Goodbye Old-School Food Zapper!

Just over a year ago, when we were about to move out of our sub-lease for the summer, our wonderful neighbors--The Underwoods--gave us an old microwave they didn't need anymore. Yep. They gave it to us for free. We knew when we got it that it wasn't the perfect microwave. It was starting to get old and didn't have all the zapping juice necessary to heat things at full power. So, no popcorn, no baked potatoes, and it took twice as long to heat the normal frozen or canned foods. But we didn't care! We were so glad to adopt this little appliance into our family. It definitely beat not having a microwave at all!Well, this little guy served faithful and held up (for the most part) for another whole year!! We'd been using it since the end of August 2008. Well, the other night, when Trev went for his second frozen burrito, the poor thing had just had enough. It got really hot, started smelling funny, and just *blip* stopped heating. Well, this had happened before when I attempted to cook baked potatoes in the microwave. After a good 8 minutes of heating, the poor thing gives out, only to resuccitate itself a couple hours later. "So," I said, "give it a little while". And, sure enough, it was working again the next morning! But this time was a little different... it still made a funny smell and began to overheat. I feared the worst: Our little old-school microwave had finally reached the end of its good, long life. *Sniffle*

So, what's a girl to do when her microwave dies? Why, find a shiny new one, of course! So, I headed out to BB&B with gift cards and came home with this slick little piece of plastic and metal:Ohhh! Fancy! It has beepy buttons! AND a digital clock! Now I will no longer have to sneak around the corner to check the clock in the living room to see if I'm running late in the morning while chowing down on cereal! Wahoo!

Well, despite the perks, I'm really gonna miss my old school food zapper! :( It has a place close to my heart--serving the Shipps so well for over a year! It's sometimes fun to make-do with "ghetto" things. Those are the quirks you remember most, you know? I told Trevor I wanted to offer it to some other couple who would put it to more use, but he reminded me that it really wasn't worth anything anymore, and that we would just need to throw it away. With a twinge of sadness in my heart, Trevor and I marched our little appliance to the dumpster, and softly dropped it inside.

I hope that little white microwave brings joy to other appliances in the landfill. And then I hope, once it's gone for good and forever, that it has a happy eternity in appliance heaven.

Alright - I know. I need to get over my odd attachment to inanimate objects. I'm working on it, okay!?

*Sniffle*