2002-05-29 - 9:28 a.m.

I am...Sewing Machine Repairman!!!!

See...about two weeks ago, we managed to break the handwheel in Rhiannon's Kenmore sewing machine...probably because the sewing machine just didn't want to go through 8 layers of Sunforger (gee...go figure...).

Anyhow, calling Richmond and Petersburg sewing machine repair places resulted in bids of anywhere from $40 to $60 just to open up the machine and see what was broken, then parts and time to repair it.

Oh, and it would take a month.

Any SCAdian knows you do *not* let your machine out of your house for a month in the May-August timeframe...at least not if you're planning on going to Pennsic.

So, this was unacceptable...so I grabbed a screwdriver...suddenly the cats and dog found reasons to be in other rooms, and the bird even shut up.

See...I tend to be...well...destructive with a screwdriver...perhaps even dangerous...not so much to the machine I'm working on as myself or those around me. Ask Rhiannon about the bruise on her leg from the pavillion hub sometime.

But, as it turns out, it was easy to identify and get to the broken part. Loosen one screw and voila, the piece came out. The inside of it was in several pieces, so obviously that was the problem.

Getting the replacement part, though, was more difficult...

Sears has this "Parts Help line"...it's an 800 number, and it's even open on weekends...excellent! But the people who man said line are apparently the folks who weren't quite smart enough to land jobs as McDonald's fry cooks...

She couldn't find a parts list for my model number, so she had to log a "Research Request"...reasonable enough, I guess. Research Requests take 3 business days...not quite so reasonable, but I guess if the pile is big that makes sense.

So I called back last Wednesday to find out if the request had been done yet. "Research Requests take 5 buisiness days, Sir".

I went ballistic. I had been told three, and more importantly this shouldn't be that hard!

Anyhow, after hanging up with this person, I decided to go through the system one more time...simply because perhaps I'd get someone who was a better searcher.

She found the part number in 3.5 seconds. She couldn't *give* me the part number...some policy that makes no sense...but she could order one for me...

Good enough...ship it!

But, as it turns out, there was a web site wherein I could just punch in the part number and I'd get a list of the parts...

So they can't give it to me on the phone, but they can give it to me on a website...whatever.

Anyhow, the parts (as well as a nifty walking foot attachment) showed up in the mailbox yesterday, and it was a 5 minute replacement, and the machine was purring away like a kitten again.

Yeah for me!

Another case closed for Golden Boy, the Sentinel of (sewing machine) Service.

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