Is it possible to be really, deeply in love with an appliance?

This is why I love my new stove:

- All four burners work. No kidding - they all really and truly work.

- When I turn the knobs they light after the first click. The old stove didn't work as easily (or safely). I'd turn the knob and hear, "click, click, click . . . click, click." With each subsequent click I'd have to move farther and farther from the stove because it meant that more and more propane was being released into the air. When the burner (one of the two that worked) would finally light there would be a big fire ball until all of the propane was burned off. I lost all of the pilling off of the front of a sweater once and a couple of times Geoff had hairless lower arms.

- The door is on real hinges. It is not held on with wire. That means that I no longer have to fear it falling on my foot (which did happen once). The handle is also firmly in place and doesn't come out of its holder-part when the door is opened.

- The grill actually makes food taste like its been grilled. We're waiting for our new rangehood before we use the grill anymore though since last week's steaks filled the house with smoke. Abby had a minor asthma attack, but that's a small price to pay for being able to grill steaks in the house.

- Things come out even. It is amazing what a difference it makes to have a stove whose leveling feet-things are not broken. It's been years since my brownies didn't have a high side a a low side. I can also make two eggs in one pan now. I had gotten used to only being able to make one at a time because if I had two in the same pan they both slide, when raw, to the same side of the pan, creating a mega-egg.

- I an actually simmer things. The old stove had a problem with simmering things even though one of the two working burners was the simmer burner. For some reason the simmer flame had a tendency to blow out. Sometimes we wouldn't realize it until I smelled propane. I lived in fear of Geoff simmering when I wasn't home because he could never smell it. Now I can go off and have a merry time while Geoff is at home simmering.

I read an article about home improvements, specifically kitchens. A psychologist said that people tend to assume that people want to remodel because they want to "keep up with the Joneses." But his research showed that that was not the reason that most people wanted to update their homes. He had found that people work hard and want to enjoy their homes. They figure that after a hard day they deserve to come home to state-of-the-art equipment. Well, I don't expect state-of-the-art appliances, but I do think that I work hard enough to come home to a stove that actually works. If it has added features (like the grill), well I guess I can live with that too.