WTF-Beta

@kluurs I hadn't considered that; thanks for the suggestion. I looked into Grand and Ferguson (I know of both but haven't bought anything from them) and learned a bunch of stuff. Grand has the unit in stock and could deliver in a day or two. Ferguson's lead time is a bit longer but shorter than what Abt quoted to me.

I might get delivery faster but Abt has some things going for it that the other two don't. Don't know if any of what follows is of any usefulness or interest to other folks, but here goes....

Grand does delivery and installation but I don't see a service department, so you're going to the manufacturer for customer service on warranty work and you're stuck with their authorized repair shops; sometimes those aren't the greatest. Don't know how Speed Queen is, but getting warranty work done on my Samsung washer I bought from Best Buy was a total nightmare. Home Depot is the same.

Ferguson seems to be drop shipping from the manufacturer. Freight delivery, no offer of installation, and no service department. I think they're more geared to projects where you have a contractor doing a remodel and the contractors do the install. No service department means the same issues with warranty work as places like Grand, Best Buy, Lowe's and Home Depot.

Abt is the whole enchilada. I'll get a 10% discount on price, and they are an authorized servicer for Speed Queen. They're a 15 minute drive from my house, so an easy hop to go look at the SQ and any others I might consider. They're very old school with respect to customer service and will bend over backwards to make things right if there's a problem. Plus they have the really cool attractions in the showroom. Like this thing:

https://foursixty.com/abt-electronics/261058640/

Some of the others:

https://www.abt.com/help/attractions

A month is a longish time, but our laundry is in the basement and we air dry a lot of things on a routine basis. Towels and sheets are the exception, but my friend Susan lives a block away and I can take those over to her house for a few weeks if the lead time on delivery is really out a month. Not ideal, but doable.

Anyway, I appreciate the suggestions! I learned a lot about those other major appliance retailers in our area. Definitely good choices but their services don't quite match my needs.

@Daniel said:

@wtg Google AI this to double check but I've read that there are appliance stores who will sell commercial Speed Queen washers and dryers to residential customers.

I checked with Claude about whether I can buy the "true" commercial dryer:

My question to Claude:

Saw Speed Queen LDG30RGS113TW01 on abt.com . I looked up this model on the SQ website and it says it is commercial and can't be installed in a residential setting. Abt listing: https://www.abt.com/Speed-Queen-White-Commercial-Gas-Dryer-LDG30RGS113TW01/p/90490.html

Claude's response:

Read a page, searched the web

You’re reading it correctly. Speed Queen’s own site says its commercial appliances are not approved for residential installation, and this model’s page carries that notice. A. J. Madison’s listing says the same for this model, and also marks it as no longer available there. Abt files it under Commercial Dryers, and its page says to call for availability ($1,058, against a Speed Queen MSRP of $1,649).

For Commercial Use Only

+4

Why that matters (general knowledge, not from those pages):

Installation approval is a safety and code question for a gas appliance. Homeowners insurance, a home inspection at resale, or a gas fitter could each object to an unapproved unit in a house.

Warranty coverage could also be affected, since Abt’s listing links a commercial warranty document. I haven’t read it, so check it before buying anything.

One discrepancy on the listing: Abt lists 25,000 Btu and a cCSAus certification, while Speed Queen’s page for the same model number shows 22,500 Btu and a cULus approval. That’s a good reason not to rely on either page without confirming with Speed Queen or the dealer.

speedqueen

Where this leaves you:

Speed Queen sells a separate residential dryer line, and that is the version approved for a home. It costs more than this model, and I haven’t checked current gas models or prices.

There two other dryer lines that SQ sells, the DC and the DR. The DC is more basic and the DR has more bells and whistles.

Claude is convincing with its arguments but I'd like to hear what @steve-miller has to say about the implications of a homeowner installing a commercial model. He has real world experience and probably knows the answer.

Steve is WTF's AI on a lot of subjects, top of the list are appliances!

Claude keeps telling me I should have someone look at the dryer, that it's probably a roller, idler, or belt fix and could be repaired.

Abt charges $199 for a home diagnostics visit, will refund half toward purchase price of new if you decide not to do repair. Problem is they are backed up till end of October for appointments.

A neighbor has used a local repair guy; I could try him, likely could be here much sooner.

Our many decades old Maytag greeted me with screeches and groans when I turned it on to dry my first load of laundry. If I had more time and energy I might look into getting it repaired or finding a good used unit, but sadly I have little time and less energy. So am buying new.

CR rates Speed Queen and LG as the top two for reliability. Speed Queen is a four week delivery time; LG could be here in a few days.

edit: Forget this SQ model. Says it's not approved for residential installation.

There's a Speed Queen commercial version that is a bit cheaper than their others. I need to do a comparison to see what the functional differences are.

https://www.abt.com/Speed-Queen-White-Commercial-Gas-Dryer-LDG30RGS113TW01/p/90490.html

Oh, and this came up just a few hours after I discovered the freezer went south late yesterday afternoon and into the night. It's the Bermuda Triangle of appliances here.

@steve-miller , appliance and electricial guru, what say ye?

I'm not surprised. The orthopedic surgeon who did Mr wtg's knee replacement said it was likely that the meniscus surgery he had fifteen years prior probably caused the knee to eventually fail. And he used to take aspirin or ibuprofen on a regular basis for arthritis pain.

New White House press secretary Katie Zacharia is leaving her job after just five days in the face of criticism over her performance, a White House official confirmed to CNBC on Friday.

Earlier Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump told reporters that he had just suggested to Zacharia that she quit.

“I just spoke to her about it. I said, ‘Katie, is this for you?’” Trump said outside the White House.

″‘If I were you, I’d reconsider,’ ” the president said he told Zacharia.

The White House official, who spoke condition of anonymity to discuss the staffing shake-up, confirmed Fox News’ report that Zacharia is “transitioning” out of the press secretary role.

Zacharia’s five-day tenure in the Trump administration is shorter than that of Anthony Scaramucci, who in 2017 served as White House communications director for less than 11 days. That length of time became jokingly referred to as a “Scaramucci” and was used to measure the durations of other short-serving officials.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/16/trump-katie-zacharia-white-house.html

@mark As always, your performance reflects your love of music and it brings me great joy to listen to you making music! Thanks for sharing with us.

@Mark Yea, I was surprised, too. Didn't see anything on the local news here. But the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a story:

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/environment/2026/10/15/gale-force-winds-could-whip-up-25-foot-waves-on-lake-michigan-friday/92254009007/

Pirro must have gotten hold of the report and that's why she dropped the charges against the Olympic guy. She dropped the charges on August 4th; report is dated the 6th.

The blue coating applied to the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool this summer failed in at least 85 places because of errors in the renovation, including the premature refilling of the basin before the liner had fully dried, according to an inspection report obtained by The Washington Post.

The Aug. 6 report, commissioned by the contractor that did the work, documents far more damage than has been previously reported. President Donald Trump has generally attributed the damage to vandals, but the report makes no mention of vandalism to the liner and blames the problems on the use of improper materials and a rush to complete the job. The administration wanted the project finished in time for the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The 75-page “failure analysis” by Atlantic Coating Inspection includes scores of photos documenting the liner’s deficiencies — ranging in severity and including blisters, peeling and cracks — and identifies their likely causes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/reflecting-pool-liner-failed-in-85-places-after-flawed-renovation-inspection-found/ar-AA2edde0

tl;dr - The report notes a ton of reasons the paint peeled; none of them involved vandalism. There was also a lot more damage than previously reported. The Delusional One gets the last word:

Last Tuesday, as the repairs were nearing completion, Trump told reporters that the latest fixes would make the pool “as vandal-proof as you can get.”

Link to video

@Mik said:

Otherwise I cannot see why he would make such an abysmally stupid statement.

He's made a lot of them; at least he's consistent.

I just read that Hasan is paralyzed from the chest down. Who could possibly think that it's a good idea to livestream the execution (via firing squad) of a man in a wheelchair?

Hegseth is as unhinged as his boss.

Don't know if I'm suffering from confirmation bias, but the framework outlined in this article makes a good bit of sense to me.

https://www.npr.org/2026/10/15/nx-s1-6001794/fort-hood-execution-hegseth-christian-nationalist

@Steve-Miller Well, some people might do it for the sexting...

https://www.wired.com/story/i-got-my-muse-ai-agent-to-sext-me-and-meta-says-thats-totally-fine/

walker

Definitely showing my age...

me

geezer

A team of researchers have arrived at a remote island to inspect possible plane wreckage of famed aviator Amelia Earhart, who vanished in 1937 while flying around the world.

The group from the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) and Purdue University arrived at Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific Ocean on Monday.

The search team's work, expected to take five days, could be hampered by giant land-dwelling crabs, as well as the El Niño climate phenomenon which is now the strongest ever recorded.

Coconut crabs, also known as Robber crabs, emerge at night to hunt for small mammals and seabirds, and will force the search crew to spend nights on their ship for their own safety.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6pvgryp8yv0o

Investigation traces problems in global feed supply

Fish meal and fish oil used in aquaculture linked to pollution, overfishing and labour abuses

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/outlaw-ocean-fishmeal-9.7312543