Our microwave bit the dust last Tuesday…
That is not a small thing. Between my wife and I, our daughter and her three children in the house, it is used nearly all day, every day.
Needless to say, I was not planning on that.
I was already committed to helping set up the local library book sale on Wednesday and Thursday. So I planned to go pick one up when I went into town on Friday, bring it home and see if I could install it myself.
I went to a well respected local appliance store, where he looked up the part number and discovered that our specific “in cabinet” microwave is no longer made.
That’s kind of a big deal…
Our house was built in 2013, when Great Rooms were all the rage. Maybe they still are. I don’t know.
Anyway, when you walk through the front door, the foyer is immediately opens into our living room, from which the entire kitchen is visible, right there for everyone to see. So all of the appliances have to be a beautiful matching set.
He asked if I wanted to pick one of the models from the showroom. I declined. He asked why? I said that the newer ones, with their matte finishes and cold, efficient, industrial look will not match our beautiful glossy, curved 2013 GE Profile look.
Whoa…that almost sounds like a woman wrote that!
Anyway, he kept looking and found a replacement part number, but said that it would be several weeks before their distributors would even get it in stock. So I asked if he thought I might find one at Home Depot or Lowe’s. He said, “It’s possible. Give it a try.”
I went to Home Depot…no luck.
I went to Lowe’s and learned that they carry that part number (!), but they don’t keep it in stock. (-)
At this point I was beginning to feel like cow being herded into the gate. So I broke down and ordered it with them. It was “$50 off!”, but by the time you pay for all of the “this” and the “that” fees, there was no discount.
I then went outside in the parking lot. An idea popped into my head…
“What if I call GE directly? Maybe I could get a better deal.”
So I called. I ended up buying the same microwave from GE without the “this” and “that” fees, so it was $50 cheaper. But the woman cautioned me that I might need a new installation kit, which would be several hundred more dollars.
“Why would I need that?”
“Well, they change the dimensions on the units by an eighth of an inch here or a quarter of an inch there.”
“Why do they do that?”
“So you would need a new installation unit.”
I can’t truthfully say that fried my shorts, but they were definitely singed…
I said to hold on the installation kit. Let’s just see what happens when I get the microwave.
I then went back into Lowe’s and canceled the order I had just placed 20 minutes earlier.
Yesterday, just four days later, it became uncomfortably apparent that we were really missing the microwave. And it was still going to be another week before the unit arrived!
I know…first world problems…
But that’s where I live…let me correct that…that’s where me, my wife, our daughter and three grandchildren live! So…
I went looking for a used countertop microwave.
Did you know that I couldn’t find a used microwave anywhere, including used appliance stores? It seems they are a “disposable” appliance. File that under “Things I Never Knew.”
Then an idea popped into my head…
“I’m going to buy a cheap countertop model at Home Depot or Lowe’s to use until the new one arrives next week. And if it turns out that I need to order a new installation unit, I will look like even more of a genius.“
So I went back to Lowe’s. Wait…
that’s not really accurate…
The truth is that I wandered back into Lowe’s. Why do I say that? Because it gradually dawned on me…and I mean it gradually dawned on me…like walking through a thick fog, that this was the very store that I ordered and then cancelled the order less than a week ago!
I don’t know how that is possible, but it’s the somewhat embarrassing truth.
Anyway, I went back to the same display that I had looked just five days earlier (not even a week! smh…). This time I was looking for a cheap, temporary solution. Maybe that is why it seemed so new and different.
I looked and looked. And then my eyes fell upon…of all things…a black GE profile unit up on the very top shelf.
“Wow…that looks a lot like the one we have. How much does it cost?”
I memorized the model number and looked for the product tag on the empty lower shelves.
“$226. That’s not exactly cheap. But wait…those look like the exact same dimensions as the one I ordered from GE…Hmmm…I wonder…”
I decided to take the plunge. If it doesn’t fit, I will have spent about $100 more than I planned. But if it does…Oh baby!
Long story short…well, I don’t mean from the beginning. I mean from here…
I went home took our dead microwave out of the cabinet. It turns out that our “in cabinet” microwave was actually a countertop unit with a great disguise.
I then removed the installation unit and put it up to the new “temporary” unit. I am not making this up…the holes lined up.
not almost…not close…but exactly!
I attached it to the microwave, slid the whole thing back in the cabinet, put the face plate back on. It matches our set perfectly! It even has a curve that our original unit didn’t!
$200 cheaper and a week earlier!
My wife is SO, SO lucky to have married me!
