Tuesday, November 3, 2009

I love my microwave

O.K...let me give you a little back-story here:

We sold our house a few weeks ago and started the process of having all the inspections done. First one was radon - we had a very high level - mitigation is costing us between $800 and $1200 depending on whether the inexpensive route brings down the numbers. Next up was the general home inspection - electrical problems were detected resulting in repairs over $400. He also found an abandoned well in our basement that we were unaware of. There is a special way to properly "abandon" a well - that cost another $425. So we exhaled because at least we were done with the insane out flow of cash (at least until closing but let's not go there).

Then, this past Thursday morning my microwave went out. It is a large mounted unit that matches the stove beneath it. Seriously! The stinkin' thing couldn't wait to die until I moved out in a few weeks? We called out a repair man and he informed me that he wasn't sure of the exact cost to repair until he took it back to the shop to take it a apart but he knew it was one of a couple of things with the cheapest being around $180. He said that I could buy a "scratch and dent" that they had in the store for only $199. I asked about installation -- yep, an additional $100. $300 - No way! I said I'd rather fix it, even if it only saved me a few dollars in the end because I'm moving out.

Sounded like a good plan until I realized just how dependent I am on the crazy thing. Yes, I cook, but I also do a ton of re-heating with our crazy lifestyle. The weekend was rough but I figured - at least I will probably have my microwave back Monday or Tuesday...nope. I received a call yesterday from the repair shop and they said that it was "blah blah blah" part and it was going to cost $250 for the total repair. I was annoyed but at least I was still going to be saving $50 by having it repaired versus buying the used one from the shop. I gave myself a little pat on the back and asked when he would be able to bring it back out...he had just ordered the part and it wouldn't be in for 3-5 days! My pat on the back was turning into a kick in the butt.

How did people live before microwaves? Even the simplest of tasks - like making soup - goes from a quick 30 seconds in the nuker to 5 minutes on the stove. Five minutes may not sound like a lot but when you have a child that thinks he is going to die of starvation if he doesn't eat immediately, those 5 minutes become an eternity. I made a roast last night after the kids went to bed for tonight's dinner. I knew that tonight was going to be insane because I would have to run in the door with Will after our commute home from Cleveland and grab Jessica and run back out the door to get her to cheerleading on time in Tallmadge (a 45 minute drive from our house). Sounded like a brilliant plan until I remembered today that the roast would have to be reheated in the oven. Do you know how long it takes to reheat a big roast in the oven? FOREVER!

So what's the point? I have a new found appreciation for my mom -- she had 4 kids and no microwave...poor thing!

1 comment:

  1. The exact same thing happened to us in Texas! We ended up buying a new microwave because, but Ivan did the install. Craziness!

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