Category: Life with Pratts

Snow Job

After 20 years of reliable winter service, it’s time to let go of my trusty and somewhat rusty MTD Yard Machines snow thrower. Those loose bottom belts are for the auger, but the problem that prompted me to open up the gearbox was the difficulty in pushing the snow blower when the traction control isn’t engaged. It keeps grabbing, with a “chug, chug, chug” effect. The gear plate has seen a lot of wear, and it’s covered with fine metal shavings.

The new snow thrower is, like my old one was, a Consumer Reports Best Buy, the Troy-Bilt 2410. It’s currently on sale for $629, which isn’t the lowest price it’s ever been, but I can’t risk waiting for a better deal. You can pretend the two snow blowers are cats or dogs looking up at the camera, like the countless pet pictures everywhere online.

The tires are smaller and closer together than on the old beast, which is good for moving around in the garage. The engine is equivalent to 6.5 HP, compared to the 8 HP Tecumseh on the old one, which still starts and runs great, but a 24-inch model with a more powerful engine costs $900. I’m not praying for snow, but I’m looking forward to giving the Troy-Bilt its first run.

Family Matters

I suppose people might not recognize my voice if I were to post old airchecks from my time as a poor, struggling radio DJ. A similar phenomenon happened to me when I heard an old recording of my mother. She had recently graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, finishing when Grace Kelly was starting there.

Joanne Waffle with Jim, who she knew before meeting my father

When I first heard this record of my mother performing a test reading for a scene in a play, I honestly did not know it was her. Not until the other performer gave her name. Mom had obviously received training in voice acting for performing on radio. The guy had a distinctive Fred Allen style of speaking.

Mom gave up acting after marrying Dad. With six children, including two sets of fraternal twins, some people assumed we were Catholic, but we weren’t. My parents joined a support group called Parents of Large Families that was featured in Parade Magazine. The timing was as bad as could be, because we appeared in the Sunday, November 24, 1963 issue, two days after the assassination of JFK.

Parade November 24, 1963

In the picture below that’s me with my hand over the tail light.

In DogRat We Trustee

A couple of weeks ago, after paying off the mortgage on my late father’s house, I asked Quicken Loans to prove me wrong when I predicted they would issue the escrow settlement check in Dad’s name, rather than to the family Trust, with me as Trustee. But of course the check as delivered today was made out to my father, and there is no bank account in existence where it can deposited.

With the mortgage holder deceased, in the previous call I had suggested they look at the deed, as my attorney had re-filed it in April, naming me as Trustee. I was told they couldn’t see the deed to the property without paying a $25 fee to Maricopa County, AZ. I told them that was their problem, not mine.

When I called today to express my disappointment at not being proven wrong, I held the phone to my printer as it printed the deed information, including my name, on a publicly-accessible link, without a login or a fee being required. I offered to fax the sheet to them as proof, but they said that wasn’t necessary, as they knew a mistake had been made and a new check will be sent to me tomorrow.

This latest hassle was on top of a previous screw-up on their part, where they failed to notify me that the Proof of Trust Existence document I’d faxed way back in December wasn’t sufficient, and that they required the full original Trust. So I faxed it to them.

Today I repeated my assertion that all they really needed was to see the deed information for the parcel. The only positive aspect to all of this is they acknowledged I am right, and they screwed up. The “team leader,” whoever that is, has been blamed.

Years of problems like this one — for routine procedures that are far from unprecedented — are why I am known for being difficult and demanding when confronting incompetence. It also proves that I was right by insisting the mortgage be settled prior to closing on the sale of the house, which is not yet listed.

Precisely because the mortgage holder is deceased, I have been working with a Quicken Loans manager, by the way, and not a front-line phone rep. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to get in a dig by emphasizing that, “Remember when I said last time that I was hoping you wouldn’t be adding to my aggravation?”

Follow-up: The “manager” at Quicken Loans lied to me. She’s only a “specialist.”