A Stinky Adventure *Updated*

Sorry about the whole self-imposed blog ban thing last week.

I'm over it.

***

The King had to make an emergency flight to Milwaukee on Saturday.  He found out he had to go at 9 a.m. and was in the air by noon.  

We don't normally roll like that.

And that is a good thing.

***

I need some house building advice, but I'll give you the details in a minute.  

A few months ago, The King called me from a restaurant supply store in another town.  

He was so proud to tell me that he'd bought me a range.

Now.

The kitchen is the one room that I am absolutely sure about.

(And by "absolutely sure", I mean that I sorta kinda know what I want.)

I love to cook, and I had planned my entire kitchen around a range with a commercial feel.

I knew that they were really expensive, but I was prepared to search for a great deal.

However.  I wasn't necessarily prepared for The King becoming my personal shopper.

He'd dropped in this store (its name is pretty close to Jimmy Joe's Kitchen Shop) and saw one he liked and bought it.

It cost about the same as a regular range at Lowe's.

I had some reservations BECAUSE I HADN'T SEEN IT.

But I was cool and grateful and only asked him what in the world he was thinking twice.

Or 15 times.

I can't recall the exact number.

Fast forward to Friday.

The King picked it up and brought it to our town on a trailer.

He locked it up at the farm but said we'd need to cover it because it didn't have any protective wrapping and wasn't boxed or anything.

And then he had the emergency flight to Milwaukee.

So my mom and I took several rolls of saran wrap and headed to the farm late Saturday afternoon.

I knew that it was locked in one of the buildings.  

It happened to be in the one building that I'd never entered.

The one without electricity.

Or a floor.

Mom and I opened the door and were immediately attacked by a dangerous pterodactyl.

The gigantic bird came right for my head and tried to kill me.

It seems that the pterodactyl has a nest above the door.

Whatever.

After we recovered, we tiptoed to the range.

Don't tell The King, but he did a really great job. It is just perfect.

He even had red knobs added so that it kind of looks like this Wolf range...

One point for The King.

Mom and I began wrapping the range from the bottom.  As my eyes adjusted to my surroundings, I focused on something that caused me to scream.

Mom immediately yelled, "Is it a snake?"

It wasn't a snake.

Though I'm certain they were all around.

There were two little bony hands sticking out from under the range.

Remember when the bad witch was smashed by the house on The Wizard of Oz?

Exactly what we were seeing.

Only it was A SKUNK SMASHED  BY MY BEAUTIFUL APPLIANCE.

There were tufts of black & white hair sticking out.

And the smell?

No words, my friends.  No words.

We had to bend down right beside it.  

Around and around and around we wrapped.

Every time we wrapped the bottom?

Face to face with the skunk carcass.

Once, my foot bumped one of the larger tufts of hair and the dust of death blew out.

I wish I were kidding or exaggerating.

And so does The King.

Because that one point that he gained for buying me a rockin' range has been negated by the 37,000 points that he lost for setting it on a skunk.

Mom's entire day was ruined. She was nauseous for the next 6 hours.

My entire day was ruined.  I had to listen to mom complain about being nauseous for the next 6 hours.

And the skunk smell is still in my nose.

Ok.  If you're still reading (which is honestly pretty doubtful) I need advice.

I have to pick a dishwasher and a refrigerator.

There are 9 million options and that gives me the shakes.

I'd like stainless with the freezer on the bottom.

The Princess wants me to tell you that she'd like shaved ice.

I'd like a quiet dishwasher. 

Oh, and I can't spend a fortune.

Any suggestions?

*Update* 

I should have explained how the range ended up on the skunk.  The King didn't make it to the farm until it was already dark on Friday night.  No electricity.  Lights from car didn't shine far into the building.  He and his dad carried it inside and set it down without being able to see what was below them.  I'm certain the skunk already dead.  Bless its nasty little heart.

Comments

[Jennifer]

That is frickin' hilarious! How the heck? Poor skunk. Poor stove. Poor you. Poor Beachy Mimi! But still funny!

I bought stainless steel LG appliances and am not that impressed with them. The dishwasher is a year old and it's starting to make noises. And, we've had pleny of problems with our ice maker in our fridge/freezer. But boy... I still like their clean, modern looks. (Don't go for something based on looks alone.)

Good luck,
Jen

[Tonggu Momma]

I have no suggestions -- first off, I'm still stuck on the skunk. Ack! Also, all of our appliances are still original to the house. Our microwave recently quit, so I'm investigating that at the moment.

[Heather]

I'm afraid that I'm no help with the appliance thing. Even if I was able to get my brain to move past the skunk thing... How exactly did the range come to be on top of the skunk? I'd imagine that if the skunk was alive when it happened, the crushing would cause it to spray. And if the skunk was already dead, wouldn't it have been noticed lying there on the floor?

[CapriKel]

I have no advice for you, we moved 10 years ago and I don't know what is out there now.

BUT THE SKUNK, oh MY, this could only happen to you and BM. Or to us!
You Guy's were Troopers!

[RLR]

Oh, that smell is AWFUL! I know first hand - here's the story on my blog.
Our skunk was alive (originally...). Sad to say, it just took some time for the smell to go away. You, um, may want to have The King move your stove from on top of the offending ... corpse....

Oh, and I have no idea about the kitchen appliances. The Maytag dishwasher in our last house was my favorite. We now have Kenmore (not-so-) Elite dw and fridge. Good luck!

[Mim]

How can that happen? Didn't the skunk see him coming? Or, perhaps, the skunck was already dead. Sooo, then how did the King not see the dead skunk? Oh scratch that last one, he's a man, he didn't see it, nuff said!

I have a freezer on the bottom and I have to say I don't love that part. I love the fridge on top though. So, if I had lots of money and a bigger house I would get a full sized fridge and a full sized freezer and put them side by side. But, alas, I don't have lots of money and my house really is just the right size for us. As for dishwashers I have a Kenmore and it's pretty good, but a girlfriend of mine bought a Kitchen Aid with a stainless tub and it is awesome!

[Shara]

The skunk? Ewwww!

I have a stainless fridge with the freezer on the bottom. I love the fridge but hate the stainless. It is beautiful, but the hand/fingerprints and smudges are really annoying. Next time I'm doing all black, I think.

[Jen]

Can't help you with the fridge, but I have a Bosch dishwasher and it is amazing. I hardly ever know it's even on. Mine is white on the outside but has a stainless steel tub.

I got my Bosch cooktop, my GE Oven (it was the only 24" they had, and it had to fit in a brick wall), and a previous Kenmore fridge that I loved at the Sears Outlet. They're all over; you might want to check them out. You always get a deal.

xoxox
(holding my nose! ewwwwww!)

[Dana Jones]

Maybe you can find black with a white stripe down the middle to go with your new range.

welcome to the country!

[Sandy]

Um, I'm still wondering how you're going to get the smell out of the oven. Seems to me it would stay in there for a while. I'm sorry I'm laughing. This just isn't one of the problems you expect to encounter when your build a house.

[Marcie Johnson]

I'd move that range pronto unless of course you want the smell of skunk every single time you want to cook something!

[franticallysimple]

I have a friend that has a skunk problem. Seem as though they have mistaken the crawlspace under her house for a lovers hideaway. Skunk/skank, whatever. Apparently if the girl doesn't like what the boy is doing, she sprays. Then the whole house stinks. And don't tell my friend, but the cupcakes she made and brought to the park? They tasted skunky.
Get the range moved and cleaned ASAP.

[Debra]

Suggestions on picking the other appliances? Yes, I'd just send the king back to "Jimmy Joes Kitchen Shop."

Congrats on your new range!

[Tater Mama]

Wow! That range is great! The King did well. So sorry about the skunk, though.

We bought a Frigidaire dishwasher when we renovated our kitchen a few years ago and it's pretty quiet. It wasn't expensive, either, and I've been very happy with it.. I've also heard good things about Bosch dishwashers, too.

Until recently I regretted buying SS appliances because they're a pain to keep clean. However, a few weeks ago I found this stuff called Hope's Perfect Stainless, and it's great. It's easy to use and it helps keep fingerprints from showing up.

Good luck! It sounds like things are really coming along!

[Kelly @ Love Well]

I have no advice on your other appliances.

But I'm totally with you on the range. If I ever get the chance to build a home (which is one of my lifelong dreams), I will be able to sketch out the kitchen in 10 seconds. I've thought about it A LOT for someone who has no plans to build. And you'd better believe a range EXACTLY like that is the centerpiece of what I want. I had a Viking range in Sam Diego, and it was paradise. (Of course, it burned down with the house a few months after we moved. That made me sad. But it was a good reminder for me to live contentedly with my glasstop for the time being.)

[Hélène]

Is it wrong that I LOLed at the skunk adventure? I'm happy I wasn't there, but it's funny to read it. No? Oh come on, I'm sure you'll laugh later when you remember it! :-D

As for the fridge, I shopped for one 3 yeasr ago when we bought our first house, and all the ones that have the ice and water distributor have the side by side fridge and freezer. And that ice machine CONSIDERABLY reduces your freezer space. A lil something to consider. Maybe regular ice molds and a blender to crush the ice will do the trick? I don't remember seeing models that had a built-in ice maker with the freezer at the bottom.

Another option just to make your head spin a little more : you can have a fridge whose doors are the same as your cabinets.

[just another day in paradise]

Can I ask what permanently damaged the king's sense of smell? Sounds like it's inherited through the y chromosome in his family. . .Be glad you don't have a son, I guess. . .Seriously funny.

I have no suggestions re: kitchen appliances. My theory is that I have a kitchen because it came with the house. . .

[Michele]

I'm still laughing every time I think of the pteradactyl coming out for you!!! We've had a high emotion morning over at our house today....laughing at your blog, getting scared of hearing something upstairs (to the point of my daughter getting a kitchen knife out to go explore....), to crying over the dogs dying in a book she's reading for school....I think we need to go shopping and calm down!
BTW, we still haven't gone upstairs to check out the weird noise we heard.....

[Dawn W]

I am loving your adventures in building!

We've moved often in our married life and my favorite appliances have been Whirlpools. I truly, truly dislike GE's - I've had them in two homes and have hated them both times.

I saw a show on HGTV once where they bought a full-size upright fridge and freezer (very plain fronts) and put them side-by-side (moved the hinges to the outer edges so that the doors opened from the center so that it was like one unit) and they said it was a very economical way to get a very high-end, commercial look for about half the price. I've always thought I'd investigate that option if I ever had the need.

Blessings!

PS - I think the skunk's remains should be removed ASAP lest it linger.

[Jennifer]

I have tears squirting out of my eyes from laughing so hard! Whew! I needed that.

I found a fantabulous refrigerator that is on my wish list for our new home. It's the Samsung RFG297AABP. I wrote about it here:

http://5merryhunts.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-think-im-in-love.html

She's a lovely lady!

[Cheryl]

I have a new Whirlpool Quiet Partner V, and I love it. It is blissfully quiet and cleans great. Our kitchen and den are all one room. I can sit by the fire after dinner and can barely hear it. Look for the one with the lowest decibels. That is the indicator for quiet.

[pattik]

I am with The Princess. Shaved ice please!

[Tammy]

RIP Pepe Le Pew!

And I love the range! I want a quieter dishwasher too..so perhaps I'll check back for suggestions! :-)

[Debbie in AZ]

I can't help it - the skunk story is hilarious! Someday, you'll say, "Remember when Dad dropped the range on the skunk..." LOL!

[Lindsay @ bytesofmemory]

bwahahahhahaha sorry.. glad I wasn't there! Range looks nice! You should buy a black and white rug to put under the range to poke fun at the King a little :-)