Thursday, May 5, 2011

And Then I Panicked

My sanity has been challenged. 

No doubt about it; I've almost lost it!  How is it that you sail through weeks and months without any problems and then, suddenly – well – nothing goes right? You’re afraid to peek out from under the covers in the morning, answering the phone makes you nervous; in short, you begin to expect the worst.

It all started days ago. I always microwave a cup of tea after dinner, but several days ago, right after I had put it in, the old microwave started to protest.  Grrrrrr...spttt.. Or was it more like Whirrrr...spttt? Maybe it was Pluhtt...ttttt. At any rate, it was not its normal humming sound. It was an angry sound. However, I wanted that cup of hot tea so I let it run the full minute that it usually takes. When I opened the door, my nostrils were instantly filled with an awful burning smell – and it wasn’t because my tea was too hot. It was actually just lukewarm. Oh, no, I thought. My microwave has died!

I reported the incident to my husband, who, of course, never takes my word for anything. He had to scurry to the kitchen and hear the noise and smell the burning odor for himself. Why do husbands never give their wives credit for knowing anything unless they confirm it?  Once he decided on his own that the eleven year old microwave was indeed down for the count, it was decided that we’d look for a new one the next day.

Then came an e-mail from my daughter: “How do you feel about company this weekend?” Well, I love for my daughter and her family to visit, and would never tell them it wasn’t convenient because of a non-working microwave, but I admit, I became very confused when my mind started spinning about finding and installing a microwave, cleaning house and planning my menu for three days. And I had only a few days to get it all done! As I get older, it seems harder to deal with more than one situation at a time. However, I knew there was only one thing to do. So I wrote back: “Of course. We’d love to have you!”
  
And then I panicked!

Immediately, my husband and I checked our respective computers for an over-the-range microwave. Checking all the stores that normally carry appliances, we found that a job we thought would be easy suddenly seemed impossible. In the 11 years we’d had our white microwave; a lot of changes had been made. Now, there were very few white ones to be found. All that existed were black or stainless steel. Some were the wrong size or weren’t powerful enough. The right microwave for us was beginning to look unattainable!  But we persisted.

To make a very long story a little shorter, after a visit to one of the stores, we finally located one that could be ordered. In white. We were thrilled. It would take two days to get it. During those two days, a lot of cleaning and meal planning was done. Things were coming together. My husband picked up the new microwave and made plans to take the old one down and install the new one. We still had two days before our visitors were due. It looked as if we’d barely make it!

Tomorrow: The Installation

6 comments:

jimbob said...

sounds like someone had a bad day. we all have one sometimes. just roll with it peg. it won;t last forever.

shanna said...

I once had the same thing happen. I wanted white too but it's all stainless thesse days. I don't like stainless. So i ended up black. It's a GE and I like it very much. Good luck with the installation.

sam said...

oh peg, having a bad time of it? glad you finally found a white microwave. can't wait to hear about the installation. sam

Anonymous said...

some days are just like that arent' they? Nothing seems to go right. Hope it's over soon for you.

Cindy said...

Hi peg. Sorry about the death of your dear friend the microwave. Hope the installation goes well. enjoy your company.

Anonymous said...

cute post about your problem. good luck.