Don't Buy Sears Appliances

It's been almost 2 weeks now without a fridge. Oh, did I forget to mention that? I would like to advise everyone NOT to buy appliances at Sears Canada. We have had nothing but headaches dealing with their customer service and deliveries. Back in August, we had our brand new stainless steel Kenmore Pro line fridge ($3000 +) delivered late after waiting one full day (7am - 5pm as the time frame was specified). After many calls to distribution and them having no way to contact their driver, nobody had a clue where the fridge was by 8:30pm that evening. We finally got delivery the next afternoon after again being given a day-long delivery window.

So a short while ago, the fridge suddenly started losing it's cooling effects, so we assumed the compressor had gone. Again, I called Sears service early that morning and was given a service call date of 3 days later - with again a day long time window. Late that night, a service guy came by, had a quick look at the fridge, told us it wasn't the compressor but was most likely a freon leakage internally. Well, now we knew we had trouble. Trying to get Sears to replace this fridge was about to be the newest challenge.

The service guy was supposed to file a report stating that fixing the problem would just be too huge a problem. We had to call Sears customer service countless times to report this. They had no notice of any report. We then went back and forth between the service guy and Sears' service department. Everyone kept blowing off our problem, stating they would 'call us back.' Ya, right! Finally, after my husband called the Sears store multiple times where we bought the fridge, and hunted down the manager, we managed to get them to reluctantly replace the fridge. We are now still waiting for the delivery date - and the famous day long delivery window. My hubby is taking the day off this time, just to ensure we receive delivery. We'll see about this.

My advice after all our headaches is DON'T BUY APPLIANCES FROM SEARS!

Sunsets

We have the most incredible sunsets here. Tonight was another example of Mother Nature's creative glory. For a brief span of about 7 minutes the sky changed from a brilliant crimson to a palette streaked with mauves, magentas and pale blues. With the forest as its audience, the sky kept up its movement with quick new brushstrokes of darkening colors. And after a dark, gloomy day this was a smile from the cosmos that was most welcomed.

Rainy Morning

It is a dark, rainy morning. All I feel like doing is crawling back into bed. The compressor on our relatively 'new' fridge has blown and the freezer is not working now. So a call to Sears needs to be made. I wonder how long that will take to get fixed.

Tired

Well I'm just plain tired tonight. After working, pickup up my son, a drop in to the grocery store and a drive home I decided I was going to make manicotti tonight. Being that I've never made it before I got a recipe off the internet. It took quite a while to prepare. I was expecting something more exciting than how it came out. I think it would have been better had I done the spinach/ricotta type instead of a beef and cheese one. I'd made chili last night which was great. My son, for the first time in ages actually gobbled up his dinner (sans complaints) and complimented me on how good it was. That was a unique thrill. After school he wanted some more chili (which he had) to tie him over. By the time the manicotti was ready, his stomach was not. Oh well, he didn't miss too much. I'm looking forward to a good sleep tonight. Hopefully Caesar won't cry downstairs and my son won't holler for me (as he usually does) sometime around 4am. We'll see.

Pringles Select

I am totally hooked on a new snack product. Being that I am a marketer's dream, if I see something new at the grocery store, I usually try it. My new favorite thing is Pringles Select (4 new varieties of chips). They have BBQ Sechezuan, Parmesan Garlic, Cinnamon Sweet Potato and Sundried Tomato Basil. Personally, I love the zesty zip of the BBQ Sechezuan ones. And apparently many others do to because every time I run out to get another bag, the shelves tend to be bare. If you haven't tried them, you should because they are way better than conventional potato chips. Not greasy. Just light, crisp yumminess.

Big Dipper

Tonight I showed my son the Big Dipper amongst other beautiful constellations in the dark sky that blankets our little world. We suddenly heard the forlorn howling of coyotes. Once the dogs noticed, it was time to run them inside. I always worry about them wandering around at night and what might rush out of the woods. My son was thrilled to discover the most amazing echo with his voice. I think because we are sandwiched between so many hills, the sound has a unique way of travelling. For the first time ever, we heard true echoes that reverberated a good three or four times. The fog is now rolling in amongst the silent, cool air. And the cows (we think) are mooing from afar.

Thanksgiving

It was a quiet, simple Thanksgiving weekend. We cooked a 14lb turkey yesterday (which came out moist and delicious), along with Parmesan mashed potatoes, carrots, peas and turnip. I decided to bake an apple cobbler from a new recipe. It was really good. Some vanilla ice cream would have made it even better. I was going to make apple crisp but realized I had no oats at the last minute. That's so me! All those delicious, crisp apples we picked last weekend are really coming in handy for a variety of dishes. Ontario apples at this time of year are the best. Honeycrisp variety is my favorite.

So today was just like a summer day. Hot, humid and sunny. My son and I did a lot of trekking around and took some great fall leaf pictures. The dogs wore themselves out running up and down the woodsy hills. Last night, Dixie managed to chase a flock of wild turkeys out of the trees. We have loads of small frogs and an abundance of woolly caterpillars. Most of them have really big brown middles and smaller black ends...I'm wondering what the winter weather prediction is for that.

Pulled in all Directions

It's been a while since I've last written. I've been meaning to (how cliche) but have just been procrastinating...my new best friend since this move of ours. Basically I've been having difficulty trying to balance a new job and home life. Constantly being pulled in all directions and not completing or pleasing any of them. I digress from my whining now...so yesterday was a classic black cloud day. I'm thinking that Murphy actually wants to get to know me really well lately. I woke up a bit late, strangely enough being that my husband was out of town. I went downstairs, noticed the loo needed a flush and instead of relieving itself, it decided to overflow. I've never actually seen that happen before. So as I went to get the mop from the furnace room, I stepped into about an inch of what else, liquid backup from our septic. The day was not looking good at this point. I did manage to get some help to come over but by the time they left, I was now running late at dropping my son at school. We frantically drove off in the windy mist of Tuesday morning and got to school a half hour late. A few tears and hugs later, my boy was off to class and I was darting back home for a quick bite and change and drive to work.

Upon arriving home the air had a foul odour (which I equated to the flooding downstairs). Wrong. It was actually fresh leftovers from my Westie there in all its glory to welcome me in. As for work, it was strictly headaches and problems. I just wanted to go home and sleep at this point. But no, there were still more challenges ahead for me. After picking up my son, driving home, letting the dogs run around, tidy up all the dusty footprints and burrs from outside that are constantly dragged inside, I thought I might have a moment to sit. My husband walked in from his trip just as my son wandered up to me to tell me that he'd just spilled black shoe polish on my favorite fabric chaise. At this point, I lost my faculties. I'd had enough. And that is definitely more than enough headaches for one day.