new microwave

You know you're getting over the hill when a word like "microwave" sends you down memory lane.

Cliff has been telling me in recent months that our old microwave oven was slowing down. For instance, when he'd make a bag of popcorn, some of it would burn before it all got done. Once he brought it to my attention, I realized that yes, my Healthy Choice meals were taking almost twice as much cooking time as recommended on the box.

I remember my first microwave oven. I was one of the last people in our circle to get one, it seems. I was working at Whitaker Cable then, and heard my co-workers singing the praises of this new, modern convenience. I figured that, although I couldn't afford one outright, I could manage a monthly payment at Sears. As I recall, we paid just under $400 for our Amana Microwave. A lot of money, back then, for sure.

We had two teenagers at home, and we managed to keep that microwave busy.

It was still working just fine when grandchildren began to appear on the scene, but the door became faulty, which I had heard might not be the best thing for our health.

So when my mom remarried and ended up with two of the things, she offered us one.

That's the one we've been using for the past few years.

My daughter recently bought a new microwave at Walmart; she was talking about prices of various ones, and good grief... they're dirt cheap now, most models less than $100!

So I got myself a new one last Saturday. The one in the picture.


When I make popcorn in my ancient plastic microwave popcorn popper now, it only takes two minutes instead of five. This oven even has the spin-around carrousel in the bottom; we've never had that before.

Life is good.

bargains

I guess like most folks, I get caught up in griping about price increases: the cost of gasoline or propane; good grief, $3 for a loaf of bread; veterinary services for dogs and horses.

But sometimes there's some good news.

Our microwave oven is getting a bit tired. It tends to burn popcorn before it's all done popping. It's taking longer and longer to cook those frozen chimichangas I keep around for the grandkids.

So, I browsed the Internet to check out prices. Wow, have these things come down in price, or what? The one pictured here is less than $50 at Wal Mart. It even has a turntable, which is a feature I've never had on a microwave.

We bought our first microwave when my kids were still living at home, probably around 1983. I'm sure it cost over $300, and of course we got it on credit. Hey, that was a lot of money then!

Computers are like this. I believe when I got my first Gateway in 1998, it cost close to $1,000; and that was one of the cheapest models to be found. It had a 6-gigabyte hard drive.

These days, the cheapest computer you can buy has at least 60 gigabytes, and you can get one for under $400.

Wow.