Wednesday was delivery day for our new dishwasher. I ordered the one model that was in stock. The one I wanted had a wait time for 25 weeks.
I had a window of four hours to wait for the dishwasher.
When it finally arrived, the three men who came to take away the old dishwasher and install the new one said they wanted me to see something.
I went outside to where they took the new dishwasher out of the packing and they showed me the middle rack was broken and hanging down.
So much for the new dishwasher. I called the saleswoman and left a message asking if they can get another one and when that might be. Haven’t heard back.
Meanwhile we had solar panels installed last week. It will be up to a month before they are turned on. The electric company has to inspect them, the local jurisdiction has to sign off.
We noticed damage to molding on the side of our garage door. It’s right under the solar panels and where the crew was working and didn’t exist prior to installation. I emailed and called our contact with the solar company. I didn’t hear back for three days.
I finally got an answer that they’d send out someone to repair the damage on Monday. Nobody showed up. Then I was told Tuesday. Didn’t happen. Next was an apology and Wednesday for sure. Nope.
I’m annoyed and frustrated. Although these are minor things, I wonder what happened to service?
What great service or horrible service have you experienced lately?
On my morning walk I saw a huge coyote run across the street into my friend’s yard. I marveled at his beauty and wasn’t afraid like I’ve been before with a coyote sighting. His speed told me he wanted to get far away from us.
Olive the cat and I watched quail in our backyard. They were squawking and fighting as they scouted for birdseed. I’m amazed at how quickly the babies grew up. All the quail are the same size now. I wonder if the quail stay together as families from newborn chicks through adulthood?
I’ve been fascinated watching Harris hawks glide and circle above my backyard. I’ve tried to video them, but it’s difficult because the sun is in my eyes and I can’t see if I’m capturing them. Perhaps I shouldn’t put birdseed out because it attracts the quail — who then are prey for the hawks. I should have learned my lessons when the hawk crashed into a window and broke it!
I went to the hardware and grocery store and everything I needed was in stock. In the spring there were empty shelves. I remember looking for Tater Tots for weeks, but they weren’t available. We were having friends over for burgers and I wanted to serve Tater Tots.
During the pandemic, I would grocery shop for my dad who was in his late 80s (he’s 90 now). We didn’t feel it was safe for him at his age to go out. I felt like I was putting my life in danger grocery shopping. They were always out of my dad’s favorite Jimmy Dean’s sausage, egg and cheese biscuits.
Who would have thought Tater Tots and Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches would be in demand during a pandemic?
Quail in the backyard.
Watching a Harris hawk circling in the sky.
Besides toilet paper, what do you remember having trouble finding during the pandemic?
This is a post where I throw my husband under the bus. He wasn’t “pound foolish,” but rather flat out plain foolish. I know I wrote that I wasn’t going to complain about my husband ever again in this post, but that was so last week.
Our first sunrise back at home.
We drove eight hours from Santa Barbara to our Arizona home on Saturday. The car hadn’t been driving as smoothly as it normally does. Anytime we got close to 80 mph it shook. It’s never done that before. But we managed to keep it in the 70s and we had an amazing drive home without hitting traffic.
Now for the penny wise part. After we unloaded the car, I noticed the right rear tire had gone flat. I had taken the car into the dealership twice — once for servicing last month and for a recall days before our trip. I was told both times that we needed to replace the two back tires. The first time I was told this, I called my husband. I didn’t trust the dealership because one, I’m a woman, and two, some dealerships try to upsell you. The being a woman thing in my experience is that I don’t know enough about cars and mechanics and dealerships can take advantage of that.
So I relied on my husband. He said the tires were fine. He didn’t want to spend the money — the penny wise part.
We were too tired to deal with the tire after our eight-hour drive on Saturday. We called Triple A Sunday morning to change the tire. The spare tire turned out to be a little skinny thing I call “the donut tire.” Triple A came three and a half hours later. My husband said when he saw the back tire, he was shocked. It was down to metal without tread! That was on the inside of the tire where he didn’t check it — obviously — when he told me we didn’t need new tires.
We called Costco and other tire stores and NOBODY had our tires. They said it was a supply chain issue. Service at the dealership was closed.
Last night, I noticed the donut tire and left rear tire were both losing air. I called the dealership this morning at 7 a.m. and the service person said they didn’t have the tires either! I called back and asked to order tires and the guy in the parts said they DID have the tires.
I told my husband I’d follow him to the dealership. He pumped up the donut tire and put in “fix a flat” and pumped up the left rear tire with a bicycle pump!
I prayed as I followed him for 25 minutes to the dealership, watching the tires get lower as he drove.
I was shaking when we finally made it. I am so thankful we didn’t have a blow out during our eight-hour drive home from California. It could have happened anytime — on the freeway through Los Angeles — or in the desert in 110 plus heat without any cell service. We could have been stuck anywhere along the way with NO tires for days. As annoying and inconvenient as the past two days were, we are safe and it could have been a whole lot worse.
It must have rained while we were gone. The desert is so lush and green. Even the hillsides are green.
Have you or a family member ever been penny wise and pound foolish? In what ways? Would you do things differently if you had a chance? Have you had any experience with car dealerships or mechanics taking advantage of your lack of car knowledge?
