Entries Tagged 'What I’ve been doing' ↓

Dishwasher fixed – yaaaay! The bona fide registered Fisher & Paykel service agent was very good. The dishwasher did indeed need a part, and the man had the very part in his truck. Yipeeeee.

So, anyone needing appliance repair – your go-to registered Fisher & Paykel service agents of choice should be Dewar Appliance Servicing Limited (they are obviously so busy providing service to their customers that they don’t have time for email or website!).

(Don’t know how much it cost yet …)

P.S. $189.00 which is pretty good seeing as the Mister was told during the visit “It’ll be a coupla hundred mate.”

Our dishwasher is on the fritz. Beeps incessantly and flashes F1 Flood. It’s happened before and being a good housewife I knew exactly where the manual was so retrieved it only to find in the trouble-shooting section at the back it said “Call registered Fisher & Paykel service agent”. So we just switched it off at the wall overnight and hoped for the best. Bingo, it came right.

But not this time. And boy is the Mister dark about it. 3 nights in a row now (while we waited for the weekend to pass and then a registered Fisher & Paykel service agent to be available) he has had to wash the dishes. We’ve been using this dishes time to bond as a married couple like in the olden days, before dishwashers, when the family talked while doing the dishes. (I remember my grandad making the same comment every single dishes time … “why does your mother use these bally triangle pots every meal? They’re a bloody pain to dry.“ (See? Not my fault I could use the swear version of ‘bloody’ correctly in a sentence at 18 months old!)) Except in the olden days, misters probably read the paper leaving the missus to wash AND dry. Our bonding sessions don’t last long – the Mister has instigated a one-pot dinner rule and we have been eating chippies directly from the packet and no pudding (!!) in order to minimise on the washing up!

Not wanting to wait a moment too long the Mister turned to the internet, where now that F&P Dishdrawers are exported there is a wealth of blogging, use-grouping, wikipedia’ing people residing in America all too keen to disseminate any knowledge, that you can easily find fix-it instructions for F1 Flood. After a skim read of the most thorough of such instructions we decided on going with the last sentence …

… turn the power off, remove the bottom drawer by pushing in the clips on side of the drawer … put the drawer on its r.h.side …  mop up the all water … expose the mains/flood switch board … push in the clip in the middle front edge of the cover with a flat blade screwdriver … hair dryer … mop up any remaining water … refit drawer … Remember, if you get to a point where you don’t feel confident with what you doing or you think you might break something, leave it and call a professional to do the job,  you may save money in the long run and if you going to expose wires or connections always switch off and unplug before removing the cover, you dont know whats underneath …

Very detailed instructions, I was going to put my gumboots on and get into it, but after visions of the dishdrawers, racks, runners and spray arms on the floor and piles of wet towels from mopping up water, we decided to wait for the registered Fisher & Paykel service agent – booked for tomorrow. Only one more night of bonding over the dishes. Unless of course a part is needed. And the part is not in the truck (which one would expect if they guy is a bona fide registered Fisher & Paykel service agent) and has to be ordered. Crikey – how will I stop the Mister rushing out and buying a new dishwasher if that happens?

Clanking and hydraulic noises went on outside our window from 5am – 6.30am this morning as some kind of tank/air-con unit was lifted onto the roof of a building across the road. Quite a long and involved process! Luckily (yeah right) they were still there after dawn so I could get a photo. I tried to sleep through it but it was just so damn exciting.

Got challenged!! By the defence. After a huge delay following the first ballot we were taken into the court room at about 11am. I think I was about the 4 juror called up but I’m not sure if it was my clothes (opted for jeans and jacket this time), expression (vicious face looking down the barrel at all three lawyers), the accounting book that someone may have spied me reading in the waiting area, whatever it says about me on the electoral roll that the lawyers all fossick through when you’re name is called or my refusal of the bible as a crucial item to support me in being fair and honest, that caused them to challenge me. May have been an interesting case too – 8 counts of using funds that were due to the IRD inappropriately.

So, that’s it. Wonder how long until I’m called next?

Multi-tasking at it’s best! Cutting around a sewing pattern (surprised I could remember how!) for (avert your eyes if you’re not Christmas-Crazy) Christmas PJs …

… and in between times creating a recovery disk for my new work laptop!

I’m addicted! The live tree cam on NBC’s local New York site brings back so many memories. And they’re lighting the tree today!

http://www.wnbc.com/sponsors/10310218/detail.html

The wind has been pretty frightening today already! I have a punnet of basil plants to plant in the pot on our balcony but they’ve had to stay indoors in their punnet for the last 10 days as it seems so cruel to subject this constant wind.

This morning I saw at the top end of Ghuznee Street a full green recycling bin get picked up by the wind – it was like a cartoon! It was upended in mid air and the contents flung before the bin took off like a tumble weed at an alarming pace down the street. At one point it was racing down the footpath after a woman who had to run this way and that to avoid collision before it then blew onto the road and caused a traffic jam! The poor woman went out to retrieve it and she left it on the footpath but goodness knows where it is now!

And as I type this at work I am gently swaying from side to side as the building rocks with the 90km gusts currently occurring.

Our new coffee machine is *so* hardcore that the instruction manual has a circuit diagram in it! The manual itself is not that helpful as it is translated directly in word-for-word order from Italian, in fact at times it’s quite amusing not helped by the fact that when reading it you can’t help but use a bad Italian accent (even when reading silently to yourself!)

We also had cause to smile when we unpacked the new grinder – right inside the lid of the box was a big yellow piece of paper stating “Warning: This product is for use by experienced operators only and is not intended for domestic use.” Yikes!

First few attempts with the new machine in it’s new home.

I feel as though I don’t know anything – I’m right back where I was 4 years ago when we got our previous machine! Very frustrating at the moment but I know practice makes perfect. The extractions are quite nice but the milk is all over the show – the pressure and force of the steam is something I can’t quite yet control.

We’re thinking of upgrading to a small commercial machine. Spent 2 hours today trying before buying. Had some fantastic coffee too … made by yours truly!