The dishwasher gamble that turned sour

We should have known better. Five days ago I wrote that the dishwasher we originally ordered wouldn’t fit in our kitchen and thus went back to the shop we bought it from. Then we quickly decided to order another one, to be delivered a week from now. The gamble we took was to order a ‘second chance’ model instead of a new one. That gamble turned sour, but not for the reason I thought it was a gamble (that it was previously repaired). The Man noticed that the credit card was still not credited for the new order and called customer service. It turned out that the entire order, including the appointment for installation, was cancelled without noticing us. We could have been waiting all week, expecting a new dishwasher next Saturday, for nothing. When on the phone the employee offered to place a new order “and that can be delivered tomorrow”. With that promise he forgot that the delay is in the installation. Two weeks, maybe even longer, to make an appointment for that.

Of course we were livid. The Man send a very lengthy e-mail to customer service this afternoon and as I’m writing this we’re waiting for their response.

Considering the shortage in dishwashers, I didn’t wait for the company to come up with a solution. Their own stock is even lower than when we first ordered, three weeks ago. I checked their site but they have absolutely no model left that fits our kitchen. Acting quickly is key, so again I scoured the web for dishwashers. It really feels like a scavenger hunt by now. I ended up with a company in Dokkum, way up north, that has one Siemens model on stock that suits us. We even called the shop, just before closing hours, to make sure our kitchen panel will indeed fit. They don’t do installation, but I’d rather have a machine and find a local professional to pay for the installation (or even try installing it myself!) than end up without a new dishwasher for many more weeks. We placed our order and now we have to wait and see if indeed this dishwasher can and will be delivered soon. Fingers crossed!

Door |2021-06-18T18:28:04+02:0018 juni 2021|flow|1 Reactie
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Quarantinology

Though talking from the viewpoint of the US, I really enjoyed listening to Allie Ward’s episode Quarantinology. Covid-19 regulations are being lifted, now what? Ward talked to several researchers covering the history of quarantine, what to expect in the near future regarding infection rates and how to deal with settling in to our new lives. Indeed, we’re not getting back to normal. Normal is dead, according to Cole Imperi. Imperi also talks about ‘shadow losses’, things we lost during the pandemic, and our need to grief for them. That part really made sense to me. I highly recommend listening to this episode of Alli Ward’s excellent show.

Door |2021-06-16T22:06:39+02:0016 juni 2021|flow|0 Reacties
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No dishwasher (yet)

Still doing the dishes by hand today. It did get delivered, but the installer immediately saw a problem. The panel attached to the dishwasher door is split in two, therefore the model we choose (on which the panels slide over de machine’s door) is unsuitable for our kitchen. Very frustrating when you realise how much research I already did to find a model that to fit in our kitchen. The global supply of new dishwashers is drying up due to slow deliveries due to the pandemic and shortage of microchips. When I first ordered a dishwasher, my preferred model was on stock and two mouse clicks later was out of stock. I suspect all the machines were bought by a kitchen selling company, whom I’ve heard also struggle to stock enough electronic devices for their customers. So today we had to make a quick decision to order a different type of dishwasher. We switched from AEG to Siemens (a bit more expensive) and settled for a model lacking the feature of opening the door after finishing a wash cycle. At least this one was in stock. Could be delivered tomorrow, however we don’t want to install it ourselves so we have to wait another two weeks before the machine gets installed. Another two weeks of doing the dishes by hand. Annoying, but we’ll survive.

One interesting turn of events. The Man discovered our preferred model became available as a ‘second chance’ model. It was returned and repaired and ready for sale. We decided to take a chance and swop the order for this model, since it ticks all the boxes we were looking at the beginning. Fingers crossed our gamble pays of in the long run (as in the repaired model will turn out not to be a faulty model).

Next episode in two weeks!

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P.S.: the installers didn’t come for nothing. We ordered a new fridge at the same time. That one is quietly doing its work while I’m typing this. This kitchen upgrade makes the Man happy since he was the one mopping water from the bottom of the fridge the past few weeks. We should have replaced that old beast four years ago when we moved in, but it was sort of doing its job and expensive to replace. And also needed solving of the bottom plank puzzle.

Door |2021-06-13T21:40:37+02:0013 juni 2021|deze dag|1 Reactie
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Covid Confessions: first shot!

I got vaccinated today. I went to Utrecht Jaarbeurs, one of the largest locations to get vaccinated in the country. It’s used for big expo’s and conferences, so all in all I walked about 1,5 kilometres from the parking lot to the needle, via the waiting room (the mandatory 15 minutes) and back. I never had to wait in line, though. My pink dot meant I was selected to receive Moderna.

Getting my first shot really feels like progress. Many others get their vaccines as well and new cases have plummeted the past few weeks. More things are allowed again and though I’m still cautious (last week three classes in Daughter’s school had to quarantine) I arranged a visit to the Nijntje (Miffy) museum (also in Utrecht) for the three of us to celebrate this small yet significant step.

So we had our own small vaccination party today. It was a wonderful day.

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Door |2021-06-12T22:18:47+02:0012 juni 2021|deze dag|0 Reacties
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Unexpected observation: belts are annoying

Since Fall 2020 I haven’t had that many occasions where I had to pay attention to what I’m wearing. As I spend most of my days sitting at my desk while watching my computer screen, especially since starting my course at Techionista Academy, I prefer to wear loose-fit trousers. Not the sporty kind or the pyjama kind, but nicely designed trousers with an elastic band and soft fabric. For months, the only reason to go outside was to go for a walk and for the larger part I did that at the end of the afternoon when it was already dark. So wearing my loose-fit pants outside was perfectly fine.

The past few weeks I slowly came out of hibernation mode (as Spring just keeps disappointing me). I went shopping on two or three occasions, a good excuse to wear more regular ‘can be seen in this by strangers’-trousers. And yesterday I had to ‘dress up’ for a visit to the exam centre in my home town.

In contrast to many people I didn’t gain corona kilo’s, I lost a few. The consequence is that my preferred pair of trousers for such occasions now require a belt. And after not wearing trousers requiring belts for many months, for the first time in my life I noticed how annoying belts actually are when in desperate need to pull down your trousers for a toilet visit.

Door |2021-05-21T10:13:23+02:0021 mei 2021|flow|0 Reacties
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Birthday cake

We celebrated the Man’s birthday today. Daughter felt it wasn’t enough of a party. Too little play. That’s how things go when you had more than fifty of them, can’t invite people over due to a pandemic and have your birthday on a day full of work. Promises were made to play more tomorrow. It’s yet another national holiday (Hemelvaart), so clients are not at work anyway.

I will not play tomorrow. I will study hard for my Power BI exam next week. Luckily I restocked my sugar levels today. Plenty of energy to keep the brain motor running 😉

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Door |2021-05-12T23:41:06+02:0012 mei 2021|deze dag|0 Reacties
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