Dell doesn’t get it

Susan and her siblings purchased a new computer for her parents and I volunteered to assemble it for them.  No problem.  In an hour or two I’d be back outside on a spectacularly beautiful Seattle spring Saturday…

About 90 minutes later the new computer was in place, desk dusted, and the hairball of cords and plug strips under the desk untangled and labeled.  Fired it up.

Susan’s folks did not want to learn a new operating system, and the new computer was ordered with Windows XP instead of Vista.  Good choice.  While it booted up I looked over the packing slip from Dell.  Yep, “Microsoft Windows XP SP3 English.”

What an unpleasant surprise to see that POS Vista loading instead of XP.

Where’s the backup media with the downgrade software?  Check the packing slip – there it is.  Check the box – there it isn’t.  Turned out Dell had shipped us four separate FedEx envelopes, and each one contained this letter:

Dear Valued Customer,

You recently placed an order for a Dell system and we inadvertently shipped that system to you without the Windows XP SP3 Backup software media.

Your Windows XP SP3 Backup software media is enclosed in this package.

Your new computer was delivered to you with Microsoft Windows XP operating system already installed, so you do not need to install this software on your new system at this time.  However, please keep this media in a safe place in case you need to reinstall the operating system on your computer in the future.

For any technical questions with your new order, you can visit our support center by going to SupportDell.com.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and sincerely hope you enjoy your purchase.

Best regards,

Dell

Thank you, Dell.  A couple of questions:  If this computer was shipped with XP already installed, why did it load Vista?  And “in case I need to reinstall the operating system,” I’d need backup media with the software, the drivers, service packs, and utilities (four different CDs), and not four identical CDs like Dell shipped.  With no instructions.  Hmmm.  I don’t think I can overwrite Vista just by running this one XP CD, can I?  [Several attempts.]  No, I cannot.

Called Dell Technical Support and eventually reached Abhai in New Delhi, where it was 45 degrees centigrade (113 Farenheit).  He was extremely helpful and courteous, and we spent more than two hours on the phone uninstalling Vista and installing a downloaded version of XP.  Also downloaded a bunch of needed drivers onto a CD on the new machine, but I’d already been at this for six hours, and had to leave for a wedding before installing them.  That should be easy to do later.

It wasn’t.  The new computer wouldn’t read the CD with the drivers.  Thankfully Abhai had ordered a complete set of the backup media sent to me, so got the drivers installed a couple days later.  Seemed like I was making some progress until I tried to move files over from the old computer, and the file transfer utility in Windows crashed repeatedly.

My inexhaustible supply of patience exhausted, I put the new computer in a cantaloupe box and schlepped it back to Costco for a refund.  When I politely mentioned that I already had more than ten aggravating hours into this failed installation, they didn’t ask any questions.

I went back to my in-laws’ place and set up their old computer.  With the exception of a larger monitor they’d purchased (and the dusted desk and untangled cords), we’re back where we started more than two weeks ago with nothing to show for it.  *Sigh*

Since the Costco refund went back on my card, I ordered the identical system again.  I know – that’s the definition of insanity.  I hoped (and tried and tried and tried) to find someone at Dell who could get my order expedited.  So far so bad.  A couple more long phone calls, multiple transfers, disconnects, and the words customers love to hear, “We can’t do that.” After arguing with me on the phone (another thing customers love), a ‘customer care’ representative told me he was transferring my call to his supervisor.  He left me on hold for 20 minutes (I was fixing dinner) before I hung up.  What a lousy way to run a business.

A note for the folks at Dell:  Just because you’re a big company doesn’t mean that you can get away with building and shipping inferior merchandise, delivering crappy service, and ignoring your customers.  Ask General Motors.  We have one Dell computer at home, but it’s very, very unlikely that we’ll ever buy another one.  If you’re thinking about buying equipment from Dell, please let me know.

Cabin fever

During these snowy days we’ve taken some nice walks, played games, watched movies, checked in with neighbors, done some reading, cleaned up and put stuff away.  Susan and a neighbor walked to the library and back.  I shoveled snow off of an older neighbor’s skylights so they don’t leak or collapse under the weight of wet snow.

I like the snow.  Like being out in it, then being cozy and warm in the house.  Like the fact that we didn’t drive anywhere for three days.  But Susan’s been feeling a little ‘cooped up’ with a mild case of cabin fever.

When I think of cabin fever, I think of two scenarios involving lots of snow:  1) Kathy Bates ‘taking care of’ James Caan after his car goes off the road in a blizzard in Misery;  and 2) Jack Nicholson chopping his way through hotel room doors (“Heeeere’s JOHNNY!”) in The Shining.

So when Susan complains of cabin fever, I get nervous.

Fortunately, so far she’s done things like clean the inside of our medicine cabinet (it’s beautiful), go after grout stains with a bleach pen (dazzling), organize the sewing cupboard (much more useful now), and wipe down the windows that still have aluminum frames (they need it).  But the other night the knitting needles came out and she started “working on a hat.”  Susan doesn’t do much knitting, and this seemed a little ominous.

I’d better get going on some spackling and sanding that needs to be finished.  In the meantime, the axes and sledgehammers will stay hidden until after the snow melts.  And I’m keeping an eye on those knitting needles.

In and out of hot water, part 2

I understand the concept of a straight line, but I have yet to meet one.  Sure, a reasonably straight line can be painted on a highway, but the notion that one’s life moves from Point A to Point B in a straight line…  come on!

Any do-it-yourselfer knows what I’m talking about.  I’m a fairly handy guy, and figured that replacing our dishwasher a while back would take about two hours.  I allowed four.  Our house was built in the 1950s, so of course there would be a couple of trips to the hardware store.  But funky supply and drain lines and a hard-to-access corner installation required five trips to McLendon (the hardware store) and fourteen hours of DIY labor.  I was foolish enough to declare that my third trip to McLendon would be the last, setting myself up to be the “butt” of some plumbing department “cracks.”  Didn’t see a single straight line on that project.

Which brings me back to the current hot water heater installation.  We’re on Day 4 without running hot water, which is a little bit like camping in the house – heating water in the tea kettle for sponge baths and washing hair in the sink.

I got the pretty new water heater installed and plumbed and filled with water all by myself and with no leaks.  Sometimes I amaze myself.  However, the junction box that I ass-u-me’d had the wiring to connect it to power turned out to be something else.  It’s all very complicated – switching from electric to gas when we first moved in, circuits dedicated to other purposes when we added on to the house, having to rearrange the circuit breaker panel.

Before discovering we’d need an electrician, I called McLendon’s electrical department to ask how to determine if the wiring in the boiler room was live.  After explaining how to do it, the guy told me, “Be very careful.  It only takes two amps to kill ya, and you’ve got 30.”  That had a chilling effect on my DIY ardor.

The electrician should be here soon.

In and out of hot water, part 1

Where was that dripping sound coming from, anyway?  And why was the boiler cycling on and off so frequently?

As soon as I stepped into the boiler room in my socks, I knew I was in hot water – about a half-inch of it on the floor.  More was gurgling from a couple of the pipes criss-crossing the space.  Not knowing which valve did what, I just shut off the water to the whole house and did what any thinking man would do:  I called my wife.

Of course Susan was sympathetic and empathetic and ready to be helpful.  I mostly needed to let somebody know what was going on and hear some reassurance to smooth my ruffled feathers.  Mission accomplished.

By the time I got out some old towels, the carpeting in the rooms on either side of the boiler room had already soaked up a surprising amount of water.  Wet, squishy carpet is one of my least favorite things; can’t think of a single instance in which it means something good.

Okay – now I’ll call someone who can figure out what caused this mess.  No need to call Rossoe Energy Systems, original installers of the boiler and indirect hot water tank.  Every other company that’s subsequently serviced or repaired our system has shown us evidence that Rossoe really didn’t know what they were doing.  Color me ‘dissatisfied customer.’

A guy from Evan Conklin Plumbing & Heating was here less than 90 minutes after I called, and boy, was he great.  Friendly and knowledgeable, he diagnosed the problem quickly, explained what had happened, and left me with several helpful suggestions.

The boiler heats our baseboard radiators as well as our domestic hot water.  I was worried that we’d lost both heat and hot water just as a cold front may keep us below freezing for the next few days.  Thankfully heat for the house was not affected.

So I’m off to do some Christmas shopping – for a new hot water heater.  It wasn’t on my list, and I was laid off November 30, so the timing’s not great.  But as a neighbor who serves at a local food bank just reminded me, we have everything we need and more.  Time for us to get our butts over to that food bank and help out.

Out with the old, in with the old

The day after Thanksgiving was quiet, rainy and cool.  The kids were doing their own things, so Susan and I decided to go through filing cabinets and see what we could get rid of.

We dug out bank statements, maintenance records for cars we no longer own, outdated insurance policies, old Daytimers (saving occasional pages), twenty year-old paystubs, lecture notes from college courses that we haven’t looked at for 30 years, old travel brochures, purchase and sale documents from our first house, newspaper and magazine articles on long-dead topics, receipts, prospecti, letters from old girlfriends, certificates of recognition, and yada yada yada.

Most of this crap could be recycled, and we filled our giant recycling tote so full I could barely roll it out to the street.  We completely emptied one four-drawer filing cabinet and made more room in the remaining two.  The cool, damp weather was perfect for burning stacks of old financial records in the woodstove.  Though I felt like a fireman shoveling coal into a locomotive’s boiler, it was great getting rid of unnecessary stuff and heating the house for two days.

When I get on an organizing roll, it can be hard to stop.  Since the juices were flowing, I undertook the transformation of the downstairs [w]rec[k] room into a space for the kids (15 and 13) to use with their friends.  Moved remaining filing cabinets from middle of wall to far end.  Removed two six-foot tables.  Cleared out more boxes of paperwork.  Admitted that I’m never going to reupholster the orange naugahyde chair that’s ripped open and losing half of its stuffing.  Gave away games and stuffed animals the kids no longer want.  Brought in a basket chair scavenged from some friends.  Moved in the blue hide-a-bed that happens to match the basket chair.  Moved the writing desk to a more useful spot.  Brought down the TV and got the Wii out of our bedroom.  Relocated some lamps so the room is more softly lit.  Vacuumed up dead spiders.

We didn’t have to buy a thing to make the rec room so much more comfortable and inviting.  It’s a great place to hang out.  Zack told us that now he could invite his friends over more often.  We’re less likely to be banned from the living room or have our bedroom taken over when kids watch a movie or play Wii.  Clearing out paperwork and better organizing our living space made us all feel just a little more grown up.  I’d have to call that a win-win.

Text Messaging: Parents vs. Reality

Lauren will be 15 in a couple of months. We gave her a cell phone when she turned 13 and she’s been good about managing it. That first month was a shocker when she had to pay $100 for exceeding the minutes on our plan; she thought we only paid for outgoing calls and that all incoming stuff was free.  No overage charges since.

Call me a fuddy duddy (OK, that’s enough), but I thought that a cell phone would do the trick for keeping in touch with family and friends. That is to say, why would we need text messaging, too?

Inspiration and gardening

Spent a little time working in the garden between rain squalls, hailstorms, and snow flurries on recent weekends. We had a big load of compost delivered that we’ve gradually spread around and used to fill in holes in the rockery. Susan has planted onions, beets, and snow peas so far, and that hardy chard kept going all winter. But in my mind the main reason for a garden is tomatoes,