HOME BUYING ADVENTURE

            We bought a new house! It is everything we were looking for and with the help of our good friend Gerry Allen, former 747 captain for Canadian Airlines who retired and now making a living as a real person selling real estate. After signing what amounted to lord only knows how many papers (the probable destruction of half a forest of trees to make paper!), the better half and I signed the documents making us the legal owners.

            The house is located near the ocean, and a 20 minute drive to town. It has three bedrooms, a separate office, two baths, living room, dining room, utility room, deck to watch beautiful sunsets and a large lot. An additional benefit is the house is next to a 20 acre piece of land that can’t be developed because it is deemed to be a protected water shed so we don’t have to worry about someone building next door.

            Included in the purchase was a washer, dryer, refrigerator, electric range and dishwasher. What more could you ask for?

            With the help of our daughter Jennifer, son-in-law Roel, both grandsons and three days of sweat and tears, we finally moved in. The following day the furniture store delivered our new sofa, reclining chair, bedroom chest of drawers for the extra room and a new ultra soft mattress, we had it made.

            A week went by. The first to go was the clothes dryer! It simply quit and that was that so down to the appliance store we went and bought a replacement. “What the heck,” we said, “… it made too much noise anyway.”

            The following week the washing machine decided to shoot craps as well. Visiting the appliance shop Kathleen picked out one that had a few more bells and whistles than the old one so, peeling out some cash, the purchase was made.

            With a sigh we returned home, turned on the television, poured a glass of wine and sacked onto the soft sofa. “You know?” my better half pondered as she switched through the channels, “…this refrigerator is a little small.  What do you think about getting a larger one?” She was right. The refrigerator that came with the house was one of those double-door jobs that couldn’t hold the amount of left-over’s we always manage to accumulate with little problem. So, the next day off we went back to the appliance store.

            For the next two weeks everything went swell. The clothes got washed and dried and the refrigerator was humming along keeping everything cold and fresh.

            Now settled in we wanted to invite our dear friends Gerry and Marge Allen over for our first formal dinner! Kathleen spent most of the day working on a luscious lasagna with special cheeses and other mouth watering ingredients. It looked wonderful. Dinner was scheduled for 7 p.m., and the cooking time for the lasagna was to take about 45 minutes.

            At about 6:30 our friends showed up. Sitting in the living room and chatting away about current nonsense dinner was about to be served.

            Congregating around the dinner table, my better half went into the kitchen to fetch dinner. Opening the oven she was a bit astonished to discover that the electric range oven had shut itself off and the lasagna was only about three-quarters cooked!

            So it was back to the living room, refilling drinks, picking up on the usual conversation including who we thought was going to win in the primaries, current nonsense including gas prices, weather, sales and of course, airplanes. Thankfully when the talk included airplanes both Marge and Kathleen retired to the kitchen to see if the lasagna was cooking.

            And so it was. Finally dinner was served (warm lasagna), a great salad, wine and coffee and desert topped off the menu.

            The following morning it was time to clean up from the previous night. Cleaning out the sink and putting everything into the dishwasher we set it to start and waited. Unfortunately “start” never started!

            Sure enough the dishwasher decided to not work and so all that was in it was removed and I had the opportunity to resume my one great talent—washing and drying dishes!

            By this time the guy at the appliance store and I were on a first name basis. Looking around we selected a new dishwasher and in addition bought a cabinet size freezer. Shelling out more bucks (they wouldn’t take food stamps); we arranged delivery for the next day. This had to be the end of it.

            So we thought.

            Time went by which included undercooked or overcooked food (depending on the mood of the electric range), we finally had it! “I’m tired of this @$*&%! Thing,” Kathleen said in a justified tone. “We need a new range!”

            And so off we went back to our appliance store and bought a top-of-the-line electric range that was guaranteed to operate the way a well behaved appliance should work.

            The next day it showed up. Gingerly my wonderful wife prepared a meal that was absolutely out of this world. The meat was perfectly cooked, the potatoes were whipped and hot, the gravy was delicious and the vegetables were cooked to perfection. Topped off with a glass of my favorite wine it was a most satisfying evening.

            After dinnerI didn’t even have to do the dishes. In fact things are working so well we intend to invite Gerry and Marge back for a super lasagna dinner.