Happy Face Sad Face

The Happy Face signifies me not being insane.

Where the Sewing Machine Should Be
Where the Sewing Machine Should Be

The Sad Face is because of the ‘missing’ machine. Again.

I posted something similar on Twitter a few weeks ago. I wasn’t worried, because I was planning on being out of town and I could get the machine back relatively soon after I returned.

When I dropped the machine off, I clearly articulated that the machine was running by itself. In the imaginary universe a machine running by itself would be a good thing. You could line up a bunch of patches and go iron fabric while the machine sewed away. I am imagining household management a la Molly Weasley. Sadly, this is not the imaginary universe and, besides, I get a lot of pleasure out of feeding patches through the machine.

I always think it is important to tell the people working on my device or gadget what the problem is. I always thought they might want to know since I was asking them to fix it and they were taking my money for fixing the machine.

When I picked up the machine, the repair person was there and said that had told him about my machine running by itself. He gave me a new foot, assuring me that that would solve the problem. Famous last words, but you knew that was coming, right?

I got the machine home and it still ran by itself. I really thought I was losing my mind. I had a stressful week prior and thought that that may be contributing to my obvious insanity.

In reality, the intake person didn’t write any notes on my ticket, so the repair people just did a service on it. Service is great. The machine, you have to know, needed to be serviced in the worst way, but I don’t want the machine running by itself.

As you saw, the problem didn’t prevent me from sewing, but I couldn’t use the needle down function, because that had something to do with creating the problem. It also meant that I had to drive back to the shop, which is 50 miles from my house.

I had yesterday off work, so after a few fun things, I drove the machine down to the shop, then went out to lunch with friend Maureen. I called on Tuesday to tell them I wanted them to look at it right away so I could take it back home with me after lunch. As much as I enjoy having lunch with M, I’d really like to stay home and sew once in a while.

I called again late in the day. They said they couldn’t find anything wrong with it, so I went to pick it up feeling quite discouraged. The repair guy suggested I test the machine in the shop, so we set it up, he showed me how beautiful it was running and invited me to sew on it.

Immediately, I pressed the needle down button and it was like touching the ‘never stop’ switch. The repair guy’s mouth practically dropped open as he watched the machine run by itself. He looked at me and said that he had never seen the needle down sensor affect the running of the machine that way. He said he would have to call the company, so I would have to leave the machine again. Sigh.

Janome Loaner
Janome Loaner

He offered me a loaner, which I almost declined, but took at the last second. I don’t know what model this is, but it has a needle down function and uses the same feet as I have. I might just use my Jem. We’ll see if I can get along with this machine over the weekend. Who knows how long it will take to get my machine fixed and I hope it isn’t a $500 repair like it was when I had to have the screen replaced.

Why You Should Care: This is a reminder that you make sure the intake person writes down the specific problem. This is definitely a #firstworldproblem. I know that I am fortunate to have a machine, fortunate to have a backup and fortunate to have been offered a loaner. I am also fortunate not to have to take my machine by donkey to be repaired.