Stupid oven

So about the only exciting that has happened in the last few weeks is that my oven went kaput last night.

Boring, yes?  It's been raining.  And raining.  I've not worried too much, the laundry just dried in the loungeroom.  But it does mean it's been cold and wet.  Real winter weather.

This last week has been an interesting one.  Boss went to Sydney on Wednesday evening.  It's a good time for him to go because it's fairly slow here.  That means plenty of slow time for me.  I get my chores done and i can take a bit longer over lunch.

Friday afternoon I got a call to say the deed has been done.  Boss is in his late 60s and wants to retire.  But being a one-man business, that means he has to sell up.  He's signed all the paperwork and the cheque has changed hands I believe.  Whew.  It's been so long coming that we had all but given up hope.

What does this mean for me?  Good question.  In the near future, nothing.  My job won't change.  The new management doesn't want to mess with a good formula so for now it will be just waiting.  I believe they want to bring in an expert to review the work we all do, and allocate jobs accordingly.  The best thing from my point of view is that I'll have back up.

Now, as to whether I get that back up before the 10th of August is another thing.  I have a friend coming to visit and would like to take a couple days off, but Boss will be in Scotland visiting his daughter.  So we'll have to wait and see.

The froggies are doing well.  Their names appear to have stuck - Petitie is the smallest, Niggs is the middle sized one, and Tub-O-Lard is the big girl.  I am sure they are all girls, but who knows?  Fluffy and I and Dobby cleaned the tank out on the weekend.  Huge job that is.  Fluffy has said he will help me every time, about once a month, and carry it outside and hose it for me.  This time, Dobby and I took all the stones out (there are large river rocks and tiny gravel in there - I did the river rocks, she did the gravel) and I washed them in hot water.

Fluffy also relocated the water heater to under the waterfall where the pump is.  And he turned it up a notch.  See, if the frogs are males, they might croak if they think it's mating time.  This is done with the light left on longer and the water temperature turned up.  Fluffy cranked it up a degree.  Last night we both did a double take because we thought we heard the quietest of croaks.  Can't be sure though, and it wasn't repeated.  Just have to see.  But they still bring me joy.  I can sit and watch them do nothing for hours.  Drives the other two insane because I run a monologue when they are actually doing something.  My favourite bit is feeding time.  Lots of fun.  That Tub-O-lard is soo quick!  And yet, she is the one you can hold in your hand.  She is quite placid.  Lovely.

Anyway, so life has been  motoring on quietly.  Just the usual endless round of work, sleep, fight with the teen.  Until last night I thought I would bake seasoned chicken halves and potatoes.  About an hour in, Dobby was in her room (wish I could say cleaning it, but that would be a lie), and I was in the office, when suddenly there was a deep boom sound, and the lights flickered.

She and I both rushed out to the kitchen, and the only thing we could figure is that the oven crapped itself.  We turned it off, waited for the element to stop glowing, then turned it back on again.  It didn't heat up.

When I phoned Fluffy he suggested we check to see if it had tripped the oven switch in the power box.  I went for a look and one was indeed different to the others.  But I didn't touch it because I'm not convinced.

See, when you turn the oven back on, the indicator light lights up.  And when you turn on a hot plate, it makes the usual ticking noise it always did.  This means that power is getting through.  But the plates don't heat up.  So something is not right.  I'll get Fluffy to check it out.  Then we have to pull it out and clean it before we can call the landlord...

Oh well, looks like take away tonight.... pity that....