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Appliance Augmentations

When a big ticket item needs purchasing, a person should contemplate and thoroughly research available replacement products that are on the market. Making an informed decision not only increases the chances of finding a selection that most appropriately fits the user’s needs, but also decreases the chance of choosing a product that emphasizes form and marketing over proper function and longevity.

Of course, there are other schools of thought.

And so Liz bought a new stove.

The old stove – the one that came with the house – had started acting funny. The right burners would fail to keep a set temperature, then randomly switch to high. This resulted in boiled over rice and pasta, and swearing. Then the burner wouldn’t turn off. Many problems, Whirlpool.

Of course the prior homeowners didn’t tile the entire area behind the stove, either. And the new stove, with its frontal controls (an obvious layout decision, so one doesn’t have to reach over boiling pots to operate the appliance), lacked an integrated backsplash.

So then we had to add one.

Okay, that problem was solved. But guess what? The outlet isn’t recessed, so this stove, lacking the backsplash control panel, doesn’t sit flush against the wall because of the outlet gap. This left an inch in which any manner of objects could fall behind.

So after some joint brainstorming that involved overthinking potential solutions, the internet revealed that there are products specifically manufactured to address this problem. Essentially a bracket that sits in the gap, mounted to L-brackets on the cabinet sides. Simple, right? Ohhh no. Because the gap bracket just floats on the mounts and popped out the instant I pushed the stove against it. So I drilled a hole through it and mounted it to the stove itself using the existing screw holes that attach the stove’s back to the unit. This held it in place while I forced the stove back against the backsplash and on top of the brackets. Jeez.

There! Finally, a nicely installed stove with backsplash and gap filler.

The appliance itself? Well, so far it heats very evenly and consistently. I’ve made some very nice bread with it. It has a lot of functions I haven’t played with, like air fryer mode and and moist baking. I’ve once again jumped forward 10 years in technology and have to figure things out again. But at least I’m not boiling things over anymore.

–Simon

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47 Days Later

I added a big piece of driftwood. It’ll eventually be propped up in the corner, but for now it’s floating until it becomes waterlogged enough to sink on its own.

–Simon

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Don’t Squall Line – Take a Bow Hook

Okay, despite the dumb title here, this is actually kind of cool. We got hit with some tornadoes here in Ohio, unsurprisingly, and during our oft-practiced ritual of late night basement shelter-seeking I checked the weather radar. And here’s the screenshot I saved.

With the approaching storm came some very noticeable backwards “C”s. I, uh, admittedly already knew what they were and represented because I spend many of my insomnia sessions reading internet articles about whatever happens to be on my mind at the time. And one night I had read about Doppler radar image signals. Yes – I am a nerd. But this was cool because I had never seen these so pronounced. And they are not, as you may have guessed, harbingers of happiness and inner peace. They are bow echos, and they’re indicative of rotation in a squall line storm front. And rotation is what produces tornadoes. And jet streams and the planet’s rotation send weather from west to east in this part of the world. And here we were sitting directly east of the storm’s path, with 3 bow hooks approaching.

But we won the meteorological lottery once again, and the storm passed us without incident. 4 tornadoes were recorded in Ohio that night, and they missed us. How long will our luck hold, I wonder?

But for now, I’ll avoid thinking how this could have gone and instead focus the novelty of having never seen 3 of these at once in such close proximity. Things that could kill me but don’t get to remain in the realm of coolness. For now.

–Simon