Thermador Oven Home Connect App and Pizza

After more than three months of back and forth, we finally got a new replacement Thermador oven. We moved to Virginia and the new appliance in our condo took forever to preheat and could not sustain a temperature above 350 degrees after three service attempts and replacement parts. The new oven has a clock and timer and Wi-Fi - so of course I needed to hook it up to the home connect app. So I downloaded it, created an account and was ready to add the oven to it. And as is typically the case, the first attempt never works - but that doesn’t stop me. However, after wasting a lot of time trying to figure it out I quit for the day for my own sanity and would try again the next day. But at least we could now turn the oven on, watch the progress on the oven touch screen as it preheated - with a bell tone when it was ready, and watched the temperature actually reach 450 degrees. So we made a pizza after three months. It was good, but needed more time to cook. The next day I thought I’d try again to connect to the app. After a few more failed attempts, I called Thermador. Rather than have them walk me through the set up I asked if I could just reset the oven to factory settings and then start all over. That’s what I ended up doing. And it worked. Not that we would use the app much - but you can turn the oven on, set the settings, etc from the app. There are also other things you can do - like follow recipes. Honestly, I’m not the chef in our house and my husband wouldn’t use these things. In the end we probably won’t use the app much at all. But I needed to figure it out and I did. And that’s good enough. 

Thermador Replacement Oven Finally Arrives

Finally! After over three months of having a stove that did not work, our Thermador oven was finally replaced. It took an extraordinary amount of time, service calls, phone conversations, emails and frustration. We became fast “friends” with the repairman man Jason as he was here three times to diagnose, order parts, and replace parts - only to be told that we would have to put the oven on broil before we baked! And even then, the oven took forever to preheat, and still would not reach a temperature above 350 degrees. We bought an oven thermometer to see for ourselves to prove a point. Having just moved to our new condo, it was very disheartening for all of our Thermador appliances to have problems - the microwave never worked, the refrigerator had a filter inserted incorrectly requiring three people to finally figure it out, and the dishwasher inconsistently dried - but we could live with that. Then to top it off, the Kohler faucet handle broke off. But not having an oven was just unacceptable. So we worked the warranty route as best as we could, but only until we got a building VIP number and email did we get any action. We had to sign off on the agreement that if the replacement oven required any counter adjustments that we would be responsible for the expense. What choice did we have? And the oven we were getting was the next generation - it was a bit different than the one we had. Luckily the new oven fit in the old space without having to change the counters. But before we could use it we needed to broil and bake for fifteen minutes to get rid of the smell and smoke. I thought the builders should know our situation and voiced our concerns over the phone and provided documentation via email. They listened, but we are still dealing with several other house items that require attention that have occurred since the initial walk through. None of these items are worse than the structural issues we dealt with when we lived on Capitol Hill in an old 1890’s building. But we did expect a lot less problems in a brand new place. Can we hope this is the end of them? I have some doubts. 

Shingles Shot at Giant

When I went for my annual check up in June there was a list of things that needed to get done - one of which was to get shingles vaccines. I did get the pneumonia vaccine while I was there and will need another one next year. But they don’t give shingles vaccines in the office. It’s easier to send you to a pharmacy to get it done there. That’s what we do for the flu shot. So after procrastinating long enough, and allowing my arm to feel normal again, we ventured out to Giant to pick up a watermelon, but also registered at the pharmacy for me to get the shot. It took a while because I hadn’t been to this pharmacy before and needed to fill in a bit of paperwork. Afterwards we walked up and down the aisles to get in a bit of exercise and find the watermelon. When my number was called the pharmacist said I didn’t need a prescription for the shingles shot, which I had. This is one thing that we do get for “free” at Medicare and insurance expense. I then got my receipt and pages of documentation, then went to sit down for the shot. I had it in the same arm as the last one which probably wasn’t a good idea. Yesterday I was feeling very tired, felt like I had chills, was a little nauseated, and my arm was really sore. Of course it was from the vaccine. The good thing is I hope to never get shingles; the bad thing is I have to get a second shot within 2-6 months. 

Apollo on the Washington Monument

It was time to take a trip down to the Mall last evening. We rarely venture out after dark but felt somewhat compelled since we wouldn’t have a lot of opportunity. The Apollo spacecraft image was illuminating the east side of the Washington Monument from 9:30-11:30 PM for just a couple of nights. I didn’t want to miss it, but my husband has never been enamored by space stuff. That includes Star Trek, Star Wars, etc. Our friends in France were astonished that he had no interest in seeing the Milky Way. My brother had a telescope and we spent some time learning about space. One of my science projects was about Venus. Fifty years ago I remember sitting in front of the tv, later in the evening, and watching the event of the first step on the moon with my family. My dad took slide photos of the tv images and I just dug them up. The images are rather poor, but on one of the slides it clearly has written “first step on the moon.” So, it was worth the parking lot drive near the Washington monument to once again witness the event in a very different way. Things like this always bring the crowds to the Capitol city. I’m glad we are still close enough to see them. 

Apollo illuminating the Washington Monument:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0ENlIEhIDb/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0ENshkBb_i/

Leadership in an Age of Political Conflict Program at the Library of Congress - Compton, Axelrod, Rove

We don’t usually drive to DC during rush hour for obvious reasons. But we wanted to attend the program about “Leadership in an Age of Political Conflict” at the Library of Congress that started at 6:30 PM. So we headed out at 4:45 because having a ticket didn’t guarantee a seat. It took an hour to go ten miles. We have attended many programs at the Library and feel comfortable navigating around it since I worked there for ten years. I knew it would be packed, and it was. The “new” Librarian Carla Hayden stood a few steps from our seats, and was the first to introduce the panel of Ann Compton, David Axelrod, and Karl Rove. Since both my husband and I are political junkies we were already familiar with all of the participants and their general approach and tone on their take of events today. The program was sponsored by the Kluge Center and the Daniel Inouye Dustinguished Lecture Series and was being broadcast in Hawaii. I’m always looking for programs to attend at the Library. It was an annoying ride in, but the program was worth going to. I was hoping to see the Apollo spacecraft on the Washington Monument on the way home, but it wasn’t going to be illuminated until 9:30 PM. I guess that means another trip to DC tonight. 

Deli Italiano

We are always on the lookout for a nice Italian Restaurant. So when we passed by Deli Italiano in Great Falls last week on the way home from one of our favorite Greek restaurants, my husband looked it up, read the reviews, and thought it might be a good place to try. The building looked nice and the side patio did too. So we decided to try it out. I knew right away I wouldn’t like it because it was order at the counter. I hate that! The reason we go out is to sit at a table and do nothing but order and relax. But because we needed to go to an appointment later in the afternoon, we decided to stay and try it. We were both in the mood for a decent pizza, salad, French fries, and an Italian sub. When the order was delivered, the pizza was not what we expected. The French fries were good, but they are anywhere! We saved the sub for dinner and weren’t very impressed. The place was quite busy over the lunch hour - primarily workmen pulling in with their rigs and mom’s with kids. I’m glad we tried it but it wasn’t exactly what we were looking for. I think that’s why we tend to keep going to the same places. It might get boring, but we always like the food and the service. 

Amazon LITs Pooches Kitties and Other Sweet Faces German Shepherd T-shirts

I have an Amazon Merch Shop that’s about a year old. It’s made up of a lot of my custom pet portrait images on T-shirts and is called LITs Pooches, Kitties and Other Sweet Faces. Unlike Redbubble, Zazzle, Etsy, and Pixels/Fine Art America, I don’t get email notifications when I sell a product. So I always look at the stats and manage tabs on a daily basis to see if I’ve had any sales. Last week was interesting. There was a sale from somewhere in the US for a German Shepherd T-shirt in a size large on a silver background. Then the following day there was the same German Shepherd T-shirt sold in an extra large on a black background. Then the day after that there was another sale for the same image in a child size on a green background. Unfortunately it ended there, but it was fun to see that someone must have liked the product and image enough to order two more T-shirts in different sizes and colors. So thank you to the person who not only noticed my work - out of the millions out there - but liked it enough to either use or give to someone. I really appreciate it!