Warning: one big pi$$ed off Navy wife rant coming!
Remember Jody? The unseen entity that weaves a path of destruction and financial ruin whenever hubby is deployed? Well, he was kind enough to stop by early this time, 5 whole weeks before the big day! Oh yes, that's a beautiful stainless refrigerator on my curb, isn't it? Mr. Trash Man will pick it up tomorrow. The compressor went at 1 year and was replaced, and yet again at the 3 year mark. I won't be repairing it this time. It was in my rental house so it was extra urgent that we get a dependable one this time. So hear this: to all of you out there with the Avacado, Harvest Gold, Almond, etc fridges.... keep them! Hoard them! I know so many people who have pretty new fridges, all shiny with lights... we covet the old ones, and may break into your house for that 1980 fridge, beware! I don't care what it looks like anymore, as long as it does one thing: "be a fridge that works"!
So if anyone is keeping count, that's "3" stainless refrigerators purchased in the past 5 years for 2 houses. ??? And if I can stop you from ever buying a Frigidaire appliance, all the better. Our new kitchen went in 5 years ago with a new stainless & black ceramic stove, stainless dishwasher, and fridge - all Frigidaire. 5 years later we now have a Kitchen Aid fridge, a GE dishwasher (I went without for all of last year) and our stove had to have the entire circuit board/panel replaced. I've got $1200 paperweights all over the place. STAY AWAY FROM NEW FRIGIDAIRE... read complaints on the web, it's not just me.
As if Jody hadn't wreaked enough havoc with that, he stopped by this morning at my next door neighbor's house. Her husband is in Iraq, and as she got ready to leave - flat tire, really flat! So after figuring she'd deal with that later, she gets into her husband's car and it wouldn't start. So us girls jumped it and got her going again. Jody, never underestimate us military gals, you may financially ruin us, but we won't go down without a fight! If he so much as thinks blight towards my garden this year, heads are going to roll! Apparently Jody didn't get the memo that my husband hasn't even left yet!
Now onto better things:
I finished my first bag this weekend! It's loud, funky, and uneven, but wow, it's not a scarf! I'm happy knitting anything now that's "notascarf"!
We are working hard on eating everything that's leftover from the garden last year to make room for the new. Plus, it would be really nice to remember to defrost the freezer this year before it gets packed full again!
Stir fry with "froze-fresh" from the garden broccoli, peas, beans, and leeks we pulled the other day.
Finnegan in training making pizzas with daddy the other night
The pollen is killing me....
We did get a ton of stuff done around the yard the past weekend, every bit makes me feel a little better about the upcoming deployment, we have been slowly finishing a bunch of little projects that have been in limbo. I planted ALOT this weekend, and I hope it wasn't too early.
The highlight of the past week was today. Husband back at work, kids back to school after Spring break, I was alone sitting in my Adirondack chair with my dogs, listening to the birds, sipping an iced coffee, and knitting! Did I say alone? LOL. Unfortunately the birds were soon replaced by the sounds of F/A 18 SuperHornets screaming through the sky, banking right over my backyard - they are always so close I can read their helmets. I wonder what they think of me knitting under them, lol? Like I always say, Military Homesteading is kind of an oxymoron, but you can't blame a girl for trying!
Love your posts when you bring us up to date on all that's been going on . . . and it sure sounds like A LOT! Glad to hear you finally got some good, relaxing knitting time in again.
ReplyDeleteI actually left home today (yeah, I really did!) and met a friend in a coffee shop for some catch-up and knitting. Boy, that felt good.
Ah, but if Jody hadn't reared his ugly head now, you would have spent the entire deployment looking over your shoulder. ;) Hopefully now he's come and gone.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to have some down time after Jody's visit. I hope he stays far away! Glad to hear you got some planting done. And I'm tres jealous of your bag!
ReplyDeleteJudy
In the Army, "Jody" is the guy who has an affair with your wife while you're deployed. "Murphy" (as in Murphy's Law) is the one who spreads chaos.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very funny post but I couldn't get over the Jody thing. I thought you should know it reads strangely to some of us. :) Although Murphy does that same crap to us when our guys are gone. Seriously, where do they come from and why, oh why, do they wait for the spouse to leave!?
Well, I am no military wife, but we have what we like to call "Bad Appliance Karma" around here. They just make stuff to break, I swear.
ReplyDeleteYour stir-fry looks great! LOVE cookin' dinner up in the wok, we will all have to take notes on our various greens and veggies for the year, see which we like the best for a quick stir-fry. I am dying to try my Asian Greens......and hear all about that Malabar Spinach which I am now seeing everywhere.
Sorry to hear about your appliance woes. There's nothing worse when spending hard earned money on CRAP. It's true that they just don't make things the way they used to anymore. Which is the same reason why Marc and I refuse to go out to eat anymore. It burns me when you pay top dollar for a disappointing meal when you could have made an even better one for a fraction of the price at home.....NOW YOU'RE REALLY GETTING ME REVVED UP!
ReplyDeleteThe appliance problems sound pretty annoying. We've gone without a dishwasher for a few years now--same complaint. Nothing lasts.
ReplyDeleteThe disposal died recently, too, and having gone through several of those, we've decided to do without, and just put in a regular drain.
Hope your new appliances, whatever they turn out to be, actually work beyond the warranty date.