First World Problems

In case you’re unfamiliar with the phrase, it captures the challenges which seem very troublesome to you as a member of a WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) country, but those that at the same time pale in comparison to the rest of the world trying to find enough to eat, not get arrested by the corrupt police, or being extorted by some criminal gang. A quintessential First World Problem is when your high speed internet connection sputters. The indignity! How will you survive?

We had such a problem revolving around out stove. Seems we had a builder’s grade stove that was nearing nine years old and starting to show its wear and tear. Buttons were broken, stains resisted cleaning, and it never worked that well anyway. Estufas (stoves) are not as big a deal in Mexico, so what we had was serviceable, but just. Some models require a match to ignite; others don’t have much insulation. We have friends whose stove heats their counter-top and cabinets to scalding, but doesn’t keep a consistent temperature in the oven! In Mexico, you basically have a choice between GE/Whirlpool, Koblenz, and Mabe. All three producce models across the price spectrum, but Whirlpool skews highest, then Koblenz, then Mabe which has the cheapest models. The knock on Mabe (“Mah-bay”) is ‘mahbay they work, mahbay they don’t.’

So we decided to replace our old stove. It was set up on a small concrete pedestal (very common here), and we wanted a regular model which could slide in (and give us a warmer/storage drawer underneath). Judy, being the online maven she is, cleverly waited until the Buen Fin (Mexico’s answer to Black Friday) sales began and ordered a stove with a microwave/vent above it from Costco.

That’s when the fun began. First, FedEx–who delivers to us almost weekly–dropped us a text saying they couldn’t find our house to deliver the microwave so they sent it back to the Costco warehouse in Mexico City. Arghhhh. Judy contacted Costco, and they were polite and quick in refunding that part of the purchase, but they declined to let us re-purchase the microwave at the special discount price as that sale period was over. “No problema,” we thought, we’ll just find another microwave/vent combination locally.

Shortly thereafter FedEx resumed knowing our location and delivered the stove. We opened the box and saw various loose pieces like knobs (which are detachable) and the burners and grill, but things seemed to be in order. We contacted our contractor, who was doing a series of small projects at our place, to remove our old stove and arrange installation.

Because of the change in style, the workers had to hammer out the the existing concrete base, level it, then place matching tile. They did a quick and great job, and we looked to be close to completion, when the worker told me “hay un probelma” which is Spanish for “Houston, we have a problem.” Seems that one of the detachable knobs on the stove was not just detached, but was broken off the valve stem (not easily fixed). *Sigh* We stopped work on the installation while Judy worked her way through Costco customer service (no, there is no “por inlges, toca numero dos” option). She eventually found a Costco rep and worked out the details, sending them pictures of the broken knob. He said he would arrange for a FedEx pickup, but that it might be a while since this was the holiday season.

Now we’re in a pickle. Our old stove is gone, our new stove is sitting in the hallway, unusable. Which meant it was something new and not in the right place. Which meant that my fifteen year-old dog, who likes to get up in the middle of the night and get a drink, lost it when he saw this huge, threatening shape in front of him in the dark. At least he got used to it, and my heart rate eventually returned to normal.

Did I mention there is a worldwide appliance shortage. Wait, what? You didn’t know; neither did we! Seems all the disruptions in parts and work schedules has caused a shortage in appliance manufacturing. We decided to go the local appliance store (Tio Sam’s . . . yes, Uncle Sam’s, or as my Mexican gate guard calls it, Uncle Tom’s, which made me do a double-take) and start over. We had already gone there once to get the new microwave, so when we returned to buy a stove we were thrilled when then told us they had a model we liked available and could have it shipped immediately, arriving with the previously scheduled microwave. Hallelujah! Only a week or so without a stove.

But wait, there’s more. Delivery day arrived, and so did our microwave/vent. But no stove. Tio Sam’s called to apologize for the mix-up. There was no immediately available model, but they would have one available (wait for it) the third week of January. More like a month+ without a stove. We told them we would come in to the store in the morning and work something out.

We went in committed to buying a different model (whatever was available) or getting a refund and starting over again. They still had nothing available, so we went for the latter (refund) option. Suddenly, they found our model again, and said it would arrive tomorrow. Willing to fall for the mañana joke one more time, we went home and waited.

Tio Sam’s called to confirm a delivery time the next day (yesterday). The correct model showed up, intact, and our workmen rushed over to install it. So our stove drought ended after ten days, although we still need to get the microwave/vent installed. Mañana.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Feliz Navidad!