Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C.

Cherry Blossoms blooming outside my window (hi res photo available upon request)

There were a lot of activities to do in Downtown, D.C. today because of the Cherry Blossom Festival. I didn't get a chance to jump out of my vehicle to snap shots of the scenery, but it was very nice. Sometime ago, Japan donated 3,000 cherry blossom trees (according to the official site) to the U.S. as a symbol of good friendship. The landscape around here is very nice while the trees are in bloom.

On another note, I took many pictures of Nayeli sleeping. She sleeps in funny positions. And today, I caught her sleeping with her eyes open!

Snoring Loud
Butt in the Air
Nayeli sleeping with her eyes open

Anaka pictures of her sleeping.
5 Weeks
6 Weeks
Sleeping with Eyes Open (just kidding)

Texas de Brazil, the Brazilian BBQ restaurant

Nayeli enjoying her bread and baby corn
Let's clean your face
Meat Server at Texas de Brazil

In Feb, we ate at a Brazilian BBQ in Fairfax, Virginia. It was quite tasty. The waiters went around the dining room offering different choices of freshly cooked gourmet meat. Check out the website.
Texas de Brazil

Flashback to 2007

I recently found a whole lot of pictures of Nayeli and our family on Soco's camera. They were all taken in Japan. Here are the best of the best, enjoy!
Nayeli with a bottle of rootbeer
Second Class POs Rule (taken back in April 07, since then X has been promoted)
Soco and Monica at the Lab
Soco and X April 07
All smiles at the Hachiban Tower
Nayeli at the Fleet Rec Center
Eating Cake at Nayeli's First Birthday Party at the Yokosuka CDC
Celebrating Nayeli's First Birthday May 07
Nayeli in January 07

Today, Soco brought Anaka over to the shop to show off the new baby. She had a piece of lint or string wrapped around her index finger and it looked like it was cutting off the circulation to the tip of her finger! It looked like it hurt a lot. Luckily, someone had a pair of tweezers and somehow Soco removed the piece of nylon string. It was kinda scary.

Hung's Pictures - Nayeli at the CDC

Picking up Nayeli from the CDC
Nayeli playing dressup
Kids on Grandpa
Nayeli sitting in the Gazebo

I've selected my favorite pictures out of Hung's Archives of his last visit.

An Instructable on How to Amuse Toddlers

Washer Repair

Anaka with Pacifier

Me and Victor repaired the washer The washer needed a new door seal. One of the flaws with front loading washers is the door seal. They have the tendency to break; and when they do, water gets everywhere!

Time: Approx. 1 1/2 to 2 hours repair time
Part: Bellows (a.k.a. Door Seal)

It took three weeks for the part to show up. The first time I called Sears, they told me that the technician would show up at my door in 2 weeks. I declined, saying that I can't wait that long and send me the part instead. Well, a week and a half went by. I called Sears again. They said that the part was never shipped and that there was no history of the first call. They apologized and shipped out a seal. This time, the lady gave me a confirmation number. A week later, I got a seal, however, it was the wrong part. They sent me a tiny little seal the size of a pencil erasor. I called Sears AGAIN. Once again, they apologized and reshipped another seal to me. A week later, it showed up. Maybe I should've had the technician come out and fix it for me, it would've been faster.

Instructions for replacing the door seal:

1. Remove the door.
2. Remove the old bellows by taking pliers and taking the retaining ring off the outside seal.
3. With a #2 philips screwdriver, loosen the screw on the retaining ring inside of the washer and remove.
4. Muscle out the door seal.
5. Take a break.
6. Remove the bottom cover. (Three screws)
7. Remove the screws to the lid and slide lid off to reveal the upper screws for the controls.
8. Remove the controls.
9. Carefully remove the front panel. (The door switch has some delicate plastic attached to it. It must be carefully unhooked.)
10. Now there is space to insert the new seal. Start with the bottom part where the drain will connect with the drainage hole. Make sure that the lip is making a proper seal. If you screw this up, you'll get a pretty bad leak.
11. Replace the retaining ring.
12. Replace all body panels in reverse order.
13. Seal the outside lip and put a retaining ring on it.
14. Put the door back on and test it out for leaks.

Removing the Covers