A not-exactly life-threatening dilemma.

This weekend, I discovered a sizeable hole in my coffee pot. I have no idea as to its cause, or when it appeared. I don't make coffee at home during the week, because I leave the house early and get my coffee hot and fresh from the Evil Coffee Empire outlet in my office building. And we've been away so many recent weekends that I don't think I've brewed a pot at home since the beginning of November.

It was an unusual hole. Not a crack, and not the type of damage that might come from hitting the pot against the counter or sink in the course of normal use or cleaning. Rather, it was a relatively neat oval-shaped hole the size of two quarters, located in the side of the pot about two inches above the bottom. Its genesis will remain an eternal mystery.

All the way to the neighborhood coffee spot, I mourned the loss of my trusty Black & Decker, provider of caffeinated goodness for nearly a decade. Later, after my grief subsided a little, I realized that its demise creates a minor dilemma: do we buy a new coffee maker, or do we cross our fingers and hope that someone buys the really nice one for which we've registered?

As I mentioned above, I only make coffee at home once or twice a week. I also own a small French press. Plus, there's that coffee place a mere 5 minutes walk from home. But on a wintry Sunday morning, it's lovely to come downstairs to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and to sit at the table in our sunny dining room reading the paper. And I have a freezer full of high-quality beans, just waiting to be ground and brewed. The press is fine and makes a nice, smooth brew. But it's too small to serve both of us at once, and with the lower temperature at which water boils at altitude, my coffee is nearly cold by the time it finishes percolating.

But we can't really afford the pot we want right now. And I'd counted on getting another 9 months or so out of the B&D, in the hopes that some generous friend or relative would select the one on our registry list. Buying a cheap model seems a waste of money, particularly when we're trying to eliminate clutter and have a large pile of rarely-used or duplicate appliances, clothes, and other items we hope to sell or donate.

What to do? What to do? And aren't we fortunate to have the luxury of worrying about such an inconsequential problem?

Comments

[Brooklynn]

I would just take that 5 minute walk to the coffee place if you only drink it a couple of days a week. If you want to exercise any that would be a good time! We aren't lucky enough to have a coffee shop anywhere near where I live.

[Shara]

maybe you'll get lucky and someone will give it to you for the holidays....(that happened to us before our wedding)

or the french press is nice too...

If it's the carafe, you can simply replace the carafe, I don't think they are too expensive. We did that and apparently B& D and some other other common coffee makers have replacement carafes due to cracks, dropping and breaking the carafe, or mysterious ovals such as yours. Congrats on the engagement and upcoming wedding!!

If it's the carafe, you can simply replace the carafe, I don't think they are too expensive. We did that and apparently B& D and some other other common coffee makers have replacement carafes due to cracks, dropping and breaking the carafe, or mysterious ovals such as yours. Congrats on the engagement and upcoming wedding!!