Now You're Cooking

We knew we were going to lose a family member soon. It was inevitible. Still, when the end came, you are never quite prepared. And then, that day came. The stove died.

With two grandchildren's birthdays coming up (today, but the party was Saturday) and "Mee-Mee" needing to bake the cakes, plus with Thanksgiving coming up, plus ... well you get the idea. Besides, we gotta eat on regular days anyway.

So that meant we had to get a new stove.

And that meant, "Put on your Sunday best, we're going to Sears!"

So, to Sears we went. And I had to take a long lunch, because it was a workday.

When we got to Sears, we had to find the appliances section. You see, we don't go to Sears much. Not that there's anything wrong with going to Sears. It's just not that convenient.

But Sears makes good appliances. Or so I hear. We have a Sears riding mower. And I've experienced Sears/Kenmore appliances before. So, Sears seemed like a good place to look for a stove. Besides, I've seen the Sears catalog. A "free-standing range" is under $300.

Or so I thought.

So, we made it to Sears and found our way upstairs. Ah, there they were. Behind us. So, we headed in that direction. So, I'm seeing one for $399 standing right there. But the wife had other ideas. And so did the German lady that works there.

Helga (that was her name, okay) came over and was a nice as could be. Knowing how it would all end up anyway, I deferred to the wife. Because no matter what I think or say, if it's not something she likes, I'll never hear the end of it.

So, they start talking and of course, it comes out that we currently have a drop-in. And the wife wants a drop-in. So we don't have to cut anything, you see. So, Helga takes us over to where they have drop-ins on display.

I didn't see the first one for $400. Or $500. Or $600. Or $700. Or $800. Or $900. They had lots that started with a "1" though.

So, Helga and the wife did their little "oh, look at that!" thing that women do when they get together in a store. Meanwhile, I'm on my lunch hour. And, because of a project at work, I have a daily 1:00 call I need to be on.

Now, I don't carry a cell phone. I have. But I don't. I don't like 'em. The wife carries one. But I don't. So I need to use the phone. But the wife left the phone on the charger. But Helga lets me use the phone over in the corner by the refrigerators.

So, while I'm on the call, explaining to the boss why I'm calling in from the Sears appliances section, the wife and Helga are talking about stoves.

When I finish my participation in the call, I head back over there and they are finishing up deciding on a stove. Helga says she doesn't have that in stock, but can get it, but then she thinks they have something in stock in the back or somewhere. So, she leaves and comes back with the good news.

Oh, it's not exactly like the one on the floor, it's got this here and that there, but it's essentially the same thing. And the wife is happy. So, it's a go.

Because of some discount ticket the wife has (10% off) and some other kind of discount that Sears has running, and all, it takes three or four times to enter it into the computer, but it gets done. We finish up the paperwork and she tells us that Freddy will call us before he comes out to deliver it.

The wife drops me back at work and heads to the house to await Freddy.

Freddy calls and says he'll be by the next day. So, they have it in stock, but won't deliver it that day.

The next day, Freddy calls and I leave work early to meet him at the house since the wife is at work that day and I'm closer to the house than she is. So, I get home and Freddy's getting everything ready.

In short order, I hear a saw running. Anyway, Freddy gets everything done and the range installed. And it's a slide-in, not a drop-in.

Remember the $400 stoves they had? They were unacceptable because they were slide-ins. We had to have a drop-in. And they cost a lot more. But the one she picked out while I was on the phone was a slide-in.

I'm not sure just how all that happened. But we ended up with a $1,400 slide-in cooking appliance.

She still hasn't baked me a cake or cooked me a casserole or anything.