Yes, I’ve had a few. Hot dates, that is. They are a by-product of the season I somehow find myself in: Dating. My life sometimes involves things like going out. Meeting people. Putting myself “out there.” Testing the waters. Staying open. Being brave. Dressing up. Eating at restaurants. Not paying the bill.
But do you wanna hear about one of the hottest dates I’ve had in the last several months??
This date was different right from the start. For one, it was scheduled to start anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on a Wednesday. That’s as specific as I could get for an arrival time. He didn’t dress up (and neither did I). He didn’t bring me, buy me or make me dinner. And I spent most of the date working upstairs in my office while he was in my kitchen.
Working on this.
Yep, this hot date was with my Centerpoint Energy appliance repairman. Bob.
It wasn’t our first date.
Bob’s been here several times over the years, rescuing me from the life of a pioneer woman by taking care of various technological breakdowns as they arise. Each time he’s been here – to fix the fridge, or the dishwasher, or the washing machine, or the dryer – he has commented on my vintage pink stove. All the repairmen do. One of them compared it to a Cadillac, with a twinge of automotive admiration in his voice.
But none of them thought it would be possible to repair. It’s just too old. Parts would not be available.
Which was a bummer.
Not a big enough bummer to make me want to trade in my stove, but big enough to mean that, while both the left- and the right-side ovens (yes, there are two) heated up perfectly, only the right-side burners worked. The two lefties were lukewarm, at best. Fortunately, for our little family of three, two burners were usually enough – and at least the stove’s custom griddle/grill attachment provided a bit of extra counter space.
Then, when Bob was here in October to fix a hose (or something?) on the dishwasher, he looked at my stove again and decided to test that no-parts theory. He rung up the warehouse right then and there to see if, by chance, there was any bit of hope, and – glory be! – why yes, the burners were available and, yes, four of them would be packaged up immediately and shipped to my front door.
Be still my heart.
“Call me when they arrive,” said Bob. “I’ll come back to install them.”
It was a date.
A date so hot that when Bob called me into the kitchen to show off his work, he had all four burners firing at full blast and I felt like I was walking into a North Woods sauna.
All of which means that, this week…
…when I was
1) making homemade chicken soup for my sick R-boy while also
2) sautéing turkey brats and apples for R-girl and me, with
3) rice simmering for all of us, and
4) the tea-pot brewing my ginger tea…
…it was no problem.
No problem at all.
Thanks to my very hot date with Bob.
xo
P.S. Have you heard the story of my vintage pink stove? Check out this post from the past:
6 Comments