The Little Red Button




We're going retro today with ancient pix from when we first visited our house - way, way back to Spring 2009.

Our sturdy workhorse of a wall oven was giving us problems. Specifically, we couldn't figure out how to re-light the pilot light after the HVAC people turned the gas supply off and back on. I found this great online how to guide, but even after finally locating the pilot light, blasting the gas up to broil, and standing there patiently with a long-handled lighter, nothing was happening. We contacted our awesome and knowledgeable-about-old-house-stuff real estate agent, Mary Diaz, and she talked us through another try. Still no dice.

So, we took the last resource, and I renewed the home appliance warranty. Ouch - it cost about $500 upfront, with $60 for each home repair visit. On the bright side, we never have to worry about buying an extended warranty again (something I've only done for our uber-fancy Haier washer/dryer unit), and there's exactly one number to call in case of something going wrong with any of the other appliances. Hilariously, we were allowed on the cheapest plan to put 10 appliances on the warranty, and we ran out of options around number six. Here's what finally ended up on the big 10:
  • Central AC
  • Central Heat
  • Plumbing
  • Electrical
  • Oven
  • Stove Top
  • Ceiling Fans
  • Doorbell
  • Fridge
  • Washer
So, if any doorbell emergencies come up, we're good to go.

The repair guys came today and re-lit our pilot light. They did everything that we did (I narrated our efforts so they could see that we're not complete idiots!) but with one difference... they found the red button! No longer red, and covered in grease and dust, it was hiding well behind the broiler pull-out. The head repair guy (who had to have been about 20 years old) shone his Mag light on the red button, said that he had pushed it a couple of times, then applied a flame to the pilot, and "presto" our oven worked again.

Now if it would only stop being so hot (it was 113 F the day we drove back from Gallup!) so that I'll actually want to bake something again...

Comments