A Series of Catastrophic Failures

It all started a few weeks ago with the kitchen light. That particular light has always chewed through bulbs like those little Japanese guys chew through hot dogs at eating competitions. So when a bulb burned out and Chris went to change it, he realized that the high tech heat shield (consisting of what looked like metallic spraypaint over cardboard) had failed and that the wires were starting to scorch. So that night we had to cut our once-quarterly date short to pick up this number:

I admit, it looks much better than the old one, but I would rather have not had to spend the money in the first place.

Two weeks went by almost without incident until Tuesday. Tuesday morning was rough. Emily woke up very early and seemed bent on injuring herself all morning. I decided to give myself a break at lunchtime and microwave some chicken nuggets. The microwave operated for approximately one second before it tripped the GFCI. I reset it. It tripped it again. The next twenty minutes consisted of preheating the oven and cooking the nuggets the old fashioned way while Emily maintained a constant whine of, "nuuuuuuggeeeets!", finally resorting to tears before she could partake of the promised chicken bits.

That night we picked up a new microwave. Things went well until the next night when we were microwaving dinners (I know - I'm a crappy homemaker) and the new microwave died. Since the modes of failure were completely different, we concluded it was bad luck rather than bad wiring. So, for the second night in a row, we picked up a new microwave. This one has passed the 24 hour mark, so I think we are going to be okay.

Tonight was the final straw. As I was waging my war against the spider mites that seem so intent upon entering my home, I was cleaning all the floors in my house. I ever so lightly bumped the vacuum on a corner and the cover flew off spectacularly, shooting five feet and coming to rest minus the clip that holds it closed. I am afraid it is irreparably broken. But April is almost over and I have a grand plan involving duct tape that I am sure will get us by until the May paycheck. I hope next month will be kinder to our household appliances.