...y'all know that I anthropomorphize practically everything...even the toaster...but I didn't have to name him as his name is printed on his side...
...he's about 18 years old and has had a trouble free life so far...
...but recently he developed a habit of not staying on...
...this was sort of annoying...but in the make-do-and-mend frame of mind that I was in during the early morning hours of toast making...
...I corrected the problem temporarily with a rubber band...it just held the knob down until the toasting was accomplished...
...of course you can see the flaw with this method of toasting...as it's a sort of 'always on' situation...you have to be right there watching the toasting take place...not the best toasting procedure if you ask me...
...so also of course...I knew that I had to fix Russell's little problem...there was really no reason to replace him...as everything else was working properly...and he has been with the family for a very long time...
...I just unscrewed his cover and popped that off...and found that the problem was an accumulation of 18 years worth of crumbs...and I think he could have been designed a little bit better to avoid that...some sort of little shield that would keep any crumbs off his electronic bits would have been nice...but I'm not a toaster designer and perhaps after 18 years the fine crumb dust would accumulate anyway...
...I just chiseled and brushed the crumbs away...screwed everything back together and plugged Russell back up...and I was so thrilled when he worked...his little knob stayed down and he made toast just like he used to...no rubber band...knob holding or anything...YAY!
...so now we're happily making toast together again...
...I was thrilled that all of his little buttons and lights still work after his surgery...
The latest version of Russell (fancier than ours) is available here...
Impressive!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm here to tell you that for an 18 year old toaster he's looking goooood!
ReplyDeleteThe accumulated crumbs of 18 years would slow Russell sure is a splendid looking piece of kitchen kit!
Good on you for making do and mending!!! Until recently I used my Nana's old toaster which was probably 30 years old. Unfortunately it was beyond repair when it finally broked down which made me very sad :(.
ReplyDeleteOh, good for Russell! I'm waiting for my cheapo toaster to break down so we can finally invest in a good one. Unfortunately, the cheapo one has been very reliable for quite some time and shows no signs of giving up his place anytime soon!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! 18 years is a long time for a toaster. Russel is in good hands. =)
ReplyDeletetoo funny!! yeah, my toaster accumulates crummies too! especially the "drippin's" from the "everything bagels"!!!
ReplyDeletelove, k
Oh to have the hands of a surgeon.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant! I hate getting rid of appliances. Good work!
ReplyDeleteYay, so good to hear Russell pulled through after his surgery. I think your model of Russell is much nicer looking than the more modern version which you showed by link. I was actually admiring your blender the other day when you made smoothies. Does your blender have a name too? Fun!
ReplyDeleteVictory!
ReplyDeleteso what you're saying is that Russell has been a loyal friend of the family for so long and you didn't even bother to clean his crumbs??? poor guy! hehehe
ReplyDeletei guess he is thrilled that all the lights are still working and you didn't end up with extra parts on your hands!
What a fantastic story.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this. I love that feeling of making do.
ReplyDeleteClearly I'm deep into the back issues.