The
oven at the farmhouse wasn’t heating correctly last year. I limped along with
it, but with a family reunion scheduled for Memorial Day weekend, I served notice that we
needed a new one NOW. The old one is 25 years old, after all, and Mike’s
research on repair proved that the better option is to buy new. (Just between
us, the old one was a floor model from Sears and wasn’t all that great to begin
with.)
Addressed to Vance Dobson, 1915
And while we were at it, I said, we should take advantage of the opportunity to replace the very old well-used washing machine we bought a couple of years ago. How old is it? So old that I had to show Mike and the plumber how to run the water into it, though it seemed perfectly straightforward to me. It could have been from the ‘60s.
But when it comes right down to it, I have to be pushed to shop outside my armchair. “There aren’t choices,” I tell Mike. “It all comes down to the same thing.” I suggested we just go to Largent’s and save some time, but Mike wanted to see the options, and Friday (March 22) was the day.
We visited three appliance shops, and the models we chose were either the same or similar and the delivery costs were comparable. It all made my head swim. We chose the offerings at the third shop we visited (Largent’s after all) – a white Frigidaire range and a Whirlpool washing machine. The salesperson there seemed to glean what we needed, was good at explaining features, and went the extra mile.
I know from experience that a new appliance might be worse than the old. All appliances have digital controls now, which can be bad from the beginning for no particular reason. We just have to hope for the best. In our case, though, both the range and the washer need to be replaced.
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| A happy time for Milo with his sons |
Not the least of our errands was a visit to Garlinghouse Memorials to order the monument for Milo’s grave. Again, our choices were within a limited range. Milo’s ashes will share our plot, so his stone must be flat and sit behind ours. I’m fine with it. I want it to be conservative in keeping with the rest of the family memorials.
“It’s just wrong to bury your child,” I’ve heard more than once. "That’s not the half of my grief over Milo’s passing," I say. But of course, sad things happen every day to many families – and always have. KW
3 comments:
Welcome to the "bury your child" club. It's just not natural. It's supposed to be our kids burying us. But I still want to stay around longer. Still have things to teach my kids, grandkids, great grandkids, and great-greatgrandkids. If only they would listen.
New appliances! I keep thinking mine are all new, but with the exception of Bruni II, the dishwasher who is three years old, mine are in the twenty plus year old category. My stove is almost twenty-five years old. They all seem to be hanging in there though. I hope your new ones prove to be winners!
Hi Chuck! "You can't tell anyone anything; they have to learn for themselves." I think that's true of life's deeper lessons.
Hi Chris! These years since you moved to your resort and we took on the farm have just slipped away! Our new oven has a steam clean feature, which cleans at a much lower temp and for much less time -- energy efficient and easier on the equipment. Otherwise, it's just a basic unit. And that's fine. The less frills the better in that harsh environment. And the washer is a little smaller than most, and that's fine, too.
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