Big Seig and the water filter

While South Carolina experienced at truly devastating flood, I was dealing with my own, little, invisible one.  My 110 year old house has hardwood floors throughout that are, for the most part, in very good shape.... except for the kitchen floor.  Because there was damage, and because I have dogs, I put down vinyl planks.  This was a 3 step process, first 3/4 inch plywood, then 1/4 inch Masonite, and then the planks.
I also own a side by side Whirlpool refrigerator, that's about 9 years old and still works like a charm.  For some reason only the designers know, Whirlpool put the water filter down at floor level.  In order to change it you need to get down on your hands and knees.  Two months ago this filter needed to be changed, so I got a new one out of the cupboard and set it on the kitchen counter, got down on my hands and knees, pushed the release on the old filter, and removed it.  However, during this process Big Seig, my then 6 month old, and very large, Boxer pup got the the new filter from the counter thinking it was a brand new, fancy dancy chew toy.  When I got it from him the label looked a bit chewed up, but other wise the filter looked fine, and so I installed it.

Unbeknownst to me, however, he had managed to damage a teeny, weeny, black rubber gasket, and as a result, once the filter was installed, it began a steady drip... and drip... and drip.  There is a small drip pan under the filter which filled up to the brim, and then for every drop that went into the pan, a drop went over the side.  And, of course, one of the seams for the vinyl planks runs directly under the drip pan.

So, for some time water has been soaking in to the Masonite, which began to swell.  Four days ago I looked at the floor around my refrigerator and said to myself, "that looks odd."  So, getting down on my hands a knees, investigated and discovered the problem.  The damaged filter has been removed and a new one ordered.  The dripping has stopped.  Now I'm just waiting to see how much damaged has been done.  This is how it goes some times. 

The Ugly Truth about Extended Warranties

I have worked in retail for many years, some as a part-time associate and some as a full time associate, so I am quite familiar with those extended warranties retailers so desperately want you to purchase.  They love that little add on since a vast majority of the time, it's money in their bank.  Let me explain.  If you were an appliance manufacturer, like Whirlpool, would you want to build, say a dishwasher, which breaks down after three years?  The idea is to create a brand saturated with consumer loyalty.  Whirlpool is not going to grow that loyalty if their products are shoddy and need repairs after three or even four years.  This means they are going to build something which is going to survive longer then an extended warranty.  When it does finally break down, they want you to buy another Whirlpool product, not go with Samsung or LG.  Retailers don't give a shit about how long a product lasts, they just want you to buy the extended warranty since they put a lot of money in their bank account.  This is not to say there are not a few consumers out there who have not purchased and used these warranties, but they are a rare breed.

I did some research to find out who exactly buys these extended warranties and was surprised to find out low income people, those that are the least financially fortunate, tend to purchase them.  Of course major retailers don't really care about how much money you make they just want you to buy them: out of poor pockets into theirs.  Doesn't that seem a little unethical?  The largest group, how  ever, are those who don't want to worry about their appliances breaking down.  Now I don't know about you, but I tend to put some time into research before I go out and buy any large ticket item.  I look at online reviews, Consumer Reports, check out how many stars the product gets at Amazon; there are a vast number of resources out there.  When I make a purchase I want to make sure I'm getting the best bang for my buck.  I sleep well at night.  Unfortunately there are a lot of pudding heads out there who do not do that.  No, they will go from appliance showroom to appliance showroom who will always end up extolling the wonders of their own brand of extended warranty.  Holy Shit, when are people going to get smart and do the research, it doesn't really take that much time.  It's also feels great to walk into a showroom and say "I'll take this refrigerator in white," and when they move into extended warranty territory say "actually, this refrigerator has a lifetime expectancy of around thirteen years, so you can take that $400 extended warranty you want me to buy and use it to wipe your butt."