All posts by Jeff B.

Living in the City, Photography

A Tad on the Cold Side

It’s been pretty cold in Chicago this winter, but the ice fishermen are a hardy bunch.  Take a look at the flag and guess the wind chill.

Canon G1x
Canon G1x

My reason for this post isn’t entirely the weather, but the first shot I took with my new Canon G1x camera.  I bought this camera to take on trips when lugging my Canon T1i DSLR and lenses would be overkill and hard on my back.  If it is to fit into my pocket, then I better wear cargo pants or my vest.

g1x_djb_0048
The Chicago River After the Ice Breaker

The featured photo is a straight RAW import into Lightroom without any correction, taken from my living room through the window.

The other is a JPEG using one of many Scene Modes.  I think I might like this camera.

Bicycling, I & M Canal

The Missing Link

The I&M Canal offers many interesting and beautiful miles of riding. There are numerous options between Willowbrook all the way to the Joliet Iron Works. From Channahon to the end at Peru is well marked. It’s the portion between Joliet to Channahon that was unknown, that is until we took this ride on a beautiful Fall day.

The trail is well marked at Bradon on to Channahon, but it turned out to be a bit rocky due to some wet weather. Between the Joliet Iron Works to Bradon is pretty much city streets and traffic, especially once you cross over the river from the east side. There are locks at Bradon and what appeared to be a large parking lot, so perhaps a few options may be in order. Much of the I&M has been filled in or crossed for the sake of providing access to much of the industry that lines the sides of the canal. There are no services once you leave Bradon.

Even though I brought my DSLR, we thought that only the wide angle lens would be useful. Well, we have tons of pictures with the canal running from top to bottom and lamented that a telephoto would have been of greater value in catching the wild life along the ride. Also, with the trail in poor condition we limited our photo stops. There’s always a next time.

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Living in the City

Kitchenaid Not What It Used to Be

We recently remodeled our kitchen and upgraded all of our appliances with KitchenAid products.  For the most part we are satisfied with our purchases.

Our KSC24C8MSS 24 cubic foot, side-by-side, counter depth stainless refrigerator-freezer however, leaves much to be desired.  Some of the plastic drawers are lightweight and seem almost flimsy, making us wonder if they will break after a short period of normal usage.  Also, the shelves on the refrigerator door do not seat properly (they tilt forward) and are difficult to adjust.  These are just minor concerns, however. There are two major design flaws in this unit that have proven to be quite distressing.

The doors do not have an adjustable stop.  They open wide to the point where the door can often slam into the adjacent kitchen cabinet and someday will perhaps put a dent into the stainless steel door.  There is no adjustment to limit the range of opening.  For a counter depth unit, the capability of regulating the maximum open door angle is essential.

The second involves the door mounted water dispenser.  We mistakenly assumed that this would dispense cold water, similar to the GE Monogram model we replaced.  Instead we have a warm water dispenser.  The first ounce or two comes out tepid; the next three ounces come out positively warm.  Only after 5 or 6 ounces does the water eventually become cold.  Routing the water tube next to the display panel was not a good idea.  Even after doing just one glass, the panel lights remain on long enough to make even the second glass tepid.  It would appear that the cold water line is not insulated where it runs inside the door next to the panel.

We have many KitchenAid appliances in our home.  In fact we still use a mixer purchased over 46 years ago when we were first married.  The brand was owned by Hobart, a commercial food machinery company.  Throughout the years we have always associated the KitchenAid brand with high quality.  It was quality that we were seeking when we spent several thousand dollars for our new kitchen appliances.

We know that it is essential for a company to be conscious of costs, even when their strategic focus is ostensibly on quality and innovation.  Their decision to cut costs on the design of this product was not a good strategic move in our opinion.  Quality has really been sacrificed when it comes to our new refrigerator-freezer.  We feel like we have an expensive run-of-the-mill product instead of the top-of-the-line product we had expected,

Hey, Kitchenaid:  If you wish to retain your historic high quality position in the market, it would seem to be prudent to develop an adjustable doorstop and to insulate the cold water line from the heat generating lighted door panel.  Read the riot act to your engineering and marketing staff.

My contractor has informed me that the door on our beverage center was installed off center and is not adjustable.  This causes the door to not shut completely.  That the interior light would come on randomly was our first indication of the problem.  Again, KitchenAid design and engineering are lacking.

And guess what just happened today?  Our range just went out.  Last night the broiler would not heat, so we called the appliance dealer.  They said that the electronics inside the unit needed to be reset, just like a computer running that popular operating system.  (I use a Mac.)  Well, I followed their instructions and turned off the power for 30 minutes.  I then turned it back on.  A few lights flashed and then everything went dead.

My advice to anyone reading this is if someone offers you a good deal on KitchenAid appliances, don’t walk away — RUN!

I & M Canal

Channahon to Morris Along the I&M Canal

Channahon is the “official” trailhead for the I&M Canal Path, but the path in reality starts up around Willowbrook and proceeds south to Lemont, Lockport, and Joliet.  I have ridden my motorcycle along much of the route using local roads, but this was the first time on a bicycle.

Little did I know at the time, but my brand new Dahon Mu 8 folding bicycle needs the handlebars lowered and requires two hands when riding on rough surface. I took a spill in Morris, had lunch, rode 15 miles back, and then drove an hour to get home. I didn’t break anything, but was I ever sore for a few weeks.

This section of the trail is very scenic and encompasses two lock tender’s homes, an aqueduct, and the grave of Chief Shabbona.  There are no facilities between these two points, so the ride most often is from Channahon to Morris where one has lunch and then a return.

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