The last time I had a chance to post was in July, just after a series of mishaps and failures of electronics and electrical devices. Now, my next chance to report seems like Deja vu.

A couple of weeks ago, our washer crapped out. We had already been told when we inquired about replacing another part that it was too old to be worth the cost of repairing it, so we decided to replace it. The washer and dryer stack to fit in out closet, so we had to replace the dryer, too. Next, one of my hearing aids intermittently stopped working. Yup, it’s too old to be cost effective to repair! Hearing aids are very expensive, but luckily I had just changed insurance plans, and my new one covered about 2/3 of the cost. Next, our oven stopped heating properly. I thought the broiler element had burned out, and that I could repair it myself (nope). Finally, a shelf system that I was using to store our emergency water supply crashed to the floor, flooding our spare bedroom carpet. Would you call that a series of unfortunate events?

It turns out that the broiler element was not the problem with my stove. There were four possible problems. I replaced the most likely culprit, the broiler element ($100), and it still didn’t work. I was able to test a fuse and the temperature sensor, and determined that they were okay. The last possibility was the control circuit board. It costs nearly $400. The stove was the same age as the washer and dryer, so I was not going to pay $400 to fix it. The good news is I did not pay $150 for a diagnosis to determine that I need a new stove. Nope, a new stove with modern improvements, and why not replace the countertop microwave with a matching over-the-stove microwave, also with modern conveniences?

Although the washer and dryer work don’t hold as much as the old ones, they are great and are much quieter. I’ve gotten the new hearing aids, and I’m happy that they are rechargeable, rather than needing new batteries every few days. They also have some modern, convenient features.

The water mitigation company told me that my homeowners insurance probably would not pay for the cleanup. I decided to put in a claim anyway, and fortunately Pemco covered it–the bill was $4,000! (Of course that incident happened at night on a weekend.) We had already decided to replace the carpet in that bedroom and the master bedroom with laminate flooring, so I had the remediation company rip out the carpet. The new flooring will not be covered by insurance.

The new stove has arrived. I like it a lot, although I haven’t gotten to try out all of its features yet. It looks like it will be great for baking bread, and I’ll try that out soon. But the installer could not install the microwave because it needs an outlet above the stove. The range hood is hard wired. So next on the list is an electrician to install the outlet and then call the installers back for the microwave.

The flooring installation is scheduled for April. We wanted to wait until our Covid vaccinations had fully taken effect. It will be a major, all-day job, so we will vacate the house and stay at a hotel. Hopefully, this will be the end of our major replacements for now.

There is only one appliance left to fail–the refrigerator.