refreshing trait that I have tried to emulate.

John and his team members were business colleagues and then friends for 23 years now  So losing my friend--who was a valued business colleague and beloved friend as been difficult.   I always knew him to be genuine, devoted to his family, optimistic, and dedicated to his job and his clients.  He was one of my greatest friends, and I will miss him.

His wife wrote to me that he died surrounded by his family and knowing that he was loved and thanked me for being his friend.  

In the end that is all that any of us could wish for. 


Transitioning

Over the past 6 weeks our family has been moving through a time of diagnosing for my father who presented one morning with a broken left clavicle.  My father called me.  My stepmom was away visiting one of her daughters.  His call was matter of fact.  "I broke my collar bone, and I'm just calling you to tell you that I'm driving myself to the emergency room."  He mentioned that he had been working strenuously pulling down weeds and stuff and felt his collar bone snap....several days later while turning over in bed.

Our bodies are not that fragile, so I'm suspicious and I  asked him to wait and see if he could get in to see his orthopedic.  I would drive him in.

We are sitting in the waiting room and there is a man in a wheelchair.  My father leans over and says in a voice that should have been far lower than it was, "I do not want to end up in a wheelchair." 

We wait a long while, patiently, as we were worked in,  and are finally called. The doc takes xrays.  Comes back in.  "You have a pathological break.  We need to run more tests, and the coordinator will set you up for a CT scan of this break and a full bone scan."  He escorts us over, and he gets scheduled.

After the visit, my father goes to the Cremation Society and gets everything "taken care of."  (I'm realizing now where my utilitarian tendencies stem from).

The tests are done.  The results are in.  The referral to an oncologist is made.  We received a copy of the report.  I had to look up several terms, but the gist is that it appears that he has a cancerous lesions in several places (left clavicle, right hip, T-1 vertebrae and ribs). 

The oncologist visit is a bit strange.  Where as the test states that the presentation of the CT imaging might be multiple myeloma (which is not metastatic).  Blood and urine are collected.  Doctor calls and orders a full CT scan.  "A lesion is found on the liver" my father says.  (A lesion and a hypodense mass 1 and hypodense mass 2 were found on his liver). They are going to do a biopsy on my liver."

Well, there is no liver biopsy, but rather they take a bone marrow biopsy (but my dad thinks they took a liver biopsy later, and I'm just damned unclear where these ideas come from as they are not supported by the tests.  Another followup visit with the oncologist.  Diagnosis:  Stage IV liver cancer (hepatic carcinoma).  No treatment that will help with but adding a couple of miserable months to life.  Call hospice.

Hospice is called. With the social worker and nurse present, we work out our guiding principles so that we are in understanding of what my Dad's wishes are:  no treatment; palliative care only.  My stepmom states, "I'm the boss."  I say, "Nope, Dad's the boss; and our job is simply to honor his wishes."  We discuss when there might be treatment for pneumonia (if lucid) and when not (when not lucid).  That any secondary conditions he can seek treatment to relieve symptoms which is part of palliative care--boils down to, non-cancer related things will have symptoms treated to allow one to get on with the business of dying without being uncomfortable.

So here we are, getting on with the business of dying.  Hospice plan in place?  Check.  Burial arrangements made?  Check. Hospital bed?  Check.  Financial stuff figured out?  Almost.  Trepidation on the future weeks/months?  Check.

I will move back home to assist my stepmom who has taken very good care of my father for these last 25 years.  I will be 56 years old this year.  I am the age that my mother was when she died.  It is likely that my father will die while I'm at this age, and that just feels weird to me.

I'm really proud of my dad for facing this so objectively.  Seeing this brings back all of the unpleasant stuff with my mother's cruel death from lung cancer.  I asked my father to do one thing during this time:  to take his pain meds (which my mom did not do).  I would not let my dog die the way my mother die.  I don't plan on witnessing such an event again, and none should ever have to.

So begins our journey.


Backsplash | Or....amateur calculations on tile needs

My backsplash is in, and it looks terrific.  I have lots of linear feet of kitchen countertops--not that my kitchen is all that big, but when I designed it 30+ years ago, I wanted a kitchen that opened up into our great room--I was ahead of the times, then with a great room and an open kitchen.

As my tile man was 3/4 of the way down the main drag in the kitchen, he asked me, "How much tile do you have left?"  It was clear that I had not ordered enough.  I was 6 ft short--or six pieces of tile.  Let me tell you how I erred.

I thought that I had done this the right way....I measured the inches of length, multiplied by the inches of height and divided by 144" to get square feet.  I then applied a waste factor (he told me to use 10%--some applications, such as a diagonal require 15%.  I had 27 ft and bought 30 sqf.

Thankfully, Lowe's had my tile in stock.  I'll tell you this....you can buy tile cheaper at Lowes--to include the transition pieces--cheaper than I can get with a contractor's discount at a tile store.  However, for MOST of my renovation projects, I scour the back room of  Best Tile where I can snag a deal and get really nice stuff for a fraction of the cost.  Then I can splurge on expensive insets.  While I was at Lowe's, they had pencil moulding for less than 1/2 what I bought it for.

I wanted to understand the error of my calculations.  It was simple--when measuring a run (length) you have to round UP to ensure that you have a full tile measurement.  Meaning, if you have 12" tile and your run is 40", you will need to make that run 48 to account for a full tile (e.g. something divisible by 12").  Accordingly if your tile were a 4" tile, you would be okay as you can divide by 4 and get a whole number.  I had 6 runs--hence, I was 6 tiles short before calculating overage to match the pattern.  (my tile was 12" tall, and I had a 14.5" space).  Because the tile was a mosaic, one has to match the pattern correctly--pattern comes in color pattern (of which my tile was truly random) and size pattern.  My tile had a distinct size pattern.

Now pattern is important. My tile men know that I'm the Rainwoman of being able to spot a pattern deviation. The were installing a beautiful wall of random stone and glass (with a not so random pattern).  I walked into the room and immediately noted the problem.  The were incredulous, because they had been so careful.  Well, they were more careful than the time manufacturer because the error was in the individual sheet!  They still remember that--and we spent some time discussing the nature of this tile for my backsplash.

I have to admit that with everything off of my counters, this tile looked quite stark against my alderwood cabinets...so much to the point, that I was wondering if I had made a mistake in my choice.  Sure, it looked terrific with the Corian countertops, but my cabinets looked too traditional. Further, I have a warmer tone in my great room, and I was wondering if I had created a jarring look between the open kitchen and my great room.

Much sighing and hand wringing.

Well, once I started populating my countertops, the back splash now created a lovely backdrop for my appliances, and did not jar so much.  But still...I wonder....

I have a six foot window in the kitchen that I have to repaint to a white.  First, I have to rebuild the sill which was split due to the thickness of the walls of our house (6" framing).  The sill extension line has always been a problem--visible, shaggy looking.  After digging it out (razor knife, 5in1 tool and my Porter Cable tool), I know why.  I believe my prior painter (not me) jammed joint compound to fill the joint. Joint compound is not a wood filler. 

I primed the sill before I repaired it--to give the wood fill some purchase.  I wood filled the 6 foot seam, let it dry and then sanded with orbital sander.  I will prime today.  I de-glossed the existing paint (for some reason I thought high gloss on the trim was a good idea) with some Will-Bond.  Noxious but effective.

I have so many things to tick off my project list.   As the say goes

A journey of a thousand paint projects begins with figuring out your paint colors--and then kicking your butt into gear.

Home Stuff-Kitchen Backsplash

Elida Ceramica Bianca Blended Linear Mosaic Natural Stone Marble Wall Tile
After 31 years, I'm finally getting my kitchen backsplash.  I have selected this Elida natural stone and marble tile.  It will go well with my Corian black with white flecked  countertop.  I'm electing to leave the current backsplash in place rather than cut it down to the horizontal level.

I'm not attempting to do this on my own, but rather to have my tile man put it in for me.  I'll save money by painting!

We are undertaking various projects to get some niggling things taken care of.  I have always wanted a backsplash, but have not found anything that I liked. 

Home Stuff--Upholstered bench

We have been in our home for 31 years this year.  Over that time, I have accumulated projects, and I'm starting to pick at them one by one.  Over this weekend, I upholstered a bench seat in a Pennsylvania House ball and claw footed bench that I had acquired.  I think that I got it at a thrift store, and it was in excellent shape--it just had a teal sueded material on top.  I found a beautiful fabric at Artee Fabric in a 'spiroflora' design on a slate background.  It is sumptuous and the colors really look great against cherry.  Here is the fabric in a different color scheme.
  
The hardest part of the job was centering the fabric design on the bench.  It is a spiroflora  design with a pattern that has two distinctive repeats for tandem rows.  Getting it right (centered design with even repeat across section) on the top had the side looking like it was not centered.  Getting it centered on the side had the top looking hinky.  I elected to get the top centered.  See my point on the design reveal on the side?  The fabric was 8.95 per yard--a terrific discount.  The one above was nabbed from a website at $95/yard.