With my upcoming move I am in need of a refrigerator, and in needing so, I have determined my life is much like shopping for appliances.... Sad analogy but here goes, let's just hope I get my point across and do it justice!
For the past year I have been in living in a great condo, equipped with absolutely beautiful state of the art appliances. I have become accustomed to their individual features and almost dependent on them. We all know I love food, but in my family there wasn't always enough room in the kitchen for me to cook, I usually was put on the aesthetics committee or desserts. This kitchen brought the cook out of me, it is still young and learning, but I have spent the last year getting my dishes dirty!
I have been researching fridges for nearly 4 weeks, checking online sales and visiting local shops. The problem is, I know what I want, and know I can't have it (so like my life)! And why can't I have it... I'm moving to a rental, it's not my final place, who knows the longevity, and I have NO business spending absurd amounts of money on this appliance, especially when there are such extreme ranges on prices. At some point I turned to craigslist... and last night completed my first purchase. Now craigslist is all about strategic planning and compromise. It was a means to get close to what I want, and only sacrifice a few luxuries. I really had simple requests, but for some reason they were the few items that kept bringing the price up... I wanted a bottom freezer, cabinet depth, and an internal water dispenser. It could be black or stainless, that wasn't a requirement, the others were.
So I went out on my quest, searching for my perfect combo... my "recipe" of items that would make me happy! I broadened my buying area to obviously increase my chances of finding the perfect match. Last week I got really close, I found exactly what I was looking for, but of course no response from the seller. This quickly became a game of timing, I had to be one of the first ones calling, and flexible with my schedule, if I didn't show up cash in hand... the unit was gone to the next guy. This was serious business! I actually went out of town this weekend and totally ruined my chances on a few great models, lesson learned! Yesterday I printed at least 15 contenders... called and emailed the sellers and got a response from a few. I organized my findings first by price, then started narrowing in based on my "requirements", what was I willing to forgo to keep within my budget... and low and behold... there it was, my perfect recipe... well almost!
Next was the challenge of safety, here I am a single, fairly attractive woman, headed to the barrios of Santa Ana to check out a refrigerator some guy has in his garage! My girlfriend said I was absolutely crazy and that I needed to take a guy with me. As if I have a rolodex available for my liking, if that were the case I probably wouldn't be so enthralled with fridge shopping! Needless to say I took all safety measures available and bought the darn thing... it gets delivered on Wednesday. Lets just hope the unit works if not, I know where the guy lives, along with several other scary looking guys!
The point of my rambling... and boy did I have plenty to say, is deep down I know what I want, and what I am willing to sacrifice. I put a considerable amount of time and energy into this damn task, it was important to me.
Now if I would just do the same with my own life I am bound to find the perfect one... If only everyone was on craigslist and in my budget!
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