Technology Troubles – Part 2

The laptop wasn’t the only item giving us technical trouble over the past few months. The car decided it had some issue with its emission control system.  Of course, that is about all one can get out of the manual that came with the car.  But my spouse had the code reader which provided a little more information indicating that it was a minor issue.  The most likely problem was a gas cap seal that had failed.  It did appear that was not functioning, so we replaced it.  Unfortunately that did not result in the warning light going off. Logistical issues during the summer kept us from taking the car to the local repair shop until a couple weeks ago.  We were concerned it would be a major expense to fix whatever the mystery problem turned out to be, however, we were lucky.  It was only a hose in the system which was leaking.

On the other hand, the glitch in the kitchen was a major hit to the finances.  Our wall oven had gotten progressively cranky.  Every so often while cooking, the upper oven which had a convection feature would decide that there was a problem and start beeping and blinking “F1”. Of course, the troubleshooting section of the owner’s guide said little more than turn off the oven, let it cool and if it happens again, call for service.  At first this meant we would end up having our dinner a bit later than planned since the lower oven still worked.  However, in the past few months it became apparent that the convection was not working correctly (for instance, a fan stayed on that should have gone off).  And then there were the mornings where we found it beeping F1 when we got up.

It was becoming a safety concern and we decided it was time to replace the oven. Given that the oven was by then 21 years old, there was no hope of having the electronics involved replaced.  Our local appliance store was having a customer only special sale, and we went in to see what would work. At first glance, there were lots of choices.  But then reality set in. White was not a favored color.  And the options available in white and only 27″ wide were even fewer.  That still provided several acceptable choices.  However, when we checked the installation information, the situation started looking grim.  Most of the ovens needed 1/4″ more width than was available.  The newer version of what we had would fit the width — but it was over an inch taller on the exposed surfaces and would block the doors above and/or drawer below.  So we got down to one manufacturer  which had an oven that might fit without a complete re-do of the kitchen cabinetry. 

This past weekend we had the new oven installed. It was very, very close. Actually, some of the trim is a smidgen too wide and the drawer in the cabinet to the one side rubs against it as it opens. Other than that, it seems like a nice product.  It has some features that were not available twenty years ago such as a proofing option for allowing bread to rise.  I had to try that out and it worked beautifully.  Now I won’t be limited to the odd shaped loafs that come out of the bread machine. It also has convection in both upper and lower ovens, so in theory I can speed cook in both.  Of course, I doubt if I would have a need to do so.  Hopefully we are good for another twenty years of baking, broiling and roasting.