New houses sometimes come with appliances included, which I’ve learned can be a blessing and a curse.

For instance, in our latest house, we were lucky to have all the kitchen appliances included, but we had to buy a new washer and dryer when we moved in. Of course we weren’t pumped about spending money on a new washer and dryer (especially considering all the expenses that come with moving), but we didn’t mind too much since the washer and dryer that we would have inherited, had the previous owners left them, would have needed to be replaced before long anyway.

While we were fortunate that all the kitchen appliances that came with the house were in working order, they had their quirks, specifically the microwave. Not only did it sound like it was going to shake itself off the wall mount whenever it was running, it would beep incessantly when the timer went off. We definitely had plans down the line to replace all the appliances at the same time to hopefully get a bit of a discount (and perhaps even plan our purchase around a big sale to get even more money off!). Oh, to dream.

Cut to a few weeks ago.

So there I was minding my own business just heating up some lunch. When the microwave stopped shuddering and the timer beeped over and over and over again I went to check on my food. It was still a little cold so I put it back in for another minute. But nothing happened. I opened the microwave door and closed it again. Still, no nothing. Thinking I blew a fuse I tested the surrounding lights and outlets, but everything was in working order. Perturbed, I ate my not-really-that-warm lunch and when Lucius got home I told him about my annoying adventure. Lucius also checked the lights and checked the outlets and confirmed that everything (except the microwave) had power (thanks dear, I could have told you that).

Anywho, it was ultimately decided that we needed a new microwave. Not the end of the world, but not ideal as we hadn’t planned on replacing the rest of the appliances yet, and would therefore likely miss out on a little bit of a discount when we replaced them.

So a couple of days later, Lucius buys a shiny new microwave. He spends some time installing said microwave, with help from yours truly. Once it’s installed we go to plug it in and…. nothing. Nothing happened. No power. Nada. What!?

Cue Lucius once again testing all the light switches, the outlets, and the fuse boxes (we have two, for some reason). When everything proved to be in working order he goes into the closet on the other side of the wall that the microwave lives on, which conveniently enough is exposed because that wall is shared with the stairs and our water heater is under the stairs.

Lo and behold…. there’s ANOTHER FRIGGIN’ FUSE BOX in the closet under the stairs…. JUST FOR THE MICROWAVE and apparently the oven too. And of course the breaker had flipped.

So long story short, we didn’t need a new microwave. Once we flipped the breaker, voila! We had power. *cue facepalm. We ultimately decided to keep the new microwave because it was kind of a pain to install and we were planning on buying it down the road anyway BUT, here’s a PSA to check your house for 8 million fuse boxes before you go buy new stuff, or something.

And speaking of quirky appliances, check out the hilariously long symphony our washer and dryer play when they’re done: