Wine and Creamer

By the girl next door who only needs these to survive

Anyone who knows me knows I can not cook. It’s not for lack of trying it’s just something I’m not good at. What do you eat? That’s what I get asked a lot. Well, there’s lots of things you don’t have to cook. Sushi, take out, toast, store bought items that are already done like cheese and crackers, hummus and naan, etc. My grocery list used to consist of things like that. Now that I’ve gone through several years of draining every asset, my list is now focused on wine and coffee creamer. Like most things in life I like to use the bookend approach. Must start my day well and end well. Creamer is way cheaper than a latte everyday. I haven’t bought a latte in approximately 2 years which is ok, the drip with creamer has really grown on me and it’s less of a waist line enhancer.

It’s been about 7 weeks since the trial ended. There is still no ruling from the judge. Crazy right!? Apparently cases like mine that don’t involve children or a murder are not decided immediately at the end of trial. Apparently there are no rules for the judge to deliver a ruling in x amount of time. I feel led astray by all the tv shows and movies that paint a different picture. So the wait continues on this piece.

It’s also been about 7 weeks since the temperature issue came up with the product. The issue has led us to figure out three issue that need repair. Two of the three issues have been resolved but the third is still needing a solution.

Issue one is that the temperature is running away to dangerous levels. The reason was a faulty SCR which is a relay switch that is supposed to stop the heating once the desired temperature is reached. The SCR does not do that which explains the outcome. To me this is a safety issue and I questioned why I got a Safety Certification through ETL. The representative at the ETL office that issued the certification simply said they only test that the fuse disables the device once it reached 130c. Ummm, that sounds like BS to me since the temperature before 130c is boiling and extremely dangerous. For those who operate on F that’s about 266 degrees….see it’s not safe. I reached out to the corporate office for assistance. I’m not seeking a refund but I am asking for the quarterly inspection fee of $700 to be waived. That seems reasonable to me since now I have inventory I can’t sell because it’s not safe. I paid ETL thousands of dollars to certify that my product is safe…well it’s not.

Issue two is that the range from low to high happens between low and medium. The reason for this was that the R10 component was installed as a zero ohm when it should have been 100k ohm. Sheesh. Thanks China. China said the BOM said 0 and the Drawings said 100k and they decided to go with 0. Well if they are going to be making these kind of decisions without asking me then they can’t hold me responsible if their decision doesn’t work. Had they asked me I would not know the answer, that’s true. However it would have given me an opportunity to ask my good engineer what it should be.

Issue three remains which is that each unit gives different temperatures. For example, unit A reads 47c at medium and unit B reads 84c at medium. China keeps saying it’s software driven while my software guy disagrees along with me. The software is not that fancy, it literally tells every single unit to do the same thing. For example the software is telling all units that medium is 55c. If the units are not producing the same outcome then some other piece of hardware or the construction method is the cause.

A solution for all must be found sooner than later. I can’t just stay silent and idle for the market. I feel like my liability rises each day that I do nothing. I’m aware of the issue, I have not communicated the issue like a safety recall. So if something bad happens the insurance company won’t cover it because I knew and did nothing.

Just for funsies my good hardware engineer guy that has been so helpful can’t help me past the end of the year. He took a great job opportunity that does not allow side projects. I can’t blame him and am super happy for him. However, the timing, for me, is the worst. His last email was telling me this news and that he thinks he can solve all of it. He didn’t say how he thinks he can solve all of it and then went on vacation. As one does between jobs…but it left me hanging wondering WHAT is the solution for a couple weeks. Things for me just keep getting more fun as each day passes.

Meanwhile the situation with my sibling has intensified. The last counseling session with me, sibling and the counselor was 95% them beating me up about a text exchange. First of all I thought it was unethical for the counselor to choose sides. Second of all it seems wrong for the counselor to have side discussions with sibling and not with me allowing siblings point of view to influence the counselor’s overall opinion.

The text exchange that I got blasted for went like this:

Sibling: How are sales going?
Me: Better than expected
Sibling: Great, congrats!
Me: Thumbs up emoji

This is the first time my sibling has initiated any kind of interaction with me in several several months. To me this text exchange was over. Perhaps that’s all they were ready for like baby steps. I didn’t think anything of it. The next day sibling wrote to me: ‘in our session last week, I said you didn’t seem that interested in having a conversation with me. Our last exchange leaves me feeling the same way. The question was answered but there is no conversation’. Hmmmm….

Putting into practice the things that sibling and counselor has drilled into me since the start of these counseling sessions. I explained that it didn’t seem like they wanted more. This was an effort on my part to tell sibling why I didn’t give more and what my perspective is. In other words that my actions are being received in a negative way but there is no negative intention on my part. Then I made sure not to question her feelings because that is received as judgment. Then I made sure not to give my opinion as to what they could have done differently because that is received as criticism and that I’m trying to ‘fix sibling’.

Immediately after that text I gave sibling what sibling wanted, no questions or comments or opinions about her, I asked 4 or more open ended questions about sibling and sibling’s life. Sibling answered but did not ask me any kind of additional questions about me. So in summary, sibling expected a whole heartfelt conversation to come from ‘how are sales going’. Sibling didn’t get that so I delivered four times more of what sibling wanted. Somehow I’m still wrong and evil.

In the last counseling session the majority of the hour was spent blasting me for not knowing from the first four words from sibling that sibling wanted more. So I guess it’s wrong that I’m not a mind reader. Well I’m not the Long Island Medium although I’ve always suspected her hair being so big she might have a radio feeding her information in there somewhere. It was also totally wrong of me not to tell sibling what I found wrong with the exchange. The counselor and sibling had a good ol’ time blasting me for about 45 mins about not doing what they said I shouldn’t do. Things that make you go hmmmmm.

At the end of that time sibling then said this is the last session because sibling is not feeling like there is progress. My guess is that sibling is not getting validation from me which would entail me being sorry for not being a mind reader and rewriting my entire life to match her negative filter. Sorry sibling I’m not going to do that now or ever. The counselor made pretty final sounding parting statements as well. My last sentence was to sibling that my doors are always open. Sibling’s last statement was ‘I don’t know’.

Less than 24 hours later I find out that sibling is continuing counseling with the same counselor. It makes sense to me because sibling is getting the validation they want from this unethical counselor. Now I feel lied to by both sibling and counselor. Had I known this was my last session decided for me courtesy of sibling and counselor, I wouldn’t have stayed and paid the fifty bucks to sit there and be blasted for an hour or so.

Still haven’t found a Android developer worth their salt. The latest attempt started 3 months ago. Lets call him Igor. Igor charged me for some initial review which was no problem. Igor then asked for a physical unit and access to files. Also no problem. I understand that one can’t tell you what’s wrong or create a proposal blind. After a week or two of reviewing everything Igor gave a proposal with a list of deliverables and things he would do and a number of hours that was attached to an hourly rate.

I let my good App Dev guy take a look and see if it’s reasonable and he said yes. I told Igor that it was ok but that it would have to wait for a bit while I save up some funding to cover it. I didn’t want to commit to something unless I have the money to pay for it. Simple right? Igor came back and said he would do it at 50% the cost. I could commit to that so I said yes.

The following week Igor went ahead and charged the 50%. I thought perhaps that was a bit hasty but maybe he just wanted to ensure he got at least that since he was doing it for less. I committed to paying that so ok fine take it.

One month later Igor says it’s more work than he thought and started charging smaller amounts each week. His smaller charges equalled the other 50%. Igor never delivered any deliverables at all. De ja vu? Yes. Once again I paid a lot of money and got exactly nothing in return.

I took action and requested a refund through the freelancer site he charged me through. I gave him two options. Either do the work he said at no further charge to me or fully refund me. He said he would refund me. I’m not stupid, I’ll believe it when I see it and so far I haven’t seen it. I also called the freelancer website to complain and hopefully flag this a-hole and get him kicked off of the site.

Bookend…hmmm what is good to end with? Christmas is next week, I don’t feel welcome and nor would I want to go put a fake happy face on with my Dad, his wife, sibling and the kids. This year of all years I have the best excuse not to attend which is C-19. The good thing is I am 110% comfortable being alone and quite frankly looking forward to just relaxing with my dogs, cheesy holiday movies and wine.