New Washer and Dryer

Our washer and dryer is 18 years old, and is starting to make some funny noises.

I stumbled across a newer set - about a year old - in need of some repair on Craigslist.  It is a nice set made by Samsung.  The dryer was not blowing hot air.  I thought we would take a chance and buy the set and then try to fix it.

I finally had time to play around with it.  There's quite a few safety switches and thermostats that are in series that all tested out fine.  The last component (the hardest to get to) proved to be the culprit.

This is a centrifugal switch, and it makes sure the dryer motor is spinning before allowing the high current to go to the heater element.

I took it off the motor, and took off the plastic cover, and a little nubbin fell out.

It turns out the missing nubbin is the contact point that makes a solid electrical connection.  This nubbin is probably a $0.05 part, but it is attached to $110 motor as an assembly.  I broke down and bought the entire assembly just to get this project done and finished.

We now have a nice nearly new washer and dryer.  I hope we get many years of good service out of them.

Florida Trip - Part 3

This is the last installment of our Florida Trip.  Part #3:

We had a fun afternoon at the Orlando Science Museum.

Kids never have enough time to play at places like this.

One corner of the museum had a citrus farm.

Back at the resort, we decided to go swimming, but a thunderstorm rolled through.  So, kids went through the 'cuzzi tub instead.

We left Orlando and went to Venice to visit Great Grandma.  

This was especially fun for us.

Kids found ways to entertain themselves.

Yes, that's an armrest cover on top of his noggin.

Venice Beach was especially nice.

We went at sundown and that was a real nice time to go.

I sure like his sun hat on a cloudy evening!

Oh, what's this!!  I believe it is called a Ghost Crab.

It snuck up on Kiddo #2 and startled him greatly, so

he went after him with a bucket!

He was proud of his catch.  

Florida Trip - Part 2

Disney world was a blast, but it sure was overwhelming.  I think for the first 8 hours, none of the kids smiled.  They just looked around in awe of everything and were trying to absorb all the craziness.

It's a Small Small World.  

I have that tune stuck in my head right now!

It seems one kid never cooperates for group pictures.

Behold - the $7.49 hot dog.  Outrageous!

  

Dumbo was pretty cool.

C3PO hats in Downtown Disney.

The Harley Davidson store looked like it had

nice expensive stuff to break.  We got out real fast.

We ate at the Dinosaur T-Rex Restaurant.  Really fun.

Towards the end of the week, we got to hold a real alligator at our Resort.  This guy was a mere 4 feet long.

One cool thing we were able to do was take a 6 minute helicopter ride.  Now I think I want to be a pilot when I grow up.  

Florida Trip - Part 1

We took a family vacation down to Florida for the last couple of weeks.  I have not been able to post pictures because I forgot my computer cable for my camera.  (Remember cameras?  Now everyone takes pictures with their phone, but not I)

Here's a few pictures from the first few days:

Day 1:  We started out.  Kids are loaded out and ready to go.  They were buckled in and reading books an hour before we were fully packed.  Here's a picture of us just before leaving.  We pack pretty lightly, I see.

That day, we stopped at the Louisville Science Center for a few hours.  Kids can run around and have a great time and shake out their craziness.

For some reason, Kiddo #3 was really attached to this beaver:

And the cave at the Science Center:

Of course, we had to walk down the street and see the big bat at the Louisville Slugger Factory.  That is a giant baseball bat behind Kiddo #3.  I think I told him to stand up straight like a log.

Day #2, we went to the Children's Science Museum in Nashville, TN.  Here they are way up top in the peak of the giant play center.

We stopped at a hotel and saw our first palm tree the next morning.  

Kids were excited to see them.

And finally, we made it to the Florida Welcome Center.

And even more finally, we made it to our resort in Orlando.  As we were getting checked in, kids found the little store with beach hats and had to try them on.

More to come....