June to July 2011 - Our efforts to stimulate the economy

Since I retired in February of 2011, we've been doing our part in stimulating the economy. Here are some of the things we've been doing.

June 2011. We decided after 15 years it was time for new carpet in our house. So our first stimulus package was $1,700.00 for new wall to wall carpet. Since the carpet installers will only move the "big" items (if you tip them), we had 15 years worth of "little" things to move out of the rooms into the garage or outside. What a job that was. I'm too old for that.

July 2011. A couple of years ago we had to replace our stove and our dishwasher. The new units we got are stainless steel. Now our 15 year old almond color refrigerator looks a little out of place, so off to Sears we go and buy the biggest (31 cubic foot) stainless steel one we could find. Or second stimulus package was a little over $2,000.00.

July 2011. While walking out the door at Sears I noticed a new Masterbuilt propane smoker sitting there calling my name, so our third stimulus package was a little over $150.00 for a new smoker.

July 2011. Since we got the new carpet, we decided the drapes in the 2 bedrooms and the computer room don't match the carpet. So, while we're at the mall buying the refrigerator and smoker, it's off to Penny's to purchase new drapes. Our fourth stimulus package is a little over $300,00.

July 2011. So far 3 out of the 4 stimulus packages have been for the inside of the house. One day while sitting on the patio smoking a Tri Tip I noticed we had accumulated a lot of "junk" in our yard in 15 years. What to do.... I know, I'll get a Tuff Built shed to put all our "junk" in. Our fifth stimulus package for the shed was a little over $2000.00 (installed).

August 2011 - Antelope Valley Fair...Ugh

We decided to break our 10 year vow to never go to the Antelope Valley Fair again. So on Monday August the 22nd (senior citizens day) we went to the fair. This was our first visit to the new Lancaster Fairgrounds so we didn't know what to expect. They said the fair hours were from 4:00pm to midnight. We got there a little after 4:00pm and all the "close" parking lots were already full. We had to park about 1/2 mile away.

Years ago before we vowed to never go to the fair one of our favorite foods at the fair were the "Sioux Burgers". Since we were hungry we each got a "Sioux Burger" remembering how good they were years ago. What a disappointment. They were so greasy I think I had grease running off my elbows.

We started walking around looking at different exhibits. Too many people bumping into us, too rude to say excuse me. Too many foul mouthed teenie boppers, not just the guys but the gals too. I wouldn't have had the nerve to talk like that in public when I was that age. The exhibit buildings are too far apart, too much walking, so we decided we'd seen enough and went home and again vowed to never go back to the fair.

October 2011 - More stimulating the economy

Our front bathroom toilet stopped up. Plunging it uplulgged it but caused a leak to appear at the floor where to toilet attaches. We called American Home Shield (our home protection company) and they sent a plumber out to fix it. When he pulled the toilet up he found tree roots had grown up and into the header pipe where the toilet connects. Between the pressure of the roots and the force of me plunging the toilet the header pipe cracked causing the leak.

Guess what.... American Home Shield won't pay for anything caused by tree roots. So our stimulas for October was $650.00 for a new header pipe for for the toilet.

December 2011 - More stimulating the economy

Couldn't get the kitchen sink faucet to stop dripping so we called a Plumber to come and fix it. He installed a repair kit in the faucet but since this was the 3rd time it had been repaired it still leaked a little, in other words, the faucet was shot and needed to be replaced.

This is a good thing since everything else in the kitchen is Stainless Steel now would be a good time to replace the old chrome faucet with a nice new Stainless Steel faucet, but they ain't cheap. The Moen faucet we picked out was $415.00 plus $100.00 for about 15 minutes of labor to install it. So we helped the plumber by giving him work and we helped the economy by buying a faucet made in the U.S.A.

May 2012 - Remember the Refrigerator we bought in July?

The refrigerator we bought from Sears last July we thought was so great turns out wasn't so great after all. Here is a summary of our experience so far:

We bought this Kenmore Elite 31 cubic foot refrigerator when it first came out in July of 2011 because it LOOKED awesome. It is big and pretty. Now those are the only good things I can say about it. The first unit we got from day 1 would not keep stuff frozen. Sears sent a tech out to check it out. Naturally you can’t get a tech to come out immediately, you have to wait 5 days, so in the mean time we lost all our frozen stuff. When the tech did arrive he check the freezer and his advice was for us to call Sears and have them replace the refrigerator with a new one. So that’s what we did. Naturally since the Elite was a new model they were selling like hotcakes and we couldn’t get a replacement until September 2011.

We got the replacement unit and the freezer worked great. Hurray!! We’re back in business. Then one morning in January of 2012 I got up and went to the kitchen and on the display panel of the Elite was an error code ER IF. I called Sears and was told the error code meant the Ice Maker fan motor needed to be replaced. They said they would order a new part and it would be sent to us within 7 days and a tech would come out and install it. The part never came. Sears would us about every 7 days telling us the part is on back order. I said just send us a new refrigerator. They told us they couldn’t do that until we had waited for more than 28 days for the part. The part never came so on day 29 they agreed to send a new refrigerator.

In February of 2012 we got the new refrigerator. So in less than 6 months we’re on our 3rd Kenmore Elite 31 cubic foot Refrigerator. That’s not a very good track record for the Elite if you ask me. Fast forward to May 12, 2012 and once again when I entered the kitchen I’m greeted with and error code ER IF on the display panel. Once again, on the phone to Sears. They tell me they will order the part. It will be sent to our house within 5 days and a tech will be out in 7 days to replace it. When I told my wife what Sears told me she said: “oh no, we’re not going through that waiting game again”. She got on the phone to Sears and demanded to speak to a manager. She was on the phone with him (Vincent) for about an hour and he finally agreed to send us a new unit. It’ll be here on May 17th 2012. I personally don’t have much faith in this unit lasting more than a couple of months.

Refrigerator Update

After we got the new refrigerator on May 17th, it lasted 135 days before the ice maker fan error showed up. This time we went thru the process of having Sears order the parts to repair this refrigerator. They shipped the parts straight to our house and the tech came 2 days later to install them. He told us we should have gone thru this process with the first unit we had that got the Ice Maker Fan error. He said there was a design flaw in the first units that caused the ice maker fan to quit working. All the replacement units we got were of the original design and therefore were subject to the failier. The new parts are in now so we'll see how long it lasts now.