Quality Not

They just don't make things like they used to! In the last two months we aged out our coffee maker and toaster. I still try to support local stores, so we went to Walmart to replace the coffee maker. Mr. Coffee has been at it a lot of years so I purchase a standard 12-cup version. It brewed fine, but the built-in clock ran three times faster than normal. The 2-hour hotplate shut-off in under one hour. That also meant the timer start fails. Many tries - many fails. I then did a Google search and found that this brand has had this problem for the last 1.5 years. But they have great customer service. A quick message chat on their Facebook page and they sent a replacement. The replacement works great. It just seems like a good quality assurance program would have caught this and saved everyone a headache. I also had to throw away the new-but-defective brewer. That's a lot of landfill!

Then the toaster gave up the ghost. Both of these had over 10 years of service so I don't fault them. The new toaster from Target wasn't the entry level so I expected it to work. However, the lever to load the bread failed to stay down after a couple days use. I had to hold it down manually to complete the toast cycle. It's junk, too! And yet such a pretty thing. The Oster company isn't as helpful. I need to deliver it to the local authorized service center, which is 60 miles away and requires proof of purchase. Who keeps receipts these days? Things should work! The credit card printout for the month lists it, though. Tomorrow we're going to KC for some shopping. The service center said they will determine if they can fix it or have Oster send me a replacement. I suspect it will end up OK, but what ever happened to quality construction!?

This is my first home sketch of the year. It feels great! I don't like being away from sketching for as long as I have, but that's life. The font I used on the title and the appliance descriptions came from a fountain pen Facebook group posting. I thought it was a beautiful font, so I'm trying it out.

January sketchcrawl: UrbanSkechersKC

Finally got out for some sketching this weekend. I just haven't been out much. The Kansas City group organized a sketch crawl at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. Wilma and I have seen the sign to it for many years and just never made it. This gave the perfect excuse to get there! I learned a lot and enjoyed taking it all in. Thirty five years of league play and mostly east of the Mississippi. It's sure not the best chapter in American history. Diversity proved to be better for the game.

I wish Topeka or Lawrence would have something for sketchers. The 68 mile drive to KC to sketch is a bit much but I figure it is still the closest I have. I can't make all of the outings but I pick the most interesting. The group of sketchers is friendly, too. Most of them just come for the sketching, but plenty stick around for lunch and to chat. I'm still in the 'new kid' mode and haven't gotten to know any individuals well yet. That will come in time.