Friday, August 7th, 2020
I am late writing this today as Fridays, like Saturdays, are becoming structurally busy. The routine of an afternoon sail followed by a swim, means I do not get home until 20:15, which is when I start my news review. By the time I get to sit down and write it is rather late.
Today was a perfect day to be out on the water, not to hot a few clouds here and there, but most importantly we had a wonderful breeze - 7 knots. We zip back and forth between Belle Haven in Virginia and the National Harbor in Maryland. The waters were a little choppy, boat cranked , the sails heaved and evry now and then water splashed over the rump. It was all smooth sailing until the wringe on the main snapped. As a result the last hour the rope was cutting my hand, as I could no longer clamp it. We had a lot of fun anyway and got back in time for EM to join a Zoom and take her unit tests for Pre Calc. Only one more unit for her to complete. I am very proud of her diligence with this summer class. Overall she is managing very well. She has started an exercise regime following an online class that she does every morning to strengthen the core and abs and keep the weight in check. While we have always eaten healthy, she has now developed her own dietary regime, a lesson for life. This crisis is going to make this generation so much stronger, so much more independant and more disciplined.
She had been on an outing to Sugar Loaf Mountain with an undisclosed person during the day (masked in the car, windows open, socially distanced). I wonder if this may be a potential boyfriend – she just told me she went hiking with a friend and was rather secretive, a first. How I would wish she finds a special someone during these terrible times. In German “I am going to meet a friend” would of course not work as the word for friend changes with the gender. Very impatient for her to disclose what is going on!
She knows that I am very open minded about these things and normally she shares everything. Afterall, when the addition to the house and her new bedroom were finished, I bought a twin bed for her, just in case there may be a boyfriend staying over at some point. From my own teenage years I know full well that parents can prevent nothing, so I much rather whatever happens, happens in a safe environment.
While the afternoon was super pleasant, the morning started with a major disappointment resulting in a complete melt down that had me sobbing on the phone. And it takes a LOT to get me to such a point.
A while back I shared that the GE wall oven, I had procured in early November, has packed up for the third time in nine months. I had scheduled a service appointment online two weeks ago and the people were supposed to come today. Well, they did not. Of I went to call the number on the service confirmation. I spend 15 minutes with some stupid automated voice response system. When I finally managed to speak to a human and told her the entire misery of this appliance, she had the grace to look into the matter, just to inform me the service had been cancelled on August 3rd, 2020 because I had not called the external service provider. The service confirmation clearly states that the GE call center will call 24 hours before the service to reconfirm. Nowhere does it say I need to call anyone!
The next available service date is August 19th, which caused me to break down in despair. Of course, there was nothing she could do but transfer me to customer service. 45 minutes on hold! Some customer service that is I must say! The process is clearly designed to discourage anyone from seeking any help whatsoever.
Once I spoke to that person, she said a GE technician could show up on August 13th, but that they would repair not replace the unit. I explained that out of nine months this appliance has not been functioning for three so far and I was being set up for at least one more months without a functioning oven. I am sure the technician will find it either needs a part or cannot be repaired. This will of course lead to another process where a replacement or the part is ordered. Based on my experience from May this takes about four weeks. Once the pieces have arrived, it is another two-week wait for someone to actually show up and do the repair or replacement. The latter is of course what I would want given I have clearly been settled with a piece of junk. It has been an unbelievable experience and a huge waste of time. No wonder GE is not doing well. They should go under hook, line and sinker!
After this very frustrating experience I called Bray & Scarf where I had bought this lemon. The reason for buying with an established vendor had at the time of course been to not have to deal with the GE’s of this world. Naively I had thought that a reputable appliances firm selling various brands would be there to help me if things were not working. Well, far from. So far they have washed their hands of any responsibility and always referred me to the useless people at GE.
Somehow, I managed to get the store manager on the line and I did the woman thing – in tears I explained the entire miserable history. How the appliance had imploded after 20 days, to be repaired within three weeks, how then the convection fan had packed up three months later and due to the pandemic had taken two months to get repaired and how less than four weeks after that the touch panel had died. I cried about being without an oven for more than three months over a period of nine months and how we could not bake for the homeless anymore. How left alone I felt and how utterly unhelpful Bray & Scarf had been to date and how I was never going to be their customer again – big sob. The result: Bray & Scarf will send a technician on Monday between 8 - 12:00! Here is hoping that this person will show up and that a replacement will be in place by this time next week.
Seeing we are hosting our Turkish-German friends for a socially distance Georgian dinner in our garden that would be more than timely. Otherwise I will need to find somewhere else to bake the Hachapuri. Meanwhile the dough EM made to bake cookies for the homeless is languishing in the fridge.
News in the USA is still disconcerting. From the elections to the Virus there is no positive news to be found. Global infections today are at 19.3million and the USA accounts for 5.08million of those. And now that vaccine testing enters phase 3 trials for a number of companies, but first and foremost the company preferred by the administration, Moderna, cost for a shot are being discussed. Unbelievable, but true, the administration gave millions of dollars without price agreements to firms like Moderna, who are already figuring out how to make significant profits of taxpayers. This is not only unethical, but also reveals the complete incompetency of the administration!
Even with a vaccine our society and way of life will be impacted for a very long time to come. It is highly unlikely that life will go back to how we knew it. This is probably realistic, but very sad. Theaters, concerts, sports events, any gatherings of many people will not come back for years, if ever, as the Virus is here to stay. I cannot help but wonder if Dojos can reopen in coming years; a devasting thought if they cannot. Already many dojos are closing their doors permanently. Just as I have found this new passion, it comes to a rather abrupt end. At least we have the outdoor weapons classes. I am dreading winter. How will that play out I wonder? Given DC winters are mostly dry, we should be able to practice, if we all dress warmly. We just need to figure out how to deal with the darkness.