My first observation is one familiar to anyone who deals with intelligent machines: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” To that I can add a corollary: “If it still works, don’t replace it.” When you get new fixtures and appliances, you assume that you will enjoy more advanced technology that will make your tasks easier and be more friendly to operate. The reality is that advanced technology by its very nature can be harder to operate, and, you probably won’t get much help from product documentation. You also have to figure in government regulations that can impair performance rather than enhance it. My husband and I spent $70 recently to have a plumber tell us that we won’t get any better water pressure from our new kitchen faucet because government regulations do not allow the kind of performance we once got from the old faucet. Any appliance that uses water or electricity or both may be hobbled by new resource conservation regulations.

Replacing a 28-year-old Maytag washer with a front loading Maytag Neptune washer a couple of years ago is another example. While the washer saves water and does large loads, and while we got rebates from both the manufacturer and the City Water Board, it doesn’t make up for the fact that our dark clothes began to smell sour and pulling a large load of wet clothes out of the machine puts a strain on my back. Maytag has since fixed the smell problem, but my back is another matter.

Replacing my 15 year old Amana refrigerator/freezer cost a lot more than the $1700 we spent on our energy star rated stainless steel Sears model. About two months after we bought the new fridge, it quit working on a Friday and Sears magnanimously agreed to fix it…the next Wednesday. We paid almost $300 to get a private contractor to fix the faulty part that caused the failure. I can’t judge how much we lost in ruined food, but vowing not to go through the same experience again, we spent another $500 on an apartment-sized refrigerator/freezer to serve as a backup in the event our main unit fails again. Although we’re enjoying the extra fridge space to stash goodies like sodas and ice cream, I had to give up some floor space in my kitchen to accommodate the addition.

That being said, sometimes purchases made reluctantly become pleasant surprises. I was lukewarm about my new ceramic cook top. I would really have preferred to have a gas one like the pros use. The ceramic one does, however, have its saving graces. For one, it looks good, and it can be used as a large hot pad when I take things out of the oven. Best of all, when a pot boils over, a few paper towels and a follow up with vinegar water is all I need to put things right.

Another pleasant surprise was the oven. We bought it as an afterthought when we purchased our cook top because it was so cheap. We felt we couldn’t afford not to buy it. The upside of my oven is speed, consistent temperature control and reliability. Best of all, the ability to slow cook foods has opened a whole new world of cooking for me. My favorite things to cook are chicken breasts slathered in canned soup and sherry and baked all day at 180 degrees. When I get home, I remove the foil cover, turn the oven up to brown the tops and make a quick batch of risotto to go with the gravy. I can also slow cook a pot of beans in my oven using the ceramic insert to my crock-pot. With the pot in the oven, I don’t have to worry about one of my cats knocking it off while I’m at work.

Later on in the year, I had to replace my 26-year old zigzag sewing machine after I broke the bobbin housing. I wanted an inexpensive replacement since my main retirement goal is to buy the biggest, meanest electronic sewing machine available. Since my retirement isn’t that far away, I wanted a just-adequate machine to fill in the interim. For this purpose, I bought a bottom of the line electronic Kenmore. It has an LCD screen and some electronic features, and it was on sale for $300, about one-sixth of what I would pay for a top-grade electronic machine. Thus far, I have been very impressed with the machine’s features and workings. Best of all, its documentation, which is a standard offering in three languages. (I can even select the language I want to appear on the machine’s LCD screen.) Many of the features, such as monogramming and buttonholing, that required additional equipment in the past, are now not only standard features, but improved features. Instead of guessing at buttonhole size, I can make a custom buttonhole by dropping the button into the buttonhole foot. To monogram, I use the screen to select the letters I want to use. Regardless of what type of stitching feature I use, the screen tells me the optimum tension setting, and the recommended presser foot, stitch length and width. Mending requires a little more experimentation (and several rereads of the instructions) but once you get the hang of it, this once demanding sewing job is transformed into a spectator sport with beautiful results. Since Sears has done such a great job with this sewing machine, I guess I’ll have to forgive them for the refrigerator.