I’m really not feeling Christmas this year. Actually, I’m pretty well skipping Christmas this year. Being a crafter (and interior decorator), this should be one of the funnest times of the year for me, but alas, I just can’t get into the Christmas spirit. I’m feeling really stressed out and run down the past little while. And it’s not even because of Christmas; it’s just in general. And, as I learned a couple of years ago, when you get really run down and have a lot of stress and anxiety, your immune system weakens, so you become more susceptible to becoming ill. I had a viral infection (as far as I could tell, it’s just the flu without the aches), and now this head cold seems to be getting the better of me. The sinus pressure is persisting, and now my ears are bugging me. I can’t sleep, and when I do my sinuses wake me up. I just feel so exhausted. If anyone wants to send me away to somewhere sunny for Christmas, I’d be forever grateful.
So, I haven’t put a tree up, an I don’t think I will. No lights, no ornaments, all my totes of Christmas stuff are still in the basement. For anyone who received a goodie basket of sweets last year, sorry, I haven’t done any baking this year, and I doubt I will. I don’t know ho long my stove will hold up anyways.
On to that.
Did you know, if you have a ceramic stove top, and something sweet boils over, if you don’t wipe up the spill immediately, it can EAT into the surface of your cook top. Heed my warning! I had some honey garlic sauce boil over, and, being the procrastinator I am, I left it overnight. Well, by the next day, the sugary sauce had done quite a bit of damage. Now there are pockmarks, or chips, in my stove top. It literally ate the surface. I bought this stove in Sept 2008, when I bought the matching fridge and dishwasher. A beautiful new set for my kitchen. Just got it all paid for this Sept too. Now, sit down (I assume you probably were already, I mean, who really stands up to use their computer? But, just wanted to warn you). You can’t repair a cook top. There’s no magical putty you can smooth in there, no resin you can pour in. It needs to be replaced. The cost for the “part”. Over $500. That’s before taxes and installation, after which puts you up above the $600. The repair guy actually told me over the phone to sit down before he gave me the quote. Good thing. So, since the damage didn’t eat all the way though the glass (yes, it apparently could have been worse), he said I should be able to use it, but there’s no telling how long it will last. It’s very much like a car windshield. Once you get a chip, you can leave it, but eventually, the changing temperatures, from hot to cold, will crack it. I was relieved to find out that (again, like a windshield….why do I know more about cars than ovens?? haha) when it does crack or shatter, it’s tempered, so it will all hold together, not have a dramatic blowing-up. That’s good, because then I wouldn’t chance using it if it was going to suddenly explode all over my kitchen. It does make me sad, because I love my oven so. It’s so awesome. It’s black and stainless. It’s HUGE (big enough for a 28 pound turkey!), and so beautiful. I’m a loser, I know. Everyone else is all “oh, look at my awesome sports car, or designer handbag. Me, it’s all about my oven. I’ll take an appliance over a Louis Vuitton any day). So, for now we’re just going to use it until it goes. Or until we catch a good sale (which could make buying a new one cheaper than repairing this one.) We haven’t decided if we will get the same stove, or maybe one with raised burners. I wish I would have known about the sugar eating the glass thing when I bought it. I would have been more careful, or maybe have avoided the flat top all together. I guess you really should read the instruction manual for everything you buy, even if you think “Ok, it’s a stove. Here are the buttons, there’s the door, got it!”. Lesson learned – sometimes a stove isn’t just a stove.
I tried to get a good pic of the damage, and this was the best I could do. This pic best shows the depth of the chipping, albeit a bit blurry. Isn’t that crazy? It is also, of course, the expandable burner – my most used one. 😦
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