View From the Tenth Level

Monday, August 11, 2008

My oven died. Last year.

We took it apart to see if it could be fixed, but the bottom element was completely corroded. How it got to such a sad state, I have no idea. The oven was only 3 years old. In my mind, I see a former tenant drying engine parts in it and corrosive liquids dripping down the back ... certainly, a new oven's quality couldn't be THAT bad?

At any rate, there have been no nice baked dinners or cakes in our house for over a year. Our oven did little more than grill.

I finally saved up enough money for a replacement, and Dan and I went oven shopping. I was overjoyed to be able to pick out my own stainless steel Italian oven. It's beautiful - a fan-forced electric oven with 5 different cooking modes. I'm in heaven! The first thing I'm going to do once we install it is bake a cake!

And then came the dilemma. How to get it home? The store only delivers on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the days that I'm in the city. So, we asked around to see if we could borrow a neighbor's utility vehicle.

The clutch was broken on it.

Dan asked to borrow one from work. It was being used.

So, we went to pick it up in the old Beamer, thinking that we could angle it into the trunk. WRONG! The oven is much bigger than we thought. There was only one option left: roof racks.

A kind gentleman, as big as Dan, helped us lift it to the roof racks. Dan strapped the oven down with four different straps. This is where driving a truck comes in handy. Who'd have thought this skill would come in handy outside of work?

The oven was strapped firmly to the roof of the car, and that's when the wind picked up. I didn't think we'd make it home without the oven being blown off the roof racks and into the path of some unsuspecting car. But no - we went sailing down the road while the wind howled, whistled and groaned through the straps and often sounded like a cow in hard labor. We even got some curious gazes from cattle as we groaned our way past farmhouses.

Fortunately, we made it home in one piece and managed to slide the oven off the roof using a ramp, onto our veranda. Slowly, but surely, Dan and I got the box into the house. I have a new oven!

But the oven doesn't plug into the wall, like the old one does. It has to be hard wired. It's been several days and there it sits, in its box. Dan's trucking skills were handy..... but now we need an electrician!

posted by Melanie O. at 10:35 AM -

7 Comments:

At 12:01 AM, gardenbug said…

I have visions of the oven becoming a sail. You could "tak" your way home.
At 8:39 AM, Karen said…

Practicing your patience skills quite well with this oven, huh!?
At 11:04 AM, Melanie O. said…

That's exactly what it was - a huge sail - as tall as the car... good thing the rigging was tight! (and yeah - I want a working oven, dammit!)
At 8:02 PM, David said…

That sucks to not be able to use it right away!
Have you had any luck yet?
At 11:07 AM, Melanie O. said…

Not yet - still waiting for the electrician to call us back. (grrrr.....)
At 12:41 AM, Kanani said…

Oh... this is pretty funny, Melanie. I can picture you worrying on the ride home, while Dan blithely goes about the business of just getting home. I'm surprised he didn't want to stop on the way and go through a drive-thru to get a soda!
At 4:56 PM, Melanie O. said…

We finally got it working, Kanani! The electrician came by (after three appointments and no-shows) and helped Dan get it all wired up. The first thing I cooked was a big tray of baked vegetables. Delish!