Rant #3,104: Cookin'

April Fools’ Day came and went on Saturday, but once again, the laugh was on myself and my family.

We had a piece of household equipment fail on us, pretty much three years to the day that it failed on us the last time it decided to conk out.

Our oven died on us, as it would not heat up, and pretty much wouldn’t do anything it is supposed to do.

So we had to call the repairman in to fix it, and once they step in your house without even doing anything, it costs $150 when they cross that threshold.

But we had to do it, because no oven is no good.

We have a small toaster oven and a small air fryer, but you’ve got to have an oven in the house to cook larger portions that can get into those devices.

Prior to the visit, the repair company called us up and told us what it would cost for the repairman to walk through the door and also told us that we had a very old oven—today an “old oven” is characterized as one that is 15 years of age and up—and that if it wasn’t a “simple repair,” it did not pay to repair it at all.

Looking at the situation, we figured it was worth taking the chance of it being a “simple repair,” so we went ahead with the repairman’s visit.

And yes it was a “simple repair,” but a “simple repair” that cost us more than $400.

And we had the same problem about three years to the day, and it was the same “simple repair” back then that it was now.

During the height of the pandemic back in March or April of 2020, our oven conked out, and we really got lucky, as I found a repair service that was still going into people’s homes and doing repairs during this tumultuous time way back when.

My wife was still working, but my son and I were out of work, so I was the one at home when the repairmen—two of them—came into out home and fixed the oven.

And to show you how times have changed, the bill back then for the same problem was about $150 less than it was today.

So what was the problem over the weekend and way back when?

Both times we needed something called an igniter, which powers the oven to start up the heating process.

It evidently is not a big deal, takes about 15 minutes to install, but when you have an older oven—I think this is the second one that we have had, so yes, this oven is way more than 15 years old—it becomes slightly problematic.

I wasn’t there this time around—I was with my son, whose bowling league had its final matches before Easter break on Saturday afternoon—and my wife told me that the repairman—just one this time—told her that there should be no “next time” for this oven, and that we really should buy a new one if this ever happens again.

Well, since the last igniter lasted three years to about the day, I will worry about that problem in three years. I have enough on my plate now to keep me going until then, and then some.

So we have our oven back, which is a good thing right before Passover, which begins on Wednesday night and lasts eight days into next week.

But anyway, the rest of the weekend was what it was … filled with Wrestlemania, a two-day affair during which I fell asleep on several times trying to watch the whole thing, both days lasting until about midnight on Saturday and Sunday.

More than 80,000 people attended each night of Wrestlemania, which was held out in California this year, with millions of others watching from home around the world, like my son and I were during.

It is really an incredible spectacle, sort of the World Series and the Super Bowl combined into one.

Throw in a bit more razzle dazzle, and you have Wrestlemania, and I watched as much of it as this nearly 66-year-old old fogey possibly could.

My son watched the entire spectacle, as wide eyed as I was when I was his age with things like this.

Everybody has their thing, his is professional wrestling, and he just loves it!

We are going to a show at Madison Square Garden in July—the WWE has seemingly abandoned Long Island, what with the incessant problems with the Nassau Hub and Nassau Coliseum, and the lack of support it received at its one and only show at the new UBS Arena—so after my son pleaded with me to venture into Manhattan for the first time in more than three years, I finally gave my OK this past week prior to the oven problems.

Yes, I am cooked, but that is the way it goes in my life—

There is never a dull moment … but at least we have our oven back to do some real, honest to goodness cooking in.

I have an early doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I will have to skip tomorrow's Rant.

I will speak to you again on Wednesday.