Another Repair Man Visit

Gosh, it’s been rare for us to need repair guys, but two appliances within a week? Holy smokes!

Last week, it was repair #2 for the Samsung Ice Maker on our 7 year old refrigerator.

This week, the Samsung dryer has been making some noises. I figured a belt was slipping or something. Yesterday, it made a horrible noise. I made the appointment for Friday morning. They called at 2 p.m. and told us they could get here today. Bonus! We don’t have to be dressed at 8 a.m.

I requested the same repairman, since they go by area. Luckily, he was qualified to do the repair we needed. He said it was amazing; we got 7 years out of the dryer. Most repairs are required at a couple of years. Another faulty part. Poor designs. Is this what America does now? He seems to know his stuff, and someone I’m not worried about letting in our home, if I’m home alone. That’s an important issue in today’s world. The company he works for is Nebraska Home Appliance. I’ve used them for over 20 years, so it’s a company with standards that are followed.

The Babe and I talked. It’s not great having two breakdowns in a week. What is good about it is we have the money to pay for it. Neither of had spare cash lying around when we were younger.

In the early years after my divorce, my dryer stopped working in January. I asked my brothers for help. They couldn’t promise when they could look at it for me, couldn’t commit to anything. Mom kept telling me to just wait for them. I waited until July, the same year. Six months of drying all of our clothes on lines in the basement. Underwear, socks, towels. It reminded me of when I was a kid, and we didn’t have a dryer.

I got fed up waiting. I went to Sears over 4th of July and bought a dryer. Couldn’t afford payments, but we needed it. I’ll never wait that long again for help. It never came, and I realized I couldn’t rely on anyone but myself. Lesson learned.

We could choose to be upset, blah, blah, blah, or be grateful because we could get it handled without too much disruption to our life. We’re choosing gratitude. How about you? No matter what it is, things could usually be worse. And 9 of 10 times, I’m grateful they aren’t.

Let’s all have a great day today. Only two left in 2022. See you tomorrow!

Wednesday’s Ways

Typically called Hump Day, I find myself looking forward to having lunch with a couple who have been good friends forever. I went to elementary school with Jan, she married Steve in 1976, I believe. It’s the only wedding I was a bridesmaid for, which made it all the more special. They are awesome people, both attorneys, raised two handsome lads and now have a bunch of grandkids. Retired on a lake in Missouri, where the family is. They’re in town for the College World Series, a great event for Omaha.

The cable service Mom has her phone service on is terrible. She is constantly losing service. The wiring in her part of town is jimmy rigged. What is that? The Urban Dictionary defines it as:

Done or fixed half-assed.

Sorry, there is no polite way to put it. A lot of people put a quick fix on things only to have the continue to break, not work, break down, and cause lots of angst.

I think it’s terrible a 93 year widow, who is nearly blind (according to her) should have to wait from Tuesday morning until Thursday afternoon for a tech to come out. Why can’t they have an emergency tech/techs for things like that? Her Lifeline wouldn’t work either (I think). But she doesn’t like to use it, the EMT’s may let her cat out. (Seriously, it’s happened twice. We’ve sternly counseled her not to worry about that.)

I may stop to see her to make sure she’s ok after lunch. It’ll help ease my brother’s mind, I think. He does a wonderful job of checking on her multiple times a day. It’s convenient for him, he is across the street and a couple houses over. It helps my youngest brother and me. Otherwise, we’d all stop and see her on a rotating basis.

I’ll tell you, my second COVID booster (Moderna) was uneventful, but the arm is really painful! I don’t know when an injection has been painful lately. Before I was on Medicare due to age, I had to pay for a Shingles shot after radiation for breast cancer. Radiation makes it possible to get shingles from the treatments. Isn’t that crazy? The shot was $250 when I was 57. Wow. 57. That was a good year, seems so long ago!

I stopped by Mom’s after lunch. Good thing I did. Her toilet stopped working. No water in the tank, handle lever and flapper appear to be working properly. With no phone, she could not call the plumber, so she asked the man who delivers Meals on Wheels to call for her. No answer. He called her neighbors. No answer. Both men left messages, but the plumber never got the messages.

I stopped at 2:30, called the plumber, and several phone calls later, they finally said they’d come after 4. They’ll call me (remember, the phone tech cannot come until Thursday afternoon), then I’ll call my brother. Hope they get her fixed up soon. She’s a nervous wreck.

Talk about a story getting hijacked! This sure didn’t go the way I planned this morning! It’s time to go to the VFW Post 2503 for dinner and visit with friends. Hope you have a good evening, and we’ll chat tomorrow.