Two Things, Both Blue
Monday, May 4, 2009 at 05:44PM 
Thing One:
The other week, out of the cerulean, one of the elements on my quasi-ancient Jenn-Air range began giving me the cold, silent treatment. As in, when I requested that it apply heat to food in a pan, it ignored me.
Butter wouldn't Immelt, as it were.
The nerve of some appliances! Or portions of appliances.
Sweet TG, after only a half-dozen subtle (make that five subtle, one not-so-subtle) prompts courtesy of moi (because motivation is my middle name), removed the useless part and took it to one of the local mega-home improvement stores, hoping (as we all do, live-in-hope-die-in-despair style) for a quick and inexpensive fix.
I've never seen a robin's egg blue porch ceiling.
Which, as it turned out, he/we got.
My hero hadn't been in the store five minutes before he had located an entire wall of replacement electric range heating elements. Because he'd done his Googlework at home, he knew GE sold a part that would fit a Jenn-Air range like ours.
Done! Component necessary to secure continued marital and gastronomic harmony located, purchased, and borne home on wings of glory in record time. Pays to bring your A-game.
Only, the stimulus packaging for our new appliance part cracked us up. Yes, we are easily amused, but still.
The card inside the plastic molded around our heating element was white, with lots of pretty Wedgwood-blue writing that matched the classic GE logo poised prominently in the upper right-hand corner.
It bore this message:
I know you can't read it all. It says: "Fits most brands EXCEPT GE® and Hotpoint® models."
???
Maybe GE stands for "Go Elsewhere."
Either way, it's only words ... my stove works again and I have resumed avoiding the use of it for real actual meal preparation!
Now, the ice maker in our Whirlpool fridge is on the fritz. Audrey?
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Thing Two:
Speaking of cerulean. Which we were, sort of.
While watching The Weather Channel on Saturday, I learned that in the olden days (my sister and I used to say that, importantly, all the time: "In the olden days ..." like we knew what we were talking about, which we didn't ... when we were kids, I mean) people often painted the ceilings of their wide, wraparound porches robin's egg blue.
I've never seen a robin's egg blue porch ceiling in my life, but I did not doubt because they showed a picture. Also I took their word for this next part, which I find extraordinary if not downright bizarre.
The voiceover person claimed -- and I'll have you know it sounded for all the world as though he was talking right to me -- that there is logic behind the blue ceilings apart from the fact of their attractive appearance.
According to The Weather Channel, wasps and dirt-daubers and other similar insects will not build a nest on or near a ceiling painted blue, because they are under the impression that it's the sky.
???
I just have to wonder how many dirt-daubers they had to waterboard in order to obtain that very important information.
Also I think South Carolina wasps and dirt-daubers are smarter than that, but I have no real, actual proof. Our porch ceiling is a beigey color and they've never tried to nest there that I know of. Maybe they think it's the sidewalk, or a dish of coffee ice cream.
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As you were.
Reader Comments (16)
I love this cerulean post! Nice piece of trivia about the porch ceiling - makes me wonder if it belongs in the old wives tale category or if it really does fool the bugs.
@ Mari ... thanks luv! I'm skeptical too, but I don't want to lift a paintbrush to prove or disprove it ...
I really like your writing style. It's engaging, funny, and takes an otherwise menial task and turns it into a story. Very cool.
I've added you to my blog links, too.
Tony
@ Tony ... your blog is a great one too! I'll certainly be back. Thanks for reading and for your kind words!
Okay, this is my favorite line: "I just have to wonder how many dirt-daubers they had to waterboard in order to obtain that very important information."
...too funny. And as for that icemaker...I could probably get you another one. Just give me the model number of your refrigerator.
@ Audrey ... glad you liked it! As for the icemaker, you'll have to talk to your dad ... he broke it, LOL
I am currently painting my porch... hmmm... Green and white. Maybe I should rethink that since the wasps and FROGS seem to love our back porch...
A few years ago our oven died, the week before Thanksgiving, the week after my son had custom built a shelf that incorporated the stove/oven in the design, and of course no other stove/oven was the right height and width to fit there. I cooked Thanksgiving dinner in a toaster oven. Yikes.
Suddenly my idea of painting a mural of various cans of bug spray on the ceiling of my porch doesn't sound so crazy.
@ Tracie ... AAAARRGGGGHH! Isn't that always the way? Sometimes, whatever can go wrong, will. I think I would have wimped out and made a reservation. What a nuisance. You're quite a woman.
@ Kev ... no, but the important thing to ask yourself is, what will THEY mistake your mural for? Because, see, if they've learned that they don't like to be anywhere near cans of bug spray, they might come and nest on YOU instead. Remember that spider on the ceiling of your room? Did HE mistake the Hugo Boss and the Axe for bug spray? I think not! Look before you leap, my friend.
Ah yes, I remember that spider. He smelled nice.
So you're saying my mural could possibly cause the insects to nest on ME? That would be bad. In theory, I could keep the insects away by covering myself in bug spray tattoos. Of course, this would likely lead to my being eternally single. Decisions, decisions...
@ Kev ... Naw ... multiple, colorful bug tats would turn you into a chick magnet for sure. If you're not already, that is ... ;-)
I just noticed someone else love the line about the "dirt daubers". I posted it on Twitter. How funny is that?
@ Tony ... it's pretty funny and I'm very flattered to have been quoted on Twitter! :-)
" ... it's only words"
LOL! I love it! What possessed them to put those particular words on there, I wonder? Some sort of weird sense of corporate humour? LOL!
Love the story of the robin's egg blue porch ceilings. It might be true, I don't know. We have light blue roof blinds on our conservatory, and to be fair no wasp or bee has attempted to nest there - though they do keep flying at them, trying to get out. However, it doesn't stop the spiders, much to OH's chagrin.
Living a portion of my life in rural Iowa, I do recall robins' egg blue porch ceilings. Don't recall seeing any dirt daubers or wasps nesting there. Spiders didn't care.
Now, I had a wasp trying to make a nest on the inside of my screen door to the patio. This I dealt with in a totally environmentally red manner. Not green; red.
The color of my fly swatter. SWAT! Mourners omit flowers; draws bees ;-)
@ SF ... so you've seen robin's egg blue porch ceilings? That is so cool. And I guess it works, and who has ever known a spider to care? LOL ... and I love your politically incorrect flyswatter! You knew I would!