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| Gremlin week was expensive |
This past week was 'everything broke' week. Literally.
We had to make two substantial purchases to replace the items the Gremlins busted.
The Microwave Bit The Dust
So there I am in the kitchen, minding my own business, reaching for something as my hand brushes the top of the microwave when I notice that thing that makes you go 'hmmm; heat on the top exterior of it.
My son had just made popcorn, running it for four minutes or so. However, it shouldn't have been on the hot side to touch the exterior ... or so I thought?
So doubting myself, I called one of my brothers and asked him to run his microwave to see if it was hot to touch on the exterior after use. Because, seriously, I was just second-guessing myself ... had I just never noticed that the exterior of the microwave got so hot?
My brother confirmed my thoughts; my microwave shouldn't be hot to the touch after use. In fact, it was so hot, I couldn't really touch the top.
Yes, I googled till the cows came home on this scenario, and just like google, the responses were a mixed bag of nothing concrete.
So I decided to give the microwave one last, quick try.
And that's when it happened. The entire thing started to spark. OMG. Scared the living crap out of me. Quickly the beast was unplugged, and off I went to Amazon (Amazon, you are way too convenient) and ordered a new one.
My criteria was very specific: inexpensive - and that's it.
Why inexpensive? Because since we've owned this house, nearly thirty years, we've gone through at least four microwaves. So all I wanted was something that didn't break the bank.
Here's what we selected. Oh, and I threw in a picture of my favorite red wine and some Lemoncella - just in case you're having a Gremlin week.
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| Here's the one we purchased on Amazon Read the reviews, went for the price. Inexpensive. So far so good. Working fine. |
The Central Vacuum Unit Went to the Big One in the Sky
Hubby was vacuuming something up in the laundry room ... minding his own business .... when poof, the central vacuum system ceased. He stepped into the garage to smell smoke, and yep, our central vacuum unit reached the end of its appliance life.
I am not complaining though, because we bought and installed our Electrolux Central Vacuum system in 1994 - It lasted 27 years!! It's been the ONLY appliance that hasn't broken down until now. They don't make them like that anymore!
My brother informed me that Beam bought out Electrolux. He put a Beam central vacuum system in his house not too long ago.
Strangely enough, my mother's central vacuum system also died this year. She went ahead and put a Beam central vacuum system. Actually, my brother helped her pick it out. He's handy; he installed it.
I decided to check Amazon and go with something a bit less in price. The Beam central vacuum (just the unit that hangs on the wall) cost my mom about $795 (Canadian) - yah, we live in Canada.
Here's the central vacuum unit we selected - An Ovo. The unit itself cost us $399 (Canadian). We don't need any piping or vacuum parts. Our old ones still work.
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| Available on Amazon |
It's a pretty darn powerful vacuum system. It works for homes up to 7000 square feet, and our home isn't anywhere near that size. With the basement, we're about 3500 square feet. So it'll be fine. Plus it offers a ten-year warranty.
Since we've just purchased these items, I can't give you a detailed review of how they've performed yet, but I'll be surprised if there's a problem. I'm not anticipating any problems. So far, so good.
So now I'm heading off to enjoy a glass of wine - the one that's sitting beside the microwave in that photo up there.
It was a cha-ching week. Yuk. I hate shopping. Actually, I hate spending money, but it had to be done.
Gremlin week sucks.
