Exterior Decorating

This is how the patio turned out. Not too big or fancy, but not too small or plain.

We bought those resin chairs for our first house, so they must be at least thirty years old. A resin table we had was damaged in the move, making the metal table less than 25 years old. The umbrella was purchased the day the picture was taken.

To hide the view from under the deck and porch I ordered some curtains that are intended for outdoor installation.

Looking for a way to keep the curtains from sliding back and forth in the wind, I came across these table cloth clamps.

Hidden behind the folds of the curtains, they’re perfect for positioning the panels and holding them in place.

Scratching the Old A/V Boy Itch – 2

Plan B for having access to my cable TV DVR from the porch was a total flop. This was Plan B.

I had my doubts about wireless HDMI when first considering it seven years ago, before choosing to buy the OTA TiVo instead, and those doubts have been confirmed. Based on hours of experimentation, in my opinion wireless HDMI is suitable only for a line-of-sight connectivity in the same room.

Communicating through a wall or floor doesn’t work, even when the total distance is only ten feet. Worse, the 5 GHz range of frequencies that wireless HDMI uses for peer-to-peer communication, without benefit of a hot spot or router, can interfere with a 5 GHz Wi-Fi network. Yesterday, while the transmitter and receiver kept trying to establish a connection, devices would disconnect from my Wi-Fi extender. Once I realized that was happening I gave up, disconnected the wireless HDMI transmitter and receiver, and put everything back in the box.

Having been a few years since I returned something to Amazon, today was my first time using the self-service return process at an Amazon-owned Whole Foods. First I initiated the return online and downloaded a QR code JPG to my phone. At the store kiosk I scanned the code, then put the box in a bag and slapped on a label the machine printed before dropping it into the kiosk.

This evening I received a text message confirming the return has been processed, with the refund coming within 7 days. By coincidence, this week’s New Yorker has an article about the business of returned purchases.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/21/the-hidden-cost-of-free-returns

Total Partial Recall

A couple of days ago, a message from Consumer Reports said the Consumer Products Safety Commission has issued this recall notice for dehumidifiers.

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2023/Gree-Recalls-1-56-Million-Dehumidifiers-Due-to-Fire-and-Burn-Hazards-Reports-of-At-Least-23-Fires

That evening I heard my Frigidaire dehumidifier making a terrible sound. Running downstairs to check it, the fan wasn’t running and the thing was extremely hot. The power button didn’t work, so I pulled out the power cord. After letting it sit overnight, yesterday morning I plugged it back in but didn’t hit the power button, and it did this.

The buzz wasn’t as loud as the noise that caught my attention, but it wasn’t a good sound. After pressing the power button the display flashed “88” and the fan spun up, but the compressor was dead and the buzzing persisted. Purchased nine years ago, I’m just glad it didn’t catch fire. Obviously, it should be one of the recalled units.

But is that particular make and model and serial number on any recall notice, past or present, I could find? Nope, of course not. So I put it in the trunk of my car and paid $40 to drop it off at the local trash and recycling center.

A replacement I ordered from Lowe’s should be here on Monday.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Whirlpool/5013975113

Elsewhere downstairs, a Goldstar (pre-LG brand) dehumidifier I bought in 1989 for our first house continues to work. It clanks when turning on and off, but when running it does what it’s supposed to do.