Broken Stuff

While most things around here are fine, and in working order, we also have a fair share of broken stuff.  Plans to repair/replace/remodel lurk just around the corner, which is why we’ve adopted a let-it-all-pile-up-and-then-we’ll-overhaul-everything-all-at-once mindset. So we’re not really being negligent, just smart.  We don’t want to end up doing something twice or in the wrong order.

A few examples of our broken stuff:

The door handle.  Actually there is no handle.  To be accurate, the supporting parts are still there, but without the vertical bar to grab and pull.  But let’s be honest. THE WHOLE SLIDING DOOR sticks.  You have to be Tarzan (or in my case, Jane) to open/shut the thing.  We plan to get a new door when we remodel, so why replace the old handle?

The other door handle - the one on the storm door on the other side of the house - is gone. I repeat, there’s NO HANDLE, just a hole.  That door hangs crooked and doesn’t shut tight, which invites the darling Chip-n’-Dales (chipmunks) to waltz right on into the house.  Unhindered.  This entire door will also be replaced, so it makes no sense to spend money on a handle for the old one.

The window screen on a dining room window.  The screen is pulled out at the bottom allowing easy entry to skeeters and whatever other nocturnal creepy-crawly and/or winged insects are drawn to the light.   At the same window, the glass is cracked.  IF we get new windows (a hopeful option), issues like these in the old ones will no longer matter.

The oven.  Fortunately we have small stack ovens (2 units on top of each other dated 1961), and the bottom one (big enough to accommodate one cookie sheet) still works.  The top one (big enough to accommodate two cookie sheets) is shot.  The element has been clamoring for retirement for a long time, and it finally decided to quit.  Since I still have limited oven function, we’ll wait to order a new one.  So far the model I like that fits the opening has consumer reviews that say the control panel conks out after about 4 years.  So I’m still researching.

The refrigerator. The extra one in the storage room. It chugs along reliably (I’m envisioning those scrappy-looking old gray-haired Shriners in the Christmas parade who keep up a steady pace on their scooters) as long as you don’t open the door multiple times on a hot-hot day.  Then it just can’t keep up.  And the food gets warm.  And I start coaching everyone in my sweetest voice, “Now the frig isn’t doing very well today, so don’t get in there unless you absolutely HAVE to.”  But then those darling grandkids or their darling parents HAVE to get SOMETHING about every 30 minutes.  Yes, we need to replace it, but in the new house configuration I’m not sure WHERE the extra frig will be located?  Somehow I just want to wait until I know its final resting place.

The bathroom sink stopper.  It got tired and crashed in the down position. Water couldn’t drain. So we took it out.  Hopefully the entire bathroom will be torn out and redone, which brings me to…

The curling bathroom linoleum.  It just keeps pulling up around the edges.  Recently we patched another kind and color of flooring (leftover from another room) behind the toilet – functional, but a nasty mis-matched look.  However, who wants to fix the floor when the walls need to be torn out first? We might as well wait for the overhaul.

There are more examples, but you get the picture.  I think I’ll stop here.

The point? Our broken stuff will soon be fixed, probably within the next few months.  It’s always good to upgrade, and yet there’s something bittersweet about letting go of things that have mattered, served us well, and/or marked a certain era of our lives.  New is good and needful, while old is....nostalgic.  Reminiscent of what has been.