Wednesday, April 29, 2009

In-sink-erating

Most of my adult life has been lived without the aid of a garbage disposal but with the desire to have the aid of a garbage disposal. It was a luxury that just didn't come with any of the apartments I lived in nor the house Brent and I bought. I figured the decision to purchase one would be like other major purchase decisions... the one of us that wanted it least would finally want it enough to justify the purchase. That's how we finally got a sprinkler system, a couch, and a computer. Every time I visited my parents, I would toss stuff down the sink and sigh, thinking about how nice it was to just scrape and go rather than to push stuff into the garbage unless it was too gross and then all the way into the outside garbage unless it was too watery and then into the toilet. But then I realized that Brent's parents don't have a garbage disposal and therefore Brent is not aware of the glory of just rinsing away globs of gross stuff rather than having to transport it first to a garbage can and then outside. He therefore would never want one because he never knew the glories of it. You can never know the good if you've never known the bad. So I decided to do it myself. I used my birthday and Christmas money from last year and shopped around. I found a good deal and a coupon and with a deep breath, set up the appointment. The plumber came, took one glance under the sink and declared I needed to call an electrician first. I was so excited to get going that I didn't even think about needing to get power to the thing. Sigh. So I called the electrician who came over for a few hours last week. Miriam dubbed him "Nice Guy," and was amazed by his yellow sunglasses. She asked politely for her blue sunglasses so they could wear their sunglasses together, but sadly we didn't find them until after Nice Guy left. After the electrician graced us with power to the netherregions of the kitchen sink, I called the plumber back. He showed up, and Miriam referred to him immediately at "Nice Guy." I'm not sure if she thought that the original Nice Guy was back or merely that anybody who would come over and help mom fix the sink is a Nice Guy. Twenty minutes later we were up and running. Or more appropriately, up and grinding. I turned over my coupon, and Nice Guy #2 said he didn't have a calculator and did I know what 15% of the total was? Anyway, I LOVE HAVING A GARBAGE DISPOSAL! It is complete freedom in the kitchen. Clearing out leftovers is a breeze, rinsing a toddler's plate is cake, and oh I love the smell of ground up citrus rinds. Sometimes I'll eat an orange just to grind up the peel and breathe in the scent. I should have made the purchase years ago!!

2 comments:

Nat said...

I hear ya! Things that I want: water softener, new couches, shutters on my windows... Pete thinks that a water softener makes you feel dirtier when you take a shower, which really, you're smoother, and cleaner! One of these days I'll just up and get one-probably with the next tax return. We'll be cleaner, cleaning stuff will be easier...Ah, the joys! Congrats on the disposal!

Mom/Nana said...

I grew up with my mother taking the wet garbage outside and burying it in the garden for compost. We would have holes with yucky stuff in it until it was filled and then covered....kinda like a cat's litter habits. When I got my first disposal, I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't put potato peels and watermelon rinds in. NOW, with the advent of bigger and better, I can put anything down and enjoy the peace a clean garden spot and sink brings. Congratulations!