I know it's really not that bad but it's frustrating....

Last night we tried to use my grandmother's pressure canner for the first time since her death.  I'm sure it hasn't been used in at least 10 years but the seal was still flexible and soft so I thought it would be ok.  No dice though, it did not seem to be able to get up to pressure and was releasing steam from around the lid and the emergency release valve.  I took it off an oiled both the gasket and the release valve but got the same results.  Now I have sealed jars of beats that haven't been sterilized.   I think I'll have to break the seal to finish the job, which usually means replacing the lids too. *grump*

In the middle of the canning, the Microwave/hood combination started flashing an SE error and beeping every 2 minutes or so.  We shut it off at the breaker to see if it would reset, thinking it might be the steam.  But that didn't work and it still didn't work this morning so I looked up the error.  It's indicative of a short in the key pad.  The only way to repair it is to call someone out to service it, which I really can't afford.  This microwave is driving me nutty.  This is the second time it's quit since I bought the house.  I'd just taken the back up unit out to the garage thinking it would continue to work.  I wonder what it would cost to just rip the stupid thing out and replace it with a regular hood.  It's a nice space saving idea but steam and electronics aren't really a good combination and over the stove, that's what you get.

I know none of this is a big deal, but it feels like the house is falling down around me with all of the little repairs.  It doesn't help that extra expenses this month have left me really short on money.  In fact, I'm sure that's a contributing factor in the unreasonable feeling.

If you looked at the entry about yellowstone...

Please go back and look again- I've added pictures.