Like some of us, I am a guilty participant. If something breaks, I throw it away. Because usually it’s less expensive to replace a Keurig than to try to fix it. However, this week instead of feeling guilty I raged! My anger was out of control for a couple of reasons.

First, I was angry at myself. As you know, I have dogs. Two, which are counter surfers, in search of any delectable they can knock on the floor for their feast. Thus my justification for placing a plastic container of fresh-baked cookies safely behind my oven door. However, the next evening I forgot the cookies were in the oven and turned the oven on to 350 degrees. Fifteen minutes later smoke wafted about the kitchen. I yanked the oven door open and saw an incredible mess of dripping, melted plastic. There was no way this old broad could deal with this “hot” mess. (Excuse the pun.) My oven rack was also totally gobbed up and beyond salvageable. My anger slowly dissipated. “Alexa, play Abba.” I danced around to Mamma Mia. Tomorrow I’ll get a replacement rack. No BIG deal.

Wrong. It took me several hours to dig through mounds of paper to find the Maytag oven manual. Aha! The model number! I spent several more hours searching the internet for the rack. Each site proved a dead end. I found an appliance parts store nearby and strode in the chaotic dump, replete with filthy, ancient carpet. “Excuse me, sir. I’m in need of an oven rack.”

“Model number?” He grumbled. I handed it to him and he scrolled through his laptop. “Nope. Discontinued.”

“Wait, don’t you have any other rack, which would fit?” He looked at me, as if I was a dumb blond. Blond, right? Dumb? Not so much. “There’s NO such thing as a universal oven rack. Say you have a 30 inch oven, the rack size differs from each manufacturer. GE, doesn’t fit Whirlpool. Get it.”

“Oh, so I’m SOL?”

“Yep.”

OMG. I’m not spending three thousand+ on a new oven–particularly when this one works fine. Ridiculous. I fumed. I revived my internet search and found an adjustable rack. Though, it lacked the depth by a few inches, I could make the length work. (After all, it was for the lower oven, which I rarely use.) Thankfully, the adjustable rack worked.

It seems to this old broad that innocuous parts like oven racks and charging cords should be standardized. But individual manufacturers would object. They want us to simply buy new and throw away the used. Obla de obla da! And their profits soar.