Handsome and Handy!

by Katy on July 1, 2010 · 11 comments

I bought my oven maybe eight years ago, and I went for the cheap, cheap cheapest gas model with sealed burners that the store offered. Quality it ain’t. If I lean on it, it moves like it’s on wheels, which it isn’t.

However . . . it’s functional. It bakes, it heats and I depend on it. Daily.

But it’s been finicky lately. It takes awhile to heat up and then fills the kitchen with gas fumes while it thinks about whether or not to turn on. I think Stephen King may have written a book about it.

Today, it totally gave up on life. Would not turn on, despite my rather persuasive and pitiful pleas.

But guess what? Today was one of those rare days where my husband and I were both off from work, and he did a quick Google search, figured out the problem, (the ignitor) drove to the DIY appliance store and fixed the ornery sucker. For $63.

Because if the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

Well, that’s what I told him. I don’t want him to get a swelled head. But I did serve him some lovely homemade pizza tonight, baked in our fully functional oven.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”

{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

Annie Jones July 2, 2010 at 4:00 am

I’m glad you were able to fix the stove. Love the Red Green reference! LOL!

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Katy July 2, 2010 at 6:48 am

My husband and I have always joked about that quote.

-Katy

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Rebecca July 2, 2010 at 6:57 am

Whats not to love about Red Green!

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BarbS July 2, 2010 at 9:04 am

Wow. Handsome AND handy. Aren’t you lucky?!

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Rachel July 2, 2010 at 11:52 am

When the ignitor went for the 3rd time on our 17 year-old stove (right after Christmas), I decided it was down for the count. They delivered our new stove on New Year’s eve – been lovin’ it ever since. (My hubby is handsome and handy, too!)

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Karen July 2, 2010 at 2:10 pm

What is it with ignitors?! We’ve had our gas oven for ten years and the only thing to ever go wrong with it was the ignitor–3 times now. I do use it a lot, so maybe that’s it. But I am grateful that each time the oven seems to be dead, the lowly ignitor is the culprit, and the home warranty people can replace it for a house call of 55 bucks. I hope to have my oven for many more years, since it is in perfect shape.

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Jana @ The Summer House July 2, 2010 at 3:16 pm

Don’t you love that. Our ice machine dispenser in our freezer door froze up on us after a power outage by the electric company.

I found instructions online about how to take out the motor and defrost it and replace it. It worked and saved us a service call. Yeah for the internet and my amazing husband.

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Ann July 2, 2010 at 7:30 pm

Reading old MFK Fisher’s essays on WWII and the sacrifices EVERYONE had to make allows you to understand that the availability of heat is sooooo important. Your oven is exactly what I had in my first house -0h so many years ago – but it worked and it made wonderful meals and my boyfriend (now my husband) and I had such fun cooking over it.

I applaude your efforts to reduce and reuse…that is, to repair what is repairable!!

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Donna Korzun July 3, 2010 at 5:43 am

I have a similar stove that will NOT die so I can replace it. Oh well, can’t see dumping it until it really goes so it remains the ugly duckling in my kitchen. . . . sigh . . .

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Tracy Balazy July 3, 2010 at 7:54 am

Red Green!!! I love that guy. He’s doing a live theater show in Detroit in a couple of weeks. Glad you were able to fix your stove!

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hydra July 3, 2010 at 5:33 pm

My wonderful (not-so-handy) husband just replaced the burner inside our oven. It’s been dead since January(!) But it’s working again, and I’m quite excited for that. It’s amazing how many people said that we should just get rid of the stove and get a new one. Why? Everything else works fine. It’s a simple burner element at the bottom of an electric oven. Sure, would I like to get a beautiful gas stove/oven? Hmmm…YES! But there’s just no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater at this point.

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