Merriam Park Software...

... is a web design and hosting business that is not looking for any more customers. We get new customers by word of mouth, primarily through our fine long-term customers. (They are Trotter's Cafe and Bakery, The Arc of Minnesota, Grand Hair and Beyond, Backyard Building Systems, and the Baby Collection. The last two sites were designed by Faye Ackeret and we provide hosting.)

But we like our domain name (Merriam Park is a neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minnesota) and we use our web site for other things besides publicizing our business. So we are in the process of redesigning this site.

Betsy Gilleland Betsy has a page devoted to her favorite poems and quotations and perhaps an original thought or two. Image courtesy of Hoccleve (portrait of Geoffrey Chaucer).

Consumer FYI: In March 2007 I bought a Hoover Wind Tunnel vacuum cleaner, model U6439-900. It is April 2008 as I write. In the thirteen months since I bought the vacuum cleaner, I have replaced one of its belts (the wide one) twice, the narrow belt once, and the brush assembly once. The on/off switch has stopped working twice. Moreover, when I have to change a belt, I need a screwdriver to remove the bottom plate. (If I had not lost the receipt, you may be sure I would have returned it. But since I cannot return it and spent over $200 on it, I have been reluctant to throw it away. No more. The next time a belt breaks, out the whole thing goes.)

For comparison: I own another Hoover that is at least 20 years old - and quite possibly 25 or 30 - whose bottom plate removes very easily without tools. I have replaced its belt so infrequently that I can't recall the last time I did it. About fifteen years ago I had a new power cord attached, and at the time the man who repaired it advised me to keep the machine though it was so old and basic. That was good advice, as it's never needed repair since then.

© Merriam Park Software
This page last updated April 2008.