Thursday, July 20, 2017

"I'm No Fool"--Jiminy Cricket

Our dishwasher's leaking became so severe last week that we had Cody's Appliance Repair come out and estimate repairs.  It was over $500; the tech said "Go buy a new one."  Which we did; it was cheaper (slightly, including install).  I find it frustrating that most stuff is not designed for inexpensive repair.  Some years ago insurers started pushing car makers to make it easier to repair collision damage.  GM followed the request by making taillight and headlight assemblies more discrete: no need to replace a huge expensive assembly if only a few parts were broken.  Dishwashers need similar redesign and easier access to parts to be replaced.

We are waiting for Home Depot to get our new Samsung dishwasher in, and so I am washing dishes by hand.  As I was reaching into the soapy water, I was suddenly reminded of some safety films from elementary school.  One was a reminder that reaching into an opaque sink and grabbing might well get the sharp edge of a knife.  Each segment ended with Disney character Jiminy Cricket singing, "I'm no fool.  No sirree!  I'm want to live to ninety-three!"  Anyone else remember these?  Did these go away once it was determined that such education might impair nuisance lawsuit filing?

I have labelled this as "history," as a reminder that I am now beginning to remember moderately ancient history.

2 comments:

  1. my old 2009 iMac (27 inch) died the other day. Took it to a local shop for a diagnostic and hopeful repair. But before I delivered it I pulled up the Apple store on my laptop to see what the cost of replacing it was. The newest, low end, iMac was $1,100 dollars. But this iMac was only 21 inch and its GHZ rating was only 2.3 while my old 209 machine was actually 2.8. To actually get a machine with the same screen size and possibly improved bus rating cost $1,800.00.

    The tech called this afternoon: Video card was the problem, $270.00 plus some $99.00 for actual installation. All in all just under $500.00 since the diagnostic price is included in the repair costs. Somethings are reasonably repairable: granted, at almost ten years of age, this iMac is getting long in the tooth. Just get it to ten years and I will happily replace it.

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  2. I appreciate your reminder of the "advisory" television commercials in the early years.

    We got a television in 1953 .. it was a Packard-Bell *(you remember?)* and it was blond. It clashed with the orange shag rug my mother had laid in the living room, along with the green 4-piece sectional.

    We got one channel of television broadcast, from Pasco, Washington. It took years before I could come home from school, plop down in front of the TV (everyone else was working, including Mom) and watch something more entertaining than Soap Operas. I learned to enjoy watching "The Edge Of Night", a daytime serial which couldn't decide whether they were a soap or a real drama. The primary character was a police officer named "Pepper Martin".


    It's amazing the details which catch in your subconscious and pop up in unguarded moments.

    So ... yes, I do remember that Disney had some Public Service Announcements during that period, although I didn't recognize them as such.

    With only one channel, I learned to watch even Buffalo Bob when we got our second channel.

    My God, we were so starved for entertainment, we thought that Disney was the Second Coming.

    Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

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