So. Keep in mind my brush with culinary disaster.
I'm sitting in my living room, happily not charting the Packers/Lions game, when I hear someone in the kitchen programming the microwave.
The cats are in the living room, keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't do anything crazy, like get up. I live alone. (With all my valuables in a safe. guarded by pythons.) The house is not haunted. The only burial ground on this spot would be for the junk piled up from the other lots. (Mine was built last, and apparently that's where they dump all the rocks and stuff from other yards. Thank you, Arbor Homes.)
Right. So I have to get up and investigate this, despite the fact that I have 2/3tg at Bingo.
What is it? Why, nothing, of course. Nothing, except a MALFUNCTIONING KEYPAD. BEEPING HAPPILY. I press reset. It insists. BEEPBEEP.
Sadly, I unplug the dying microwave. I guess I'd better help boost the economy.
But not tonight. It's cold outside, and by cold I mean cold preceded by a seven-letter word that means "very" in this context.
Maybe tomorrow. On the way home from work. How will I eat if I can't heat?
...
BUT WAIT! It's not dead yet!
I plug it back in. It beeps again. I push my finger randomly around on the keypad. Magically, it stops trying to beep.
I experiment.
Power: 100%
Time: 1:30
no complaints.
Power: 100%
Power: def
Power: 70%
Time: 1:40
no complaints.
Very interesting. So maybe I don't have to make the purchase yet.
Which is good. I calculated that I have about a 1.25-cu ft microwave. Costco doesn't really have one that size in white. (The refrigerator is white. So is this microwave.) Amazon's selection is eh.
we'll see. I'm holding out hope for this one, but if I come home and it's been beeping at my cats again, that'll be it.
A profile of zlionsfan
- zlionsfan
- Indiana, United States
- I like cats. I play a lot of games. Sometimes I develop web-based applications; this keeps my current employer from firing me too often. My favorite color is blue, or maybe green.
I think you'll be surprised at how much microwave you can get for not too much money these days...
ReplyDeleteYeah, that may be true. I just dislike spending money on this kind of stuff. Some part of being painfully poor has stayed with me all this time ...
ReplyDeleteThat's funny. I'll pony up for a microwave or other appliance, but won't play trivia as often.
ReplyDeleteI went into Best Buy, picked a microwave, and left. It was the simplest thing ever. I even had enough money to pay for it sans credit card. If I can do it, you can do it.
No really. I conditioned myself that way.
ReplyDeleteAfter my grandfather died and left us all something, I was able to clean up all of my debt and have enough left over. I went to wherever to pick up a fancy CD player, one of the 100-disc changers (which I still have, by the way), and even though I had more than enough money to pay for it in my checking account, it still almost made me ill to spend that money. I think it was about $600.
Obviously that doesn't affect all my spending, but there's still something about big-ticket items that makes me hesitate (and really, microwaves are on the very small end of big-ticket). Even with the TVs, I waited a while and thought it over before buying them.
Thanks, jones, I will!
ReplyDeleteYou could look on craigslist for a slightly used version????
ReplyDeleteThis is true. It's not about the amount of the money, though, as much as the act of purchasing itself. (Remember that this is irrational: I can certainly afford a new microwave if it becomes necessary to get one.)
ReplyDeleteAnd, as ems has pointed out, it clearly doesn't apply to everything I get. I'm getting a new multi-function printer in a couple of days because we got a great deal through work.
Cost? About $50-$75 more than a good, new microwave would cost me. Difficult to buy? Not in the slightest.
Electronics = easy. Appliances = hard. (Good thing. Otherwise, I'd have a flat-top range for the cats to sit on.)