Some Things Are Meant to Last.

20 Years ago today, I married my Best Friend, a.k.a My Darling Bride.

Our Anniversary Gathering was last Saturday. An evening made amazing by our Family, and even more amazing by the fact that 3/4 of our Wedding Party were there.

I guess we picked right.

Below is the text of a list I read out to the gathered masses, followed by a dance with M.D.B.

It's just like "The Twelve Days of Christmas", except some numbers are repeated others either exaggerated or lessened, and it doesn't rhyme.

Other than that...

20 Years...

19 Backyard Parties (that I can recall)

18 nights in the doghouse

17 Sleepless nights

16 Birthday Parties Hosted

15 cars

14 Coffee Makers

13 car breakdowns

Dozens of kittens

11 cell phones

10 BBQ’s

9 cats

8 jobs

7 mattresses

6 stoves

6 TV’s

6 computers

5 fridges

4 ½ dogs

4 renovations

4 washers

4 lawnmowers

3 dryers

3 trailers of all types

2 freezers

2 dishwashers

2 couches

2 addresses

2 Offspring

1 Wedding Ring

Some things are meant to last.

Happy Anniversary.

With love,

DJW

no one had even close to 20 years in the pool!

I Don't Want Any NIMBY's Around Here!

You all know what a NIMBY is, right?

NIMBY is an acronym for Not In My Back Yard.

They are the people that don't want a thing built near where they live, regardless of the overall good. You know, things like jails, sewage treatment plants, Meth Clinics, etc.

I've witnessed protests over a group home for the Mentally Challenged. No guff.

Several years ago, when an area Municipality was planning a landfill in a rural area, it bought all the houses around it, and sat on them until the landfill was in place. It then offered them for sale. The purchasers knew full well that their neighbor would be a landfill. No way they could complain then.

I've written about it before.

But this one really gets my goat.

Hydro Generating Stations are a needed item because, well, we use a lot of electricity.

We need to close down the coal fired plants. Coal bad.

Nuclear has stigma.

So the best option is gas fired.

And you build it close to where you need it. Makes sense, right?

A number of years ago, a gas fired plant was proposed for Milton, Ontario, near Toronto and Canada's fastest growing community. Made sense, right?

Well, a bunch of NIMBY's stood up and shouted, signs were put up, politicians called, petetions signed and a general hullabaloo went out.

No, way, not in Milton.

So they built the plant across the road, in Halton Hills. They welcomed the tax money.

I kid you not.

In the picture on the right, the road in the bottom left is the border between the two towns.

Read more here.

Fast forward to a few months ago. (Fast forward to the past? Bear with me...)

During the recent election, NIMBY's in a Mississauga riding badgered the politicians to stop the already started gas fired generating station in thier neighbourhood.

A plant that had already gone through all the approval processes, studies, public consultations and miles of red tape to get it off the ground. That took years.

Well, one of the Candidates that promised to stop the already started construction actually got elected. And the constituents are holding him to his promise.

So a multibillion dollar project is currently sitting almost idle.

Two things remain:

• The need for the plant
• The bill

Its not like moving the piano.

The Government can't just say to the Contractor, "Our bad. We want you to put it over there---->"

Contracts were entered into, and have to be paid, whether it gets built there or not.

And the plant still needs to be built somewhere. And that takes years to set up.

In my mind there are three solutions:

• Cancel the project, move it elsewhere at a cost of several billion dollars to all of the taxpayers
  
• Cancel the project, move it elsewhere and split the cost between all the NIMBY's
• Buy all the NIMBY's houses, and move them elsewhere.
  

The first solution is possible.

The second solution would be karma.

The last solution is probably the most practical, least expensive, and therefore least likely.

DJW

Just don't move the NIMBY's to my neighbourhood.

No Checkers or Wreckers For Me.

Below is a copy of the message I've sent to my cable provider and the 2 major sports networks here...

NASCAR is one of the most popular spectator sports in North America.

This Sunday is the season championship, with only 3 points between the 2 top teams.

I can't watch it.

I can watch Horse Racing, Australian Auto Racing, CFL, NFL and Soccer in 2 languages.

Unless, of course I spend even more money on cable for a bunch more channels I don't watch.

Would TSN or Sportsnet consider NOT carrying the Grey Cup or the Superbowl?

I don't think so.

DJW

TV by satellite is getting more attractive...

Unlike the Other Guys....

..These folks stand by their work!

Back in March I bought a used VW Jetta TDI.

Very used.

Ten years old with 375,000 km on it.

Having done my research on these cars I knew several things; they were reliable, great on fuel, and people who liked them, really liked them. Most of the people selling them were doing so because they had replaced them with a new VW.

A true testament to any car, repeat sales.

Anyway, I got a good deal because of the high mileage. (why don't we call it kilometerage?) The previous owner drove a regular route from Windsor to Montreal on less than a tank of diesel. 900 km.

The first thing I did was have the timing belt and water pump replaced. It was still within my budget, and left me worry free about that major cost.

Then it started.

The service.

It seems VW has a points program ala Air Miles. I received enough points on that first service for a free alignment.

An oil change at my local VW Dealer is about the same price as taking it to one of those in-and-out lube places. And I get a free car wash. I like these guys!

Given the age and usage of Otto (my Jetta's name), some blemishes were to be expected. The paint had peeled on a few spots, but there was no real rust. I fugured I'd just sand it down and spot paint the places.

That was until I found out about the warranty.

A colleague of mine has 4 VW's in her driveway. She told me that there was a 12 year warranty on the paint, and all I had to do was take it to VW to be fixed.

Yeah, right. Two of our previous vehicles had some parts with 'lifetime' warranties which to that manufacturer meant 10 years. A twelve year warranty on paint? For the second owner?

I say again; yeah, right.

So anyway, the next time I had Otto in for an oil change, I asked about the paint.

"Yes, we have a 12 year warranty," was the reply.

"No poop?" I was agog.

"No poop. Let the Service Manager have a look and we'll see what we can do."

So the S.M. comes out with a little gauge and looks at my car. A few spots had been painted before (that's what the little gauge did), and wouldn't be covered again. For the rest I had to have pictures taken, and submitted to head office for approval.

That was July.

So I fixed up the other spots myself, and waited to hear back from VW.

And waited.

And waited.

In late September I had given up on having my car fixed, and just a few days after M.D.B. mentioned that it didn't look like it was going to happen, the phone rang.

VW Canada approved the repairs.

No poop.

I had to arrange a convenient time with the body shop, and give them enough lead time to order parts.

"Parts?"

They weren't repainting the fenders, they were replacing them. 10 years old and almost 390,000 km and getting new fenders.

No poop.

I picked Otto up today. Not only did they replace his fenders, he got new door skins and new mirrors too!

No poop!

VW's warranty and service is awesome!

I have the feeling this wont be my last VW.

M.D.B is waiting for them to come out with a Touareg TDI

DJW

Unfortunately, they didn't accidentally paint my hood, which I messed up, and will have to do over.

This Blog Not Guaranteed

This Blog, as life, carries no guarantees.

Many things I buy, as you do too I'm sure, have guarantee's, warranties, certainties and other 'tees.

Earlier today, I asked M.D.B. to compose a list of items we purchased that failed while still under warranty.

It was longer than I thought it would be.

I asked her to compile this list as I was on the way out the door to replace our kitchen faucet. One of those ones that you buy for its looks, and buy it for life.

Yeah, that one.

Last year, a little piece in its pull out nozzle sprayer thingy broke. I took the nozzle sprayer thingy bit back to the store I bought it from to cash in on the lifetime guarantee and get a new part.

No dice.

I would have had to send the part to the manufacturer (rhymes with groan) for my replacement. I bought a replacement nozzle sprayer thingy that fit and carried on. This week it started to leak out of the top of the handle. I took the whole faucet with me to my local home improvement store, which just happened to be having a sale on a competitor's model. When I explained to the Helpful Associate what part I felt I needed, I got the same story as before, contact the manufacturer.

What am I supposed to do while I wait for a part? Use the garden hose? Can I get a loaner faucet? When I had warranty work done on my car I was given a loaner. I bought the competitors tap.

So, back to the list.

Most of our small appliances have broken under warranty and some have been repaired, some others we just bought new ones.

Microwaves (that's plural), Rice Cookers, Can Openers, multiple Coffee Makers (we now keep a spare) and the like.

One retailer we frequent offers an extended warranty on most small appliances for an extra charge. We usually bought it. We were glad we did when a high end Coffee Maker we purchased crapped out a few months after we bought it. It was replaced without question. When the second one quit while still within the 2 year period, it was not replaced. Only one replacement per unit. So when we bought the next brewer (not the same brand) we declined the extended warranty.

When a six month old T.V. quit a few years back, we contacted the manufacturer for warranty info. We were told that that model was exclusive to one retailer (rhymes with fall cart) and all we had to do was go back there and get a new one. When I wheeled the unit up to Customer Service I was met with the obvious question, "T.V. broke?" My reply:"Nope, I just hate to miss my shows." (I sent that one to Bill Engval) It seems they knew nothing of the warranty deal, and tried to get me to send it to the manufacturer. I told them that the manufacturer sent me to them. And the phone Olympics began. In the end, I got a new T.V., that night even. It just took a little work.

When our then 3 1/2 year old furnace broke a number of years ago, I sent a nastygram off to the manufacturer complaining about the repair cost on a basically new unit. They told me it had a 5 year warranty and I shouldn't have been charged. The repair guy told me to contact the installer, who told me to contact the retailer I bought it from, who told me to contact the manufacturer, who told me to contact the repair guy.

This is the song that never ends....

We never did get reimbursed. We also didn't replace it with that brand last year. We didn't want to get Rheem'd again.

Then there was the stove that quit 10 minutes after the warranty ran out.

And the washing machine that only lasted 7 years.

So my point is (at last, a point!) : what good is a warranty if it is next to impossible to collect on it?

I hope the toilet we bought with a lifetime warranty earlier this year never has to go in the shop.

If it does I hope we get a loaner.

DJW

Any warranties, written or implied, are at the sole discretion of the warrantor, and may be made null and void by actual use or misuse of the product described herein, and are not transferable to another owner, living or dead, and may not be used in your next life either, and any damages caused by the use, misuse or abuse of this product are the sole responsibility of the owner, not our fault, all yours, nyah nyah.
Void where prohibited by law.
And Quebec.