I was not arrested for felonious behavior! and it's all behind me for the time being. I am enjoying a glass of Pinot Grigio. My brother was effectively "beside himself" when I arrived at his home; I knew because he was puttering around making up flashing for his garage... . I asked him what he thought was going to "go down" and we decided our strategy would be to let them direct things and interject when the opportunities arose. They were pretty much stunned when I walked into the room, a lot of sideways glances at each other. :) (wimpy handshakes, too... didn't look me in the eyes). Meeting started with a discussion of how disruptive Mum has been in the past two weeks; I asked for details of the "events" and asked who had witnessed them. Details were scarce. I asked about the time of day they occured; typically late afternoon... "sun downers"? yes, suspected. They asked US what they were going to do? I suggested using the "scientific method" and begin by checking the basics... "how much water is Mum drinking daily?" didn't know. "She must have 48 oz./day to maintain adequate hydration and keep her neo-bladder and the requisite urinary pouch from becoming a breeding ground for UTIs"; we measure fluids in cc s. "Don't you have a conversion chart? I'm sure you could download one in a few seconds... "; silence. "What has the stoma nurse at the medical facility next door had to offer?"; we didn't call her, we didn't think it was necessary. "You didn't think it might be a good idea to establish a rapport with a stoma nurse NEXT DOOR when you clearly had no practical experience with urostomies and were unable to adequately change the appliance for the better part a month? If I may be so blunt, that seems like common sense to me. Moreover, my mother has had 2 UTIs in 4 months, she has 1 in 39 mos. with me, and brought that one home from a rehab. center.". Embarrassed silence, during which time I presented the nurse with a ton of literature on urostomies from Conva Tec, as well as their hotline number, a contact name, AND the name of the area Conva Tec representative (all are very well trained). We asked about exercise, fresh air, outings... minimal. Not surprising. The the head administrator and director of nursing arrived shortly thereafter. The admin. guy "strongly" objected to our blunt assessment of their ability to manage an urostomy patient. "Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating... the reality IS that your facility utterly failed to provide the most basic adherence to the fundamentals. I don't want to hear any more about your credentials... I want to see you start using them.". I suspect they don't often get legal guardians like my brother and me. Upshot? the replacement hearing aids, increased hydration, and greater attention to the fundamentals of urostomy care, as well as increased exercise OUTDOORS are to be the focus of the new "program" for the short term. It was made very clear to them that medicating a elderly woman "livn' in her own private Idaho" WASN'T going to be the first option. Not when they'd failed so utterly and miserably on the very points of concern my brother raised repeatedly before admitting Mum. Then we talked about the hearing aids and the "loss" of Mum's personal property. And it was made perfectly clear that the missing items are to be replaced in a timely manner and that the inconvenience it has caused is not to be repeated. I will be following this up with strongly worded letter. My big brother has, I think, a new appreciation for his little sister (he calls me his "little pit bull"; I hate dogs!). He remarked that watching me write down names and take notes blew him away! and he quietly thanked me 2 times for coming down for the meeting. It's been a tough month for him; he's lost 2 friends, and one of his cats, and has been beating himself up over selecting the wrong place for Mum. I told him not to waste time on the latter... there are no guarantees and trusting people are often the ones prone to "guilt". I teased him, telling him I really did understand just how it felt to be absolutely overwhelmed... "yeah, now I get it". I'm whipped. Traffic was dreadful coming home. Sue, the sickest I've been in my life was with Lyme Disease. I don't doubt you must feel some crummy! did the do a Lyme titer on you? Check out the New England FAQ for my story and my insights on that. Take good care, we need more people like you in our world! Hi to everyone else; I promise to reread with a less distracted mind, but know I think of you guys every single day in one way or another.

I too have recently purchased the 328's and love them. The they are in a main floor laundry room (wood subfloor with wood laminate flooring) and the washer is very quiet. The only time I hear it is when it is filling for the rinse cycle. Don't know why that is noisier than filling for the wash unless it is the sound of the water going thru a different compartment of the dispenser?? Its unbelievable how quiet it spins when its really revved up. Sometimes it will wobble slightly when its first starting to spin and then once it gets balanced and takes off - doesn't move at all. I don't think there is any cycle other than sanitize that will heat the water, but I don't understand why that would be an issue?? I mean, if you want the water that hot, why wouldn't you just choose that setting? I really like the dryer also. As far as the wrinkle release option, I think it heats for awhile then cools down. The refresh cycle I think just heats. The wrinkle prevent will intermittantly tumble on just air for 90 minutes after clothes are dry. I didn't see spending $300-400 more for the set for the steam option. We don't have alot of clothes that need to be dry-cleaned, so I don't think I would have used that option enough to warrant the cost. I have used the SilverCare option once. Just wanted to see if there's a difference in the way the clothes smell, but they smell fresh regardless of the option I use. I think SilverCare is great for scrubs that would be ruined if they were bleached but yet they need sanitized. I just forget to use that option :) Overall - thrilled with my purchase. We were replacing Maytag Neptunes purchased on '01, which are still fine (gave them to son and DIL) Never had a mold issue with them, so don't intend to have one with my new ones. I do leave the door open on my new Samsung washer so it can dry out. I didn't do that with my Neptunes because it had an interior light. Hope this helps in your decision making. I don't think you can go wrong with the Samsungs.

I owned the Maytag Neptune 9700 that was built for Samsung. I really, really loved that washer and dryer. And I also suffered from the machine gun sound, as did a number of my clients that bought the machines. I had the same washer sitting in my showroom so I took it from it's pedestal and ripped it apart. (I figured anything I screwed up could be fixed by the service department.) I took the shipping bolts out, leveled it out, and cranked up the spin. It purred, barely making a noise. Then I threw a bunch of towels in it, trying to replicate the machine gun sound. It took a lot of unsuccessful attempts, but I managed to do it. The noise and vibration were coming from the top. I shut the machine down and took off the top. It's been a while, but I remember seeing a couple (maybe even four) aluminum or steel "X"s at the top. They measured maybe three inches diagonally, maybe a half inch thick each. They were suspended from the frame, horizontally, by four springs each. I called Maytag tech support to find out what they were and their purpose for being there. Maytag had no clue. They figured they were supposed to act as some form of vibration dampers, but neither myself or the people at tech support could figure out how they would do that. That had to have been the source of the machine gun sound. What we heard had to have been those metal "X"s vibrating off the top at an extremely high rate. Of course, that is puzzling if those components are supposed to reduce vibration...

I'm sorry... I thought I was clearer. I want to use My Cycle with the Sensor drying, NOT with the Timer. I know the difference between Timed Dry and Sensor Dry. I UNDERSTAND that if I want to use the sensor, I can't set the time. My point is that the ONLY preset sensor cycle to let me dry my clothes on Low is the Delicate cycle, that estimates 31 minutes of drying time (whether or not it adheres strictly to that 31 min). I use that cycle for EVERYTHING now, because I want to dry my clothes on LOW (most things say "Tumble Dry Low"). Most often, my clothes still end up damp. So my only option is to use MORE DRY sensor OR use the Timed Dry selection, which I DON'T want to do. I DO NOT want to choose how long to dry my clothes. I paid good money for a dryer that could sense it, not for me to guess (and usually have to put it through again or dry it way too much). So Delicate, More Dry... that's fine, if that's all I can choose to get Low, other than a timer. What it is NOT doing is letting me set My Cycle, which I thought was supposed to NOT be a clone of all the pre-set cycles they include. Meaning I should be able to hit the "Normal" or "Perm Press" selection AND "Low" for my temp. But when it's on Normal, it only gives me a choice of drying on High or Med. My Whirlpool, if I recall, let me pick the clothes I was drying (i.e. Perm Press, Delicates) AND the temp I wanted to dry them at (Low, Med, High). It may have preset the "best" option for those kind of clothes, but it didn't prohibit me from choosing another option. Samsung only gives me one or two drying temp options with each selection and won't let me override it. I thought with My Cycle, I could be free to choose Low with any other sensor setting, not just Delicates. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's broken. It does not remember anything I put in, always defaulting back to the Normal pre-set My Cycle setting for the next load. I will call the company (under warranty) and tell them to "fix" it. If anything, they'll show me how to use the da*n thing. I just think the manual is very vague on how to set My Cycle and vague on exactly what the heck it is, as mine isn't doing anything close to being "mine". I've followed the instructions exactly, and it doesn't let me choose anything different than what they've already chosen for me. Is it just maybe to select my favorite of THEIR cycles? Thanks for your help. I hope I was clearer this time. If anyone else uses it, feel free to jump in.