November, 2009 Archives

It isn’t hard to find good people on FixYa. On any given thread you’re apt to find half a dozen highly trained and specialized professional technicians, using the knowledge they have amassed over the years to help people in need. All of our Experts go above and beyond on a daily basis… and then some go a little further still.

HMerchant110 is one of those Experts who regularly goes beyond the beyond. HMerchant110 is actually Dr. Merchant, having completed his professional degree course in Medicine in 2000. Sadly, just having finished his internship, he met with a serious accident which forced him to leave the medical practice and find a profession that was less stressful on his health.

Late yesterday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the biggest recall of cribs in US history, involving some 2.1 million Stork Craft drop-side cribs. This includes about 147,000 Stork Craft drop-side cribs distributed under the Fisher-Price logo.

The hardware on the cribs’ drop-side is prone to deforming or breaking. This creates a space between the drop-side and the mattress, as seen in the image at left. Infants and toddlers can fall through the gap or become entrapped in the space, potentially suffocating.

This recall includes Stork Craft cribs sold in the US and Canada, and were sold at retailers including J.C. Penney, Kmart, Sears, Wal-Mart, USA Baby, and BJ’s Wholesale Club. They were also sold online at Amazon.com, Babiesrus.com, Costco.com, Target.com, and Walmart.com. Affected models have manufacturing and distribution dates between January 1993 and October 2009. This recall also includes all Stork Craft cribs with the Fisher-Price logo manufactured between October 1997 and December 2004. You can find the Fisher-Price label on the assembly instruction sheet attached to the mattress support board as shown below.

When FixYa started profiling our best and brightest a little over a year ago, Ekse was the first Expert that we chose to feature.

Affectionately nicknamed “The FixYa Sleuth” by staff members, due to his uncanny insight, Ekse has been an invaluable member of FixYa’s site and community for the better part of two years now. It has been our pleasure to watch this Expert grow from a young man into the seasoned tech he is today. It has been an even bigger pleasure to watch him cross the 10,000 solution mark and take his place with the giants.

When asked about his great development, Ekse credits being able to practice his skills frequently by assisting users and customers, saying “10,000 solutions… I think anyone would learn a lot from doing it.” But the true credit goes to someone closer to home. As he puts it, “I really have my father to thank for getting me started. I first soldered with my father’s help before I even started school.”