Well, Now I Know...

"Ciao Enzo. Questa Katie. I have a problem- my oven, stove, and dishwasher aren't working. I've flipped all the breakers and still nada. I hear/smell the gas from the stove top but don't hear the clicking to ignite it."

"Did you flip the switch?"

"In the breaker box- yes."

"No, the switch in the kitchen. It needs to be on in order for it work. Maybe you hit it while cleaning."

"Um, I don't think so. I did a fair amount of trouble shooting prior to calling you. When I get home I'll check though. Grazie." (I couldn't admit to him that I haven't actually cleaned my kitchen in a week...or the fact this wasn't a new discovery but I finally remembered to call him and I knew I'd be home before 9pm.)

After hanging up the phone I had the feeling that he honestly believed that I had no idea what I was talking about and I couldn't help but to think that it was because of my gender. Really? I've been without what I figured to be power to my 3 appliances since Saturday, but maybe even Thursday...since that's when I ran my dishwasher. 

You see,  dirty dishes, coated in blue frosting and a light dusting of flour from sugar cookies were very festive transforming my counter into a winter wonderland scene, but they were also daunting.  Very daunting, especially late at night after a long day at work. Finally on Thursday when I realized I needed dishes (those of you who have been my roommate know how long I wait sometimes...) so I started to attack them by hand I remembered that I have a dishwasher! I'd still trade it for a garbage disposal any day of the week but it's a good thing to have when you make a mess with just about every pot, pan, cookie sheet, and utensil coated in food. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon when I really wanted coffee did I realize that my kitchen was not fully functioning. Grr.

That's when my engineer Katie mode started and after exhausting my ideas I called in a few experts for their feedback. They suggested everything I had already tried. Finally today I called Enzo to see if he could relay the message because I still can't talk home repairs in Italian. That's when we had that conversation. That's when my cranky day at work got even worse.

At any rate, as soon as I chased Nico down from when he ran outside when I got home (yeah, that was fun) I went to straight to the kitchen to prove Enzo wrong. Unfortunately I proved myself wrong instead. When I called him to let him know it was fixed he had to ask if it was the switch. I fessed up and told him yes. Then he went on about how it's a safety thing which I disagreed with him...it's clearly a decoy for Americans. Oh well. Like I teased earlier- now that my kitchen is up and running again I better go spend more time in it because clearly this woman doesn't know her way around it well enough!

Seriously though, I know I didn't flip that switch. Maybe one of the cookie sheets hit it? Maybe it was Nico? I mean, I don't mind the fact that it was a such a quick fix (once I finally called) but it would have been nice to see my favorite repair guy...just sayin'.  And yes, I find it hilarious that just today at work we were once again laughing about  although we have "degrees" sometimes the simplest of things gives us the most difficulties.