19 October, 2008

Perfect Timing!

Tomorrow will be the last day of long arm maintenance classes. I cannot say enough wonderful things about this company and their team of employees, from the instructors to the factory employees to the office staff. It has been a fantastic experience; Sundance can rest assured that when I return home I am going to put her through her paces, in a new and enlightened, more knowledgeable, way! Dawn Cavanaugh led the instructional classes at the showroom (pictured here) in Des Moines. We learned all that we could cram into two days, everything from loading a quilt to creating fill stitches and feathers, with a lots of other valuable tips and tricks sandwiched in between. At the end of day two we drove on to Carroll, approximately eighty miles west, where the maintenance classes began this morning. My husband and I worked together to time a machine, it wasn't nearly as daunting as I had feared; and we got the timing down, perfectly! We took a factory tour this afternoon, it was truly exciting for me to see the place where Sundance was born! Tomorrow morning* we'll conclude our series of instructional sessions before starting the long trek home, sometime in the early afternoon.

*Update: I'm posting this on Sunday, after our return home. The Internet service was spotty at the hotel and I was unable to upload my photos or post. I'm happy to report that I can now remove (and successfully replace!) the hook assembly, replace motor brushes, pack the gearbox with grease and adjust the needle up/needle down if and when I need to. That's huge for me! A little knowledge and confidence has replaced the fear associated with repairs. I had to laugh at my husband, I haven't taken a class with him since high school and it was funny for me to hear him saying things under his breath in response to the directions given. I think he was amused to hear things like "righty tighty-lefty loosey" in a technical class but when we were instructed to move the "orange deal" out of the way to access a screw and he muttered "that's a capacitor" I had to stifle a chuckle; all in all, he was very patient with the pace; which, understandably, would be hard for a retired industrial engineer to be. He was nothing but complimentary about the employees, the customer service and the factory, too. I'm very grateful for his support and encouragement, it makes all the difference!

Life is Good!

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13 comments:

Salem Stitcher said...

I'm so glad you are both home safe! I can't wait to hear all about the classes and your travels!

Libby said...

Sounds like a lot of great info packed into a short time. Kudos to Hubby for joining you!

Ancestor Collector said...

It's nice that you did this together. It's always fun to do things with your best friend!

Hugs!

*karendianne. said...

Splendiforus!

Love, *karendianne. who often refers to capacitor's as orange dealy-bobs. (okay, I don't know what a capacitor is but I thought that was so fun!)

Quiltdivajulie said...

I've been married to my IE for 33 years now ~ thank goodness patience is one of his greatest virtues (I use terms like "orange deal" a lot...). Glad you're home safe and armed with lots of useful information...

leigh anna said...

you mean to say "righty tighty lefty loosey" aren't technical terms?

Baby Steps said...

Good thing he never came to 2nd grade...he would have heard lots of directions like "righty tighty, lefty loosey..."

Baby Steps said...

Look...I added a picture! :)

Paula, the quilter said...

You are amazing -- to take a maintenance class and to get your hands inside and dirty. It sounds like the classes were aimed at someone like you and me and not for an engineer. It was good of him to not point out to the instructor that it was a capacitor.

MARCIE said...

Sounds like a great class, and your husband's comments crack me up! I bet he was like that in high school too!

Faith said...

i think its lovely that you have included hubby as well I try to involve mine as much as I can so that he does not feel left out... wow Sundance will be eager and waiting for you new tecniques that you have both learned cant wait to see what you do.

Nane said...

You will enjoy Sundance so much more now that you understand some of the "under the covers" stuff.

Nan said...

I am impressed by all you and hubby learned in just a few days! How wonderful he came with you, too. It does help to have our partner's support, doesn't it? I don't know what I'd do without mine. Love the 'orange deal' story, too - sounds like something my husband would say!