Appliance Hell
Appliances seem to have it in for me lately. It must be some conspiracy they have going to see if they can drive me batshit in short order. I am a complete idiot when it comes to electronics and gadgetry ... however, computers seem to fall outside of that generality. That I can build, upgrade and repair my own PC hardware amazes no one more than myself. But a stupid can opener can thwart my attempts at gaining access to the food inside like no one's business.
This latest round of household madness started about a month ago. I went to warm up some tortilla chips in the microwave. About 5 seconds after starting the oven, it made the most ungodly noise and there were flashes of light inside. After turning it off, I saw by the metal plate thingy a scorched area. I later learned that the magnetron had gone kablooey. (These are all technical terms for the gadget idiot, you know). Ahh well ... it had served me well for 5 years. It was a house-warming/Christmas gift from my parents when I moved in here. Off to Best Buy the next day, I found a nice Panasonic model with all the bells and whistles for $80. I had $50 in BB gift certificates on hand, so that made the hit on the wallet a little less painful. Then the next day, it went on sale for $12 less. Sweet! A new nukulator for 18 bucks.
Next up was the coffee maker. I cannot live without my coffee in the morning. This is a vital piece of equipment in my abode. The warming plate wasn't working right, it wasn't keeping the pot of coffee warm. Just about the time I decided to look for a new one, I tripped across one of those Gevalia offers for a pound of coffee, a coffee maker and two mugs for $15. Nice. I'll take one. Just gotta remember to cancel the subscription or set it to send coffee only every 6 months. That stuff is exPENsive!
Of course, on the heels of the demise of the coffee maker goes the coffee grinder. It is still functioning ... barely. The tip of one of the grinding blades broke off. It takes twice as long to grind the coffee, but it is, for now, still working. A new one is on my shopping list.
This morning, my hair dryer blew up. No really ... it did. It started making a weird buzzing noise. I turned it off and shook it to see if something was rattling around inside. Then I turned it back on. The buzzing turned to grinding then KA-BLOWIE! A little flash and a puff of smoke and it was dead silent. And my hair was still half wet.
That was just the start of a very bad day all around ...
which included nearly breaking my ankle stepping off the porch while simultaneously spilling coffee all over my new coat, a trick I would repeat later while driving to work. A morning at work (first day back after a 5 day weekend, no less!) with bosses grumbling about everything imaginable. A lunch hour spent at Walmart shopping for a new hair dryer (forgot to look at coffee grinders though).
I figured I'd pick up some diet Coke while I was there. The 12 packs were way too expensive, two dollars more and I could get a 24-pack. On the way back to the registers, I spied a 4 pound bag of yummy-yummy trail mix so I grabbed one and plopped it on top of the hair dryer and case of Cokes. Did I mention that I was dumb enough to think I could forego a shopping cart in the interest of saving time? Oy vey ... and not a single abandoned cart to be found, when usually I am tripping over the damn things all over the place. I finally plopped my stuff down and went to get a cart. Did I mention I was wearing my new, extremely warm coat? Over a very thick sweater? Sweat was running down the middle of my back, my mouth was dry and I was totally out of breath by the time I got to the check-out. And wouldn't you know it ... the check-out I chose had the slowest, dumbest clerk to ever work in a Walmart. And that's sayin something ...
Somehow, I also managed to break the zippy-thing I keep my work building access card clipped to my belt loop with. I stuffed it into my purse figuring I could straighten it out when I got back to work. And where does one find zippy-things for badges and stuff like that? Walmart, natch ...
You really wanna know about the rest of my day? I ain't done yet ... OK, you asked for it ...
Back at work, I put my lunch in the microwave to heat up. Two minutes should do. I went over to chat with a co-worker and after a while I thought it odd that the microwave hadn't beeped yet. Somehow I had pushed the zero three times ... 20 minutes. I caught it after it had cooked for 5 minutes. Chicken and rice don't fare too well at being overly nuked. There was a tiny bit of rice in the middle that was still edible, but the chicken was like leather.
I had no cash because, like an idiot, I forgot to get an extra $20 when I swiped my check card at Walmart. Not that it would have helped since all we have is vending machines and no way to get change. So a couple bites of over-cooked rice comprised my lunch. Then I sat and gabbed with a co-worker until I was late getting back. A very naughty thing to do where I work.
The rest of the afternoon passed unremarkably. Then I got home. Nothing like ending a really bad day by coming home to a surly teen-ager sulking around the house and a freshly-scooped-yesterday cat box that stinks to high heaven.
Some days it just don't pay to even get out of bed ....
« Hush me up!
Posted by
LissaKay on 03/02/05 at 03:37 AM in
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