Catching up with blogging & home repairs

My wife continually asks me 2 questions:

1. Did you read my blog????
2. When are you going to blog???

As a computer consultant, it's hard to find things to blog about that wouldn't reflect on my customers or repeat what's already being said by industry pundits. How many stories about bizarre IT occurrences with unnamed people can this world take?? Hopefully the few times I do blog make them gems instead of just more blogosphere noise.

So now that Thanksgiving is near, I have a moment to pause and reflect. When not at work, I've been fixing things around the house. The door that leads into the garage has been making a hole in the wall so I got that fixed. I found a "fancy" doorstop with a magnet to hold the door open and patched the wall with one of those stainless-steel pro patches. Best drywall work I've done yet. After doing the drywall around a window we had put in, I swore I'd always call a pro. It got done, but I always wonder what it looks like now (can't be good).

The Oven Story
My wife called me a couple weeks ago to complain the broiler stopped working. No biggie. We don't use it too much anyway, so I drug my feet to get a new element. Good thing I did.

A couple days ago, while baking, I smelled burning food. Yum, there goes dinner. The broiler element was on and the baking element was not. Every time I tried to bake - there was the broiler. So I told Priscila the control/computer/brain/whatever was fried and to call a repair guy. $40 later he said, "The computer is fried. It'll be another $300 to fix it." Thanks buddy. A new one is around $450.

After spending an evening shopping for new and slightly used on Craig's List, we were on the verge of spending a bunch more for a REALLY NICE, FULLY LOADED, HIGH END oven/range. I love to cook, but I don't bake fancy cakes (except for this one) so I can't really justify a high-end model. We put cold or uncooked food in our regular one, and it comes out hot and cooked. It does what we need it to do.

I asked Priscila to make one last call in the morning to find out how much the part cost and we'd try to install it. The local appliance store had the part for around $150. Before I got home Priscila had it replace. The cables pop right off and the whole display/computer pops off the back. Easy fix. Thanks Baby. Now I got cool spare parts for my microcontroller projects. Yipee!!!!

The Leaky Fridge or How to Save $1200
We'd had a bunch of ice collecting at the bottom of the freezer. Priscila would chip it out, but it kept coming back. This fridge was a Craig's List purchase, and we both feel the seller wasn't on the level. Priscila started shopping for fridges.

I found a little tray where the defrost water would collect and run into a drain tube. It was full and overflowing. I grabbed a $2 piece of wire and gently snaked it down the drain tube. A little wiggling and ---- SSSSSLLLUURRRPPPP ---- the water is gone and it's all working again. That $2 wire saved me $1200. Figure in financing charges and it's kinda like winning the lottery. :)

No bailout of the auto industry

This is a letter I sent out to my Representative and Congress ladies. Never done it before. This is probably the most significant political thing I've ever done.

I think the letter leave LOTS to be desired, but I'm sick and tired of being on the sidelines. Gotta get off my rear and start somewhere.

If you read this and feel motivated either way - write your legislators. Google write your congress or write your senator to find 'em. State your opinion!!!!

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Rep/Congress person,

As a citizen, I want to express my concern over the consideration of a bailout package for the auto industry. Please vote AGAINST any proposed bailout package for the auto industry.

1) All levels of the government representing me have FAILED to deal with the banking industry's problems. I can't imagine any funds allocated to the auto industry would be used responsibly or wisely. As far as I'm concerned, both the current legislative and executive branches of the government have earned my vote of "no confidence" when it comes to financial matters. Business, not government, should be left to resolve this, very unfortunate, situation.

2) I believe the US auto industry has failed to be a willing partner with consumers and the government in the areas of:
* air quality
* fuel consumption standards
* alternative energy options
* others I probably couldn't know about

3) My high school economics class taught me that when companies fail their assets don't simply disappear. The "big 3"'s properties, technologies, dollars, research and other assets will evolve into new relationships, be acquired by competitors and move into other industries.

4) The bloat of "big 3" needs to be curbed. It's time for that bubble to pop. This bloat can also be extended to those immediately around the big 3: unions, suppliers, subsidiaries, etc.

I am not one of the people who will be directly impacted by the so-called collapse. My industry (high-end computing sales/consulting) is employed by the auto industry and will feel an impact. Nevertheless, it is irresponsible for the taxpayers to hold up an industry so bloated and unwilling to make change. It's in the natural business cycle for companies to fail and their assets to evolve.

Letting the big 3 fail will probably hurt a lot of people in the process. Shoring them up may not hut so much now, but will probably hurt a lot more people in the long run. Don't sell our future generations down the river for short term gains.

In the event you actually read this email and decide to vote against a bailout of the auto industry, please do whatever you can to help save pensions of retired autoworkers. There's no sense punishing "the guy on the assembly line" for the poor decisions of corporate management.

Davin and Priscila Petersen