Cookin' with new stuff!

We've been eagerly awaiting the new range that I wrote about here a few weeks ago. We've been cooking with everything under the sun: a George Foreman grill, a toaster over, a mini microwave, an electric grill, and electric skillet, a waffle maker and a sandwich machine thingy. I am SO happy for the new range and microwave to be here and it's so awesome- like a space age cooking experience. I realize we weren't pioneers cooking over an open flame but after not having stove burners, an oven or a decent microwave, it sure felt like I was living Little House on the Prairie!

Well, that's my 2 cents; I was going to write a more detailed post about this but Daddy-O did such a good job, I can just link it here!

YAY OVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mags

Morning routine outta whack 3 times in a row

Monday morning I overslept because I turned my alarm off in the middle of the night because I thought it was time to get up but it was really only 3:04am. I didn't turn it off on purpose but when I turned it off and realized the beeping continued I thought it was the smoke alarm and that the house was on fire. I woke up Mac and hit the stairs to wake Daddy-O only to discover it was the evil oven, beeping randomly, the broken electrical panel just going berserk for no apparent reason. After my heart rate was back to normal and I was momentarily thankful the house wasn't burning to the ground, I went back to bed. And forgot to turn my alarm back on. I proceeded to wake up at 7:40am. I have to be at school at 7:45am. The drive to work alone is about 11 minutes. So, I was officially really late on Monday morning. Thank goodness I operate the library and don't have to be there for students in a class.

Tuesday morning at 6:04am my phone rang to notify me of a 1 hour delay due to snow. The call came in only 15 minutes before my alarm usually goes off, so I set it ahead for 1 hour and slept fitfully for that last hour. I wasn't late but my routine was just messed up and our school morning schedule was obviously off. the kids are 'unsettled' on mornings like that. It's not really a big deal. If I hadn't slept so crummy the night before, I wouldn't just gotten up and read and drank coffee until time to go.

Then there was this morning. Remember I told you that I changed my clock yesterday, ahead 1 hour because of the delay??? Guess what dingbat DIDN'T reset it to the correct time for this morning???? Yes, that would be me. So at 7:26am, I happen to wake up and look at said clock. I couldn't process what I overslept. I'm seriously thinking: I didn't get called to sub today. Then I thought "wait, it's Saturday." Then my mind kicked into gear with "oh shit I am so late." And I HAD to be on time because, unlike Monday morning, I had agreed to cover junior high boys PE first period!!! Double "oh shit!!!!!!!!!!!" Thank the Lord that today was a good hair day and that I laid clothes out the night before and had packed my lunch last night and that I didn't have to scrap or shovel my car... I was dressed, face washed, teeth brushed and stuff grabbed and out the door in 8 minutes. Yeah. 8 minutes. A record. One I hope to never repeat because, of course, I feel outta sorts. I did manage to arrive at school at 8 am on the dot, 15 minutes before the beginning of first period.

I am so NOT a morning person. Now, I am better than I used to be. I can have a civil conversation if I must. I don't feel like maiming or clawing people's eyes out if they look at me any more in the mornings. I can smile and be pleasant when I stop and get coffee. My students aren't scared of me--- at least, I don't think so. (Funny thing: when I taught college students would take turns bringing coffee to school because they didn't like me without my morning caffeine. And in the Wild West: the kids would check at the local coffeehouse to see if I was in that morning and if not, someone would stop in and get me a latte because they didn't like having me periods 1-3 without it...! I'm ashamed, embarrassed, and sorta proud of this one all at once.)

I'm really hoping that tomorrow morning is normal. I'm double checking my clock tonight, and the oven has been shut off at the breaker box (thank you Daddy-O; though he did that out of self preservation because I said if it goes off in the early AM again I'm waking him up first!). The weather looks like rain so I hope Thursday morning is smooth. I don't think I can manage my freakin' sunny disposition if it's disrupted one more time.

Maggie

Home on the range... an oven's tale

Warning: this post contains lots of CAPITAL LETTERS, usually to represent my anger.

Our oven stopped working. It would act like it was going to heat and try to heat and then just not heat. This sucks. Of course this happens while Daddy-O is in Texas. I swear we weren't doing anything but trying to make frozen pizza!

I decided I was going to see if I could fix it before he got home because I didn't want to worry him if it was no big deal. I called the place where my parents bought the range (this is what we call the stove and oven unit as one big appliance) about 20 years ago. I was told that 1) it's probably dead because of the age and will have to get a whole new range; 2) I could try and throw the breakers and shut it down for 20 minutes so the electronic panel has a chance to reset; 3) they could see if they could order parts and not have to buy a whole new range. We shut down the breakers and that did not resurrect it. The range is dead. The burners work- sorta (I'll get to that) but the oven is dead.

So I thought I'd call and see how much parts were and if it could be replaced. I also told Daddy-O, who was not mad at us for killing the oven.

Oh, and the oven in question is an electric, ceramic, flattop Jenn Air.

So last Monday morning I called to see if THE STOVE COMPANY still had my parent's records and could order a part. Mr. Asshole who owns THE STOVE COMPANY told me they don't sell ranges any more and didn't have the records and the part would be so expensive a new range would be cheaper- he didn't even let me tell him WHAT PART I NEEDED!!!!!!!!!! I said I would at least like to know how much the part is going to cost and he said I would have to call Earl (he does outsourced range service work apparently) to make a house call to see what was wrong with it. I told him again what the error message was flashing on the electric panel and what it needed and he said I could be wrong and he didn't want to look for a part without Earl's say-so, and he said by the time Earl came to see what was wrong and the part was bought and then installed it, a new range was cheaper. He did NOT want to help me. And he was rude and snotty to me the entire time. I was so pissed.

After I hung up I decided I would figure this out myself. I went online to find out what the name of the part was and I found it. I also called Jenn Air customer service and they told me good news and bad news. The good news is that if that's the error message then 99.9% of the time, that is the part I need. The bad news is that because that range is so old, the don't have that part but for them to be accurate they needed a make and model number, and told me where on the range I could find it. Well, I hunted that thing over and couldn't find it. Stumped.

So, not to be a woman to be undone...

The next day I called another business in town that sells ranges. I got a salesman named Dave THE OTHER OVEN STORE and told him what Mr. Asshole at THE STOVE COMPANY said and Dave said if the part is available there is no way it's going to cost $1400 since to replace the range is about $1500!!! He said it won't be anywhere near that much for a part. He also said if the error message is matching the book and the web site online, then that's correct. Furthermore, Dave said since I can't find the number myself, he'll run up to the house and look really quickly and will NOT charge me a service call to find a model number! He said if he can get the part in, they will come and install it (a service call is $80) so it will be $80 plus the cost of the part. AND he was NICE! AND not rude!!!! And I told him the story of dealing with Mr. Asshole who was a jerk and rude and I would NEVER do business there again until he died. Maybe. Dave at THE OTHER OVEN STORE laughed a lot.

So Dave came to the house and found the number and then hunted for the parts because the error message says 2 different parts are in need of replacing and these 2 parts work in tandem but because the range is old, there are no parts at part stores, or wherever they look for parts (I called Jenn Air myself and they told me the same thing). He said if I wanted to find one somewhere on the Internet I can and he can give me the part number. Dave also said if I find one, they will put it in for me. The extra bad news is that while Dave said they could come put in the parts, they're usually non-returnable/ non-refundable so if they parts don't work I can't send them back so Daddy-O would be out the parts and labor money and still have the cost of the new range he'd would need to get since the parts didn't work. Dave wouldn't fathom a guess on whether or not the replacement parts would work because of the age of the range. He said he was sorry he didn't have better news and wishes he could help.

He was really helpful and nice and sorry!!!!! Mr. Asshole should take customer service lessons from Dave!!!!

So I tell all this to Daddy-O who decides he's going to see if he can buy a new range in Texas at a chain store we have hear. Ya'll might've hear of a little appliance place called Sears. He felt he should buy from Dave but Daddy-O isn't home for 10 more days and thought he could get one new and have it installed and stuff before he got home. Uhhhh, not! He bought a replacement and it won't be here until 2/27-- YIKES!

In the meantime, I have to cook using the George Foreman Party Time Grill, the toaster oven and the microwave. (With this nice weather I might lug out the gas grill and make up some burgers and dogs!!!). You might be wondering why I don't use the burners since, technically the stove works. Wellllllllllllll.... because......... it BEEPS!!!!!!!

For no reason at all, when we use the burner, the oven senors feels "heat" and it beeps. An beeps and beeps and beeps and beeps and will not stop for hours on end. I can stand there and press the button to make it stop and it will just start up again. Over and over and over again. For HOURS.

The other day the stove and oven had been off 3 days and I walked through the kitchen and it started beeping FOR NO REASON. I am so freaked out. I actually left the house for 2 hours because the beeping will not stop. Then suddenly Mac or I can hit the button and it stops. But it's random and worse than Chinese water torture. I think Daddy-O should sell the defective range to the CIA and they can use it to torture prisoners, if they did that sort of thing (yes, I snorted).

So from now until Feb. 27 we have no oven and for all intrinsic purposes, no stove top either. This is a good time to start my diet: yogurt, salad, microwaved chicken boobs, rice, oatmeal, cereal.

But the new range is gonna ROCK (these are good caps!)!!! I'm gonna bake and casserole my butt off when it gets here!

No longer looking for an excuse to not cook,
Maggie