5/29/2012: Exhaust Fan

5/24/2012: Shredder

I finally decided to pull out the shredder and tackle the mound of junk mail credit card solicitations I've collected over the last year or so. Honestly I'd like to just stop receiving mail all together, is that possible?Of course, then what would I do with the shredder? Maybe use it to shred lettuce for tacos?

5/2/2012: Dehumidifier

3/15/2012: Tower Fan (with remote)

Normally this tower fan would have stayed up in the attic for another month or two... but some unseasonable warm mid-March days necessitated its early arrival back downstairs.

And yes, the fan has a remote control (below). Because that's the kind of world in which we live. A world with fat lazy Americans that can't get off the couch to adjust the oscillating speed of their tower fans. Like me.

2/28/2012: Crock Pot

Every kitchen has a Crock Pot in it I suppose. Mine sees the most use on food days at work. I've never quite trusted the idea of starting it up in the morning, letting it cook all day while I'm gone and coming home to a nice juicy roast. I'm always afraid the "coming home to a nice juicy roast" part of that chain of events will be replaced with "coming home to find your house burned to the ground."

2/12/2012: Toaster

The toaster being out on the counter can mean only one thing: it's waffle time! I got a red toaster to rebel against the stainless steel appliances in the rest of my kitchen... which I kind of hate. Why? Well, because I've touched them, and now they're smudged. Apparently forever.

See also: Grind and Brew Coffee Maker

2/11/2012: Iron

Friday, before heading out to see West Side Story, I did something I almost never do. I ironed a shirt. See that pile of shirts behind the iron? Laying there since they came out of the dryer, just waiting for their chance to be pressed and worn. They'll be waiting awhile. Conservatively, they've already been laying there waiting for at least six months.

Call me lazy, but when the choice of what to wear is between a shirt I'd have to iron first or selecting from my numerous other shirts that do not require ironing, is it really that surprising that the latter always wins?

2/5/2012: Buffet Server

This is one of those items usually kept in the Cupboard of Rarely Used Small Kitchen Appliance. (Or in my case Rarely Used Under the Stairs Storage Area of Small Kitchen Appliances, I don's have a lot of cupboard space.) I pull this buffet server out roughly twice a year. Once for Christmas Eve dinner, and once for the Super Bowl. Soon after taken this picture it was filled with chicken wings, that dip you make by combining salsa with Velveeta and meant candy.

Sidenote: Does anyone else find it very disconcerting that Velveeta doesn't have to be refrigerated? Based on that fact alone it probably isn't fit for human consumption.

1/14/2012: Grind and Brew Coffee Maker

This is my Cuisinart Automatic Grind and Brew coffee maker. Combined a built in grinder with the coffee maker. It also has a timer which I almost never use, because that requires you to think about setting it up the night before to brew in the morning.

This is actually my second one of these, the first I had died awhile back and I recently replaced it is with the new one. It still worked as a coffee maker, but the grinder had gone out on it. And once you've gotten used to fresh ground and brewed coffee... well, there's no going back. OK, you can go back, cause I did for quite a number of months, but fresh ground is noticeably better. After several months of suffering without fresh ground coffee in the morning I happened across this one on one of those crazy deals on Amazon just before Christmas.

Right now as I write this I'm enjoying my second cup of the morning. And yes, for those wondering, I happen to be drinking it out of one of my Empire Strikes Back coffee cups. I know some people don't drink coffee, don't like the taste, don't need it to wake up in the morning and to those people I say: "You're nuts."