Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Lost Love

I love many things about our house, and hate many things about our house. 

It is holding up well for 64 years old though.  

I love the real brick in the entry way.  I hate the fake brick linoleum in the kitchen.  
I love the real wood floors we refinished in the bedrooms and hallway.  I hate the real wood floors in the living room and dining room that couldn't be saved.
I love the original black and white basket weave tile in the downstairs bathroom.  I hate the tile that goes more than halfway up the walls in there.
I love my original vent-a-hood over the stove in the kitchen.  I hate the sound that comes out of it when I use it.

So we called a repairman.  The first thing he told me was I had the Cadillac of vent-a-hoods.  Top of the line for its day.  The two speeds, the light button, and especially the brushed chrome finish were very expensive when it was purchased.  I have always loved the retro look of it.  I'd re-do the whole kitchen with retro everything if it matched the rest of my house and inherited furniture.  I was kind of laughing though at his obvious love for it.  I was so upset to hear that the bearings on the motor were shot.  A few days later I got the call-it can't be saved.  The warranty program we use for home repairs found a white on white one at Sears for the $200 they're going to give us to replace it.  Excuse me?  You don't replace vintage brushed chrome with white on white. 

So Shawn and I went shopping.  

And you know what we found out??  You can't easily replace the Cadillac of all vent-a-hoods.  Apparently the standard width of them is 30 inches.  Ours is 42.  Nothing we do at our house is easy.  Or cheap. 

So we will soon be ordering one.  I'm still struggling with my loss.  Even though the vent hasn't worked for a while I use that light every single day.  Numerous times.  Since the repairman came it hasn't worked.  He must have disconnected it.  I, being a creature of habit, have tried to turn it on about 73 times per day in the last week.  Ask anyone in my family and they'll agree. 

I am slowly losing my mind. 

When I complained to Shawn that it was harder to cook he fixed my problem.  He got the camping lantern out and set it on the stove.  Such a helper.  But when I complained that I liked my lighting from overhead he said he could fix that as well.  He got his camping head lamp out, put it on his head, pointed the beam at the food, and stood next to the stove for me. 

So I'm continuing to cook while we search for the perfect replacement.  But I either have to stop cooking or be medicated.  I can't stop pushing that button!

So, do any of you have a RangeAir vent-a-hood in brushed chrome, with two fan speeds and a light?  Or a Percoset?

Anyone??

1 comment:

Cozyflier said...

Sorry, no, but I understand your pain. When stuff goes out in our home we run into the same problem. Good luck. I think you should endter HGTV's Kitchen makeover and get the whole kitchen redone!