it's a wonderful life

[the_siobhan]

Lately, when people ask me what's new in my life, I tell them, "I have a stove."

Well, that's nice, they respond. How's the jobhunt going.

No, no, you don't understand. I have a stove.

For the last year and half, we've been cooking with a hotplates and a toaster oven. In a room with one power outlet. Daily meals have been an exercise in figuring out how to time stuff to be all done at approximately the same time without half of it being cold or blowing the breakers six times. And meal size is restricted to what can fit in a toaster oven. You're having a potluck? Cool. Hope you like KFC.

But then 50_ft_queenie and mr_sharkey moved into their new digs[1] and it had more appliances than they could use, and in their generosity they shared their good fortune with their friends. And lo, there was much hauling and sweating and saying of the majikal four-letter words. And then we finally got somebody to come in and hook up the gas and a number of (equally majikal) small green pieces of paper were exchanged. And now... now, ladies and gentlemen, we can cook as much as we want, any time we want, and the room will not suddenly go dark if our reach o'ertakes our grasp.

As they say in the 'burbs where I spent my formative years[2], Fuckin' Aye.

So I'm blithering on at the_axel about how we have a stove dammit, probably about for the tenth time this week. And he points out to me that the last time I was this happy about something was when we got the windows and doors put on the house. Well d'uh, it was January. Windows without holes in them are a godsend in January.

And he tells me that he thinks we are a lot luckier than most of our friends because we can be made happy by doors and windows. I laugh at this, but I also remember a conversation I had with one of the women I work with. She was complaining that life was hard. Life is so hard! Don't you think life is hard?

And I said, "Actually I think my life is pretty good right now."

"You are lucky, then."

"Yeah, I am. I sleep indoors, I can eat whenever I want to, and nobody hits me."

I was mostly yanking her chain, but only mostly. As insanely angsty and navel-gazing as I might get sometimes, nobody hits me.[3] Do you have any idea how nice that is?

Which is really a long way of saying what disastrid put a lot more succinctly, Maybe it’s necessary for everyone to spend time as a mouse in a bag once in awhile to appreciate not being a mouse in a bag.

So I post this knowing that all day I felt like all my childhood Christmas wishes would have come true if I just had one semi-justifiable excuse to punch somebody square in the throat, and that tomorrow something else will probably happen that will royally piss me off. But for right now, I have doors and a stove and a clean kitchen, and that's all that I need to be happy.[4]

[1] Which needs a name.
[2] Scarborough.[5]
[3] Safeword-related stuff excluded for the purpose of this exercise.
[4] And a basement full of cheap home-brew wine nimus uh, two. [6]
[5] Which is right next to Whitby, to my huge amusement.
[6] Yes, Axel pointed out the typo, and I'm leaving it in there to further emphasize the fact that two of those bottles are now gone.

Comments

[i-am-that-is.livejournal.com]

Here from metaquotes, and I must say congratulations on your stove! That's really awesome! I'm not being sarcastic, I seriously am rather envious. I live in a dorm right now, and microwaves are a bit limiting as to the cooking you can do with them. It's not quite the same situation, but it's still sweet you now have a stove.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Most microwavable meals are expensive, too.

Get yourself a hotplate. Being able to throw some beans into a pot and make chili saved our lives.

They're illegal in most dorms because drunk students put food on it and then fall asleep, but if you can keep it hidden they're great.

[i-am-that-is.livejournal.com]

Hmm, that may be a good idea. Hurrah for creative cookery :) Although, I have managed to make toffee in the microwave, much to my delight.