Category Archives: 114 Warren

anything about the house in Hudson

Saturday – 10/3/15

Chimney Fixed – Still No Heat

I dug out the flue pipes and removed the debris as far as I couod reach. Then Preston and his boys showed up. At my suggestion they punched a hole thrugh the back of the chimney to gain access to clean out all of the rubble. Clearly, though they may have tossed the final bit on the heap, this had been building up for some time. In a little over two hours they had everything buttoned up. Unfortunately, the boiler would still not fire up. Called Ihlenburg for a Monday visit. Paid Preston $100 though he claimed not to want it.

On looking more closely at the photo of the flue pipe, just now, I noticed what appear to be spider webs. Suggests that in fact the chimney may not have had a draw for quite a while.

close up.

close up. Note webs.

Friday – 10/2/2015

No Heat

Vent pipe completely stuffed with debree

Vent pipe completely stuffed with debris

Turns out that the guys who rebuilt the chimney last week knocked debris down the flue completely occluding it. The four year old boiler has a sensor that prevents it from firing when there is no draft up the flue.

As soon as the plumber saw this he said, “Call the mason.” he wouldn’t take a swing at fixing it.

So I called Preston Schrader. He immediately offered to come Saturday morning to fix things.

HAL

Met with Marie, Gwen, and Anna Rachminov to discuss next year’s budget.

Thursday – 10/1/2015

Work Decision

Woke up at 4:30 am. Decided that today was a good day to tell UTM, David and Seth, that my days with them are over at the end of the year. Got to bring this engagement to an end.

When I signed on formally with UTM in March 2014 you were aware of my involvement as a founder with my brother Ed in a start up medical devices company, Prescient Medical Devices, LLC (PrescientMedicalDevices.com). For a number of reasons we had put the development of the company on pause while we addressed some IP issues. This made it possible to make a commitment to UTM for a year which was the time frame we talked about at that time.

PMD is now restarting. My brother is making presentations to investors and we expect that these will be fruitful. This means that I need to position myself to focus most of my energies on PMD by the latest January 2016.

I suggest that we move the project of finding a sales/marketing person on to the front burner. You may have other priorities. Lets talk about how I can be most helpful.

Thanks,

Felt immediate relief from taking this step despite the deceptive statements about PMD. Nothing new is happening as far as I know on that front.

Problems in Basement

Controller on boiler

Controller on boiler

No heat. Waiting on plumber Ihlenburg.

Went to Belvedere Home Healthcare in Albany for UTM meeting. Good meeting gathering requirements. They will conduct a survey of potential users.

Back to Hudson for HAL Exec Comm lunch at Mexican Radio. Followed by mtg with David Murphy, Betsy Miller and T Parsons about upcoming hard hat tours of Armory for high rollers. Then, at 3pm meeting with Ann Rosenthal about her role as Chair of Program Committee. Smart, energetic, engaged…. big plus for library.

While Karen taught her online course I went to Bell’s Pint Nite at The Spotty Dog. After chatting up the regional sales rep for Bells I was given a Bell’s Pint glass. Also had good chat with Sherrie Jo Williams and Pauline DeCarmo and a couple of their friends.IMG_0916

Sunday – 3/22/15

IMG_9451Spent most of day cleaning the house. Vacuumed and washed second floor. Moved furniture out of downstairs in preparation for opening DOG.

Moved wing chair to breakfast nook for a comfortable place to read while DOG is in operation. Karen liked this as much for not having to hump that chair up the stairs and into our bedroom. Need to find a little table to set next to chair for coffee rest.

IMG_9452

Cold weather continued – temps below freezing all day

6:04 pm

6:04 pm

Update on Cuisinart Toaster Fire – Cuisinart Is Not Interested in Fire, Only Warranty

Cuisinart Responds?

Cuisinart model CPT-120 toaster fireI received an email today, five days after my initial attempt to communicate with Cuisinart and two days after my second attempt. The initial posting on this toaster meltdown is here

So far Cuisinart has expressed no interest in the fire, only the fact that our toaster is apparently out of warranty.

Valued Customer,

Thank you for your inquiry. We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Based on the information you have provided, your CPT-120/90416 is out of warranty. If you have a proof of purchase that states you have had the unit for less than 3 years, please let us know. We will be able to provide you instructions on how to obtain a warranty replacement under that circumstance.

The only other option that we can offer to you is another unit, at the cost of $29.95 plus shipping and any applicable tax.

If you have any further questions please reply, with history, to this email. We welcome you to call our Customer Service Department at 1-800-726-0190, if you prefer. The hours of operation are 7 AM -11 PM EST Monday through Friday and 9 AM – 5:30 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, excluding major holidays.

Sincerely,
Laney
Cuisinart Customer Service Representative

I will follow-up with Laney about any interest they have in investigating this fire. Maybe this is part of corporate liability avoidance. If we act as though nothing happened beyond “inconvenience”, nothing happened. I wonder, has the Consumer Product Safety  Commission survived our age of little or no government (excepting, of course, the burgeoning allotments for domestic and international “security”)? Will have to Google for that.

Cuisinart Toaster Brings Fire to Breakfast

Last Friday our Cuisinart toaster (model CPT-120) caught on fire.

Cuisinart model CPT-120 toaster fire

fire extinguisher type B-CFortunately we had not wandered too far from the kitchen and realized that the crackling sounds were not those of burning toast. Even more fortunate was the fire extinguisher at hand to douse the flames that had already burned a good portion of the plastic housing along one side of the toaster adjacent to the electronics inside. But, the bread was barely warm!

Here is a close up of the burn zone.

Cuisinart model CPT-120 toaster fire burn zone

Cuisinart model cpt-120 toaster fire crumbtrayYou may be thinking that this fire was caused by sloppy housekeeping here. But, in fact the crumb tray had been cleaned within the last month and this picture of the crumb tray clearly shows no evidence of fire. It didn’t get started there. From the location of the fire right where all of the electrical components are, the obvious conclusion is bad design and/or manufacturing by Cuisinart.

I sent off an email with a picture to Cuisinart last Friday. Still no reply from them.

Saturday morning we went shopping for a replacement toaster. This time we bought a model by Hamilton Beach that has an all metal housing instead of the obviously flammable plastic housing.

By the way, if you want to replicate this experience at your house, the very same Cuisinart toaster is for sale at Lowe’s where we bought ours.

Fire Extinguisher Is Handy

fire extinguisher type B-C-closeup of label

One lesson is clear – the value of having a fire extinguisher in the kitchen ready to go. make sure it is one designed for the kitchen environment.