Day 355: I am a Goddess

I added this new photograph to Creative Journey in my Photography section, Ms Fix-It Strikes Again!

I'm a day behind, so I'll have to post two photos today. See, I was a bit busy yesterday ...

OK. So this makes for a fairly uninteresting image.

I don't care. It's my way of giving myself a pat on the back.

Our home is about 25 or 30 years old. This range, I believe, is original to the house. Or, at least, it's been here for over 14 years since we moved in. Last week, the little foot that holds up the bottom element in the oven bent over. The element made contact with the bottom of the oven. It made a funny smell and glowed real bright. Then it completely burned through and a chunk of the element fell out.

Hmmm. OK. Now what to do?

This element doesn't just slide out like the one in my other oven. I got out the owner's manual to see how to fix it. That was useless. The booklet didn't even have a parts list, much less instructions on how to remove the element. So we sat around looking at it for a few days.

Finally, I got out my socket set, flipped off the circuit breaker, and went to work trying to figure out how to dismantle the thing.

We figure we'll be replacing our range before long. It's the only appliance in the kitchen that hasn't been replaced yet. The burners are all lopsided now. And the color doesn't match the rest of the appliances. But I was sort of hoping to fix a few other things around the house before replacing the stove.

So I figured, I can try to fix the element. If it's too old and parts are no longer available, or if I somehow mess the thing up, we can go get a new range, right? But if I can figure out how to fix it, we can spend less money now. So, no harm in trying.

Turns out this was a really easy thing to figure out. Four screws, and the element was removed. The gal at the appliance parts shop knew which element I needed without me having to give her the model number. Usually the service at that place is s-l-o-w and awful, but I hit it on a banner day! Was in and out in under 5 minutes!

I put the thing back together ... slapped a bit of electrical tape over the wires that looked a bit suspect ... and it works great.

So, I have a day of getting to be all proud of myself. I figured out how to fix something that had my husband scratchin' his head. Best of all, I don't have to avoid meals that require baking any more.

Yup! Ms. Fix-It Strikes Again.
(and just look at how clean and shiny the oven is now!)