Well, I managed to pass a perfectly fine weekend without having any major appliances break. Also, there were no more termites.
I consider this a success of a weekend unto itself. However, on top of it, we had our first nice, non-rainy weather in literally a week.
The pups and I took full advantage of the weather and we finally got to go on our long walk at the park that we've missed since March. It was an unusual walk. Due to the fact we've had over 13 inches of rain since April 1st, the park had flooded. Most of the flooding had abated when we walked but the signs were definitely there. There were dead fish all over the place from where the water had risen and then rescinded, leaving the poor fish behind. There were even some large shrimplike things that had died and shrivelled in the sun. I think these may have been crawfish but I'm not sure.
Either way, our walk was a wee bit stinky as recently flooded areas often are. We only ran into difficulty when we were headed towards the trail we normally take and found ourselves slipping on sliding on rather wet, slick mud that hadn't yet dried. Nevertheless we triumphed even though both Sookie and Rory needed a bath by the time we were done. There were parts of our walk that were also impossible to do- our normal lakeside path was still flooded over and there was no sign of the little road we take because it was still hidden under several feet of water.
It made for an interesting walk. For a beautiful day, it was also surprisingly secluded. There weren't many walkers out and about. I suspect many of them were in the garden, mowing their grass while the sun was shining.
The rest of our Saturday we spent outside and I finally wound up, reading a book, enjoying a glass of white wine while the sun set. It was a lovely way to end a beautiful day.
Sunday has not been so beautiful. It has been grey and gloomy and the rain is not far off. I think we're in for another wet week. It hasn't been a bad day as gloomy days go- my younger brother and his family came down to make a trip to Jungle Jim's. I'm always pleased to guide tours there since I know my way around a little better than I should. It was a good day for it, too. Most of the shelves were still stocked even though on a Sunday afternoon that often isn't the case. I've been a little disappointed with Jungle Jim's lately, to be honest. They failed to produce any ramps during April. I discovered ramps at Jungle Jim's last year and I missed them as soon as their short season was over. In case you don't know, they're a cross between a green onion and a leek and very delicious. I also haven't found any good mushrooms there. I was hoping to at least try some morels this year but even though its morel season, there's never a fresh morel to be found in the store.
Still, for all my griping, Jungle Jim's still manages to deliver to my gourmet needs or, at least, my aspirations to be a gourmet. After all, I found sunchokes there a couple of weeks ago and am now a big fan. They have the pea sprouts I've come to love as a garnish as well as all manner of unusual vegetables.
My trip with my brother and his family was a lot of fun. I got to show my brother the pigs head and lambs heads that always fascinate me and then I got to watch as he chased my niece with the lamb's head. I know, it's a little twisted but it's nice to know my brother and I share a sense of the same dark humour. I got to spend some time with my niece too which was fun. It's amazing that for as often as I go to Jungle Jim's, I still discover new things each time.
Now my brother and his family has gone, the house is quiet except for the sound of my washing machine which, so far, has not gone to join its life partner in the Great Beyond of Household Appliances. So far, its getting along with the new dryer just fine. I know there's an age difference there but, well, who knows...maybe they'll be together for many years to come. Of course, at this point, I'd settle for many months to come, rather than years- I'll take what I can get at this point.
Even though it's back to work tomorrow, it's nice to have a few more hours where I can curl up, enjoy the gloom and know that, until tomorrow when my alarm goes off, there's nothing but time to relax, enjoy "Game of Thrones" on HBO and be grateful that even though I had a dark week last week, the weekend provides some much needed light at the end of the tunnel.
Happy Monday!
Showing posts with label new appliances. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new appliances. Show all posts
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Thwarting Murphy's Law
So, my strategy for dealing with this Homeowner Month of Doom is to not tempt fate. There are still two days left in April. These are two days for my washing machine and oven to die.
Thus, I have decided not to do any laundry. It wouldn’t do much good anyway. I ordered a new dryer from Lowes and it will be delivered on Saturday. I love Lowes at the moment. While their paint is not my favourite, their applicance department is rather nice. Also, the people are very helpful.
When I went to order my new dryer, they offered me next day delivery. Given that this month I have already:
1) Missed two hours of work for a termite inspection
2) Missed half a day of work while inspected termites were treated
3) Missed half a day of work because my fridge was being delivered
4) Missed two hours of work because I had to be home for my lawnmower to be delivered
I couldn’t help but think that saying to my boss that I had to miss yet another half day of work while my dryer was delivered and installed would not go over well also, not terribly believable. I mean, no one has that many homeowner issues in one month…right?
Ok, fine…yes, they do. That would be me…Captain Monkeypants, who I think might be a contender for the “Survivor of the Homeowner Month of DOOOOOM” award.
Anyway, back to my original point. I’m not doing any laundry due to not having a dryer. Also, due to the fact that if I try to use my washer, I’m expecting it to break.
I’m also not using my oven. I think it’s safe to use the burners because it’s an electric stove and I think they’re all wired separately so even if I kill a burner, I have three others that work. This is my theory at least. So far, it’s working.
Of course, I’m not taking any chances by actually using my burners tonight either. I will be using my microwave. I probably should be worried that the microwave will explode but it’s a fairly new microwave and, well, I do have to eat something.
In short, while I might think getting a new washer to match my dryer would be nifty, it can remain a nifty fancy for a while. And while my oven may not match my fridge, my oven is my old trusty that works rather well for an older oven. I’m quite fond of it with its little wind up clock that doesn’t work and built in wind-up clock-timer that also doesn’t work. Also, the self-cleaning function doesn’t work. However, the oven itself works and, as I recently discovered, so does the oven light.
The oven light discovered was more because I discovered an odd little sticking-up thingy on the top of my oven. The top of my oven has this nice little flat ridge where it’s easy to store things like olive oil, my Alton Brown Sodium Chloride Containment Unit, my peppermill and all other useful things you need to have readily available when you cook. The little sticking-up thingy was actually hidden under my teeny mortle and pestle that I got from TJ Maxx. One day, I moved the mortar and pestle and found the little sticking-up thingy. It appeared to be a button. So I pushed it. Lo and behold, it was an oven light!
This was actually about a year after I moved into my house. You may think it odd that it took me that long to notice it but, well, it did. I often see things I didn’t notice before in places I visit frequently. I find it a joyful process of discovery. This is another reason why I didn’t realize that the vent thingy on top of my house was a dryer vent. I never expected to see it there so I didn’t notice it. I only discovered it after my dad came down and I’d asked him to help me locate it. It was quite exciting to realize that the silver vent that had never registered in my notice but had always resided on my roof was a dryer vent.
I like things like that. It’s like in Rumplestiltskin really, isn’t it? I mean, in that story, the queen had to guess his name or give up her first born child. Even though she cheated and someone told her his name, she won and got to keep her baby.
Not that my dryer vent is like Rumplestiltskin. I mean, it’s not holding me hostage to a promise I made because my idiotic father told a king I could turn straw into gold. For one thing, there aren’t many kings around these days. Secondly, my father knows that telling anyone I could something as complex as spinning thread would be a little silly. Thirdly, who the heck really spins things on a spinning wheel these days anyway?
Uh, sorry….I digress. What my point is (and I DO have a point) is that everyday things that we don’t notice suddenly become Part of Our Lives once we know what they are and have meaning to us. They’re part of the background until something brings them to our notice and then they’re always there. We know where they are and can identify them readily.
So, anyway, this is all an explanation of why I didn’t know I had an oven light until I’d been using my oven for a year. It’s not like I had a manual for my oven- it’s over 20 years old.
Yet, it still works well enough for me to make a soufflé and have it rise perfectly. It also, so far, works well when I turn it on and try to cook things. This is why I will not be using my oven until April is over. It may not have anything to do with it being April but I have to grasp at something to blame for my expensive homeowner woes of late.
It’s either that or it’s my ghost that my dogs see and I do not.
I think I’d rather blame it on Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. It’s just the way things work sometimes.
Of course, I’m quite ready for things to start going right. Nevertheless, I think I’ll stay away from my still-working major household appliances for a while just in case. It’s safer.
Happy Friday, have a great weekend and thanks for reading!
Thus, I have decided not to do any laundry. It wouldn’t do much good anyway. I ordered a new dryer from Lowes and it will be delivered on Saturday. I love Lowes at the moment. While their paint is not my favourite, their applicance department is rather nice. Also, the people are very helpful.
When I went to order my new dryer, they offered me next day delivery. Given that this month I have already:
1) Missed two hours of work for a termite inspection
2) Missed half a day of work while inspected termites were treated
3) Missed half a day of work because my fridge was being delivered
4) Missed two hours of work because I had to be home for my lawnmower to be delivered
I couldn’t help but think that saying to my boss that I had to miss yet another half day of work while my dryer was delivered and installed would not go over well also, not terribly believable. I mean, no one has that many homeowner issues in one month…right?
Ok, fine…yes, they do. That would be me…Captain Monkeypants, who I think might be a contender for the “Survivor of the Homeowner Month of DOOOOOM” award.
Anyway, back to my original point. I’m not doing any laundry due to not having a dryer. Also, due to the fact that if I try to use my washer, I’m expecting it to break.
I’m also not using my oven. I think it’s safe to use the burners because it’s an electric stove and I think they’re all wired separately so even if I kill a burner, I have three others that work. This is my theory at least. So far, it’s working.
Of course, I’m not taking any chances by actually using my burners tonight either. I will be using my microwave. I probably should be worried that the microwave will explode but it’s a fairly new microwave and, well, I do have to eat something.
In short, while I might think getting a new washer to match my dryer would be nifty, it can remain a nifty fancy for a while. And while my oven may not match my fridge, my oven is my old trusty that works rather well for an older oven. I’m quite fond of it with its little wind up clock that doesn’t work and built in wind-up clock-timer that also doesn’t work. Also, the self-cleaning function doesn’t work. However, the oven itself works and, as I recently discovered, so does the oven light.
The oven light discovered was more because I discovered an odd little sticking-up thingy on the top of my oven. The top of my oven has this nice little flat ridge where it’s easy to store things like olive oil, my Alton Brown Sodium Chloride Containment Unit, my peppermill and all other useful things you need to have readily available when you cook. The little sticking-up thingy was actually hidden under my teeny mortle and pestle that I got from TJ Maxx. One day, I moved the mortar and pestle and found the little sticking-up thingy. It appeared to be a button. So I pushed it. Lo and behold, it was an oven light!
This was actually about a year after I moved into my house. You may think it odd that it took me that long to notice it but, well, it did. I often see things I didn’t notice before in places I visit frequently. I find it a joyful process of discovery. This is another reason why I didn’t realize that the vent thingy on top of my house was a dryer vent. I never expected to see it there so I didn’t notice it. I only discovered it after my dad came down and I’d asked him to help me locate it. It was quite exciting to realize that the silver vent that had never registered in my notice but had always resided on my roof was a dryer vent.
I like things like that. It’s like in Rumplestiltskin really, isn’t it? I mean, in that story, the queen had to guess his name or give up her first born child. Even though she cheated and someone told her his name, she won and got to keep her baby.
Not that my dryer vent is like Rumplestiltskin. I mean, it’s not holding me hostage to a promise I made because my idiotic father told a king I could turn straw into gold. For one thing, there aren’t many kings around these days. Secondly, my father knows that telling anyone I could something as complex as spinning thread would be a little silly. Thirdly, who the heck really spins things on a spinning wheel these days anyway?
Uh, sorry….I digress. What my point is (and I DO have a point) is that everyday things that we don’t notice suddenly become Part of Our Lives once we know what they are and have meaning to us. They’re part of the background until something brings them to our notice and then they’re always there. We know where they are and can identify them readily.
So, anyway, this is all an explanation of why I didn’t know I had an oven light until I’d been using my oven for a year. It’s not like I had a manual for my oven- it’s over 20 years old.
Yet, it still works well enough for me to make a soufflé and have it rise perfectly. It also, so far, works well when I turn it on and try to cook things. This is why I will not be using my oven until April is over. It may not have anything to do with it being April but I have to grasp at something to blame for my expensive homeowner woes of late.
It’s either that or it’s my ghost that my dogs see and I do not.
I think I’d rather blame it on Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. It’s just the way things work sometimes.
Of course, I’m quite ready for things to start going right. Nevertheless, I think I’ll stay away from my still-working major household appliances for a while just in case. It’s safer.
Happy Friday, have a great weekend and thanks for reading!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Death of a Refridgerator
It’s official. My refrigerator and freezer passed away sometime between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. yesterday.
I’m not actually sure of the time of death but based on my rather limited CSI abilities, the fact that my food in the freezer was still cool but mostly defrosted leads me to think it had been out most of the day. Also, my fridge was still cool-ish when I got home from my parents around 7 p.m.
Either way, my fridge has hummed itself to wherever it is that fridges go when they die. It was a good fridge. It was prone to making rather odd noises at times. It buzzed very loudly most of the time. However, it kept things cold and did the job and I suppose you can’t really ask more of a fridge, can you?
Of course, while I mourn the loss of my fridge, most of the loss is born of inconvenience rather than a strong personal connection with the fridge itself. This is what happens when you move into a house and the fridge is already there. It’s useful and I was glad I had a fridge but it never felt like my fridge, per se. Also, when I moved in, it was still quite full of things the previous homeowner had left behind so I had a lot of cleaning to do. While this provided a bond of sorts with my fridge, it never felt new because it was full of half-eaten lunch meat and such when I first ‘met’ it.
I’m very lucky. I didn’t lose everything in my fridge and freezer. While I lost a lot of things, including a collection of homemade soups I’d put in the freezer, some things were salvageable. Also, I have a little chest freezer in the garage so what could be saved went in there. For the fridge’s part, I’m temporarily using my little wine fridge as a fridge-fridge. It doesn’t get super cold but it’s cold enough to keep my food safe and uncontaminated.
I’m trying to look on the bright side of all this which is a bit of a challenge because firstly, it’s Monday and I’m not fond of Mondays as my regular blog readers will know. Secondly, it’s a very, very wet Monday. The lake in my back garden has just become even lake-ier and when you walk on the grass even where there’s no puddles, there’s enough water that it seeps up over your shoes. Finally, this has been a rather cruddy month for me as a homeowner.
I tried to smile through the termites. After all, I caught them before the damage was severe and they could tell all their friends that my house was free for the eatin’. I tried to laugh at the lawnmower. After all the hot-metal-piston-thingy didn’t hit me in the head, my neighbour loaned me his mower and I was able to get a new mower with no trouble. I’m trying to smile about the fridge. On the plus side, I get a shiny new appliance out of the deal.
On the negative side, it’s adding up financially. Certainly, I’d probably want a new fridge eventually but there’s a big difference between wanting a new one and needing one. Nowadays, fridges are essential. I’m sure there are arguments against that statement but unless you’re Amish and don’t believe in electricity, it’s rather hard to live without a fridge. I’m not really sure how the Amish do it, honestly. It’s not that I even like my beverages that cold. It’s more that I like my food to be uncontaminated by bacteria and keeping it cold prevents that. Also, it’s a great money-saver for a single person- it’s hard to find single-serving portions of things and it’s usually more economical to buy a package of chicken and then split it in two or three before I freeze it.
Still, I’m fortunate that I changed jobs in October. If I’d been on my old salary without the beautiful benefit of a commission check once a month, I’d be completely and utterly panicked and stressed. Fortunately, I was raised to save rather than spend when I have a little extra cash (thanks, Mum!) and so the fridge won’t hurt as much as it would have if I was living paycheck to paycheck.
It still sucks though. I’m just saying that because it feels good to say it. It sucks. That’s all there is to it. I know it’s easily fixable and in the grand scheme of things, far worse things could happen but, well, I just want to say it. I spend much time trying not to whine and complain because friends and people I know always have it worse: sick parents, husbands, spouses….overworking, being stressed, etc. but sometimes, I just have to take five minutes and let myself feel a teeny bit sorry for myself that I have to buy a new fridge and a lawnmower and there are termite holes all over my windowsill.
I feel better already. Like I said before, my fridge situation is definitely not the end of the world. I’m not going to sit there and whine, “Why is my house against me?” when, really, it’s not. To quote “Phantom of the Opera” (the musical): “These things do ‘appen.”
Of course, just like my air conditioning woes last summer, the death of my ceiling fan and the broken kitchen sink, these things do seem to ‘appen all around the same time and I sort of wish they’d spread themselves out but, well, hopefully this will be the last ‘appening for a while.
If nothing else, April is almost over. I’m christening it “Anti-Homeowner Month.” Fingers crossed that May will be better.
At the very least, I’ll begin the month with a new fridge.
Rest in Peace fridge that belonged to the nice old lady who sold me my house. Thanks for keeping things cold and making a lot of noise while doing so. It was only when the silence of your hum was deafeningly loud that I realized I had lost you for good. May you enjoy your days of never having to cool anything again.
Happy Tuesday and thanks for reading (and letting me vent)!
I’m not actually sure of the time of death but based on my rather limited CSI abilities, the fact that my food in the freezer was still cool but mostly defrosted leads me to think it had been out most of the day. Also, my fridge was still cool-ish when I got home from my parents around 7 p.m.
Either way, my fridge has hummed itself to wherever it is that fridges go when they die. It was a good fridge. It was prone to making rather odd noises at times. It buzzed very loudly most of the time. However, it kept things cold and did the job and I suppose you can’t really ask more of a fridge, can you?
Of course, while I mourn the loss of my fridge, most of the loss is born of inconvenience rather than a strong personal connection with the fridge itself. This is what happens when you move into a house and the fridge is already there. It’s useful and I was glad I had a fridge but it never felt like my fridge, per se. Also, when I moved in, it was still quite full of things the previous homeowner had left behind so I had a lot of cleaning to do. While this provided a bond of sorts with my fridge, it never felt new because it was full of half-eaten lunch meat and such when I first ‘met’ it.
I’m very lucky. I didn’t lose everything in my fridge and freezer. While I lost a lot of things, including a collection of homemade soups I’d put in the freezer, some things were salvageable. Also, I have a little chest freezer in the garage so what could be saved went in there. For the fridge’s part, I’m temporarily using my little wine fridge as a fridge-fridge. It doesn’t get super cold but it’s cold enough to keep my food safe and uncontaminated.
I’m trying to look on the bright side of all this which is a bit of a challenge because firstly, it’s Monday and I’m not fond of Mondays as my regular blog readers will know. Secondly, it’s a very, very wet Monday. The lake in my back garden has just become even lake-ier and when you walk on the grass even where there’s no puddles, there’s enough water that it seeps up over your shoes. Finally, this has been a rather cruddy month for me as a homeowner.
I tried to smile through the termites. After all, I caught them before the damage was severe and they could tell all their friends that my house was free for the eatin’. I tried to laugh at the lawnmower. After all the hot-metal-piston-thingy didn’t hit me in the head, my neighbour loaned me his mower and I was able to get a new mower with no trouble. I’m trying to smile about the fridge. On the plus side, I get a shiny new appliance out of the deal.
On the negative side, it’s adding up financially. Certainly, I’d probably want a new fridge eventually but there’s a big difference between wanting a new one and needing one. Nowadays, fridges are essential. I’m sure there are arguments against that statement but unless you’re Amish and don’t believe in electricity, it’s rather hard to live without a fridge. I’m not really sure how the Amish do it, honestly. It’s not that I even like my beverages that cold. It’s more that I like my food to be uncontaminated by bacteria and keeping it cold prevents that. Also, it’s a great money-saver for a single person- it’s hard to find single-serving portions of things and it’s usually more economical to buy a package of chicken and then split it in two or three before I freeze it.
Still, I’m fortunate that I changed jobs in October. If I’d been on my old salary without the beautiful benefit of a commission check once a month, I’d be completely and utterly panicked and stressed. Fortunately, I was raised to save rather than spend when I have a little extra cash (thanks, Mum!) and so the fridge won’t hurt as much as it would have if I was living paycheck to paycheck.
It still sucks though. I’m just saying that because it feels good to say it. It sucks. That’s all there is to it. I know it’s easily fixable and in the grand scheme of things, far worse things could happen but, well, I just want to say it. I spend much time trying not to whine and complain because friends and people I know always have it worse: sick parents, husbands, spouses….overworking, being stressed, etc. but sometimes, I just have to take five minutes and let myself feel a teeny bit sorry for myself that I have to buy a new fridge and a lawnmower and there are termite holes all over my windowsill.
I feel better already. Like I said before, my fridge situation is definitely not the end of the world. I’m not going to sit there and whine, “Why is my house against me?” when, really, it’s not. To quote “Phantom of the Opera” (the musical): “These things do ‘appen.”
Of course, just like my air conditioning woes last summer, the death of my ceiling fan and the broken kitchen sink, these things do seem to ‘appen all around the same time and I sort of wish they’d spread themselves out but, well, hopefully this will be the last ‘appening for a while.
If nothing else, April is almost over. I’m christening it “Anti-Homeowner Month.” Fingers crossed that May will be better.
At the very least, I’ll begin the month with a new fridge.
Rest in Peace fridge that belonged to the nice old lady who sold me my house. Thanks for keeping things cold and making a lot of noise while doing so. It was only when the silence of your hum was deafeningly loud that I realized I had lost you for good. May you enjoy your days of never having to cool anything again.
Happy Tuesday and thanks for reading (and letting me vent)!
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