That big white box in the kitchen........

...... is still working, thank goodness. I haven't called Lowe's yet to arrange pick-up of the Samsung fridge because we haven't chosen the new fridge yet. When the repairman was here last time, he melted all the ice that had stopped-up the cooling unit of that fridge, so I'm guessing it's good for another month or two before it builds up again. I told my husband I'd like to get this fridge thing settled before Thanksgiving-- way before Thanksgiving, not the very day before the holiday.

We went to the local appliance store this afternoon.... looked at their GE models..... opened up the one that we thought we wanted and the inside of that was identical to the Samsung that's now in my kitchen. Everything was the same-- the shelves, the drawers, the thermostat..... everything except the brand name on the door. I told the lady in the store that I was afraid of ordering that model because I'm having problems with the same thing that's in my kitchen now. But this is different... this one is made by GE, she said. If you put those two refrigerators side by side and covered up the logos, you couldn't tell them apart. And neither could she, I'm betting.

So we'll look at some other stores over the weekend. What a big disappointment. I thought it would take less than half an hour to look at all the models and write up an order. Within the first three minutes, we knew we were in trouble there. And the insides of those refrigerators--- the cheapest plastic imaginable. For nearly $1800, you would think they'd at least use a higher-grade plastic for the little drawers and pull-outs. I've seen thicker plastic on children's toys. Give me a blessed break. General Electric, you are breaking my heart.

To add insult to injury...... we decided to go out for dinner... we were right in the middle of town, dressed up in going-to-town clothes.... so why go home and mess with pots and pans? We drove around the streets in town. The little cafes were all closed.... they close at either 2:00 or 3:00, according to the signs on the doors. (No wonder our neighbors J & J always go out for lunch and stay home for dinner!) One particular cafe that is open for dinner was all dark inside when we pulled up in front. As we were looking at the dark windows, two of that cafe's employees came up and unlocked the door and turned the lights on. It was 5:00 when they were doing that. I looked at my husband and say No way are we going in there. I figured it would take them at least an hour to get everything settled and somewhat ready in the kitchen, and that place is slow on their service as it is. And their menu isn't the greatest anyway.... soups and sandwiches and (if you're lucky) the German items on their menu are actually in the kitchen the night you ask for them. We have walked out of that place before when they were out of three of the menu items.

We could have driven to one of the other little towns for dinner, but neither one of us felt like that kind of a drive after having a busy day here since the morning. (And who knows what's open and what's closed anyway?!) My husband said something like Click your heels... there's no place like home. And that's where we headed. Oh well..... I got some things out of the pantry, some things out of the fridge, and I made some quick but fancy little french-toast-dipped sandwiches for an appetizer.

I truly miss all the great restaurants we had at our fingertips in Clear Lake. Any kind of food you could wish for, right there, just minutes away. "Minutes away" as long as you weren't driving during the lunch rush-hour or the dinner rush-hour down Bay Area Blvd, that is.

We have no rush-hour here in this town. I guess the only time there is any rush at all is when people are going home to their own kitchens at dinner time because there's no place to eat out in this town after five o'clock.......