March 20, 2008

Hey Tom--

You used to work in a shoe store, right?

I've started looking at shoes in the local stores again lately, and I notice that they all are grouping the shoes by style/model, except for the clearance shoes, which are grouped by size. I remember some stores used to organize all the shoes by size; I liked it because I could easily see what they actually had in my size (11 wide) and go from there. But yesterday I walked through a huge shoe store and found only three pairs of dress shoes in my size (and then I didn't like the styles). I understand that organizing by style makes selling shoes women with size 6 through 9 feet more profitable, but if they're going to understock the other sizes so badly, why bother carrying them at all? They're not hiding all the fabulous 11W shoes in a storeroom out back, are they?

Peggy in MN

Yes, I used to run an athletic shoe store. Back when I was young and athletic. I am certain they aren't hiding shoes in the back. LOL The way it worked for us was the buyers had what was called an open to buy. An open to buy was a number they had for their inventory. Let's say they had an open to buy of 1 million dollars. If they had 300,000 of old goods left then they could only spend 700,000 for the next season. So they had all this cool product they want to buy but in order to do that they need to liquidate their old goods. So, they do not buy too many of the large or small sizes because they sell very slowly and hurt their budget.

Tom

March 20, 2008

Tom and Crew;

An electrical issue. We have adjoining walls in our family room, one has a an electric socket plus a light switch that turns on/off the outside porch light and an inside ceiling light. The other wall has an electrical socket. Recently the light switch and sockets did not work. My Tom took of the light switch plate and verified the wiring is in good order. He felt the photosensitive candles lights I place in the window interrupted the electricity. I have removed the candles and the switches and sockets worked, for a while. Now they do not work, again.

Also, last week while viewing a dvd on the television in the living room the screen went to a small white dot, then out. The dvd player works fine with another television in the same socket. On the adjoining wall socket I had another photosensitive candle light plugged in.

Some questions, what should my Tom be looking at or testing to check our electricity and to get the family room sockets and switch to work? How do we check the television to see if it is repairable (Sony we purchased ~1996/1997)? Could the photosensitive lights have caused both these problems (it seems to be the only common thread, and we do have two more sockets that don't work well when the candles are plugged in)? I suppose it is time to declutter those cute candles to the give away bag if they are causing electrical problems.

Thank you

Robert Here -

Electrical circuits are pretty robust, and a photosensitive candle is not going to mess with one in the way you describe. Where a circuit is weakest is where it branches off from the rest of the circuits in the house: the breaker box. That is where I think your problem is. Either you have a wonky breaker, or else the connection, where the affected circuit's wire leaves its breaker, is loose. I don't know of anything else that can account for the current coming back on. A breaker that has thrown does not do that; neither does a ground fault interrupter. Check the breaker, and its connections.

Whether the TV is worth fixing will depend in large measure on whether it is High-Definition capable, or (if not) whether you intend to adapt it for High-Def. The broadcasters are scheduled to abandon analog signals within the next year or two, and the older sets will need an extra component to receive the digital signals that will be used. Even then, the picture will not be high definition. Sonys are good sets, but the useful lifetime of yours is limited, which is a factor to consider when you look into having it repaired. The repair, by the way, will be fairly simple: the technician will locate the faulty circuit board, pull it, and plug in a replacement. Finding the bad board requires tools and testers that homeowners don't have. Find out how much a replacement board will cost before you commit to its replacement.