April 2025

 

A recent experience has given me to write this post.

I ordered a pair of Levi's 501 'Original' button-fly jeans. I've bought them, of and on, over the last half century. My past experience with the jeans is: they are made from a hefty fabric, they are dyed indigo blue, rivets are used to reinforce certain parts of the pants.

My recent experience was unexpected and a disappointment. But, honestly, after the last few decades of branding buying, I should have been aware. Anyway, I ordereds a pair from Macy's onliine store. You,  know, the Macy's from the movie 'Miracle on 34th Street.' I paid about sixty bucks. When I opened the package, I found the pants were 'datk' blue, but not indigo. The pants were light weight. That was because the fabric was thin. I weighed an old pair I had sitting around, and the new pair.

The old,worn and thinning pair weighed 777g while the new pair weighed 687g. The new pair had been advertised as the 'Original' Levi's 501 jeans. The word original is what through me off. I thought that would have been a violation by the truth-in-advertising act. 

I sent the pants back for a refund and ordered a used pair on eBay for about half as much. I also posted a critical review on Levi's website.

FTC-Truth In Advertising

Caveats

 When buying something online, specifically used things, be careful.

People make mistakes or are criminal in intent. Make sure to know as much about the thing you're buying as possible. Read online user/owner manuals.

Make sure the item is returnable for a reasonable fee.

Make sure eBay is guaranteeing the item.

Check the web for prices, including other sell sites like etsy, etc.. There are frequently cheaper prices elsewhere, and even retail may be cheaper.

Is there sufficient data from the seller? Images? If not, contact the seller. Be polite but insistent. If the seller is not forthcoming, consider moving on. A similar or better deal may occur after a time.

typical demise of a classic

 

There are many products that have come and gone. Many lingered in our culture for decades. Western Flyer sleds are an example. Where I live, Northeast Tennessee, deep snow of several inches has almost become an event of legend. Sledding, then, was an anticipated annual event. As much a social gathering as anything.

But I digress. Recently I became interested in what could be called the classic holiday sweets of my youth. Specifically, Christmas, Halloween and Valentines Day.

   I was disappointed this Halloween to find a lot, maybe most, of the candies I associated with the holiday, were no longer on store shelves. A good example are the peanut-butter toffee kisses wrapped in orange or black waxy paper.

   This Christmas season, another fatality has caught my attention. The classic red and white striped peppermint candy stick, made locally, is subject to issues. The candy is still widely available but has suffered a different sort of demise. Management cutbacks and cost accounting have resulted in an inferior product. I have had two boxes this year and all the canes in one box were broken, some in several places. I complained in a form on the company website and was assured there was some mishandling after the candy left the factory. I was sent a free replacement box. An improvement but still there were broken canes.  Perhaps mishandling does occur, but to the degree required to cause two sequential events? Seems statistically unlikely.

An even more insidious event took place in the packaging. Decades ago, candy canes came in a cellophane sleeves, now they are placed in heatshrink tubing that makes the wrapping tight. Further, the material, while transparent, is tough enough to daunt all but the stoutest of souls. This wrap makes detection of broken canes difficult if not impossible. The earlier loose sleeve wrapper made the detection immediate, even from several feet away. The demise of this classic was not in the product itself, but in the presentation, the container. Poor quality control hidden by deviously contrived choice of wrapper. After all, how many people would buy a candy cane if they could see the candy was broken in several places? 

Covid vaccinations

 Last April, I had the second of two covid vaccinations. Both were done with, what one administerer called 'a 25 gauge needle.' The important part is the needle is so small, there is no pain after the initial piercing of the skin. There was some soreness the day after the first, along with tiredness. There were no noticeable effects after the second vacination.

I now move about, Covid-worry free.

Beware eBay Chinese products

 My home is what is known as 'off-grid.'

My electrical energy comes from a solar power installation, and two generators.

I collect rain water into two, 250 gallon IBC containers. There is a shallow well jet pump to deliver the water. PEX tubing replaced the cpvc plumbing which, in turn, replaced the steel/iron/copper plumbing. The A version is used with a DeWalt, battery powered, expansion tool. The plumbing consists of grade A products, except for one.

I decided to use an on-demand , propane powered, tankless water heater instead of the traditional electric model. My electric model sat for several years in my basement without use.

The water heater I chose was a brandless Chinese model on eBay. The price was around a hundred dollars. Fast forward one year and the intake fitting breaks. This indicates a cheap alloy was used. The fitting was the only component that had a weakness in design. The fitting is a threaded portion as part of a tube with another threaded portion on the other end. The fitting was attached to a PEX 1/2" tub with 1/2" NPT fitting and CPVC adapter. The CPVC is rigid and may be the reason the failure occurred. vibration and small movements over a year may have fatigued the metal to the point a break occurred.

The solution?

Two:

1. If the metric thread standard was used, a replacement can be built from parts ordered online.

2. A repair tool such as J.B. Weld can be used to reconnect the two pieces of the fitting, and to add reinforcement for future stress events.

The water heater has tempurature regulation problems. If the water flow slows, the heat raises the temp of the water. For some reason, after a year, the average temperature level has increased.

Plumbing leaks could reduce flow. I've had issues with a 'compatible' PEX product.

Build up of material in the inlet or outlet could restict flow, thereby increasing temperature.

To make a long story short, I also purchased a two year warranty from SquareTrade(Allstate) at the same time. After communicating with a representative, I am being sent a paper check in the mail to arrive within five days. The warranty covers the cost of the unit. Typically, these nits, on eBay, have free shipping, so there is no cost there.

I can, at my pleasure, buy a replacement unit, at no additional cost to me, or repair the existing unit and continue using the unit. Or both.

If you purchase a critical item or an expensive item, on eBay, also purchase a warranty if available.

Update: I purchased a used/older Rennai on demand water heater from a local store that sells second hand building materials and appliances. The unit was natural gas based but I bought and installed a propane conversion unit. The unit is in the bathroom and has replaced the Chinese unit.

I moved the Chinese unit to the kitchen and now have hot and cold running water in both places. Repair of the unit seems to require replacement of a rubber diaphragm used in a temperature control device. I have some online sources but haven't decided whether to just buy a new unit, maybe a more expensive, smaller, name brand unit.

Note, there are good and reliable products from China, but the proliferation of cheaply made goods makes buying risky. Consider repairs. Where? If you diy repairs, where do you get parts, drawings? A good reason to buy known brands with reasonable and available service resources.

Consumer law degree?

Just went through a mess with a seller on the Bonanza web site.
Received a 4k UHD blu-ray with digital code. Tried to redeem code with no success.
Then I noticed, the packaging of the item I received and the one in the advertising, were not the same.
People are removing digital codes from blu-ray movies, then re-packaging them and re-selling on sites like eBay or Bonanza.

In my case, the digital code seems to have been removed from another package and inserted into the one I received. The item I received has no mention of 'Digital Download.' This tells me, the digital code key/sheet is false.

I've messaged the seller asking for  a return and refund.

Oddly, the item I expected, currently sells for $40+ when found. I paid $28 for the 4K without the digital code. If I can live without the convenience of the digital code, this would be a good deal.
The lowest price I could find. If I had a 4K player.
   That is the reason I wanted the digital code. I could watch using the web as a 4k player.

   Solution: I found a 4K copy of the movie on the web and downloaded that to one of the drives I reserve for movie storage. I now have the movie available for streaming without using a digital download code, or a 4K pkayer.

   I'm still going to give the seller one star for selling a fraudulent product.
   And give a negative review ("Fraud!").

   You have to read the ads like a lawyer reading a contract.

   Be careful. Stay safe. Be patient.

Pizza kit now and 50 years ago.

I bought a pizza 'kit' at the grocery store. My family had bought one when I was young and we prepared the pizza together. Same company and same, or so I thought, kit.

The original kit included everything to make two pizzas and cost about two-fifty.
The kit purchased last week contained two bags dough powder and one can sauce 'with pepperoni.'
After you pay for cheese and real pepperoni and some spices, you'll have paid for the equivalent of a retail pizza.
Go with the retail. The well known inexpensive thin crust is bound to be better. Remember, no spices in the box. Any spices would have to be in the sauce, hence not fresh, but stale tasting.
May be great for college students on a tight budget.
This is another discovery of the inferior quality of contemporary product compared to the '60's and the past in general.

I mentioned a pair of Levi jeans previously. I may not have mentioned they were an anniversary model designed to duplicate the original over a hundred years ago.