Random 5 for June 4 – appliances, traffic, Jake, nostalgia, hope

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The following paragraph is a submission from the (very frustrated) beloved husband:

This is a GE executive’s reaction on the way to his yacht.

What does it take to change a light bulb? — We have a 9-year old GE refrigerator. The light bulb died last weekend.   It looked like an LED bulb and it was not obvious how to remove it for replacement.  The owner’s manual had the following message that sent an ugly chill of fear up my spine: TO REPLACE AN LED BULB CONTACT A FACTORY AUTHORIZED GE TECHNICIAN. Never a good thing.  The estimate was $213 for a lightbulb (???) and $175.93 to screw it in. Brings up the question of whether one should replace the refrigerator because a light bulb burned out. Seriously GE, what were you thinking?

Whoa! – I used to live in northern New Jersey, land of too many cars with crazy drivers. It was terrifying when I moved there but then I was one of them. I learned how to work the horn and a few new cuss words too. I managed. Then I moved here. Peaceful commutes and drivers that were so polite they made me crazy. All that has changed. I had to go to an appointment an hour away on a particularly nasty commute route at almost rush hour on Friday. Yikes. Sure wish I had some Valium as I was doing 10 miles an hour on a congested interstate (speed limit 70 mph) with tractor-trailers the size of Rhode Island.

Jake in his catnip bush. Happy times!

Sweet boy Jake – I was cleaning up weeds in a section of the yard that I rarely visit. There is a very large evergreen tree that my old cat Jake used to sleep under. I got very melancholy (weepy actually). The pine needles were thick making it soft and comfy but no one was taking advantage of it. He’s been gone almost two years and I still miss him. Then I came inside and new cat Gracie scolded me because it had been at least a half hour since she ate. Yes Jake did that too. It’s amazing how we selectively remember the good and quietly forget the annoying.

Speaking of home – One thing that makes a house homey to me is a shady yard. People don’t plant shade trees anymore. I grew up in a house with trees. Lots of them. Trees swaying in the breeze with dappled sunshine tugs on my heartstrings every time. It’s one of the things that makes me feel at home and happy.

Does a day make a difference? – Our pro baseball team is very lousy this year. They had the worst May ever since 1930-something. On the last day of May the sportscasters were celebrating the end of the terrible month. As I listened I doubted whether “May” had anything to do with their losing streak. Sure enough, we are in June and the losing continues. People do that with the end of the year too. You often hear “This has been a bad year. Glad it’s over.” How do you know that whatever it is that made it a bad year will understand that the year has ended? Or is it a case of “hope springs eternal.”

So how was your week?

 

71 thoughts on “Random 5 for June 4 – appliances, traffic, Jake, nostalgia, hope”

  1. Pingback: Changing a light bulb – Part 2 | Views and Mews by Coffee Kat

  2. That’s absolutely shocking about the price of changing a refrigerator lightbulb! I can’t imagine! I can’t believe that Jake has been gone two years already. It’s true we tend to remember the better aspects of a human life lost, so maybe even more so with our beloved pets. I can understand your tears. They leave BIG holes in the heart!

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  3. “It’s amazing how we selectively remember the good and quietly forget the annoying.” I think the technical term for this is “love.”

    Same goes for getting Jake a whole catnip BUSH. #youareabettercatmamathanIgungadin

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    • Catnip can be invasive. Once it gets established it comes up every year and grows very fast. That’s a good thing because he would scrunch that thing. When it was big enough he’d crawl into it and that was better. What a buzz he must have had.

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  5. That much for a refrigerator bulb? Really? Where is it located that it can be done by a non technician? There has to be a “screw in the light bulb” joke here some where.
    Hope always springs eternal, unless you’re in the roads in a metropolitan area.

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  7. That light bulb thing would have given me a huge cranky… with swear words added. When I read this I had to go look at my oven. It is a 12 year old Whirlpool and it seems to have a regular light bulb but it has a glass thing over it and I tried to unscrew that and it didn’t go well so I came back to this comment. I understand you missing Jake… Z has been gone for 8 years and I miss her more than I can say. You are right, we never stop missing them. Oh, I hear you! I love our shady yard, especially the dappled shade. Our week was a roller coaster… 😀
    Good Morning, Kate!

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      • It is the refrigerator. As a commenter reminded me the water filters are also outrageously expensive but we only change once a year. Computers and electronics have come down in price over the year. Appliances have shot up! Yes, very huge cranky indeed!

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        • We have a reverse osmosis drinking system mounted under our kitchen sink because when we moved out to the sticks I refused to drink the water out of our well. We did have the well tested but, uh, no. The filters for that piece of technology are outrageous. And I still don’t drink the water. I buy bottled water and it probably comes out of who knows where. I do use that water for cooking though. And to go a little bit more off topic, I am going to drag myself to the big city today and try to find a new skin care line. I need an exfoliator, cleanser, and moisturizer. I have been wringing my hands and reading everything I could find. Think of me.

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          • There are a lot of good skin care lines out there. Depends on what you want to pay. Skinceuticals is a good high end brand but typically only found on-line or in doc’s offices. Oil of Olay gets a lot of rave review for their regenerist line. Lots of good stuff in between. Post your experience!

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            • No posting… I just don’t have it in me. But I don’t seem to have a problem finding words in your comments. I will let you know. I googled Skinceuticals because you mentioned them and found that it was sold at our hospital and I believe my dermatologist sells them. I try to stay away from medical facilities as much as possible. Years ago I used Oil of Olay and loved it. I have been using Bare Minerals skin care line but they discontinued the whole line and replaced it with stuff that doesn’t work for me. I tried Neutrogena and CeraVe and they just didn’t do it. I am going to check out Clinique, which I have used before, and the new Bare Minerals stuff. I just want to find something easy, fast, and that doesn’t give me little whiteheads! And that I can buy at Target or the drugstore! Maybe I should just go to Sensitive Skin Dove bar and a moisturizer. I am finished,,, I think.

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              • Those are good choices. Maybe you can get samples or trial bottles first. Just bought a travel size of a hair product and I like it. It’s pricier than regular brands but if it works, I’m ok with it. Good luck.

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  8. I keep wishing for our fridge to break (I’d like a new one with an ice-maker/water dispenser in the door)! I wonder if simply smashing the light bulb will do the trick?

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    • Reminds me of the 80s when my friend had a really old fashioned fridge and her husband wouldn’t replace it until it broke. Finally he painted over the harvest gold color to appease her but they didn’t replace until it broke.

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  9. I had a miserable week and not happy that tomorrow is Monday. Interesting story about the light bulbs. The refrigerator purchased not long ago is my first with LED lights. I was too busy obsessing about the cost to replace the water filter every three months to even think about replacing the bulbs. Aargh!

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  11. The taillights on our almost new car started flickering and not always blinking for turns. Thank goodness, it was covered by the warranty. Good thing as they had to practically tear the rear end off the car to fix them. When my microwave’s light went out and we could not replace ourselves, we did without a light until it died completely. I hate these user unfriendly things. And what do you do when food drops between the inside glass and the outside glass of the oven door where you can’t get to it?

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  14. Has Jake been gone two years already? I’m amazed by that. Now of course you have Gracie who is the Joan Collins of cats. I can just see her washing her paws in a finger bowl demanding more fish.

    I love trees too. When I see the park people trimming it makes me anxious since quite often they trim needlessly. They’re so worried a branch will fall and clobber a tourist.

    I hate to drive. And it’s a good thing too, because I’d be on the front page if the Post killing another driver.

    And speaking of fridges, I just got a new one because the old GE was leaking. I’m sure yours is much bigger since you cook. Mine is more for show with not much in it…mustard, nail polish. Water.

    Here’s to the Random 5…I’m toasting it with GOOD AND PLENTY and Evian 🙂

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  15. Wow, almost cheaper to get a new fridge! I hear you about the inside/outside cats. My husband has been known to get up at 2 or 3 in the morning to try to bring ours in, not to mention who knows what they can get into out there!

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    • Jake was a big and strong cat but he had some stare downs with foxes over the years. The foxes make an awful noise that always woke me up so I rescued him but it was a worry. He had a few overnighters that kept me up all night.

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    • Jake was the last in a line of indoor-outdoor cats. Once they are used to going outdoors, they are difficult to keep solely indoors. When I adopted Mollie I didn’t let her out (and she didn’t seem to have an interest in the outdoors). I won’t do an outdoor cat again. Too much worry. In our neighborhood they need to be in overnight and sometimes that involved a search party (without the appropriate booze). Yes, I remember when you checked how much the print cartridges cost before you bought the printer. It’s true of glucose meters too. The meter is almost free but the strips you need are outrageous. (Jake was diabetic.)

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  18. Is it really almost two years since you lost Jake? Wow. It seems just a few months ago.
    As for your bulb, shame we’re not in the US as Hubby could change an LED bulb for you and would charge you only cake plus the cost of purchasing a bulb (when he was self employed if he did a repair for a friend, his fee was homemade cake plus parts.)

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  19. If there is enough light in your kitchen, can’t you just live without adding “ambience” to your food? Paying that much money for something as simple as a light bulb would make me crazy too.

    I think that having a “clean slate” makes us humans feel better… new week, new month, new year, new us. In actuality, as you point out, there usually isn’t anything “new” at all. But, hope springs eternal… and I guess that’s not a bad thing.

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    • My suggestion was to have a flashlight handy. My husband called the repair place. When It’s done I am going to admire the beautiful food I have stored there. Argh. It must be that clean slate thing. We all do it.

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  22. Wow. That is annoying. The subtle scams of American Corporations.
    At that point it’s worth the risk of breaking something by doing it yourself. I bet someone has a how-to online. Probably even a video.
    If you break it, are you really any worse off? Especially if a new on is a possibility.

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    • There were no videos on-line. The tutorials talked about checking for switches, relays and transformers because the light itself NEVER malfunctions. (The light is a panel about 12″ square with 24 mini LED lights) In our case it was the light. It should be replaced free since it’s not supposed to ever break. In any case the new light panel was over $200 to buy. If it was something other than the light panel, we would have invested that money for nothing. It wasn’t a part we could pick up locally. Very frustrating.

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        • I find appliances more frustrating every year. My mother had a refrigerator for 30 years without a service call. We threw it out because it was ugly and had this teeny tiny freezer section big enough for a half gallon of ice cream. (Hey, isn’t that most important anyway?) New isn’t always better and it’s certainly not more reliable. This is the second service call on this one. The last fridge lasted 6 years. We were told this one would last 10 to 15 years max. We are two people. It’s not like there a group of kids here who open and can’t decide what to eat. (OMG! I’m ranting!)

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  23. Maybe we feel more in control if there is a time limit on bad luck. Today I’m saying, “Thank goodness the week is over.” Have been suffering a nasty cold and determined to start over even if it’s not really gone. Yes…it’s that hope thing I guess.

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    • It reminded us of a lot of the old ethnic jokes about how many people it takes. However, it’s not so funny when you have to fork over so much $$. My husband is very handy. There were no YouTubes and most articles say these lights never burn out that it’s the switches, relays, transformer or some other part. Well, the guy was here and it was the lighting unit. It’s a big square unit with 24 little lights. It gives “ambience” to the food and makes it look attractive. Give me the old style bulb and I am good.

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