ET's Info-Stew

Why does it seem that, when it comes to household tasks, things always take longer than one would expect. This morning Jenny attempted to do a load of laundry but the washer wasn't working, at all. No water sounds, no buzzing, nothing. For months the dryer has been taking 2-3 runs to dry a normal load. Well these appliances are probably as old as the house, making them 12 years old. Knowing that they'd need replacing sooner rather than later, I decided we should go around shopping for new ones.

Our first stop was Costco, which we thought would have a good selection of cheap washers and dryers. There was really only one or two, and they were just as expensive as a normal retail store. So our next stop was Home Depot. Apparently early January is the time to replace appliances because Home Depot was having a 10% off plus free delivery and installation deal. We found a mid-priced washer and dryer that we liked. I happened to pick up a Home Depot advertisement laying around the store and saw that the washer and dryer set we picked was another $100 off each, plus the additional 10%, so I think that we got a really good deal. We also got a new microwave. See, we have been using a counter-top microwave and wanted to try to get one that goes over the stove. Well we found one that fit our needs, and the project was to mount the microwave above the stove.

The project was simple. Take down the current stove fan and cabinet over the stove, cut a new hole for the electric plug in that cabinet. Put the cabinet back up, and mount the microwave underneath. Looking back, other than a snag here and there, that's really all there was to it. It seems like it should take two amateurs about an hour to do this, but it ended up taking at least three hours, and after that I was beat so I took a nap. The new microwave looks good, like it belongs there, we have a bit more usable counter space, and it really didn't cost as much as I expected. So I guess it's a job well done.