Two Hundred Dollar International Phone Call to France

When we moved to Virginia from Capitol Hill three months ago we left our “land line” behind. It was a Comcast Xfinity bundled service. Now we have Verizon Fios and still have the “land line” option, but no longer have a phone to connect to it. We used to have a real land line through Verizon for the sole purpose of making international calls, and it was also the condo “door bell,” but we discontinued that a long time ago. So what we have left are our mobile phones with AT&T. We don’t make a lot of international phone calls anymore and didn’t think about our phone plan when my husband called his friend in France last week - and it’s been a while since he made any overseas calls. We got a notice the next day from AT&T that we had a $200 plus bill for that phone call! So I got on chat and asked how we could eliminate that bill. When you have pay per use, it is $3.00/minute! He said if we signed up for the $15/month advantage plan, he would eliminate the bill. I’m sure they want to keep us as customers after many years. With the advantage plan you get all the calls for free, but pay $15/month. If we made a lot of phone calls that might be a good option, but not for us. The value plan is $5/month with a much lower charge per minute based on land line or moble access. That is more tolerable, but not necessary either. I also wanted to explore the cost of Verizon - the service that we already have - but we would need to buy a phone. I didn’t like that either. So I asked if he could also eliminate the other $30 charge to France, I would sign up for the $15/month plan - but only if I could eliminate the service by the next billing cycle. He said I could. So, rather than pay $200+ for two pay per use calls to France, we will pay $15 this month for the advantage plan. This nonsense has given me a major headache. I know there are apps out there that I need to explore, but our friends aren’t really tech savvy or don’t have the same phones we do. So either email or  texts need to do the trick, or we need to remember to sign up for an international plan before we make any more calls. Or, we just wait for our friends to call us - which isn’t practical. I wish I had kept one of our land line phones. That would have solved our problem - sort of. Do you have any better ideas?

Kohler Vinnata Kitchen Faucet Handle Broken

In June, our new Kohler Vinnata Kitchen faucet handle broke off. Needless to say, we were a bit more than irritated since we moved to our new condo in Virginia just three months ago. All of our Thermador  appliances have had problems, so this was the icing on the cake. More to come on the Thermador experience next week. Since we didn’t have paperwork for the faucet, we looked the item up on the Kohler website and called customer service. Ironically when we lived in Wisconsin, we visited the Kohler showroom and have always had Kohler products. Without hesitation the representative said she would send out a replacement handle and bonnet. We verified the color of the faucet by sending a photo. She said the bonnet was on backorder, but would send out the handle. A week passed and nothing arrived. So we made a follow up phone call asking about the status of the replacement because the order said “still processing.” Not having a working faucet in the kitchen is ridiculous. They assured us it would be sent out and I requested expedited service for the inconvenience. The handle and bonnet finally arrived last week. I didn’t think we would be able to repair it ourselves, but I checked the video Kohler sent to us that showed the steps. And yes, we did need one piece from the bonnet kit after all. So we found our Allen wrench and screwdriver and gave it a try. It felt really good to be able to fix something that I thought only a plumber or handyman could - and would have charged a few bucks to do it. It makes me wonder what else we could do - but I don’t have the patience for it. Anyway, in the end we appreciated the fact that Kohler was responsive, but don’t understand why everything requires at least one follow up phone call. Now our faucet is working again, but I really don’t like the pull down handle design - and we are always wondering when it’s going to break off again! The next big kitchen return project is the Thermador oven. Can’t wait to see how that goes. 

Nifty K Cup Rolling Drawer with Glass Top

When we first got our Keurig k cup coffee maker many years ago, we got a metal mesh stand to store the k cups. But it was also a nice platform to put the coffee maker on. But that metal mesh device was looking rather rusty, and the drawer was getting harder to pull out. Since we moved to our new condo in Virginia, one of the common elements is tempered glass with a hint of “green”  - on the dining room table, the chandelier above it, the side tables in the living room and bedroom, and decorative candlesticks and vases. The old metal mesh didn’t look so hot on the white quartz peninsula, so I searched for a glass top drawer for k cups. I found one with the same glass, but it was open on all sides. So I searched more for something that had a drawer front rather than being totally exposed. Since my husband is the coffee expert in the house and he rules the kitchen, the final decision was his to make between the two. Would the color of the glass or having a closed front be the priority? The Nifty rolling drawer with glass top won out. It actually looks much cleaner and neater than the mesh, the drawer “front” matches the stainless surroundings, and it blends well with the quartz countertop - even though the glass top is much darker than was shown in the picture. The “green” tempered glass may have been overkill after all. The old mesh drawer might become useful for organizing something (out of sight) so I’ll hang on to it for a while. 

Walter Isaacson on Changemakers Throughout History at the Library of Congress

One of our favorite activities is to take a ride to DC and visit the old neighborhood. Today we had a great excuse because we wanted to see Walter Isaacson at the Library of Congress. Since I worked at the Library for ten years, it’s so nice to go back for fun. And I know the buildings and the tunnels to get us to our destination. On the way in we ran in to two of my past colleagues and chatted a bit. The program was held in the Jefferson Building, so it took several minutes to get there from the Madison Building using the underground tunnels. As I suspected it was a full house, but they brought out more chairs for the overflow crowd. The question and answer session was interesting to hear - mostly about the innovators DaVinci, Benjamin Franklin, and Steve Jobs. Often times the subject matter can be boring, but even then the surroundings are just stunnng. So it was a delightful getaway today and we are looking forward to another program next week. Even though we moved to Virginia three months ago we still like the old neighborhood. After all, we lived on Capitol Hill for thirteen years. Now it takes a bit more time to drive in and park where we used to just walk down the street two blocks. 

Imperial Moth?

I didn’t notice it. My husband did. We were crossing the street to go on our usual morning walk. We stumbled across what looked like a fall leaf dull colored “butterfly” - but it was quite large and looked more like a rubber toy. We weren’t in the park so we weren’t expecting to see something you might typically come across in the park. It didn’t move - what ever it was. And it looked like it didn’t belong next to the begonia flowers in the garden by a parking garage. So rather than scoop it up in my hands, my husband brushed it with the small water bottle he was carrying. It didn’t move then either - which made me think it was a toy. But then it startled us both when it started to flap its wings. It quickly got off the ground and flew to the other side of the street. Neither one of us had ever seen anything like that before. When we got home we looked it up and think it was an imperial moth. It was fascinating to see but weird at the same time. I rather like observing animals and insects and birds - but usually from a distance and if I know what it is. What do you think? 

Imperial moth?

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzvlt1gBaVB/

After the Storm - Flattened Landscape

Yesterday set a record for the most rain falling in an hour - some places hit six inches! It was more than what typically occurs in a month. Today on our morning walk we were curious to see the impact that the raging stream, wind, and rainfall had on the park. It started at the bridge that is significantly higher than the water level beneath it. A large tree with roots exposed was caught up in it, along with branches and debris that didn’t pass through it. Where masses of three foot grasses and wildflowers stood it looked as though someone had done a major grass cutting. But we knew the water rushed by and flattened everything. You could see the newly planted trees bent with the wind and the tall grass around them looked like hay. Lots of junk was caught up in every foot bridge we crossed. Garbage cans were strewn around the park here and there. Several trees and limbs blocked the walking paths. My husband wished he could have been there yesterday to watch the destruction first hand. I don’t think he would have been able to outmaneuver Mother Nature. It’s hard to believe walking along the stream today  - barely filled with water - turned in to a frightening swell of fast moving groundswell yesterday. But the evidence was clear. And I’m glad I wasn’t any where near it. 

Emergency Alerts, Sirens, Alarms and Torrential Rain

When we lived on Capitol Hill in a first floor condo, we always had uneasy feelings whenever it rained - for good reason. The patio was made of concrete and our kitchen was flooded a couple of times until it was replaced with another stone and slanted away from the house toward the drain pipe. We still kept our sand bags in the shed just in case. Living in an 1890’s building was a hassle in more ways than one. The last big capital expenditure there was putting in a French drain, sump pumps, and replacing very old pipes. So after thirteen years we moved to Virginia and now live on the fourth floor. But it still rains. It was devastating overnight and in to the morning for the entire DC area. Luckily we were spared any damage, but the lights in the house flickered on and off a few times. At least we have a building generator. But the constant weather updates on my phone were almost making us go mad! On top of that there was a planned testing of the fire alarm system this morning - it was so loud and lasted so long I had to put in my ear plugs. We have three fire alarm communication devices in our condo unit and are grateful that they, the sprinkler system, and the carbon monoxide/fire detectors are in place. The weather updates, the ambulance and fire truck sirens, and the fire alarm testing drove us out of the house in spite of the flash flood warnings. I don’t remember ever seeing destructive weather like this - close to being in a hurricane. Thank goodness we escaped the 1890’s house. I can only imagine what’s happening there. Let’s hope the sump pumps worked.