by El Zorro Viejo (aka; Jim)

So, about six months after we bought this house, the bottom oven of the wall unit quit working. We got a guy out who allowed as how it was an old oven and was not repairable. He urged us to replace the whole thing, but, money being a little tight (albeit not as tight as it has eventually become...like now,) we opted to see how long we could last with just the main oven working. The answer was--about three years. Last May my sweet wife went to turn on the oven and...nothing. Well, this was not a real problem since it was now grilling weather. For the whole summer, I cooked any and everything which would normally go in the oven on the grill. It worked.

However, now comes the fall and beyond looms winter. Grilling is not really an option. Plus, we are having at least 18 to dinner tomorrow (or Turkey Day as it is affectionately called.) Time has come to get a new oven. All October I hesitated...hemming and hawing and generally dithering about the cost. Finally, about two weeks ago, I bit the bullet and ordered the damn thing. It was supposed to be installed last Friday. Ooops, wouldn't make it here until Monday. I survived the weekend, but just barely. My wife exercised a great deal of control, and I avoided being shipped to Alaska in multiple packages.

Monday arrives and so does the oven...but the hole left by the old one is about 4 inches too tall and 1/2 inch too wide. The width would have to suffice, but the height had to be fixed. I want you all to know that I did a really good job getting a piece of old shelving which already had some sort of white stuff laminated on it cut to fit the opening. A couple angle braces and--voila!--the opening was now perfect. The installers came back yesterday and, with a little effort got the oven hooked up and installed. She used it last night, and it worked just fine (there was always the chance that it wouldn't work...that happens more and more often these days, it seems.) So, we are now good to go for tomorrow. My kids and spouses/significant others are showing up this afternoon to help get the house cleaned and ready for tomorrow. I think we will survive another Thanksgiving meal. Phew!!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. ©El Zorro Viejo 2002-2005