Okay its not THE Pond - as some call the ocean. And it is not just A Pond - as in smaller than a lake. It is a lake! I enjoy living on it and spending time on my back porch listening to music, gazing at the lake and pondering.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Built-in Obsolescence

Debbie and I built our home and moved into it in March of 2002. We took pains to build it with quality materials. And we did the same with the kitchen appliances. We could not afford the most expensive but we did not choose the least - we tried to go "middle of the road."

Shortly after we married in 1986 some friends of ours were upgrading to a new microwave oven. They offered to give us their old microwave and we were thrilled to take them upon it. It was an old and huge Amana brand and was made in America. We had to buy a cart to place it on because if we put it on our kitchen counter we would have no room for anything else. This did not have an electronic clock. The timer for cooking was a dial. If you wanted to cook something for one minute you dialed to the number "1" and let it run down. It had one setting which was full power. If you wanted to cook popcorn you had better stand there with it and listen to the popping sound so you knew when to open the door.

This microwave was still working when we moved into this house in 2002. Since we had a new microwave oven we gave the old dinosaur of a microwave to one of the boys from the moving company that moved us in. We were happy to be rid of it.

When we bought our new built-in microwave I was telling the salesman about the old microwave and he cautioned me not to expect that kind of service from our new GE Profile microwave. He said 10 years would be about all we could expect. Huh? I didn't and still don't understand that.

Last Sunday our 6-year-old built-in microwave bit the dust - which was ahead of schedule no doubt but this is not a schedule you want to be ahead of. As I did my calling on it this week I was not surprised to find out they had remodeled the trim kit of the built in microwave. So I not only had to buy a new microwave but the trim kit too.

At Wal-Mart you can by a good microwave like our old dinosaur for $69 and now they are small enough to set on your cabinet. At our builders supply store you can get the built-in model with all the digital read-outs, potato and popcorn buttons, etc., and the trim kit for $332 (including tax). For another $99 they can come install it. I chose to install mine myself. I saved $99 but almost cost myself a marriage. I will not be hungry for dinner tonight as I have eaten crow all day today. I have been checking my family tree on Geni to see if I am related to Tim "the tool man" Taylor because Debbie says I am. I am related to Ellis Clanton which could be close enough.

I would have happily paid $500 for the Microwave and trim kit if they had been made in America and lasted 20+years like my 1st one did. But this one was made in China where they need to keep folks working hard so they do not have time to think about their living conditions.

I am tired of built-in obsolescence! I want built in America! (I am humming Merle Haggard's song, "Are The Good Times Really Over?")

3 comments:

Dennis said...

Hey I'm telling ya ... we need to go back to cast iron skillets and pyrex coffee perculators!!!!

Anonymous said...

I kind of like the idea of cooking over a campfire.....but then I like camping out.

Bob

By the way, I haven't seen a post lately from Kscowboy.....

Unknown said...

Yes, I understand! Ours lasted fairly well, but the one we are using now is Mom's, which we received in 1990. She had used it for several years before she passed, so it is probably around 20 at least! ...but going strong.
I enjoy your blogs so much!
Linda