Benjamin Kepple

Behold, Life is Good, For I Have New Kitchen Appliances

BOY, 2008 IS TURNING OUT to be a great year so far! Let's review all the good things that have happened:

* Michigan beat Florida in the Capital One Bowl.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers were in the NFL playoffs.
* The New Hampshire presidential primary means more work, which means more money, for me.
* I just got new kitchen appliances for my apartment today.

Boy, these appliances are sweet, too. One of the advantages of living a pretty modest lifestyle is that it's easy to get used to it, thus making unexpected upgrades to that lifestyle a welcome surprise. My old refrigerator, a Westinghouse model I think was built sometime during the Carter administration, was swapped out for a slick new 15.7 cubic foot frost-free fridge with bunches of clever features, such as an interior door shelf that holds 12 cans of soda. Maximum sweetness.

Oh, there's the other major benefit too -- this fridge is far more energy-efficient than my old one, meaning it will cost me about $5 per month to power. This should thus knock off anywhere from $5 to $12 monthly from my power bill -- and perhaps more, if my old fridge really did date from Carter. (Although I don't think that was the case. My apartment building was built in 1982 -- anyone who has visited me knows it has that vague late-Seventies feel to it -- and so I think that's when the appliances were bought.)

Anyway, I also got a new electric range -- sweet -- which has a self-cleaning oven and generally kicks ass. My old range was a bit underpowered and could be a bit slow at boiling water and baking things; this new one is clearly more efficient and has clever design features, such as a top that lifts up for easy cleaning. This will work.

I found out I was getting new appliances on Saturday, although I never really learned why. I figured it was a combination Tenant Retention/Tax Purposes move, though. After all, buying appliances means my landlord can depreciate the cost of them over the next several years, and given the age of the older models it was probably a good idea to turn them over before the old ones finally gave up the ghost. Plus, now that I have new appliances AND a new conditioner -- Loyal Rant Readers may remember my joy at that -- my landlord has taken strong action to ensure I'll be here all the way through the housing crisis, which I figure will wrap up in 2010 or so. Since I'm quiet and I pay my rent on time, this is good for all concerned.

Oh, and did I mention my new fridge has a door shelf for soda? Sweet. Sweet. Sweet.

Posted by Benjamin Kepple at January 7, 2008 06:24 PM | TrackBack