So, I just recently moved into another apartment and am learning its little quirks. I am very thankful to have a roof over my head and a great place to live. I am also thankful for food to eat. And, finally, I’m thankful for the little things that God does in our lives to make us smile, build character, and teach us wonderful lessons - even if the lesson in this case is patience and keeping one’s sense of humor!
The first cause to laugh is my refrigerator. It has character. Translation: several shelves are broken along with the crisper so you have to be a bit careful what you set where. That is no problem. I just need cold food. It also has its own little song - it heralds each cycles entrance and exit with a “drum roll”. Again, this is not normally a problem except when I have a migraine and each cycle finds me scraping my body off the ceiling. Did I mention that I typically have two migraines a week? But, can I fault my appliance for its joy at being called into service and then being allowed a rest?
Let’s move on to the stove/oven. I must admit that the stove in this new apartment looks rather dubious. It is extremely old. A knob is missing for the clock and I don’t trust the time bake. But, I didn’t want to pronounce it guilty without a trial so I withheld judgment and gave it a fair chance. I mean, what does it matter if it looks old as long as it bakes and cooks, right?
Well, the oven is a bit fickle. Its moods vary from workaholic (50 degrees above temp.) to sluggard (25 degrees below temp.) during any one use. Since variety is the spice of life, my food is well seasoned!
Finally, the crowning glory- the stovetop. Each burner has five settings: warm, low, medium, medium high, and high. However, this old stove really has its own language. The settings really are: “somewhat almost warm,” “slightly warm,” “lukewarm,” “warm,” and “smoke alarm in 60 seconds or less.” Since on “warm” (medium high) water takes longer than thirty minutes to boil (I was too hungry to wait to see how much longer it was going to take to boil), I am frequently testing my smoke alarm. (Hmmmm….maybe I need to keep allowing God to work on my patience!) Thankfully, there are not many people living in this building this summer. 
The apartment management is working to solve these difficulties. I know they will be resolved soon. However, in the meantime, I’m enjoying my companionable appliances - I mean, who else has appliances that take the time to make you chuckle while you work in the kitchen?