Toaster Oven Blues

I'm not much of a shopper. I'm more of a grab-it-off-the-shelf-and-flee consumer. Comparing prices gives me a headache.

My husband recently purchased a rug cleaner to keep up with the urological issues of our aging dogs. He spent a week researching products, and kept posing questions about built-in rug beaters versus fast-dry features. He was getting pleasure out of buying the cleaner; I was tortured by his "research." Just buy the damn thing. And start cleaning.

This weekend, I decided it was time to buy a new toaster oven. I went to Target with an attitude. I am angry at toaster ovens. They've driven me to the brink of despair. For some reason, toaster ovens don't last long at my house. We've gone through four of them in six and a half years. Just as the baked-on grease is threatening to become a fire hazard, the heating element goes. Could this be a failsafe mechanism? My kids bought my husband a plain old toaster for Fathers Day two years ago because he just couldn't get his bagels to toast right in the oven du jour. This was a lovely idea but a serious drain on counter space. I still needed the oven for on-the-fly heating.

When I saw the "Toastation" it was love at first sight. It was really compact and not too ugly, but the best part about the appliance was that it cleverly combined a small oven and a traditional pop-up toaster in one unit. Plus, it was half the size of my current behemoth, which has been on the fritz for months. Truthfully, I would have paid anything for this marvel. I was therefore devastated to learn that the product was sold out. See, that's what I hate about shopping. You find the perfect item, and then wham! It doesn't fit; it has a hole in it; it's on back order. What's the use? I left Target with a turkey baster as a consolation prize.

My husband convinced me that we should just go to Walmart and buy the cheapest toaster oven they carried. We'd be tossing it in a year or so anyway, so we might as well go for low-cost dreck.

Walmart had plenty of Toastations, and at a higher price than Target! We bought one, and I'm happy to say it's still working. I retired the regular toaster and joyfully dumped the old oven into the trash.

Counter space is mine!