The fridge guy came right at nine this morning. I was on the way out to take Hank to school, but I left him settled on the floor with a screwdriver.
Then I went to tennis and practiced with my partner for Thursday's match. She is a sweet girl and this will be her first match ever. She is counting on me to guide her. We are in trouble.
Then I came home, half expecting to find the fridge dude still crouched in the kitchen. The coast was clear and the fridge was humming busily. Matt told me that it took the guy all of twenty minutes to diagnose and fix a burned out master board. Or was it mother board? I don't know but it cost $350.
Matt told me that number and I said, "Oh, that's a relief."
He goes, "Are you kidding? I thought that was high. It's a big part of the cost of a new fridge."
Is he not adorable?
Bless him! How he thinks that $350 would go a long way toward a new fridge? I love that guy.
My mom called to check on the fridge and me and I told her, "Matt said the funniest thing! The funniest thing about $350!" We both enjoyed it.
It's that thing of when a man has no idea what something costs but he sure as hell knows what it should cost, you know? Like, in the price and fee schedule contained in his mind. So, pro tip: The way this shakes out is that, if your husband asks you how much a new jacket or duvet cover that you bought cost, you can feel safe in just taking a "1" off the front because then the digits you tell him will accord with his mental money schema. And you don't want to shatter his schema.
Oh Lucy! Oh Ricky!
So as of this moment we are cooling properly, and our food is slowly transitioning back above stairs. I bet that fridge will chug along another several years before it gives us any trouble. I hope the same for all of us. 'Night!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
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15 comments:
The money schema = SO TRUE. So. freaking. spot. on.
It kind of goes along with the time issue. I know now when he says something will take 15 minutes to allow at least 30-40 minutes. At least. Then, after 45 minutes, when he finishes, he will still swear it took 15 minutes.
Oh no doubt! And you cannot even argue with the time because to him it felt like 15 minutes. And insisting otherwise just makes you look petty, but honestly!
Oh, men. My husband would cry like a little girl if he ever saw the bills and knew what things cost. I feel duty bound to protect him from this. Loved your telling of the refrigerator saga, well done!
My husband loves to say "I mean, where is all the money? Where did it go?" --- bewildered.
Apples and oranges, people. What we really should be discussing is "what percentage of total cost constitutes 'a big part'?"
Is twenty percent a big part? If yes, then Matt's comment is right on. But if we're thinking a big part is fifty percent the cost of a new fridge, then we can start playing the "silly husbands just don't know how much stuff costs" game.
Also, there is a difference between $350.00's worth of "keeping an old fridge alive" and the same amount of "new fridge investment."
My take-home points?
1. I'm just representin' my Y chromosomies out there.
2. Don't underestimate the analytical subtleties of Matt's brain. If life is a chess game, he's already come up with a more interesting set of rules.
too funny! i've been letting my husband do the big grocery trips these days, and I think he kind of gets it. and then I point out that all the snack items are gone in 2 days and need replenishing and he gets it more.
Phew! Glad it's fixed--i was worried for your carrots and hummus!!
So funny about the money thing...such conversations have happened many times in this house! But I'd have to say...I think Hootie has a point--Matt's a wily guy.
There is truth in what you say. For example: I would have a Sodastream if I'd just gone out to buy one & then slipped it right in next to the blender. Mari never would have asked about it, since clearly it couldn't have cost more than $24.99
At the same time, I must agree with Mr Hootie -- 15-20% of an appliance's cost in repair just starts to feel like a call to start fresh. If you do that three times over the life, you're up to almost half of yr replacement cost, just to have the same jalopy of a stair-stepping, food-wasting appliance. Don't be mad!
Glad it's fixed!
Nelson believes he should be able to go into the Gap and purchase a pair of jeans for $10. Foolish, foolish man. You can't even get jeans at Target for $10!
I love the conversations with my husband about costs because his cool analytical analysis gets completely trumped by my cold hard facts.
Okay, I'm sold. If someone thinks they can buy a SINGLE SOCK from the Gap for ten bucks, then obviously that someone is out of touch. (BTW, Lee jeans at JCPenney are the magic balance between price and quality. Old Navy is a close second, but they're not as durable.)
Also, having priced Sodastreams as a possible gift for my wife, I decided that we would never consume enough carbonated anything to offset the initial cost of that counterspace-waster. But there is a guy online that will show you how to make one out of an old bike tire and food grade CO2 cartridges, and I'm not even kidding.
But I think we can come to a consensus that stuff just costs too much. And the stuff that doesn't is just complete crap. Who's with me?
Mr Hootie, I drink a ton of seltzer, sometimes 4 liters a day, and would drink even more if I did not feel the Earth's recrimination over my glass + plastic refuse. Well, and possibly the way I always have to lug it around, the cases of the stuff. It's just way too material.
I got one yesterday from a gal selling an extra-gift Sodastream for $65, which was nice. Glug-glug-glug. That's the sound of my carbonated water and our bank account, if you ask my husband.
All this money talk aside, I'm just glad you have a working fridge again. Hurray!
I just love how you can turn "Got my fridge fixed. Hubby and I dickered over how much it cost" into an elegant vignette that makes me feel all warm and happy.
Oh, Lucy. Oh, Ricky. You're a wonderful writer.
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