Buyer Beware: A Tale of Two Companies

This is basically a long rant; buckle up and bear with me.

Tale number one: As a present to myself, I ordered a garden cart. I waited until the company of my choice--a well-known purveyor of nonelectric and homesteady type tools whose name I won't mention but it rhymes with "Lehmans"--offered free shipping and put in my order. Two boxes arrived within a few days. I opened them with anticipation. Box one held two sturdy wheels. Box two held yet two more sturdy wheels. I knew the cart required assembly but figured there were a few parts missing, so I called customer service.

Surprise! I reached a real person with the first ring. She apologized, said they had some new people in shipping, promised to look into it and to call me back (I have this image of a motherly type hiking down to the shipping department, collaring some hapless workers by the ears and giving them what-for).

Surprise again! She did call back within an hour or two. She arranged for pick-up by UPS of the wrong parts and within a week I had the correct shipment.

Mistake by company taken care of swiftly, politely, and easily.

Tale number two is a far different matter.

At the end of October, I ordered a propane generator via Home Depot. This was at the time of Hurricane Sandy so I feared there would be a back order but was pleased to receive the generator a few days later.

That was the last I was pleased with the transaction.

This first delay is my fault. We had to have an extra propane line run and I waited until it was done before testing the generator. We hooked it up late November only to find that the pull-start wouldn't pull.

Unfortunately, Home Depot was only the seller, all questions and problems needed to be handled by the wholesaler. I won't mention their name, but it rhymes with BUFFALO TOOLS.

We called. Called again. After several attempts we reached customer service who told us to try a few fixes. Nothing worked. They said they would arrange a pick-up and replace the unit.

Here is where it goes downhill at a furious pace.

Days passed. No notice, no pick-up. Finally reached someone who said they would notify UPS. Again, nothing.

More than a week passed. More calls and now we're also resorting to email. At this point, my normally low blood pressure is rising rapidly. Now the company says they need the original receipt. We contact Home Depot for a copy of the order and send it to B.T.

The first nonworking generator is finally picked up.

We wait.

And wait.

More calls. More emails. Weeks later we receive a large box from UPS. Open it with trepidation. It's a generator. A GAS powered generator. We don't know whether to laugh or cry.

It's my turn to call. I am not known for my patience or calmness in these situations but I promise Tom I will not use profanity.

I ask for the customer service supervisor who blames the mishaps on UPS. Huh? (in the time this has taken, we have received numerous shipments from UPS, all in good time, some faster than expected). She promises that shipping will call. They don't. More calls, more emails. We've got this down to a routine, taking turns.

After another two weeks of more noncommuncation, this generator is picked up. We're promised that as soon as they know it's been shipped, a replacement will be coming our way.

This time, only 15 days pass. The supervisor passes the blame to the shipping department.

Eventually, somehow, another propane generator is delivered. The labels on it are a mess and there is oil in the bottom of the box, leaving me to guess this is a used or rebuilt model. We set it up and pull.

And pull.

And pull.

Over 50 cranks and nothing. So...

This email states we expect a refund. Period.

Lo and behold, it is answered, saying the refund is in process (we'll see, nothing yet).

This rant is not to badmouth a company, the one that sounds like Buffalo Tools.

Well, ok, it is that. But also to point up two things:

One. Be persistent. My husband has the well-earned nickname "Mr. Squeaky Wheel". Sometimes you have to push and push and push. It's annoying and exhausting but necessary 'cause often that wheel won't get greased unless you insist on it. And take notes!

Two. There is no excuse for the ineptness shown by the generator company. Lehmans is a good example of a great place to deal with, Zappos is another. Good business and good customer service can co-exist.

This simple idea applies to everyday life, too. We should do what we say we will, follow through, be polite, help when needed. If we all did, the world would see to that grease before being nagged to death by Mr. Squeaky. Wouldn't that lower your blood pressure?

But in the meantime, caveat emptor. Big time.

Heatwave

They say wood heats you twice--once when you cut it, once when you burn it.

We've found it warms much more than that.

A woodstove provides a cozy place to sit and read and dream. A place to percolate coffee and simmer soup. A drying rack in front of the stove beats the clothesline on drizzly days and a table nearby provides a great spot for dehydrating fruits and vegetables using solar power once removed.

Burning wood warms your buy-local-carbon-footprint heart when you buy fuel from your next door neighbor who harvested it 1/2 mile away. And even those of us who don't cut our own gain exercise from stacking and hauling. And we get fertilizer from the ashes.

The financial benefits are heartwarming also. We dropped some serious change to buy and install this stove but I'm betting the price of propane will continue to increase and outpace firewood; as many have said, a woodpile in the yard is money in the bank. This stove will last a lifetime, unlike a furnace, and requires no electricity to run.

During winter, a woodstove becomes the center of the house. When you come in from the cold, you immediately feel the warmth wrap around you, your muscles loosen up, and you know you're home.

Welcome home.

Ground Down

In many ways, we've been through the mill this year.

Beck's Mill, Salem, IN

So it seemed fitting, that in the grip of holiday spirit brought on by online deals, I ordered myself a Victorio grain  mill.

I've never ground my own grain before but whole wheat flour in the stores hereabouts is lackluster--and expensive. Emergency Essentials sent me an offer I couldn't refuse and I succumbed--a small mill for less than $50.

Then  I had to locate some wheat to grind. My go-to guy for finding things locally had a lead on soft wheat grown a few miles away but not hard wheat (he'd bought a ton--yes, 2000 pounds!--of the stuff many years ago and was still using that. Now THAT'S preparedness). Hard wheat is necessary for bread which is our main use for flour.

So I searched the net. Many places offer hard wheat but the shipping is a bit much to justify the purchase. Amazon to the rescue! Not only can you order ORGANIC wheat berries from them but it qualifies for free shipping. Wow.

50 lbs of wheat arrived a few days ago (the UPS man is beginning to dread coming here)and the mill yesterday. I tested it last night with peppercorns and it worked great. But the real test was whole wheat flour.

I poured in 1 cup of wheat and started grinding. Set at the finest setting, the flour came out silky soft. It took about 10 minutes--that's with breaks for photos--and was fairly easy to turn. I can feel it in my shoulder but then I'm in wretched shape.

The 1 cup of berries yielded almost 1 3/4 cups flour.

I wanted to test this high gluten flour on bagels but was pressed for time so I mixed up some muffins. I did add 1/4 cup white flour as the recipe calls for 2 cups.

Man oh man, do these taste good! I'm not a fussy eater and have the palate of  a toddler, but I'll go out on a limb and say the fresh flour made quite a difference. Although mostly whole wheat, these aren't heavy or dense and have a...wait a minute, I've got to "test" another one...sweet, nutty flavor.

The grinding is an effort but since there are only two of us, we don't use mounds of flour and when the grandkids come visit, this will be a great way for them to burn off some of that excess energy!

Fruits of our labors

Parents the world over are secure in the knowledge that their children are the best of a generation--smart, kind, talented beyond measure. This weekend we had confirmation of that--NOT THAT WE NEEDED IT!

We were honored to attend the premier of a Christmas play, THE FAMILY FRUITCAKE, by our daughter, Rebecca Frohling. She not only has penned a holiday classic but guided her work through the workshop process at the Albright Theatre and stuck with it during rewrites, suggestions, and long nights of rehearsals.

The result is a funny, fast-moving story that is heartwarming without being sappy. The cast, directed by Tricia Hewson and Veronica Krystal, brought the 20 (!) characters to life and made us believe in family, no matter how many nuts the family and fruitcake contains.

If you're in the Batavia, IL area, give yourself an early Christmas present and attend THE FAMILY FRUITCAKE, December 14, 15, and 16.

Now to drop my mommy-theater critic persona for a moment, fruit is in the future here also.

The fruits trees I ordered from the Arbor Day group finally arrived and we planted: 4 apples, 2 peaches, and 2 cherry trees. I have had limited success with fruit trees but have great hopes for these. After all, a garden is the embodiment of hope.

Ye Olde Repair Person



I don't think ours was labelled this clearly.

    In the 5 months since we moved to Indiana, our computer monitor died, the cd player bit the dust, the television stopped working, the jigsaw wouldn't cut, and the new saw we bought fell apart in our hands the first time we used it. Of all of these modern marvels, only the jigsaw was still under warranty (go, Black and Decker) but they didn't fix it, they sent us a new one (the new new one was exchanged at the store).

   This chain of broken has made me long for the golden days of my youth when THINGS COULD BE REPAIRED.

   You young folk may think it's a myth, but I stand as witness that, in days of yore, not only did appliances operate as advertised for several years but that when there was a problem, a repair person came to your house!

   Ah, the repairman. Thought by some to be a figment of delusional senior citizens, this creature was for real and true. In our family's case, the saint of handiness was Bernie.

   Our console television got heavy use. Jack LaLaine jumping jacks in the morning, episodes of the Mickey  Mouse Club after school, news and Bonanza at night. Expanding our world by three channels in breath-taking black and white. But sometimes that world had wavy lines and fuzzy reception.

   Then we'd call Bernie. His arrival was met with glee by us kids. Bernie came in with his tool box; one of those large metal kits with pop-up drawers full of tubes and electronic gizmos. He'd pull the set out from the wall and take off the back exposing the wires and doohickies that made the magic. And he'd fix it! He was the Albus Dumbledore of television repair and we adored him. I can only imagine the mountain of patience that man must have had to work with an audience of juvenile fans watching his every move.

   I don't remember the other fix-it guys that populated our world back then, although I'm sure there were many. My dad himself was often called out to repair juke boxes and pool tables (he owned a vending business). But I'm afraid the house-calling repair person has gone the way of the 5 cent fudgcycle and the milk door.

   When did we stop trying to fix things? When did we give up and start filling our landfills with plastic junk, our lives with black and white ideas and doomsday despair? Where are the Bernies of the world to connect a wire here, replace a tube there, and give us clear reception, at least for a time. We have to believe that what is broken can be fixed; it's not impossible. Bernie would tell us that.

Home is where the cookies are

The best thing about our new Lick Skillet kitchen was the curtains, which the sellers had generously left behind.

A Rasely make-over was indicated; that meant more shelving, a warmer color, more shelving, propane stove, more shelving, a new light and faucet, and did I mention more shelving?

Here's the kitchen in the real estate ad:

We did the simple things first. Replaced the leaky faucet: expensive (everything was so corroded we had to get a plumber in) but easy. Moved the too large and old fridge out to the garage and brought in our smaller one from New York and we placed it on the same wall as the stove.

The light over the sink was florescent and didn't work right. It was one of those "simple" jobs that took all afternoon and left us both with aches and pains but we did get it done.

We had new gas lines run and installed our small, basic propane stove; I much prefer the control you have with a gas stove.

The walls were white and badly in need of a paint job. I decided to go with a creamy white--helping me look forward to the day we get goats again and have rich, fresh milk! In addition to painting the walls, I also painted the cabinets and added handles,

painted the shelves we built,

and the freestanding cabinet we found in the garage, plus the in-wall shelf. 

At Woodchuck Acres, we had a separate pantry, here all the shelves are in the kitchen so I can see at a glance what stores I have at hand.

I'd still like to replace the table with a rectangular farm table and do something about the floor. But we're happy with the changes and it feels more like home--complete with cookies in the cookie jar.

Thanks for nothing!

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for nothing.

Specifically, the nothing that is this hole.

We needed to plant some posts for raspberry and grape trellises. This involved digging 4 holes. And we did it!!!

This may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but anyone who has lived in McDonough, NY will understand that being able to really and truly dig INTO the ground with a shovel is a rare thrill.

And so this Thanksgiving, I am full of gratitude for these fenceposts set in dirt-surrounded nothing.