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I Just Want My Freakin’ Ice!

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Since 2017, our Samsung french door refrigerator, model RF28K9380SR, has been working well. And then there’s now where our ice maker don’t make ice. Taking out the ice bin, you can see that the ice maker is frozen over (does this prelude a White Walker victory in Game of Thrones?).

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Looking online, Samsung refrigerators are known to have issues with their ice makers. Sadly, I couldn’t find an easy fix for our model. There’s no force defrost mode like other models and the suggestion of turning off the ice maker to supposedly engage the defroster did nothing. Luckily, we purchased an extended warranty from Home Depot, and checking my online records, the make, model, and warranty info was already recorded. So should be easy, right?

Well, I called Home Depot customer support and was routed to Asurion for the warranty protection plan. I don’t want to retell the entire story since it still gets me upset, but essentially, the company wanted proof that I actually bough an extended warranty. Never mind that the purchase info and warrantly plan was already recorded on their web site. I needed to submit the actual purchase receipt from 2017. So I downloaded the files that were already saved online and submitted an invoice showing a line item for the protection plan.

I called back and was told that I was still missing verification information for the warranty. The company needed an actual receipt, so I downloaded the other attachment saved on their system and submitted that via email. Then I called back yet again although the process is to wait two business days for their review team to look over my submission. I called back for the fourth time in two hours for an update, and fortunately, my warrany was validated, and my service request was processed.

Asurion then scheduled a service call for the very next day, but… the local repair shop did not get this appointment until today. So there was no way they could make it out today to take a look.

Is it too much to ask for my freakin’ ice?!?

Update 2022: There is a force defrost for these types of Samsung four-door refrigerators.

Good One Feature Sneaker Boutique

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Gotta love Feature Sneaker Boutique for their creativity. Capitalizing on Virgil Abloh’s popularity with his Off-White label’s collaboration with Nike, Feature Sneaker had a draw then released these “NIKE AIR FORCE 1 UTILITY MID – OFF WHITE/BLACK.”

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Can you see it the beauty in their product page? If I had a sneaker bot and wanted to cop the in-demand Air Force 1 Low Off-White Black White, what keywords would I tell my bot to look out for? Maybe, your keywords would look something like this “off white air force 1 black.”

Guess what? Feature Sneaker Boutique (or is it really Nike) read your mind and played tricks with this interesting-looking Air Force 1 Utility Mid sneaker. Yes, it’s an AF1 and the name of the colorway is Off White/Black/White and with a price tag of $165 (close to the legit Off White AF1 retailing for $160), most bots would be convinced they found one of The Ten and would have gone into action, buying any and all sizes automatically, hoping to make exorbitant resell profit.

And this shoe did sell out on Feature Sneaker Boutique so this bot-tricking scenario may have been successful. This shoe is still readily available at Norstrom for comparison purposes.

My Relationship with Nordstorm Is Strange

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This post’s title says it all. I’ve said good things about Nordstrom, but I’ve shared mostly bad experiences shopping online. Why you ask? Because this customer service-centric company does stuff like this.

They cancel two of my online orders due to lack of stock. Yet, what did I see while poking around men’s shoes this past week?

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Yup, this floral Air Force 1 was the first of my cancellations. But it doesn’t end there. Scrolling down on the page, I came across these Air Max 98 Wild West.

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No kidding. This had been the second of my cancellations, and to top it off, both of these shoes were nearly the sizes of my cancelled order (I had ordered a size 10 AF1 and a 10.5 AM98. Both of those in stock are size 10). I have to assume both models came from other cancelled orders or returns.

And then, here’s the kicker. Remember back in October 2018 when my Nordstrom order for the Nike React Element 87 was cancelled? Yes, this chronicled one of my earlier disappointments with Nordstrom. Guess what showed up online? The same exact shoe that was cancelled – Nike React Element 87 Total Orange colorway in size 10.5. Some kind of twisted fate?

I placed my order knowing the probable outcome and look what showed up.

There was no original box, but the shoes are fine. I don’t know what happened here – a very late return, hiding in the warehouse, old stock from a retail location? I guess I need to say thanks Nordstrom. Let’s just work on fulfilling orders the first time around. 😉

Pali Highway Closure Memories

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By now, Windward residents are too familiar with the closure of the Pali Highway and its impact on traffic. Tuesday (the first day of the closure) was a commuter’s nightmare as expected. Leaving home at 6:00, I didn’t get to Honolulu until around 7:40, driving through Waimanalo and Hawaii Kai.

For the drive home, I reversed my course and the commute took about the same amount of time. But conditions were better listening to streaming electronic music and letting Enhanced Autopiolot creep along in traffic.

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Day number two was bad, and there wasn’t much that could be done. Everyone knew what to expect, but there were just too many cars trying to get across the Koolaus. As soon as I got on the H3, traffic was backedup. It was moving but very slowly.

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Thanks to the Hawaii Department of Transportation, the contraflow lanes opened on Thursday and worked wonders almost bringing traffic levels back to normal in the morning.

 

I’m hoping there won’t be any more memories from this Pali Highway closure…

Ye in a 3?

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Real or photoshopped? Kanye West pulling through a McDonald’s drive through in a Tesla Model 3 (see the roof and telltale door handles).

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Off-White Zip Tie, On or Off?

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While I have not had the luxury of owning (okay, keeping) a pair of Nike and Off-White “The Ten” collaborations, I do wonder if you’re supposed to leave the telltale zip tie on or are you supposed to remove it? I would guess it gets in the way when walking, but on the same token, it really does stand out.

The Off-White brand isn’t very helpful either in their instructional video.

https://vimeo.com/234843772

Foot Locker Likes to Mess with Air Jordan 1 Fans

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Foot Locker surely likes to mess around with the fans of the Air Jordan 1. If you’ve ever searched their site for “Air Jordan 1,” you’ll come across many models from the mid tops to the more popular high tops. Sometimes even popular, coveted AJ1 highs show up in inventory. Or does it?

Watch this recent video where I attempt to cart different AJ1 colorways on Footlocker.com with frustrating results.

ResExp: Risk Versus Reward

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For the sake of brevity, I’ll refer to buying higher end items as #coppingkicks and buying discounted items as #rossfinds. Okay, with that out of the way, let’s briefly talk about the risk of either endeavor.

With #rossfinds, you’re looking at discounted items, so costs of items are accordingly discounted. The risk of buying these items are much lower. While bombing on an $80 shoe that doesn’t sell is tough, absorbing that hit is more tolerable. If nothing at all, a #rossfinds purchase can be returned within 30 days of purchase, and past 30 days, you’ll get a store credit. Granted a store credit is funds destined to that store, but you can ideally find another #rossfinds to flip. Rewards with #rossfinds are moderate. Sure, you can find gems once in awhile but don’t expect a homerun each time you visit a Ross. There’s nothing wrong with $20-30 profit per item sold and a steady stream of $20 profits does add up over time.

On the other end, #coppingkicks goes for the homerun each time and even more. It’s all about scooping up the limited items and maximizing resale value. Typically costing$100-200, pairs of kicks are often sold with no returns. Nike and Adidas offer solid return experiences, but they are the exceptions. Most stores sell high end kicks as all sales final. If you land desired items, profits can easily exceed $100 per item. But if your risks turn into bricks, you just lots of money with nary a recourse for recovery. Hopefully, you can sell the items at retail price or even take a partial lost which is better than a full loss.

So you need to figure out your risk-reward comfort level. While it’s fun when you see those high expense sales, it could be intermittent, scattered with pricely mistakes. Or are you willing to trudge along gradually building up revenue?

 

I’m Not Versed in the Spider-Verse

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Obviously, I am not versed in the language of the Spider-Verse. Otherwise I would have understood Foot Locker’s rules for the release of the upcoming Air Jordan 1 Origin Story.

Here’s a visual summary of what I got using the Foot Locker app.

If I could read the language of the Spider-Verse, I would have deciphered that the sweepstakes entry closed on Tuesday, December 11. You see that on that black instruction screen right?

So don’t go down to Foot Locker Ala Moana asking for these kicks. Spider-Man has gone into the Spider-Verse.

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