Winding up the Week

It was a quiet, cool Sunday. The wind came up early this morning and gusted hard all day long, so instead of putting up Christmas lights, I stayed inside and updated financial stuff. I’m trying to get a head start on organizing records for our income tax returns so it won’t be such a grueling exercise next March. Famous last words.

I dug out the picture matting tools yesterday and framed 3 photos for Judy. Except for breaking one glass, they turned out quite nice. It’s been a few years since I used the cutting tools, so I had to re-learn the procedure. The tools are high quality and made in the USA, so they’re a pleasure to work with.

On the flip side of the coin, I had another reminder that Chinese-made goods are total crap. A couple of months ago, our ancient, American made blender finally wore out, so I made a trip to WalMart and bought a new GE blender. I bought the best one they had, since I wanted it to last. At the same time, I bought a little electric single drink mixer for those times you don’t want to dirty the blender to mix a single milk shake. Naturally, both machines were made in China. Are you getting the drift?

Well, within days the blender began to ooze a black liquid from the bottom of the jar after each use, and it was a pain to clean up when the goop dripped on the countertop or the floor. Then last week, metal flakes started to show up in the mixture and it appears the bearing has failed. We searched the Internet for parts, but GE doesn’t offer replacement parts for that model…no surprise, since it’s made specifically for WalMart.

Judy wanted a chocolate shake for breakfast that day, but no problem since we have the little drink mixer for a backup. Well, it worked one time, and the next day it too was non-functional, and no amount of coaxing can get it to operate.

Tomorrow, both go back to WalMart, along with detailed instructions specifying what they can do with them. I don’t even want replacements if the damn things are made in China, so I suppose they are both a write-off.

We did a web search, and discovered that KitchenAid blenders are still made in the USA and are sold at Lowes. Since their store is right across the street from WalMart, that’s where I’ll be heading tomorrow after I return the two junked machines.

I only hope they are truly made in the USA, not assembled in the USA from parts manufactured in China.