Random help

[Fushigi]

Update on my dishwasher saga: As of July 17 (last Friday) we hadn't received credit for the canceled order so we went back to the store with paperwork in hand. Turns out the original order was never properly canceled. :errr: So it was canceled that evening and I got my (nearly) $1200 back yesterday. The sales dude said the refund delay is actually on Visa's end and not Sears. I don't know if I believe him or not but I could live with it.

Still waiting on the $50 gift card we're supposed to receive for our troubles. :frusty:

In the mean time, I'm on the Sears email list for sale notifications and whatnot. Have been for a while now. I got an email last Friday with a notice that all Kenmore Elite appliances are 20% off. I check and sure enough, the dishwasher is $49 cheaper. So while we got he original order properly canceled we also used the price match to get another $49 credited back. That credit also hit yesterday.

And our :cat: is curious about the sounds the DW makes. She stares at it and tries to paw at the area around the kick-plate. Funny to watch.

 

[udaman]

Ok, so say I wanted to visit Tokyo for a week to eat at a Michelin 3*/similar high-end sushi restaurant/blowfish. Right now, air fares could not be cheaper (not right this week mind you, it's tropical rainy season in that area, hot N humid-yuck) with worldwide recession.

I can get a direct, non-stop to Tokyo from LA as low as $660 RT...but

What if I wanted to take a gauntlet, maniacal trip to say Tokyo, Seoul, & Hong Kong? Maybe one week is too hetic, wouldn't leave enough time, maybe one full night in each city . Ok, so how about 2wk vacation to all 3?

Well I can't use *any* fare compare service to get me a air/hotel package as they only work on a single destination . I can get a multi-destination airfare quote from travelocity...but am I saving? Then I do a check and see the fare from Tokyo to HK is *higher* than from Tokyo to LA (RT)...wtf?

If you search, you can get semi-reasonable one way fares, but you have to go from the correct city to the correct city. IE can't go from Tokyo to HK, need to go TKO to Seoul, then to HK, or some permutation of that. it's a PITa to figure out, and no hotel discounting for a "package" Well it is a good deal if you don't mind extra stop, non-stop tends to run $400 higher, when you can find it. Then there's business class (I don't have any meaningful frequent flyer miles, don't spend enough with CC to use one of those) for only $4-6k, and 1st class to HK - LAX is only $40k! (guess that's what Mel Gibson pays the big bucks for?)

random post^

 

[Fushigi]

uda's on my ignore list so I've no idea what he posted.

Anyway, a minor footnote to my saga. My employer has Whirlpool as a client. Just an hour or so ago I get our daily corporate email and it notes that our discount on Whirlpool equipment has been extended from just employees working on the account (not me) to all company employees. The Whirlpool equivalent of my Kenmore Elite is in the program and the discount is large. Large enough that I could have saved at least another $100 buying it through the Kenmore program v. Sears even after sales tax (Kenmore delivers but doesn't install).

Grumble, grumble. So I could have saved some nice cash and lots of aggravation by installing it myself if the discount announcement had come out a couple of weeks ago. I won't complain about the money; I was content enough with the Sears price. But the aggravation I could have lived without.

Whirlpool, BTW, includes KitchenAid, JennAir, Amana, and other brands. The discount is quite good. This grill, for instance, is about $800 cheaper than the prices listed. KitchenAid's MSRP is $3600; my discounted price is $2222.

 

[timwhit]

This grill, for instance, is about $800 cheaper than the prices listed. KitchenAid's MSRP is $3600; my discounted price is $2222.

That grill costs about 10x what I paid for my grill. I wonder if it makes meat taste better?

 

[ddrueding]

Using my grill about 3 times a week.

 

[Fushigi]

Just an example. My Charbroil grill is 10+ years old and cost about $225 at the time. I think my wife would be cooking my carcass on the grill if I spent two grand on it.

 

[ddrueding]

I was allowed to spend $2k (at the cost of something else of course), but several of my friends don't have grills, so I wanted something portable.

 

[timwhit]

I was allowed to spend $2k

Of course you were...

 

[CougTek]

My grill cost 80$, is portable, works with 2x AA batteries for up to a day and a half, supplies 20000 BTU and uses almost anything organic for fuel. One pan at a time thought.

 

[timwhit]

My grill cost 80$, is portable, works with 2x AA batteries for up to a day and a half, supplies 20000 BTU and uses almost anything organic for fuel. One pan at a time thought.

Will it run on human waste?

 

[Stereodude]

My grill cost 80$, is portable, works with 2x AA batteries for up to a day and a half, supplies 20000 BTU and uses almost anything organic for fuel. One pan at a time thought.

That's not a grill. That's a survival stove.

 

[Stereodude]

Will it run on human waste?

Do you really want to smell burning human waste (assuming it burns)? ale:

 

[timwhit]

Do you really want to smell burning human waste (assuming it burns)? ale:

I see no reason it wouldn't burn. I'd bear it in a survival situation.

 

[mubs]

What on earth do the 2xAA batteries do?

 

[timwhit]

What on earth do the 2xAA batteries do?

I would guess it starts the fire.

 

[ddrueding]

I've noticed that geeks tend to be geeks, and it doesn't matter that much what the subject is. As a geek, I tend to pick a subject and just dive in. The more I know about a subject, the more interesting the smaller details are; cars, carrier-grade wireless gear, washers, or the upcoming release of MTG2010 (the removal of mana-burn will be awesome for my favorite mechanics).

 

[CougTek]

Will it run on human waste?

From the page I linked :

The Vital Stove is environmentally friendly and gives you complete freedom of action since it can use any dry biological material as a source of fuel: Pieces of wood, ecologic log, paper, cardboard, twigs, straw, natural fibers, animal dung, charcoal and combustible waste

I assume if it can burn waste from animals, it can burn yours too. Just let it dry before. But unless you're in a desert, it would be much easier and cleaner to fill it with small wood pieces and leaves than using it as a crap pot.

Anyway, don't ask me to try it and to post pictures. Won't happen.

 

[Bozo]

In Vietnam we had to pour diesel fuel on human waste to get it to burn.

The smell was indescribable. uke-r:

 

[LunarMist]

That grill costs about 10x what I paid for my grill. I wonder if it makes meat taste better?

It depends on whether you like eating hunks of dead animals or not.

 

[udaman]

It depends on whether you like eating hunks of dead animals or not.

They had this popular TV show in the UK, about a guy who goes around foraging for vegetables and other items along side the roadways of the UK, also dead animals to cook up and eat... 'Roadkill chef' or something like that.

You are a 100% vegan (no dairy or fish/shellfish) then LM, did not know that.

In Vietnam we had to pour diesel fuel on human waste to get it to burn.

The smell was indescribable. uke-r:

Umm, TMI Bozo, guess you 'spared' us the diesel fuel on dead human bodies (napalm for the live ones)?

Hmm, this thread has morphed into a survivalist thread? Nitro flushed, oxygen absorbers, sealed containers of food will usually last decades, after that you'd better have some viable seeds to grow.

 

[time]

<Tosses grenade into growing crowd of vegans>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9SuABGeeb8

Don't worry, it's not graphic, just mildly amusing.

 

[time]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBhdqrdN4zg&NR=1

And another, because I just can't help myself.

 

[mubs]

Hey, what's wrong with being a veg?

 

[udaman]

Hey, what's wrong with being a veg?

Nothing. Or did you insinuate via insulting inuendo that some of us are lazy minded individuals in a 'veg' state of mind, disposition? I'm trying to cut out more fats in my diet, so I can lose some more weight- eat more fruits and vegetables...avocados are not where it's at "(

Didn't see anyone specifically saying there was anything wrong??? Did I miss something. Highest levels of anti-oxidants are in Indian spices, btw. I should use more cinnamon in my weekly meals. Though I kind of think that would ruin the flavor of the TJ's Pesto Pizza

 

[ddrueding]

Hey, what's wrong with being a veg?

Nothing. I put it in the same category as choosing to never have sex.

Silly, pointless, and a sacrifice for no good reason, but you are perfectly welcome to it.

 

[CougTek]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBhdqrdN4zg&NR=1

And another, because I just can't help myself.

I don't understand what the little girl says : "But here it says our...?"

 

[Stereodude]

I can't exactly understand it. It sounds like she's correcting the Latin name he's using.

 

[LunarMist]

Nothing. I put it in the same category as choosing to never have sex.

Silly, pointless, and a sacrifice for no good reason, but you are perfectly welcome to it.

:eek4: It's not at all the same. Maybe you're doing something really weird in bed?

 

[time]

I don't understand what the little girl says : "But here it says our...?"

There's something wrong with the audio in that capture - I found it difficult to understand a few things.

He said "Homo habilis", and she 'corrected' him with "Homo rudolfensis". That in itself is an inside joke.

 

[ddrueding]

:eek4: It's not at all the same. Maybe you're doing something really weird in bed?

Not really. I could have also said those who choose never to read or never to travel. Things all these have in common:

1. Nothing wrong with doing them
2. Some health benefits
3. Many people enjoy them
4. Those who can't dearly miss the opportunity

You are welcome to not participate in any of these, but you would be doing yourself a disservice.

 

[CougTek]

He said "Homo habilis", and she 'corrected' him with "Homo rudolfensis". That in itself is an inside joke.

Thanks. I'm glad to know that my lack of english-listening skills weren't completely in cause.

 

[mubs]

My comment was aimed at Time:

<Tosses grenade into growing crowd of vegans>

DD: You are simplifying things to an extreme degree. Anyway, like politics, this topic won't go anywhere, so I'll refrain from any further comments.

 

[ddrueding]

Not trying to change anyone's mind, mubs, just sharing my opinion

 

[CougTek]

So.... my frontal-door washer decided to die yesterday (for once, I didn't help it) and I'm now in the market for a new one. I have absolutely no money but I'll have to find some before 7 days (that's how much time I have before all my clean clothes end up dirty).

I browsed some local stores and the most interesting I've found so far is the GE GBVH5300KWW. It's not cheapest, although it is relatively inexpensive for a frontal-door washer and it's the most energy-efficient one I've found so far (~142Kwh/year). I can have it for 800$CAN plus 55$ for the shipping.

Anyone here has GE washer or other major appliance and whiling to share their appreciation of the product?

 

[P5-133XL]

In my neck of the woods, there are such things as laundromats. That way you don't have to sacrifice too much coming up with hurried money.

 

[CougTek]

I was originally very tempted by the Samsung WF337AAW that SDBarwick linked with the VRT technology, but they are 1500$CAn here. That's almost twice as much as I'm whiling to spend so that's too rich for my blood. I'll look elsewhere, unfortunately.

 

[CougTek]

There's enough people in Oregon for a laundromat? I'm shocked.

There are none I'm awared off close to where I live. I'm sure my neighboor could help me for one or two weeks, but I'd rather not disturb anyone with my laundry.

 

[Will Rickards]

My washer finally kicked the proverbial bucket... well it vibrated so loud it sounded like thunder. Anyway we bought a samsung with that fancy VRT. Specifically model WF219ANW from sears. We got it for something like $650 US.

It works and is so quiet we only notice the dryer now. Well you notice the water filling sounds. It seems to use quite some force to spray the water.

I don't know anything about GE washers. I think they are whirlpool but not sure. And I think they are fine.

 

[ddrueding]

I'll third Samsung, but I bought the top end ones...I think it was $4kUSD for the pair. They are right next to the bedroom, and we can't hear them at all.

 

[Fushigi]

The Whirlpool machines are good, but like DD I bought a higher end unit (though not that expensive .. a bit over $1000 when we got it). Ours is the top-load equivalent of a front loader (no spindle to speak of), very energy efficient, uses HE detergent, etc. It's also the Sears Kenmore rebadge, but that doesn't really matter.

My employer has Whirlpool as a client so we now get anything they make at a huge supplier discount (like 30%).

I don't have any experience with GE washers. Our stove is a GE and it's adequate.