Chromilo Amin

We own a Whirlpool front-load washer, Model WFW8300SW01 and Serial HLT4932808. About a month or two ago, the wash cycle would not complete with error code "F21" on the console. To get around this in the meantime, I manually set the dial to drain cycle and this would fix the problem, most of the time. I called around for a local Whirlpool technician and was told it would cost $81 to just come out and have a look. It might have to come down to this but I wasn't about to just hand over my money so I googled some fixes. The error code would also come up some times on drain cycle and am never sure which of the two troubleshooting techniques I applied really made a difference. The manuals say that error code "F21" could be caused by a kink in the drain tube or that the wall power was low on voltage. With this in mind, I tried the following: 1) unplugged the other power bar that shared the power circuit with my washer, and 2) drained water from the drain tube by remo...

The end of summer is fast approaching but don't let that stop you from making one last trek down south of the border with the family before we all start donning clothes from our fall wardrobe. Head down during the week instead of the weekend for less lineups at the border crossings and at the zoos. It's also cheaper in terms of accommodation. Here is a transcript of our latest adventure. Fun Center at Tukwilla This is our second time at this facility and it's always a good time for the kids. There are arcade games indoors and fair rides outdoors. We drove the race kart twice around the track (once for each kid), did the trampoline, and sailed around in a rubber dingy with water guns on them. In the arcades, kids accumulated about 288 tickets, from winning games and by contribution from a couple who didn't care about redeeming the tickets for prizes. Kids were able to redeem about 4 different toys each with this number of tickets. The Inn at Gig Harbor We looked...

I noticed earlier in the year that some of the leaves in my pear tree was limp and most were starting to turn black, like someone had been playing a prank and setting the tips on fire. I noticed these green diamond-shaped bugs (aphids) on the tip of most of the leaves and I correctly figured out that those were responsible for my sick tree. I also noticed there were a lot of ants going up/down the tree trunk. I sprayed the leaves with a strong stream of water and manually removed some by hand. This however didn't fix the problem. I talked to Richard, a friend of ours who owned his own landscaping and gardening business. He said that I should apply diluted dishwater soap in a spray bottle and spray the leaves with aphids on them, manually scraping off the aphids with my fingers. He also suggested stopping the ants from gong up and down the tree by applying some type of glue close to the base of the tree, but ensure the substance doesn't get to the bark by first wrapping the...

We decided to drive down to Portland during spring break to take the kids to see the Zoo, Aquarium, and do a bit of tax-free shopping. This transcript details the things we did and some advise for those of you wanting to do the same. First of all, use Expedia.ca instead of Priceline.com when booking your hotels because you can choose to pay for board and lodging in your local currency instead of paying fees at the hotel in US Currency. I find that you save a little bit from not having to pay conversions fees especially if you don't have a US credit card. Secondly, the drive from BC to Portland is 5 hours long so split it up into two to make sure your kids get to rest up. Trust me, it's worth it. And finally, make sure you have a fully inflated spare tire available just in case. As you will find out later on in this blog, it helped get us back on track. Ramada Tukwilla This hotel was a welcome surprise. It was very affordable at $100/night and was a very comfortable stay. T...

We just came back from a 5-day vacation in California because of an early Catholic school spring break for the kids. If you are looking for memorable family outings without breaking the bank, then our past week's experience might help you out. For scheduling, you should fly and rest the first night, spend a day in Legoland the second day, Disneyland the third day, shop at outlets on the fourth day, and then fly back on the fifth day. We were thinking of squeezing in a San Diego Zoo visit on the fourth day but that is a 2 hours drive south of Anaheim and we didn't think the kids would enjoy an early start and a late return to the hotel. Do what works for you, but here is some insight into what worked for us: Book a flight+hotel+car package   Flying from British Columbia may be more expensive so look to fly from Bellingham or Seattle in the US. And go with package deals that include flight+ hotel +car. The other reason it is cheaper is that the destination airport is in LA...

Our kitchen garburator had been out of order for the past few weeks and I thought I would give it some tender loving care this Christmas Holidays because we'll need it. It's a Mainline Model 1900 and has been very dependable for the past 6 years. This happened a few times before and all I did was run a wooden barbeque stick through the serrated edges of the garburator blade to dislodge whatever gunk was in there and that did the trick. It didn't this time and I was ready to spend some money.  I was tempted to call our plumber and have them fix this for me (here take my money) but I thought to myself, how hard can this be. I was also tempted to take the whole thing apart to clean whatever was causing the blade to not spin but I'm sure I would have lost a few fingers or two if I did that. What did work was using something everyone already has lying around the kitchen - a butter knife. Take the butter knife and find the gap in the blade to insert the tip of the kn...

This isn’t the first time I’ve had to spend time waiting for a loved one in a waiting room while they undergo a major surgery. And the feeling of hopelessness is almost always apparent as everyone waits for the surgeon to come out and deliver the outcome. Anxiety and self-reflection often follow this feeling of hopelessness as we try to find solace and comfort in each other. We almost always put our faith in the almighty, praying often and asking priests to provide blessings for the sick. We become overly spiritual in times like these and would be nice if we kept this level of enthusiasm regularly. It is understandable however and in addition to our increased spirituality, we also question our own mortality. We ask what we would do differently in our lives to avoid the same fate. We promise to take better care of our health, to exercise more often, to eat well, to get a health checkup more often, to love and take risks, to have no regrets, and more importantly, to be at peace with ours...