This entry was posted on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 at 12:02 am and is filed under By the Numbers, Five on Friday, If I Were the Queen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Setting up a new toaster oven should not under any circumstances require the following ingredients:
1) A plastic spoon
2) Four paper towels
3) All ten fingernails
4) Frequent misting of household chemicals
5) 28 minutes
This goes double when above tools are necessary to forcibly remove a colorful, life-sized sticker whose only purpose is to tout the same product perks bragged about on the garishly-decorated box.
And yet…
6 minutes into the procedure
After a thorough de-stickering. Note the cat in the reflection. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he is sitting on my back. Never bend to take a picture in our household lest you become sat upon by random animals.
December 13th, 2008 at 6:12 am
You really have to wonder where the marketing weasels keep their brains when you run into stuff like this.
After the first five minutes or so of scraping, I’d have been strongly tempted to take the darned thing back and choose another brand. Good for you on the perseverance. [wry smil]
Angie
December 13th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Oh, I hate when they do this, but good on you for seeing it through! You’re a far more patient woman than me!
December 13th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
There is NO reason for this kind of stuff. I think these people should be painfully tortured, preferably with whatever annoyance they bestowed upon me that made me want them to receive said torture. Rich and I actually have a list of things like this that suck…On the top of the list is whoever invented the HORRIBLY MEAN tough plastic that lower-end electronics and the like come in now. The things that cut you whenever you try to remove them manually (I mean, before you employ the blowtorch). GRRR.
December 13th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
“3) All ten fingernails”
One of the best lines I’ve ever read!
Horribly, horribly true.
December 13th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Oh, Katie picked up on one of my product pet peeves. What is up with that? Another one that burns me up is making me struggle to open a new CD. It’s a freakin’ plastic disc! Not going to spoil if exposed to air.
Caryn, nice polish job on the toaster oven. How much to you charge?
December 13th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
@Angie — No kidding! And, yeah, I thought about taking it back, but we live in a small town and I bought it in the nearest city, so exchanges aren’t easy. So tempting, though, nonetheless!
@Alyson — I was determined. The sticker was so ugly, and I knew it would only get worse if I left it on to bake.
@Katie — Oh, yes! I HATE those plastic casings. So awful. And of course if the product doesn’t work as advertised, it’s so difficult to return. Maybe that’s the plan?
@Kit — Thanks! It was one of the things that particularly annoyed me about the procedure. I was picking adhesive out from under my fingernails for ages. It’s why I finally switched to the plastic spoon.
@Kath — How about if I polish the door of your toaster oven, you make something delicious for me in it. Sound like a fair exchange?
December 13th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Lol… how often do you see this line written down…?
“It’s why I finally switched to the plastic spoon.”
Classic.
December 13th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Those stickers suck. Mainly because I’m OCD and once I’ve decided that I want the damn thing off, I will sit there and mess with it until it’s all the way gone.
December 13th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Did you buy the B & D Label Removal Kit?
December 13th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Funny stuff, girl!
So true. And one of mine is the price stickers on books. I love the easy peel-offs. Cringe when it comes off like your toaster oven.
December 13th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
It is beautiful! The toaster, too, but I’m talking about the whole new site and blog and photoblog. What a lot of work, but so well done.
I have to tell you the fingernail problem is exceptionally funny because if you had fingernail polish remover around, it would have (with just a tiny bit of wetting and waiting) removed a sticky label with no problem. Sorry I didn’t know about the problem sooner, or I’d have told you. But, you can try it the next time you have a problematic sticker. That, or pick up some Goo Be Gone. I sounds ridiculous, but works like magic on stick stuff. It’s oily though, so you have to take care where you use it.
December 13th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
@Kit — Well, I think it’s the first I’ve ever written it, if that counts!
@Courtney — I’m like that too! The harder something becomes and the more time and energy I invest in it, the more determined I am that I will prevail.
@David — So that’s what I was missing! No wonder! Hilarious. They probably *do* have one of those on the market!
@LaDonna — Oh, yes! The price stickers on books can be awful sometimes. Since the toaster oven sticker was in such an obvious place and the company is pretty major (and the toaster oven was hardly inexpensive!) I figured it would be one of those easy-off stickers we all love so much.
@Mizzz_K — Wish I would have thought of the fingernail polish remover! I would have given it a try. That’s how rarely I polish my nails, though! As for the Goo Gone, I thought of it, but we don’t have any. (I know — a huge oversight that will be remedied soon enough!) I was starving, though, and wanted to make something in the blasted oven, so I simply couldn’t wait.
December 13th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
this is so horribly, horribly true.
I bought some of that sticker-remover stuff (do not remember what it’s called), and it helps a lot. but you have to choose between waiting for quite a while (to let the goop set in) or scraping the bulk of it off (sacrificing those fingernails again!) and then get the sticky stuff off with the remover.
really, what is the point? why can’t all the stickers be those ones that come off in one go?
December 14th, 2008 at 6:07 am
David — ROFLMAO!
But you have to go down on your knees to the sales dude, in perfect form, and beg prettily for at least ten minutes before he’ll agree that you deserve the kit.
Angie, still snickering
December 14th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Black and Decker probably thought the consumer wouldn’t get it the first time and decided to make sure you’d remember them for an eternity.
Nothing pisses me off more than trying to put together a new bookshelf, only to realize it’s missing a side or a couple of screws. *grrrrrrr*
December 14th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Oh, I hate those darn stickers! I’m aggravated just thinking about it. Way to go on the removal!
December 14th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Yeesh–this reminds me of all the theft-proof packaging they have nowadays. It took me 10 minutes to get my new toothbrush out of the package!!!
December 14th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I despise those stickers! What’s the point? I’ve obviously already bought the thing!
December 14th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I’m another sticker-hater…plus, I’m so compulsive that I can’t stop until I get every bit of it off…which is why I’m having you over the next time I’m faced with a similar project
. You, clearly, have the gift. That is one sparkly-clean toaster oven!
December 14th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
@Emily — I so agree. I know they can make stickers that come off cleanly, because I’ve bought stuff with them before.
@Angie — So that’s what I did wrong! All I did was pull out my credit card and buy the thing. I didn’t even think about begging.
@Marcia — Well, they won’t have to worry about me remembering! I definitely can’t forget now. And I know what you mean about trying to put stuff together and discovering that it’s missing parts. That’s happened to us, too. Such a pain!
@Robin — Thanks! So glad it’s over.
@Conda — No kidding! I hate that stuff, too.
@Mama Zen — Exactly!!! Why try to sell it to me again?
@Marilyn — I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the toaster oven cleaned up. I figured I’d be scraping off residue for years to come.
December 14th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Cat: I see what you are doing there.
Sorry, couldn’t resist. Got to love when your pets use a situation to their advantage. “OH look! This bridge wasn’t here before.”
I swear, I’ll stop.
December 14th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
And that’s why you’re gonna get published.
December 15th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
I feel your pain! Goo Gone’s good…and sometimes a hair-dryer will help with a stubborn sticker.
Your cat’s quick to take advantage of a situation, isn’t he?
December 15th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
It’s like having to pry off 4 square feet of molded plastic to get to a tiny sd card.
December 15th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
@Soleil – Don’t stop! It’s amusing.
@Pam – Because I don’t like adhesive? Yeah, I always thought that was a big factor in the publishing game…
@Wil – I totally forgot about the hair dryer thing! Next time. Thanks for reminding me.
@Amy – No kidding! I hate that molded plastic stuff.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:05 am
Ha! I hate stickers on plastic and glass. Yikes..
December 16th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Woman triumphs over toaster oven! With only 10 fingernails as casualties.
Assembly is horrid, but I have had one “Aha!” moment while setting up an appliance. When I was setting up my new coffeemaker, I learned from its instruction manual just what had killed my previous one: my town’s scary water. Apparently if you have hard water, sometimes you need to “descale” your coffeemaker. Um, ew?
Love the cat in the pic!
December 17th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
where’s the cat? is this like a “where’s waldo?” type of thing? did i mention i need a new prescription?
well then. have a very merry and jolly holiday!
December 23rd, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Your new blog is gorgeous! And the website too!
How I hate those stubborn labels. The trick I learned from my mum is to remove them with lighter fuel, that’s cigarette lighter fuel. It works a treat, but the fumes are, well, fumey. Next time I will try Windolene, the UK version of Windex, which is easier on the nose.
December 24th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
@Keri – With all the people who are so clearly annoyed by it, you’d think they wouldn’t do it anymore, wouldn’t you?
@Stacy – LOL! As for ‘descaling’, gee, <i>that</i> sounds like a fun process. Bet you were glad to learn that that’s necessary!
@Virginia – Check your email!
@Mary – Thanks! It took a while to put together, but I’ve been happy with it so far. Oh, and I like the name Windolene much better than Windex. It’s got a nice ring to it.
December 28th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Ah, brilliantly written! Thank you for expressing the frustrations of thousands.
Just this morning I was wondering, as I wrestled with a bottle of vitamins, do the manufacturers ever try to open these packages themselves?
December 29th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Love the new look of your blog–very crisp.
I’m completely on-board with your sticker-removal irritation. Someone should be heading up research in the ‘easily-removable-retail-sticker’ department, because serious strides need to be made.
But enjoy your toaster oven now that the offending sticker is removed–we use ours all the time.
December 29th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I HATE how companies adhere these stickers. It is like they are trying to punish you for buying their product.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:27 am
@Chemical Billy – I’ve wondered that myself! I think the proper punishment for any wrongdoing would be to give them mounds of their own packaging and tell them to open it all.
@Alyssa – I agree. There definitely needs to be research. I mean, we can do all this cool, advanced stuff, but we can’t make stickers that unstick when necessary?
@Eileen – It does seem that way, doesn’t it?
January 2nd, 2009 at 1:06 am
I got a Black and Decker toaster oven too! But it didn’t have any stickers on it.
January 12th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
@Barrie – Lucky! How’d you escape that one?
January 12th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Yikes. Maybe it was a returned item??!
July 7th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
[...] last saw action several months ago when I removed one those flashy stickers some companies like to plaster all over their products. And [...]