I was sitting down to a late lunch, enjoying the down time following a whirlwind of meetings (17 in 4 days!) when I received a text from Akemi informing me that the oven was broken. Again! Didn’t I just do this rant? Oh, yeah! I did! Back in February: http://josephmallozzi.com/2013/02/28/february-28-2013-the-not-so-lonely-maytag-repairman/ It’s the exact same issue we had last time (the buttons don’t work!) which necessitated we swap out the entire digital interface for a brand new one. A brand new one that lasted less than four months. Seriously. Is that the going life span of the average Maytag product?
I’ve got a bunch of matters to address when I get back to Vancouver, but this one has found its way to the top of the list. Prepare for a sequel to that Maytag rant.
Hey, what’s worth than standing in an interminable line-up waiting to go through security? I’ll tell you. Standing in an interminable line-up waiting to go through security, right beside the spot where someone just threw up their lunch (and, by the looks of it, breakfast as well).
It’ll be nice to be back home. I look forward to seeing Akemi, the dogs, and, especially, my treadmill. My eating habits have been…cholesteroly.
Among the many things I’ve got to do when I return home is find another dog-sitter. I was planning to bring Akemi back to L.A. in a couple of weeks for Marty G.’s birthday bash, but my dog-sitting plans fell through. I’d cancel, but Akemi was SO looking forward to the trip. Also, the plane tickets are non-refundable. That’s what overconfidence gets you. Anyway, I’ve called a couple of “bonded and insured” professionals and plan to have them come by the house and meet the dogs as part of the interview process. I need someone kind and dependable – who doesn’t mind carrying a 14 year old pug up and down the stairs.
On my way to the airport today, I was on a conference call with Paul and my agent(s) discussing “how it went”. In short: Good. We met some great people, had our scripts well-received, pitched some original ideas as well as some established properties (books and anime), and even had a few ideas thrown our way. I think that, for the right project, I could move here. Paul – probably never regardless of the project. Nevertheless, Akemi is already planning the big move!
Very sad to hear of James Gandolfini’s passing. We were in MGM, waiting for a meeting when I overhead someone mention Gandolfini and Italy. I assumed it was in relation to another project and it wasn’t until I checked the internet, about an hour later while waiting for my next meeting, that I found out. An incredibly talented actor.
@Joe:
Welcome back!
I could probably fix that control board for you, since I’m in town this weekend; it’s most likely due to broken solder joints on the switches themselves (a similar thing happened to my smoker). The solder joints break due to flexing caused by pressing on the buttons. The fix would probably void your warranty though.
On travel weirdness, Barb had her hair patted down today by the TSA in Chicago…no other body part, just the hair. She didn’t have a bun and didn’t put it up, so I not really sure what the point was.
Glad to hear things went well, Joe. Hey, I would volunteer to watch the dogs for you if it weren’t for you know, the distance! 🙂
Does Maytag even make their own ovens anymore?
suddenly I’m not hungry. Glad to hear that your trip to LA wasn’t a total bust. Isn’t there a pooch motel in Vancouver? Although I didn’t watch the Sopranos, Gandolfini was way too young to pass, imo.
Playing catch up again, how do I manage to not keep up like I used to?? you’d think for someone who isn’t working, I’d have all the time in the world. I am more busy now than I was when I was working. Go figure.
Sounds like you had lots of success in LA, Joe. So moving, huh? Didn’t you just get Akemi citizenship in Canada?? Don’t worry, if we have to do what did for her all over again, we’re here for you guys. We got it all down pat, we know what to do.
Did I see Chris Judge??? Do my eyes deceive me?? He looks great, he looks smaller. It was the smile, he had me at the smile.
So if you move to LA do you get to keep your health care there in Canada???
I’m just sayin’.
1. UGH! i couldn’t stand next “sick” without doing it myself.
2. maytag apparently makes crappy stuff.
3. on one hand; it’s a good idea to start planning a big move far in advance. on the other hand; that’s kind of putting the cart before the horse. or counting chickens before they hatch. or something.
4. gandolfini’s passing was a bit of a shock.
Well I would hope Maytags last longer than 4 months. Your repair should be free.
Could Ivon or Lawren dog sit for you? They have done it before right? Maybe fly PBMom in. She’s the dog lady now.
Glad all the meetings went well. Now we wait…
Seriously, Joe, get a new oven/stove. By the time you have battled with the Maytag people Who will give you more shoddy service and really poor quality add ons, again and again and again, you could have saved yourself the aggravation and got a better unit. I’ve had problems with my Maytag washer and dryer. It’s just not worth it. Maytag has outsourced production to China. The quality is not there any more.
meeting at mgm?
*dreams it’s for stargate*
Hi Joe, for your oven be careful when you wash it, electronic parts broke easily if water or other liquids get to them. Don’t spray on your oven, and make sure that your wet towel is well twist.
I think you got a dud Maytag or one of the dogs sabotaged it. That’s supposed to be a tough, long lasting brand. I have a few Maytag items and they’ve lasted me at least 10-15 years so far.
Well, you and Paul can talk on skype. It’s a lot harder to move when you have kids, which I guess is a part of his “not moving” issues.
Four months… yeah they should repair for free. Go get ’em.
I thought Akemi leaving Canada would be a problem… doesn’t she have to physically live there most of the year?
@ Debra From The South: Having been a permanent resident of Canada (until this past December, when I became a citizen! yay!), I can answer this one. Once you become a PR, you have to be physically present in Canada 2 years out of every 5, in order to maintain PR status. So they could move to L.A. for 3 years before she’d have to either move back to Canada or lose her status.
@ JeffW: Having been a TSA screener at LAX and BUR before I moved to Vancouver, I can maybe answer that weirdness that Barb experienced in Chi. (I’ve had a lot of odd jobs; when you’re trying to survive in the film/TV business as an underemployed peon always looking for work, you’ll take any parttime job that pays the rent — and that you pray comes with health insurance — but allows you flexibility to work the all-too-rare filming gig.) When someone goes through the metal detector, the screener can see what part of the body might have some metal in it. If Barb had a barrette or bobby pin in, they wouldn’t make her take it out and put it through x-ray; instead they’d just pat it down to verify that that’s the only thing making the machine light up. (Same with turbans or hijabs, in that they don’t make people remove things inextricably related to the hair, but I’m assuming she wasn’t wearing one of those.) If she had no metal at all, but her hair was “poofy” it might get a pat as well, because like a puffy jacket, poofy hair could hide something that shouldn’t get into the passenger compartment.
If neither of those 2 scenarios obtained, then the screener was either new (in training) or told by a supervisor to “look busy”. One of my TSA trainer’s favorite lines was: “If you got time to lean, you got time to screen!” In other words, they’d prefer their screeners screen things and people for no good reason, rather than stand around looking like a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Look on the bright side: you may move to LA and not have to worry about that damn stove again.
I have a Maytag dishwasher, and knock on wood, not a single problem in almost 8 years.
James Gandolfini’s death was shocking. He was so young and it brings home that life isn’t forever. Plus, I feel bad for his son. In a strange country and going through this terrible shock. Prayers to them all!
Have a safe, uneventful trip and a happy reunion.
Joey, I feel for ya, I really do. My coffee maker just died, second one within the year. Things just are not made the way they used to be. So you know what we decided to do? We went low-tech and we’re just using the French press now. It works great, coffee tastes great, and there’s nothing on it to break (it’s stainless steel, not glass).
I know it’s not easy to go low tech with a stove/oven unless you build a fireplace in your kitchen (something I’d LOVE to do, if I had a bigger house…and a lot more money). But sometimes a more simplistic stove can be more valuable than a fancy thing in the long run. The more bells and whistles a thing has, the more to go wrong with it.
Hope you have/had a good homecoming, with lots of hugs and kisses!
das
Speaking of anime that would make a good TV show Joe, almost finished watching Devil Survivor 2, it’s an anime based over a 7 day period. Basically the main characters discover a service that shows you how your friend will die, they call it the ‘Dead face’ service. When someone close to you is about to die, you’ll get a text with a video of it happening before it does.
Anyway you’ll see in the first episode, the main character Hibiki and co are fated to die when a train derails in a subway, just before this happens, they get a choice if they want to live or die, obviously they choose live. And thus a program that allows them to summon demons is installed on their cell phones.
Long story short the anime is basically about humanity facing a 7 day trial from what they believe to be God. Everyday a Septentrion appears, and they pretty much have to defeat each one before the day ends. After 7 days should humanity survive that long they face Polaris, who they believe is God.
This anime can be quite dark actually, a fair amount of death and despair in it. Obviously those in the know about what is going on, want to exploit the situation for their own gains, and for the good of humanity. Meanwhile the entire world, day by day fades into oblivion, literally landscapes disappearing into black.
Anyway, glad things went well for you in L.A Joe 🙂
A little item I found on the internet that I thought was funny: http://shine.yahoo.com/love-sex/wedding-gift-basket-sparks-epic-text-war–the-battle-over-cheap-presents–183304420.html
@Kathode:
Thanks for the input…Barb was wearing a stretchy cloth “doo-flatch” (what she calls a hair-tie…I’m not up on the technical terms for women’s hair devices 😉 ) making a ponytail, but that was all. She’s worn the same thing on several airport trips and this is the first time for a hair pat down.
@Joe:
Sorry to be so off topic lately; let us know if you want more focus on your post topics.
You don’t sound worried that writing with Paul more than a shout away will be a problem. As much as it would seem the type of work I’ve done would be best done with my collaborators on the other side of a cubicle wall, it almost never worked out like that and making it happen anyway has almost always been my normal.
@ponytail. You are so sweet. If I didn’t already have clients I have commitments to I would offer to come up and do it for free just to have a short vacation. Right now there are only 4 days in July when I don’t have a client already scheduled. I had 2 new client intakes today. That is why I haven’t been on the blog much.
Sounds like an exhausting trip mixed with some fun. I would insist on a new stove. After replacing a part and it breaks 4 months later, there is a bigger picture going on. Sounds like a lemon to me.