Category: technology

Replacement Parts

My microwave went out again in November. Replacement switches were needed for the less than four-year-old microwave. The GE Profile model only cost us a little over $200 back when we bought it. A replacement is affordable but I gnash my teeth over being part of a throwaway world. We could live without a microwave, but I am addicted to its convenience. Yes, shame on me.

The first microwave my wife and I bought in the last century served us well for several years. We gave it to my MIL after we moved because she didn’t have one, and it served her until her death, almost forty years later. To be fair, this GE Profile microwave is the first microwave which ever failed for me. Congratulations, GE! It is shiny, sleek, and pretty, though and matches the other appliances, which appeals to my wife.

Also, buying a replacement is only about half the price. There is then the disposal cost for the old unit, shipping, and the installation cost of the new appliance. I believe I can do an installation but I’m a rookie and would rather have it professionally done.

The parts were ordered in November and received yesterday. Twenty minutes after the parts were in my hands, the machine was up and running anew. There were issues. I ordered the replacement part from RepairClinic. They followed up with a survey request about my experience.

Here it is.

  1. In dealing with you, I found you’re not there on weekends and evenings, only Mon-Fri, with limited hours, a throwback in this 24-7 shopping and shipping world of bots and emails, and surprising for a company selling goods online. Sweetly quaint and old-fashioned.
  2. You sent me the wrong part initially, replacing the microwave door microswitch holder with a muffler. As soon as I picked up that box, I knew it wasn’t the delicate plastic piece which I expected. That first package weighed ten pounds. The switch is less than a quarter of a pound.
  3. I contacted you as soon as wrong part was received, but, alas, Saturday, so no response was received until Monday. Your apology was straightforward with appropriate regret and you immediately ordered the correct part. It was sent out the next day, Tuesday.
  4. The replacement part was received the following Sunday. It was not actually an OEM replacement part. The screw placement holes on the new part were rotated 90 degrees from where they’re required, so the part can be placed and works in that regard, but it can’t be secured with screws. It troubled me that the part was different in that manner. This isn’t my first online replacement part experience. I did due diligence and your site said, yep, this is the part for your machine. It’s not. I used it anyway because of my microwave addiction but I have begun searching for the right part. I suspect that I won’t find it.
  5. Finally, not your fault, but the parts always took three days longer to reach me than announced with your shipping and tracking email. It’s always an amusing aspect of the modern ordering and shipping experience to see the original expected delivery day followed by an update showing it’ll be delivered the next day, and then a second update with a third date. As I wrote, not your fault but it did color my shopping experience with you.

Other than the things noted above, it was a great shopping and shipping experience. Cheers

I’ve marked my calendar and will see how long it is until the next failure.

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Saturday’s Wandering Thought

Dear blog. My computer keeps urging me to use MS Edge. How do I tell it that I’m already using Edge? You’d think it’d already know.

Signed,

Browsing in Confusion

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Friday’s Wandering Thought

When something in his home breaks, his first step in his troubleshooting and fixing process is to turn it off. He allows it to stay off for a few minutes before turning it back on. It’s surprising how often that works.

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Thursday’s Wandering Thought

He got out his free weights today. They were the ‘Jack Lelane’ brand, given to him as a gift in another dimension. He theorized they would make a perfect material to fence the Roomba in and out of where he wanted it to clean.

He was right.

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Thursday’s Theme Music

As promised, we have Thursday, October 27, 2022, upon us. Your reality might vary.

Thin fog was the acting doorman when sunrise made their 7:38 AM entrance. The fog stole the show. It’s burned off since then, with the temperature rebounding from 38 F to its present 6 degrees C, on the way to a high mark of 62 F. Clouds have vacated the sky. Sunshine glints off yellow leaves like they’re pure gold.

The Neurons have brought up a song from 1978 called “Whenever I Call You Friend”. The song was written by Kenny Loggins and Melissa Manchester, two big names from the 1970s pop scene. Kenny recorded and released the song but the female on it was Stevie Nicks, who was uncredited, all stuff learned from American Top 40 back in the day.

All this came about because my beer group met last night. Prior to that, I’d sent the group a Youtube link of Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits performing a fantastic live rendition of “The Sultans of Swing”. Everyone enjoyed it. Discussion started with one member, who was a DJ at the time, about the music which came out then. He recalled playing songs on both 45 vinyl and CDs. That was a surprising mix to me; I remembered Sultans coming out in 1978, but I remember having the album on CD. I didn’t buy my first CD player until 1984, and knew they were being sold at least two years before, but not in the late 1970s. I realized, though, that I’d not initially purchased Dire Straits’ debut album. I was just back from the Philippines then, living in Texas, and then left the USAF and bought a restaurant and was running it. I had a juke box and listened to the music on it. I was also going to college then. Money was tight, so I didn’t buy the album until later, after I’d re-enlisted in the Air Force, having failed as a restaurant owner.

All that soon had The Neurons circling 1978 like a train set around a Christmas tree. I was thinking about my beer buddies and how I enjoyed their friendship. Hello, The Neurons replied, and began playing, “Whenever I Call You Friend”. It still resides in my morning mental music stream which brings us to now.

Stay positive, be cool, and test negative. The coffee is brewed and ready to flow into action. Here’s the music. Also, since I mentioned it, here’s the Dire Straits video, too. Have a better one, friends.

Cheers

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Sunday’s Wandering Thought

*throat is cleared*

He has a small, really tiny rant today. Websites like to entice him with a headline. While he reads that article, a video plays about the same article. Then, though, another video about a different article begins.

Seriously, WTF? It’s chaotic and annoying. They must think we’re children, running around, high on sugar and caffeine, too buzzy to pay attention.

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Tuesday’s Wandering Thought

Years have passed since he’s spent much time at a place with cable television. Flipping through the channels, he’s astounded how many of the stations offer hours of the same thing, such as sitcoms like “Everybody Loves Raymond”, “Friends”, “Seinfeld”, and “The Office”, along with movies shown again and again. The Shawshank Redemption and Top Gun have been the offerings he’d seen time and again. “Mannix” is there, and Perry Mason. There are live game shows and the news and weather. But it’s mostly a wasteland lively with the reruns of yesteryear.

It has expanded. There are many more shows offering more specialized insights. None of them on retirement, cross-dressing, or cooking, seized his attention.

It reminds him exactly why he cut the cable over a decade ago.

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