Phannie

Phannie
Photo taken near Monument Valley, Utah

Monday, August 14, 2017

Installations Done and Meeting More New Friends in Salt Lake City

At the Salt Lake City KOA...

Consistent with hiccups that often happen in the service world, our new microwave oven was delivered to the KOA office here, but the delivery guys didn't know they were supposed to install it, and promptly drove away. After some less-than-genteel conversations with Home Depot's customer service (obviously an oxymoron in my case), an installation was rescheduled to take place in a couple of days. 
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So, it's a couple of days later.  Whoops! The installation guys took one look at the old microwave oven and informed us this would require custom work that was beyond their capability. I think they were spooked by the motorhome; this was obviously the first time they had been inside one. The installation clearly didn't require any custom work; it was a standard microwave and a standard opening. I think these guys just didn't want to tackle anything that was a bit outside the ordinary. It made me wonder exactly what they were good at--metabolizing? Motor functions? I suppose I'll never know. But I do know that they did not represent Home Depot well. I decided to cancel that installation and add it to the list when Access RV installs the new air conditioner.

Meanwhile, we're still finding creative ways to heat up and defrost food items. Have we become so spoiled that we forgot microwave ovens haven't always been around? Did people really heat food on a stove in some ancient time?  Heck, I can remember when I saw my first microwave oven--I was about 14 years old. Let's see...that was more than 50 years ago, wasn't it? 

A quick look at Wikipedia reveals that the microwave oven was invented in 1947 and patented by Raytheon under the RadarRange brand. The first commercial model weighed 750 pounds and cost  $27,000 in today's dollars. The smaller residential versions didn't see wide use until the 1970s.

The microwave oven in Phannie is a combination microwave/convection oven, so it took us a while to find one of these that would fit the bill. The one we bought, a Kitchen Aid, is ever so much nicer than the original Panasonic model that has cratered on us.

We had the good fortune to gain a new neighbor in the site adjacent to us. The very nice Discovery motorhome pulled in, and I went over to greet the couple and say welcome to the neighborhood. I learned that Allen and Carrol were not only fellow Texans, but former residents of east Texas, as is yours truly. Here's their photo:


  
Instantly feeling almost like kinfolks, we were privileged to accompany them downtown to watch a rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The choir and orchestra were, of course, magnificent, and we enjoyed the experience again, having seen them here a couple of years ago:



We also accompanied Allen and Carrol to dinner the next evening, and we really enjoyed the fellowship and laughter. Here's hoping we cross paths again one of these days.


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So, it's a couple of days later, and the new A/C and microwave oven are installed and ready to go. We really like the new microwave; now we have to learn how the controls work:



The installation work was done by Access RV here in Salt Lake City. I thought their work was excellent, and the price seemed very fair. I think I'll include them in my list of favorite service providers, linked in the far right column of this blog.

While I'm on the subject of links, I am still adding new parks to the "Best of the Best RV Parks" linked at the same location. An alert reader notified me the other day that I had included the wrong link for one of the RV parks, which I promptly corrected. Thank you for your help!

Also remember that you can get a 15 percent discount on any product you buy from Strongback Chairs by including the coupon "PhannieandMae15." This will save you about 15 bucks on the Elite model (and no, I don't get any kickback from them).

We will be here in Salt Lake for the better part of two more weeks, then off to Provo and St. George, Utah.


Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.


I had rather own little and see the world than to own the world and see little of it.  

-- Alexander Sattler









  

11 comments:

  1. So nice to be able to hear the choir while you are there. You did well having RV pros install that great looking microwave thingy.

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  2. Hi, Zippy! Yes, we like all there is to do and see here and all over the West. And I love your use of 'thingy.' That is one of my favorite words to describe most anything complex in a simple and amusing way.

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  3. That os one spiffy looking microwave.
    Nice to get those jobs out of the way, and to see that choir in person would be amazing.

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    1. I think you would enjoy Salt Lake and the choir, George. Might want to put that on your travel list!

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    2. We were almost there last year, but by the time we can get there it is pretty cold.

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  4. Each microwave/convection oven seems to have a nifty new feature. Have fun discovering yours! It is amazing how we ever did without the microwave!

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    1. Hi, Patsy! Yes, I was a little disappointed in the instruction manual on this one; I thought it was a little skimpy. But we'll figure it out, I'm sure.

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  5. We recently saw a Raytheon Radar Range in Amana at the Heritage Museum.

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    1. Hi, Jan! Yes, I remember those. The first one I saw was in the late seventies when Sandy's aunt built a new house and had one built in. We thought they were cutting edge relatives, for sure.

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  6. Loving your new installation, of the micro/convection combo.

    Ours is on death's door, so I cannot wait to have the replacement installed, although it may wait until we arrive at Alliance in Florida in the Spring.

    Dave is making it into a huge thing, just because I want the fan turned and vented to the outside, rather than back into the coach. . .LOL! Freaks him out that the installers will need to "CUT A HOLE" in the side of the coach for the vent. YUP. . .it's going to happen though. Hopefully, this one will live that long, or we may be pulling your trick, and finding an installer on the road.

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    1. Hi, Janice! Having the exhaust vented outside was one of the first modifications we did when we bought Phannie. I couldn't stand that recirculating thing, and it made a world of difference. If you ever find yourselves in Red Bay, Alabama (near Tupelo), I can point you to the right guys to do the job. Access RV here in Salt Lake City did a good job on this installation, we thought.

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