The Real Friday's Finds

When it comes to home repair, I'm finding that nothing comes easy. The other day I put a roast in the oven and an hour later when the timer went off, I was ready to set the table only to find that the oven never went on. No cooked roast and worse yet -- my trusty oven of 20 years decided to retire, right then and there. It had put in it's service and that's that. No amount of pleading, cajoling or shouting would convince the thing to ignite again.

Well, that meant going shopping for a built-in oven. Needless to say, I dreaded the whole procedure having doubts in my head the entire time. And I wasn't wrong! It seems things have changed a great deal in 20 years. Gas ovens are almost a thing of the past. This, I can't understand because electric costs run 4 times higher than gas, yet we were lucky to find two companies still making our size oven. Now, the doubts are filtering in. Should we go with gas, or with the more popular, easier to find, more expensive electric? Seems only two states still use built-in gas ovens in their new homes, California being one of them. This was news to me.

And now, without an oven, we're feeling pressure to do our kitchen remodel a lot sooner than we planned. Again, though the outcome of having a new face to our kitchen is appealing, I know I'm not going to enjoy the journey. There's so much to consider, but right now, we're getting out the BBQ grill. It's summer after all -- I'll improvise. It's going to take at least three weeks to get someone out to the house for an estimate, anyway.

Geesh, ain't home repair grand?