Of Appliance Sagas and Memories by Konnie Enos

It’s been nearly a month since I posted about our appliance revolt. I thought some of you might want to know how that is going.

First of all, my son who had offered to help with getting a new stove has not been able to assist with it yet because of some issues he’s been having on his end. It seems every single week he has an issue with his paycheck, his job, or this week, his bank. All different reasons but all of them affecting how much money he has available. I’m thinking some of the issues might be connected to his ADHD but not all of them are.

This week, his bank froze his card for possible fraud all because he used a vending machine that he isn’t around very often. In fact, he is only near it when he is taking one of his apprenticeship classes. Classes he is only taking a few times a year, so it’s been at least four months since the last time he was near that machine.

Not a good thing to find out when you’re gas tank is near empty and you have places to be like work or school. Yes, he did call his bank as soon as he found out about it, but it still takes a bit of time to get the card back up and working. Fortunately for him, I could manage getting him enough money to cover his shortfall until he can use his card again.

Anyway, back at the homefront, we were getting pretty tired of not being able to use our oven. The one glaring shortfall with our other appliances is we had nothing that could cook a pizza, and my son really likes having his pizza.

I have thought about getting a backyard outdoor kitchen setup with a pizza oven, but that is, predictably a pipedream since we never have the funds to even consider such an upgrade to our backyard. I mean just landscaping the still just dirt back yard has been beyond our means, and we’ve lived here for over 20 years.

Now, while all of this is going on, my daughter, who moved across the country for education and medical care, finally got SSI. Finally, with proper diagnosis, and competent help and support from state agencies, she was able to convince the Social Security department that she is indeed disabled.

Great news for her and good news for us because now she no longer needs the monthly allowance we’ve been sending her so she could cover some of her expenses. Yes, what we sent her wasn’t much, certainly not covering rent, but it helped her out. Now adding that amount back into our coffers helped me scrounge together enough to cover a new stove.

So, at the beginning of this month, I told my daughter, the one still living here, to look for a stove in our price range that met all our requirements. She checked both Home Depot and Costco. Home Depot's listed prices were at least $100 less than the prices at Costco so we were going to go with those options. Then she actually looked at ordering one.

Then she discovered that things like delivery and installation, plus haul away and all the parts to connect, were extra. As in enough extra to make a new large appliance from them way more than we could afford. In fact, it added up to more than the base price of stoves from Costco.

So, she checked out how much Costco would add on to get the stove to us.

The answer is not one penny beyond taxes. Yes, it cost a bit more than I was hoping to spend, but it was less than the full cost of getting it from Home Depot, plus appliances from Costco have an amazing warranty. And we know this because we’ve had to use it when we had issues with our dishwasher and that light broke in our fridge.

So, yes, we finally have a functioning oven again. And, I’ve already decided any freezer we get will be coming from Costco. Also, any other appliance that needs replaced will eventually come from them too. Getting that membership was the best investment we’ve ever made.

Finally, Monday morning I was looking at something online. I don’t remember what exactly it was, but something in it reminded me of the date. Monday, August 17^th.

I stopped. I remembered.

First my brother-in-law (Bonnie’s husband). Born August 17^th, 1958. Gone way too soon.

Then I remembered the oldest of our brothers. He as also born August 17^th, but in 1963. Also gone too soon.

So, I paused a moment to reflect on both men on what was their birthday.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

 

Of Appliance Revolts and Repairs by Konnie Enos

Back in January, I wrote about issues with getting our Christmas decorations down, but at the end, I mentioned issues with both our washer and dishwasher. I mentioned wondering if, or when, our dryer or oven would join the revolt.

Well, now I can answer that.

At the time, back in January, we managed to keep our washer going, and the dishwasher was under warranty. It took the technician coming out a few times, but we finally got it back up and running. Though it was around that time when the part in our fridge that controls the light just popped out for some reason.

Fortunately, that was covered too. Didn’t take long at all for the technician to repair it.

Now as for our washer, it behaved itself until this past month (June), when with a sudden clunk it stopped spinning at all.

This time, not under warranty.

I called a repair service I’ve used before.

They honestly could have gotten someone here later that same day, but being a house full of neurodiverse people (and me an introvert), I opted for the next day. He came, diagnosed the issue, and was back out again in record time. He said he’d have to order the part and would let us know when he had it.

All fine.

Eventually he called, and we set the follow-up appointment to actually fix it.

Once he had the machine working again, we put it right to use because, guess what, it’d been out of commission for a week, and we all had piles of laundry to get through. Bedding being a major issue for all four of us. Then there were the towels and all our loads of clothes.

Well, when it was time to get that very first load out of the dryer so the second load could be put in, it was discovered that the dryer had quit working. It’s even older than the washer, so we called the repair place back up and had a new guy coming in the next day.

Do you know what happened?

THAT NIGHT we discovered that our oven wasn’t working either. It wouldn’t stay hot.

Fortunately, the repair guy was more than willing to check both appliances out. And the dryer was a fairly simple fix; just had to wait for the part.

Unfortunately, the oven, which at this point is our oldest appliance, would be less expensive to replace. So, we’re going to have to figure it out. And believe me, after spending all that money fixing the washer and dryer, it simply wasn’t in the cards to also buy an oven.

But, thanks to our “small” appliances, we’ve been able to manage. We can even muddle it if the stovetop stops working, which thankfully it hasn’t done yet. You see, besides a bread maker, a crock pot, and an InstaPot, we have an electric roasting pan. We also have a grill, though we haven’t opted for that option yet because my husband is the only one who can cook through that smoke, and he simply isn’t reliable enough to depend on him.

And yes, the roasting pan can even bake. I’ve made cornbread in it, and my daughter made a cake for my birthday.

The next step is to get enough money together to purchase a new stove. When my older son found out about our dilemma, he promised to cover it, but he hasn’t been able to get the money to us yet. I’m assuming we’ll have to wait until next month at least. We are pricing out our options, though.

But we found out when our dryer and oven would join the revolt.

And typing this made me realize we have one still functioning appliance that is older than every other appliance except our oven, which is still working.

Our freezer.

And if it stopped working, we would have to scramble to replace it very quickly because there is no way we could stuff all that food in the relatively small freezer section of our fridge. For one, both are nearly always stuffed full. But the very thought has me thinking we need to replace it BEFORE it dies.

All things considered, that should be our next appliance to focus on. Due to the sheer expense of it, I’m assuming another chest, since the preferred upright is far more costly. I do not relish the idea of diving headfirst into one, trying to reach something in the bottom of it.

Fortunately, I have three family members available who are visibly taller than I am. Two of them are six inches taller, but that half a foot makes a huge difference. Believe me. I am the only one in my household who can’t reach things on the second shelf without a stool.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.