Women's Magazine 1858 vs. Today

Too Busy to Write

Butter....by any other name

When I was about Sarah's age (almost 7), my grandmother used to occasionally let me churn butter, just to show me how it was done. Now I want to show Sarah, but the directions I'm finding are so different from what I remember.

From what I can gather, my grandmother's butter involved the old Southern way of making butter: from clabbered milk. I can remember her putting the milk into the churn and letting it sit in a warm place until it clabbered.  I don't remember her ever skimming the cream...but I could be wrong. Then you churned as usual, scooped out the bits of butter when they formed, worked and washed the butter and drank the leftover buttermilk.

Most of the directions I can find now simply involve beating cream.

I'm going to keep looking, because I want Sarah to see how her relatives made butter, not just a generic method used elsewhere.

Parents arrested for Children's Accidents

It's been a wild month around here.....more storms, garden work, shearing, etc.

Today I want to talk about something that troubles me deeply; God is really laying it on my heart. The sermon we heard yesterday was about Prodigal Children.  That came right before hearing about a grandma arrested because her 2 y.o. grandchild (of whom she was guardian) got into some medicine and OD'd. The child went into the bathroom at night, got the meds and took some. Apparently is wasn't a case of negligence, just a tragic accident. But Grandma was arrested.

I guess this hits home with me because, as the mother of a very curious, active child, we've had many times where Sarah could really have hurt herself. She can move a lot faster than I can and, honestly, can get into things a lot quicker than I can stop her. To keep her perfectly safe, I'd have to make her sit in a chair in the middle of the living room all day long.

Last night she got into a bottle of cough medicine and was playing with it. She didn't take any, thank God, but she had a syringe and was playing.

At almost 7, Sarah KNOWS better. We've talked, we've spanked, we've taken away TV, we've begged and pleaded. But she STILL does things that she knows are dangerous. Medicine cabinets? HA! She can easily climb up to any medicine cabinet, the top of the refrigerator or even a tall cabinet. We'd literally have to put a combination lock on a medicine cabinet to keep her out.....if she felt the need I'm sure she'd take the key to a padlock if she wanted something. This is the child who was using a screwdriver to take the knob off the door when she was 4.  She still eats cat food...although the last time I caught her I made her wash her mouth out with Listerine...that made a strong impression. She's gone out onto the main road, where hunters drive monster trucks at break-neck speed.

It boggles the mind. Parents are somehow supposed to protect kids from killing themselves WITHOUT really disciplining the kids.

I honestly don't know how this is supposed to be done.

My Experience with GE

I've been re-reading part of Jean Pierre de Caussade's  Abandonment to Divine Providence. I don't agree with all of his doctrine, but I've needed the reminder that God can and does use our everyday experiences to sanctify us.

I need that message right now. 

The washer's still broken. The part didn't come in as expected so: mountains of clothes and no washer (I can wash, only a little at a time.) We leave Sunday and I'm tied up most of tomorrow helping with a friend's son's birthday party, so I'll probably break down in a few minutes and try to find a safe-looking washeteria.

Our washer is a GE Profile.  We bought it about 2 years ago from a nice, local Mom-and-Pop furniture store that "services what it sells."  This is our second service call on the washer.  With this service call, we will probably have paid a good portion of what the washer originally cost.

Our old Whirlpool washer was 12 y.o. when it finally passed from this life.  It only needed service at the end of its long life.

I decided to call GE and tell them that we weren't really thrilled with the washer or the time it takes to get parts.  I buy a washer so that I can wash clothes at home.

I wasn't asking them to replace the washer.  I thought they'd like to know that I'm about ready to spread the word about my experience with GE appliances.  Most companies want to know.

Basically, the young lady at GE told me that

1) I should have called a GE authorized repair-person (I didn't know our dealer WASN'T also an authorized repairer; there is a difference)  She seemed to suggest that, as I am psychic (I suppose), I should have KNOWN that my authorized dealer wasn't also an authorized repairer.  I should also have known that there WERE authorized repairers in my area, although the website seems to suggest that these are only located near major cities.

2)Since I had committed this crime of using another repair service (I'm exaggerating a little here), there was nothing that GE could do for me because they didn't have a record of prior service on the washer. 

Of course, I asked to speak to her supervisor, who was a much more reasonable and friendly person. There's still nothing that GE can do really (well, they COULD, but they're not)...but at least she was friendly about it and sympathized with me.

This is what it's come down to:  GE really doesn't care about the fact that their products may or may not be good quality appliances, that they may end up prematurely in landfills or that they may generate poor relations with customers,  they just want you to use their authorized service reps.  If a customer doesn't use an authorized service person, then GE has an easy out.

Isn't this clever, boys and girls? I wish I'd thought of it.   

Using this ruse any company could make the shoddiest produce imaginable and then basically BLAME THE CUSTOMER and refuse to do anything if the item needed repair....if the customer didn't use their servicemen (who might conveniently be more expensive or further away than anyone else....)

The moral of this story is, if you own a GE appliance be SURE you use a GE authorized service rep. if you ever think you'll need GE to do anything to help you.

If you're thinking about buying a GE appliance, you might search online and see what others' experiences have been.

I won't tell you that everying they make is a junk; I'm sure it isn't and there are some fine folks working there.

For me, their customer service was the pits.

And people wonder why American industry is in trouble.

As for me, I guess I'll have to dust off my husband's Desert Eagle pistol and try to find a safe washeteria close by....then I may call my antique-dealer contacts and try to locate a washpot and wringer.  At least they're reliable.