Welcome back to the New Universe!
Coming this December, from Marvel Comics. 'nuff said.
2006-09-19
It's A New Universe Out There...
I've been waiting about twenty years for this to re-emerge in it's former glory... and it looks like it's finally going to happen. Forget the silly one-shots you may have seen recently. I anticipate this to be just what the doctor ordered.
Welcome back to the New Universe!
Coming this December, from Marvel Comics. 'nuff said.
Welcome back to the New Universe!
Coming this December, from Marvel Comics. 'nuff said.
Florida Power and Light + Whirlpool = BAD!!
Okay, so we lose our hot water (brand new water heater, 2.5 months old) on Thursday, September 14th. The progression is as follows...
I talk with my father about diagnosing the problem. After a brief discussion, I decide to handle it through warranty, since the water heater is so "young".
I call Flower Power and Light to see if they perhaps have the ON CALL service activated (this service gives me $10 a month and allows THEM to shut down that device on a limited schedule "as needed" - this service has not been activated in over a year based on previous discussions with them). They assure me that if the green light is flashing, "power is flowing to the device". Okay...
I neglect to call Whirlpool on Friday. So the weekend goes by without hot water.
I contact Whirlpool from my cell phone during my lunch break Monday. After about 10 minutes, I find out that I need to TEST THE UNIT MYSELF using a multimeter/voltage detector with instructions from them. I mention that I'm not an electrician and that despite my aptitude, I would prefer to have a qualified repairman handle this. They insist that I can do it, or I may have the unit professionally repaired and send them the bill -- they will reimburse me.
Later that night (at 6:28pm EST) I call Whirlpool back and am put on "hold" for a technician to help me use the voltage detector I have just purchased to test the unit. Every five minutes, I am put back to one of the non-techs who assures me "you did not lose your place in the queue, we just check to make sure you haven't hung up yet" and then I'm back on hold. This happens repeatedly until 7:02pm EST when I am forwarded THIS time to VOICE MAIL -- after HOURS voice mail. So now I've been left high and dry. And pissed.
Today, I decide it's not worth waiting for. I contact Roto Rooter, who comes out in a timely manner, and tests the unit. Lo and behold, THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THE UNIT. There is NO POWER COMING FROM THE ON CALL BOX (i.e., no power from FPL).
I contact FPL again, who asks me "did you reset the breaker", to which I politely reply "yes, that is why there is a blinking green light on the ON CALL box." "The light is ON?! Wow, then it works and there is power to your water heater." I explain to him that the $99 payment I had just made 20 minutes earlier to Roto Rooter tells me there is NO power coming to the water heater. He assigns someone to come to my home. The next gentleman to call is the en route repairman. He asks me (sigh) "did you reset the breaker" (note that this is about the sixth time in two days I've been asked this question) to which I reply, very flatly, "yes.. and the green light is on at the ON CALL box." He seems dumbfounded by this.
The repairman shows up a half hour later and goes to work. He discovers that, lo and behold, there is a BURNT OUT WIRE in the junction box between the ON CALL BOX and the WATER HEATER (this junction is an FPL-territory item). So, yes Virginia, you CAN have a working ON CALL box with NO POWER being delivered to your appliance!!
So now... I'm out $99 for a house visit, I'm sure Whirlpool is unwilling to pay it since their unit was never at fault apparently, and I have to find a way to convince FPL that THEY owe me this money.
Oh, and $4 + tax for a voltage tester.
Great.
Happy Tuesday, everyone.
I talk with my father about diagnosing the problem. After a brief discussion, I decide to handle it through warranty, since the water heater is so "young".
I call Flower Power and Light to see if they perhaps have the ON CALL service activated (this service gives me $10 a month and allows THEM to shut down that device on a limited schedule "as needed" - this service has not been activated in over a year based on previous discussions with them). They assure me that if the green light is flashing, "power is flowing to the device". Okay...
I neglect to call Whirlpool on Friday. So the weekend goes by without hot water.
I contact Whirlpool from my cell phone during my lunch break Monday. After about 10 minutes, I find out that I need to TEST THE UNIT MYSELF using a multimeter/voltage detector with instructions from them. I mention that I'm not an electrician and that despite my aptitude, I would prefer to have a qualified repairman handle this. They insist that I can do it, or I may have the unit professionally repaired and send them the bill -- they will reimburse me.
Later that night (at 6:28pm EST) I call Whirlpool back and am put on "hold" for a technician to help me use the voltage detector I have just purchased to test the unit. Every five minutes, I am put back to one of the non-techs who assures me "you did not lose your place in the queue, we just check to make sure you haven't hung up yet" and then I'm back on hold. This happens repeatedly until 7:02pm EST when I am forwarded THIS time to VOICE MAIL -- after HOURS voice mail. So now I've been left high and dry. And pissed.
Today, I decide it's not worth waiting for. I contact Roto Rooter, who comes out in a timely manner, and tests the unit. Lo and behold, THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THE UNIT. There is NO POWER COMING FROM THE ON CALL BOX (i.e., no power from FPL).
I contact FPL again, who asks me "did you reset the breaker", to which I politely reply "yes, that is why there is a blinking green light on the ON CALL box." "The light is ON?! Wow, then it works and there is power to your water heater." I explain to him that the $99 payment I had just made 20 minutes earlier to Roto Rooter tells me there is NO power coming to the water heater. He assigns someone to come to my home. The next gentleman to call is the en route repairman. He asks me (sigh) "did you reset the breaker" (note that this is about the sixth time in two days I've been asked this question) to which I reply, very flatly, "yes.. and the green light is on at the ON CALL box." He seems dumbfounded by this.
The repairman shows up a half hour later and goes to work. He discovers that, lo and behold, there is a BURNT OUT WIRE in the junction box between the ON CALL BOX and the WATER HEATER (this junction is an FPL-territory item). So, yes Virginia, you CAN have a working ON CALL box with NO POWER being delivered to your appliance!!
So now... I'm out $99 for a house visit, I'm sure Whirlpool is unwilling to pay it since their unit was never at fault apparently, and I have to find a way to convince FPL that THEY owe me this money.
Oh, and $4 + tax for a voltage tester.
Great.
Happy Tuesday, everyone.
2006-09-11
Star Trek In High Definition
With the relaunch of the original Star Trek series (not in order; they will be releasing the most-wanted episodes first, then eventually all episodes as they're completed) pending, I thought I'd post a link to the official launch video that shows some samples of the quality differences. I'm hosting the link here. The video itself is hosted by by Yahoo (they're useful for something once in a while).
2006-09-08
2006-09-03
MOVIE: Snakes On A Plane
Okay, I'm not sure if this will make me sound less-intelligent or not, but I actually enjoyed this movie. I didn't expect to. I expected to critique it to death, but instead, I treated it like a Jim Carey movie, and simply turned off logic and enjoyed it.
It had this habit of showing worst-case-ever scenarios in regards to snake bites, such as biting in the EYE, biting in the MOUTH, biting on the, er, breast, and biting (engulfing?) the, er... well, I felt sorry for the guy, let's say.
It was more funny than anything. Worthy of a cheap matinee-showing (we went during full price hours; we were bored). Samuel Jackson was verrrrry funny. I now see why so many TV shows and internet sites do parodies of one of Jackson's last quotes about "getting these blankety-blank snakes of the blankety-blank plane". ;-)
It had this habit of showing worst-case-ever scenarios in regards to snake bites, such as biting in the EYE, biting in the MOUTH, biting on the, er, breast, and biting (engulfing?) the, er... well, I felt sorry for the guy, let's say.
It was more funny than anything. Worthy of a cheap matinee-showing (we went during full price hours; we were bored). Samuel Jackson was verrrrry funny. I now see why so many TV shows and internet sites do parodies of one of Jackson's last quotes about "getting these blankety-blank snakes of the blankety-blank plane". ;-)
Hmmm
Not much happening lately other than the production of the Spruce Creek Football Program, which was a bit of a nightmare due to various parties turning in materials two days before the first event the program was supposed to be ready for (the printers required FIVE DAYS to do printing, so I attempted printing from home, and after fixing the result of BAD ADVICE from Office Depot, had to have the programs copied per the norm. Needless to say, it was not a smooth process. I got very little sleep during the past two weeks.
I also discovered that, when attempting to start a relationship with someone, it's troublesome if you, yourself, are a very busy person, but moreso when the person in question is about twice as busy as you are. It causes for a lot of... frustration (and you can read into that comment any way you want). Perhaps it will work out, perhaps I will need to move on. I don't want to move on, but... *sigh* We'll see.
I also discovered that, when attempting to start a relationship with someone, it's troublesome if you, yourself, are a very busy person, but moreso when the person in question is about twice as busy as you are. It causes for a lot of... frustration (and you can read into that comment any way you want). Perhaps it will work out, perhaps I will need to move on. I don't want to move on, but... *sigh* We'll see.
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