Put tab A into slot B

I have recently made four purchases. (Why does purchasing something seem a lot fancier than actually “buying“ something?)

So what did I buy? I bought some sippy cups to make life easier when Frederick was visiting. I bought a microwave to replace the one which died on us shortly before we realized that the transformer in the back yard was dying a slow death, which may or may not mean that the microwave was covered by insurance, but if it was, they would put up our premium anyway. I bought a new scanner (actually, Ernie bought it as a 39th wedding anniversary gift, although I later realized it was a clever way of making me responsible for the care and feeding of yet another piece of technology), and I bought a beautiful new Husquavarna sewing machine.

Can I figure out the microwave? Well, it presupposes that all I want to do is reheat “Pasta Sauce, Soup, Pizza, Dinner Plate, Beverage and Rolls/Muffins “, (I quote from the Sharp Microwave Oven Manual.) There’s a nice paper manual and it is pretty much the same as my old microwave, so I will manage.

Then we come to the scanner. Every morsel of instruction is on-line, thanks to the “Help” page I managed (somehow) to download as part of the installation procedure. Some of it defies comprehension, although I am having some success with photos and no luck with downloading documents into editable text. But give me time.


As far as the sippy cups go, I was pretty upset when I realized that the cups I had painstakingly filled with water and juice prior to our trip to the mall had suddenly got lost, but Ernie reminded me that we had raised five children by shoving liquids down their throats from regular cups and no-one had come close to dying from dehydration. Nevertheless, I made a late-night run to CVS and bought some (rather expensive) cups from Avent. And for these, I need instructions?

The sewing machine? I love my new machine, although it will take me a while to feel confident with its workings. It is the third machine that I have owned.

The first was a Singer straight stitch, a Christmas gift from Ernie when I lived in my Los Angeles apartment. Over the years, fancier machines were marketed, but that was a workhorse of machines.

My second machine was a zigzag, and could do a lot more (but I hated the button-hole system.)

My newest machine has different bobbin winding mechanisms and comes with a booklet showing Scandanavian ladies in fancy jackets. There is a video (video?) and the advertising proclaims the machine can perform “heirloom” machine sewing. Isn’t that an oxymoron? I mean, you either use a machine, or you hand sew heirloom embroidery. My grandmother would have a lot to say about this. But that is a subject for another day.