Nov 16 - troubleshooting

It was that kind of day.  The Mr. Coffee expresso/cappuccino maker, a duplicate of what I have up north, doesn't work.  It doesn't produce froth, only hot milk.  While that may be ok for some, it's not ok for me.  It's like English Cappuccino !  It's not as if I don't know how to use the machine, as I've had the one up north for a year.

So ... being a good guy, I called Mr. Coffee and got customer support.  Given the number of times that I was put on lengthy holds, the girl was clearly reading the manual.  "Is there water in the reservoir" ... yup.  "What kind of milk are you using" ... cold skim milk (I'd told that to her already).  Back and forth and then she finally says to return it to the retailer. 

I had saved all the pieces, bits of tape etc. and with some fiddling, figured out how to box it all back up again and I've printed out the return label from Amazon.  Away it will go.

Then there's the M5.  After playing around some more, I finally called my non-dealer guy and setup an appointment for the 29th.  He said that this will be a 2k fix.  Ugh.  More back and forth on the M5 Board and members pointed me at a fellow who owns a bunch of E39 M5's and swaps parts, rebuilds up cars, sells parts -- well, for $120 I've ordered a used assembly, electrical and hydraulic. If I replace the entire thing, apparently it will need recoding.  Since I don't know what's exactly wrong, I spent the extra $40 (would have been $80) and bought both parts.  It's now on the road and I'll see if I can make any headway before I spend 2k.  It's worth a shot.

After talking to my BMWWerks guy, I tried a couple of things (before the aforementioned parts purchase) - banging it a little ... no go, still nothing coming out of that port on the module.  using compressed air to push backwards into the module, still no go.  Of course, after the latter, I had to bleed the brakes again.  I thought at one point that I'd blocked the other rear wheel too but that eventually freed up and I got fluid out of that bleeder.  USPS willing, I'll receive the part next week and can try to replace the hydraulics.  The only thing that I've got to lose at this point is having to pay a tow truck to move the car :).

So that was mostly my day until tuna for dinner - yum - and we headed for the Atlantic Center for the Arts close by to see what used to be called Surf Scape do some dance.  This is a low key affair with free snacks, wine and beer to entice patrons. There is a donations jar and it does some collecting.  Some of the numbers were interesting,  some not so much.  The first half was just over a half hour and then the second; 20 minute intermission in between.  As I said, low key.  There were more wine glasses and beer bottles in the small theater for cleanup than you might imagine, or not.

Jason et al head back to Brantford today.  It sounds like the Great White North might very well live up to its name.

Onward !