What I learned today:

[jharris]

FYI,

There's good reason for the installer to insist on new wiring, flexible gas line, water supply lines etc to assure the warranty.

Should any of these fail the installer risks being held responsible for any subsequent fire, explosion or flood.

That being said there is a markup on these items if the installer has to supply them so the customer is going to pay more for them unless they supply their own.

These items are available at any hardware store and should be covered by the installer/manufacturer warranty as new but that would mean a trip to the hardware store and trying to find knowledgeable help at said store that can assist you in finding just the right part in just the right size/length and configuration.

Not worth the hassle IMO.

 

[taxlady]

A pigtail is a cord needed to supply electric power to an a appliance be it a garbage disposal, washer, dryer, dishwasher etc.

Sometimes it comes with the appliance and sometimes we have to supply our own.

Its basically an electric cord with a plug on one end and bare wires on the other that have to be hardwired into the appliance.



View attachment 17696

Wow! I can't remember ever buying an appliance that didn't come with the cord/plug. Okay, a long time ago they used to hardwire 220V stuff to the wires in the wall, but I haven't seen that since the '80s.

 

[jharris]

Very common with many "large" appliances.

Washers, dryers, ranges, range hoods, dishwashers, disposals, heating furnaces, water heaters with electronic ignition......

 

[taxlady]

Very common with many "large" appliances.

Washers, dryers, ranges, range hoods, dishwashers, disposals, heating furnaces, water heaters with electronic ignition......

Maybe that's one of the differences between the US and Canada.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...You have to buy the pigtail new or it voids the warranty....

Congrats on the new dryer. What's the "pigtail"? Is your dryer gas or electric?

A pigtail is a cord needed to supply electric power to an a appliance be it a garbage disposal, washer, dryer, dishwasher etc....

Oh, here I thought you bought a girl dryer MrsLMB! Oops...

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Today I learned that the easiest way to get my girls to eat all of their dinner is to make them share the same dish. We had a salad made of mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, capers and blackened salmon with home-made honey balsamic vinaigrette. We ate picnic style on a blanket in the living room out of one bowl (as long as nobody is sick we're not big germaphobes). Sproutlet #1 isn't a big meat/fish fan, Sproutlet #2 isn't a fan of greens/lettuce. They both love everything else that was in it. I honestly think they ate much more of what they didn't like they they normally would and without any fussing. I stopped eating 2/3 through and they emptied the bowl.
We won't be eating like this all the time, but a little novelty goes a long way from time to time!

So how did that balsamic/vhoney/mustard vinaigrette come out? Was it tasty? I would bet that it was. And did you use a brown/spicy mustard?

Cullinary minds want to know.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Addie]

Today I learned that the easiest way to get my girls to eat all of their dinner is to make them share the same dish. We had a salad made of mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, capers and blackened salmon with home-made honey balsamic vinaigrette. We ate picnic style on a blanket in the living room out of one bowl (as long as nobody is sick we're not big germaphobes). Sproutlet #1 isn't a big meat/fish fan, Sproutlet #2 isn't a fan of greens/lettuce. They both love everything else that was in it. I honestly think they ate much more of what they didn't like they they normally would and without any fussing. I stopped eating 2/3 through and they emptied the bowl.
We won't be eating like this all the time, but a little novelty goes a long way from time to time!

Making mealtime fun is never a bad idea. How did DH take to the idea? Next time let one of them pick the room to eat in as long as it is not the bathroom or the cellar. How about sitting under the table away from all those bad storms out there while they eat popcorn. Arrange the furniture so that a sheet will fit over it and eat in a tent. My kids loved tent living right in the middle of the living room.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Making mealtime fun is never a bad idea. How did DH take to the idea? Next time let one of them pick the room to eat in as long as it is not the bathroom or the cellar. How about sitting under the table away from all those bad storms out there while they eat popcorn. Arrange the furniture so that a sheet will fit over it and eat in a tent. My kids loved tent living right in the middle of the living room.

Tents in the bedroom, living room, kitchen, wherever, I think is a univeral kid joy. If parents join in, well then it's just an amazing thing.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Addie]

Tents in the bedroom, living room, kitchen, wherever, I think is a universal kid joy. If parents join in, well then it's just an amazing thing.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Remember that parents when you are shopping for those expensive electronic toys this Christmas. Buy them a couple of sheets instead.

So often you hear grownups state that they had more fun when they were kids. And they did. Because they were allowed to use their imagination. I realize we can't send out kids out to play today in the city without worry. But we can't be hovering over them constantly either. In my neighborhood at the end of my street, I see kids out playing all the time. Our building is surrounded by large expanses of grass. The kids like to play ball there. That is fine by me. Some of the residents object. But ask them if they would rather see them join gangs, Horrors! It shuts them up real quick.

I don't think there is anything more joyful than hearing the laughter of children at play. Whether it be in a tent in the living room or outside running on the grass.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Remember that parents when you are shopping for those expensive electronic toys this Christmas. Buy them a couple of sheets instead.

So often you hear grownups state that they had more fun when they were kids. And they did. Because they were allowed to use their imagination. I realize we can't send out kids out to play today in the city without worry. But we can't be hovering over them constantly either. In my neighborhood at the end of my street, I see kids out playing all the time. Our building is surrounded by large expanses of grass. The kids like to play ball there. That is fine by me. Some of the residents object. But ask them if they would rather see them join gangs, Horrors! It shuts them up real quick.

I don't think there is anything more joyful than hearing the laughter of children at play. Whether it be in a tent in the living room or outside running on the grass.

Addie, you and I, we think a lot alike. And parents who forget how to take joy in childish things are missing out on half the fun of being alive. I may be in the high-side of my 50's, but I still love to play childish games with kids. I still love to build kites, play with modeling clay, throw snowballs, swim, try to dunk my kids in the pool, etc. I've just become more adept with those things over time.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Addie]

Addie, you and I, we think a lot alike. And parents who forget how to take joy in childish things are missing out on half the fun of being alive. I may be in the high-side of my 50's, but I still love to play childish games with kids. I still love to build kites, play with modeling clay, throw snowballs, swim, try to dunk my kids in the pool, etc. I've just become more adept with those things over time.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

I was never afraid of buying my kids play dough. Messes can always be cleaned up. We made some great things together. I still have the ashtray they made and baked in the oven. They went outside and got some leaves one day. Rolled out the dough really thin and pressed the leaves into the dough. I had those 'candy' dishes for a long time. One sat on my dresser for years. I used to drop my watch, earings, etc into it. Kids are fun.

 

[CWS4322]

Remember that parents when you are shopping for those expensive electronic toys this Christmas. Buy them a couple of sheets instead.

So often you hear grownups state that they had more fun when they were kids. And they did. Because they were allowed to use their imagination. I realize we can't send out kids out to play today in the city without worry. But we can't be hovering over them constantly either. In my neighborhood at the end of my street, I see kids out playing all the time. Our building is surrounded by large expanses of grass. The kids like to play ball there. That is fine by me. Some of the residents object. But ask them if they would rather see them join gangs, Horrors! It shuts them up real quick.

I don't think there is anything more joyful than hearing the laughter of children at play. Whether it be in a tent in the living room or outside running on the grass.

And those big appliances boxes made great indoor playhouses/forts, too!

 

[CWS4322]

I was never afraid of buying my kids play dough. Messes can always be cleaned up. We made some great things together. I still have the ashtray they made and baked in the oven. They went outside and got some leaves one day. Rolled out the dough really thin and pressed the leaves into the dough. I had those 'candy' dishes for a long time. One sat on my dresser for years. I used to drop my watch, earings, etc into it. Kids are fun.

One of the things my aunt would do to amuse the three of us who were "the littles" was to make homemade playdough out of flour and salt. She'd use food coloring to dye it. We spent many a rainy afternoon making dinosaurs, snakes, and other such critters out of that playdough.

 

[Addie]

And those big appliances boxes made great indoor playhouses/forts, too!

No bad guys every broke into those forts! They were well fortified with PB&J sandwiches.

 

[Addie]

One of the things my aunt would do to amuse the three of us who were "the littles" was to make homemade playdough out of flour and salt. She'd use food coloring to dye it. We spent many a rainy afternoon making dinosaurs, snakes, and other such critters out of that playdough.

I made a relief map of the U.S. with that play dough. I did such a good job, the teacher asked all of us to bring in the right amount of flour and salt and had the whole fourth grade class spend the whole afternoon making one. Since I had already made mine, I got to help other kids that were having trouble. Everyone got one of those purple mimiograph maps of the outline of the country with the states. The next day after they had dried overnight, we painted them. Remember the little tray of water paints with seven colors in them? They were standard issue in the Boston schools. Needless to say I got an A+. I loved geography and crafts.

 

[Sprout]

Making mealtime fun is never a bad idea. How did DH take to the idea? Next time let one of them pick the room to eat in as long as it is not the bathroom or the cellar. How about sitting under the table away from all those bad storms out there while they eat popcorn. Arrange the furniture so that a sheet will fit over it and eat in a tent. My kids loved tent living right in the middle of the living room.

DH works evenings, so I have free reign over dinner time.
Those are great ideas for eating. We've made use of sheets quite a few times, though we always call them "forts," but we've never had dinner in one. Once we used our living room furniture, dining room chairs, vacuum, broom, and whatever else we could to turn our whole living room and entryway into a fort. The kids thought it was great!

Dad, the vinaigrette turned out great! I used some of the spicy brown mustard you left here after Easter. I just used a touch, but it added a really nice richness.

 

[Addie]

DH works evenings, so I have free reign over dinner time.
Those are great ideas for eating. We've made use of sheets quite a few times, though we always call them "forts," but we've never had dinner in one. Once we used our living room furniture, dining room chairs, vacuum, broom, and whatever else we could to turn our whole living room and entryway into a fort. The kids thought it was great!

Every kid needs a fort under the table during a thunderstorm. Unbeknownst to them, it is actually one of the safest places they can be during a violent one. A bowl of popcorn or some quick sandwiches took their minds right off the storm.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Thanks for the idea, Sprout. I'll have to try and make my own salad dressing out of that combination.

Addi, you had to tell scarry stories under those in-home tents/forts, in a darkened room, with just a flashlight for illumination. My parents didn't participate in such things. So we just made our own. But it was always in a bedroom.

Of course, as we grew older, it became real tents, first in the back yard, then in the woods. One of my best friends and I made a huge tree fort, with a knotted rope as the only access, as the neighborhood girls weren't strong enough to climb the rope all the way up to the fort. It was lined with corrugated cardboard for insullation, was water proof, and had a double box-spring bed, with mattress in it. To really keep out the rif-raff, we constructed it between four large elm trees, in the woods behind a very large cemetery. We had a big fire ring made of dirt, and would take freshly caught fish, the occasional steaks or chicken, and freshly picked field mushrooms (picked from the cemetery lawn of course, and the fish caught on nigh-crawlers picked, again, from teh cemetery lawns at night).

We were teens, living in the country, with my best freind's father caretaker of the cemetery. Off my front yard was the river that connected Lake Superior to Lake Huron. Life was good in the 60's and 70's.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Cooking Goddess]

... Kids are fun.

Seems like lots of grown-ups have forgotten that though.

When I was a kid I remember my Mom doing cartwheels with me on the lawn! We loved doing things with our kids when they were young, and to this day even though they're in their 30s. Don't play tag with them anymore though, but find a basketball hoop and we'll gladly allow ourselves to be embarrassed in a game of HORSE with them.

Sprout, doing that sort of playing with the girls builds memories for them that will last all their lives. When the toys are broken and the dolls are lost and the books are moved on to the library because they've outgrown them they will always cherish the memories. Have fun with your kids!

 

[Addie]

Chief, my stories were always about Mary of the first step down in the cellar. Sometimes she fell back down the stairs, and sometimes she didn't When she didn't the flashlight went out and the "Gotcha" had them screaming.

CG, I have always said that a parent has several jobs. The first is to keep the child safe from any harm.

The second was to make the child feed secure.

The third was to build happy memories that they will pass on to their children.

And the fourth was to remind your child every so often that you are not their friend all the time. Most of the time you are the parent.