Earlier this week Amazon.com delivered my new Toro 1800 electric snow thrower, $279. I put the handle and chute together, no biggie, and proceeded to try it out, as it snowed here last night. It worked beautifully...for 10 minutes. Then it died. I unplugged it, cleared the snow away from the rotary thingy and tried again. It got plenty of juice, that wasn't the problem. I could see that the rotary thingy wasn't rotating, tho i could rotate it manually with my hand.

I thought perhaps some part had frozen on it, so i brought it in the basement (50 degrees) and let it sit an hour, but it still didn't work after that. Sigh.

Very frustrating. It's brand new. It did at first work just fine, throwing snow a good 30 feet or so. So i called Toro and she said it sounded like a bad belt and referred me to my nearest area Toro authorized dealer, where i dropped it off this a.m.

It's covered by a 2 year warranty, so it's not costing me anything, but it won't be ready for 7-10 days. And our next big nor'easter storm is due here late tomorrow night. So i'll be shoveling, again. Damn.

Meanwhile, Plow & Hearth's postage paid sticker arrived in the mail today, so i'll be able to pack up and return the wrong color drapes they shipped me. I am still hopeful of getting the right color before Xmas.

I am really not happy with my Honda dealer's response in addressing the issue of the vibrating exhaust system. I mean, the main reason i chose to go there instead of my much closer local car repair place was becus i figured no one knows Hondas better than a Honda dealer.

I was there 3 times, 1st for a service tune-up, ($375) when i told them to please fix the vibrating noise coming from underneath the car. After they did the tune-up, they told me they couldn't fix the vibrating sound until i got my muffler fixed, and by the way i have a hole in it. (I did have a hole there, i could tell by the sound, but i had been driving around with it for about a year and it hadn't gotten any worse. Only reason i decided to have it fixed now was so it wouldn't become a problem after i start my new job.)

So i scheduled another appt. a week later to do the muffler ($225). After they did that, they said they couldn't fix the vibration, if it really bothered me that much, unless they replaced another part of the exhaust system ($200) even tho there was nothing wrong with it. I declined, but when i drove it home that vibrating sound was so pronounced, i really couldn't believe a normally functioning Honda should sound that way. So i called them when i got home, and they said come in tomorrow (3rd trip). I sat around for an hour while while they looked at it, but they came up with nothing, and said it's not hurting anything, nnothing will fall off and seemed to imply that maybe i was a little too sensitive to noise.

My friend noticed the noise when we went to the movies and she agreed it sounds pretty bad, and it's most noticeable when you start the car moving from a stopped position, and especially so again at about 25 miles per hour.

So on Monday, i was thinking of either calling the service manager at my dealership, or perhaps better yet, calling Honda USA. Now i know you wouldn't usually think to call Honda USA as they only make the cars, not repairs, but i think the dealers are most anxious to keep on good relations with them, no? My dealer always has these silly little framed certificates telling how highly they were graded (95%, 98% and so on) in terms of customer service. I just don't think i should have to put up with my car sounding this bad when i drive it, or be forced to shell out another $200 on top of the $5oo or $600 i've already spent there. (fume)

I caught the tail end of a mention on the TV news earlier this week of a Trader Joe's recall of their pinjur sauce dated 10/09. I mentioned this to H., who is a frequent TJ's shopper. To my horror, she said she thought she had some at home, half eaten. I told her to check the dates. Turns out she had 2 jars, one opened and eaten by her and her mother, with the recalled date. So of course she will return it, but gee, shouldn't she get something more from TJ's than a "sorry about that? We hope you didn't swallow any chipped glass??" I think a gift certificate would be in order, at the least.

I threw out some bread crusts and a pear core for the deer tonight, and in fact i startled one who bounded away up my side yard. I feel sorry for the deer when a crusty snow like this is on the ground. I don't know how they survive.