by Kristen on November 11, 2009
Maybe I should've cleared the counter
Product: Sharp Carousel Over-the-Range Microwave, Model R-1750
Purchased at: Best Buy
Price: $199.99 (6 years ago)
Recommend: Yes, with Reservations
I loved everything about this microwave up until the digital display stopped working. We bought this model 6 years ago, immediately after we bought our house since one didn’t come with the house. I don’t know about you, but a microwave is something that I just can’t live without. I mean, how do you eat popcorn? How do you melt butter? Leftovers? The list goes on and on. Now, I fully realize that I lived plenty of years without one (since they weren’t common household appliances until the early 80s), but to me, a microwave is like a DVR. Once you have one you there’s no going back.
So one day last week we were sitting in our kitchen with guests and someone noticed that the screen on the microwave seemed to be going a little haywire. Phil said he had noticed that recently too, and thought it might be happening when a lot of steam is coming up from the stovetop. So we unplugged the microwave, let it sit overnight, and then plugged it back in the next day. The next day when we plugged it back in, not only was the screen not better, it was worse. This time it didn’t boot up at all. This is when Phil jumped online and realized that the digital display failing was a regular problem with this microwave. And once the screen goes, it’s more expensive to fix than it is to buy a new one.
It’s so sad too, because this really was a great microwave. It had a fantastic reheat feature. It could detect what you had in the oven and heat it accordingly. It also had 3 options for cooking or steaming vegetables. Crisp, Normal or Tender. But the best part of all was the microwave popcorn feature. One button for a full bag and another button for a mini bag.
Now I’ll have to get to know another microwave. Which is almost like getting a new boyfriend if you think about it. You finally learn all the ins n’ outs and then after 6 years he wigs out and stops working. So I did with my microwave what I do with all my broken down boyfriends. I put it out on the curb for the garbage man to pick up. Hey, one girls trash is another girls treasure right?
Stay tuned for info on my new microwave after we get to know each other a little better. ;o)
by Kristen on November 10, 2009
My sink
Product: Fiberglass Kitchen Sink
Purchased at: Ebay
Price: $50
Recommend: NO
It’s not that I needed a kitchen sink. I had a perfectly good, heavy duty porcelain sink. But about 1 year ago I started doing a lot more cooking and when this happened I started noticing that certain things in the kitchen, if modified and/or upgraded, could make my life as a stay-at-home Mom much easier. One of those things is my sink. I had two, equal sized bowls. That may sound fine to you but to me they were useless because neither bowl fit anything. Forget about trying to wash a cookie sheet, our waffle iron, a roasting pan, my crock pot, or basically all of the things that I use regularly. And by regularly I mean every single week. I’d have to tilt these things on end to wash them. The problem with that is that the water would end up EVERYWHERE, except in the sink. I think I’d get more on the counter and the floor than would end up in my sink.
This, my friends, is how I came to buy a fiberglass sink. I started by looking at my local Home Depot and Lowes Home Improvement stores for options. My only requirements were that 1.) it had to be white, and 2.) it had to be an above-mount, and 3.) it had to have at least 1 large (and deep) bowl. I didn’t care if it had a 2nd smaller bowl or if it was just one large bowl. I was totally flexible in that respect. I had my first heart attack when I saw that the prices started at around $200ish. Â And those sinks didn’t even come in the style that I was looking for. To get what I wanted I was going to pay upwards of $300. Yeah, right. With our one-income family budget this wasn’t going to be an option. There had to be a better way. So I let my fingers do the walking. They walked right to Ebay.
That’s where I discovered fiberglass and acrylic sinks. I had never even heard of them, nor do I think that I’ve laid eyes on one before. It looked perfect in the picture and the price was phenomenal. Lots of them actually sold for more than I wanted to pay but I started watching a few and doing some research and it sounded too good to be true. I’d actually be able to get a kitchen sink that fit my needs without breaking the bank. Hooray for me! The info that I found on the internet all said that fiberglass sinks stain easy if you don’t take care of them and clean them properly. But that seemed like no big deal. I’m super clean in the kitchen and never leave dishes in the sink. How could I go wrong? ;o) Hmmmm….read on.
When it was all said n’ done I had bought myself a brand new, white, fiberglass sink in exactly the specs that would make my life in the kitchen better. And for the small price tag ($50 + $20 shipping) it was worth cutting a few corners to justify the expense. The sink showed up a week later, my husband installed it for me right away and I was in cooking heaven. Until a few months went by, that is, and I started noticing that it was starting to stain right around the drain. The soft cleansers (that were recommended) didn’t lift the stain out at all. My next step was to get one of those gel mats that you can buy at Bed Bath & Beyond. It fit right into the bowl and protects it from scratching and staining. Although I think that has helped significantly I still have to regularly spray the bowl with Soft Scrub Deep Cleaning Foam cleanser with bleach. That does the trick for a few days but then it wears off and starts to look stained again. It’s made for bathrooms but hey, most tubs are fiberglass right?
The moral to this story, children, is don’t buy a fiberglass sink for your kitchen. Never never never never. Yes, I do love having the large bowl, but I wish I had just waited until I could afford a porcelain sink. Hey, you get what you pay for right? That’s my hard lesson learned. Now you can be the smarter one and learn from my mistakes….just like your Mom and Dad used to tell you.
