Elementary School

"This chick is toast."
Bill Murray as Peter Venkman
in Ghost Busters
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Today is going to be an adventure for me.

I hope.

What to others might seem ordinary enough will be for me a test, a challenge, an opportunity to prove that my handyman skill set is not as bad as everyone thinks. Or it may kill me.

The task at hand sounds simple enough. I am going to replace a burned out element in our toaster. I said it sounds simple enough, but when I went online to find out how to do it, I realized this is a project that rivals the complexity, say, of putting together an Ikea entertainment unit. And the problems I encountered on that project remains one of Linda's favorite dinner party stories.

I am starting on this project because LK went into the kitchen supply store Saturday to buy a new toaster to replace the Dualit. The store was out of the 3-slice model we wanted, but in the ensuing conversation the clerk learned that the only problem we had is that one of the elements had burned out.

"Only an American would buy a new $350 toaster rather than replace the element," she sniffed. And I should add that when Linda told this story to Davy, his immediate response was, "You have a $350 toaster!"

That, of course, is a whole different story. I am not sure why we decided our bread would be browner with an expensive toaster, but somewhere back in history that is exactly what we did. I have a vague recollection that it had more to do with the looks of the toaster than the end result. But no matter, I digress. This post is about my decision to tackle the job myself.

You can see what I will be doing by going to this incredibly handy site written by Peter Eland in the UK. He has put together pictures for every stage and really explained it well. (That's one at ths top of this post.) He has also started his how-to lesson with this:

Please note: This is just an account of how I did it. I am NOT a trained Dualit technician. I am NOT an electrician. If you do anything whatsoever to your toaster you do so ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. This page is in no way endorsed by Dualit or anyone else. I have no connection whatsoever with Dualit, not even as a customer! If you have the slightest doubt as to your competence then do not do what is described here and instead go to a Dualit service agent or electrician.

Well, I am getting verrrry tired of being the odd man out. All I know is my father would fix his own toaster. And Robert in California would fix it - and probably add three or four new features. And Andrew in Sydney would just unplug it and plug it back in, saying "This fixes most things."

Well, it's time for this Rusty to join the club. I'm doing it myself.

I will let you know tomorrow how it went.

If there is no post tomorrow, don't worry. I am sure I will be OK, but there may not be any power in the house.