“I want to buy a Cuisinart CYM-100 yogurt maker,” I said as I surfed my way around Amazon.
“No,” Linda answered without looking up from her book.
Before I go any further, it’s important that I explain the give and take dynamics that Linda and I have concerning economics in our home. She gives; I take.
It’s pretty much always been that way. Well, except for that short period of time thirty years ago when I questioned the efficiency of her financial filing system, which consists of a shoe box with a series of unlabeled envelopes and a tally maintained on a piece of notebook paper. After a rather animated discussion lasting forty-five minutes, she deposited her entire record keeping system on my lap and walked away. I spent a week developing a proper system with file folders and an accounting ledger, then I gave it back. Two days later she had a new shoe box and I gave up.
So, back to the discussion at hand.
“Why can’t I have a yogurt maker?” I replied.
“Why do you need a yogurt maker? We have fifteen markets within ten minutes of our house that sell yogurt,” she answered.
“That’s easy. If I make it myself, it’s more convenient, more economical, I maintain better quality control and I have more creative control of the flavors.”
Linda answered with an impressive eye roll and said, “Oh really, this from a person who spends his time at work successfully justifying purchases of million dollar machines. Let’s dissect your proposal for a yogurt maker. How is it more convenient?”
“I don’t have to go to the store. I can make my yogurt in the comfort of my home.”
“And the process is?”
“You heat the milk to 180 degrees, let it cool to 110 degrees, ferment it in the yogurt maker for 6-8 hours, chill it and then add the fruit. It’s really a simple process.”
“That my rough calculations show takes about twelve hours. How long does it take you to run to the store?”
“That’s not a fair comparison.”
“OK, let’s move on to economics. How much does a container of yogurt cost at the market?”
“About 11 cents per ounce.”
“Fine, let’s run the numbers on home made yogurt,” Linda answered as she scribbled on the back of a magazine cover. “If I add the cost of milk, starter mix, fruit and electricity, I get a total cost of $9.75 to make a 50 ounce batch of yogurt, which works out to 19.75 cents per ounce. Two down, two to go. Give me your thoughts on quality control.
“Well, yogurt is made in large factories. How clean could that be?”
“You have a point, especially since you and I always wear hair nets and gloves when we work in the kitchen and since we have a dog and a cat constantly patrolling the house cleaning up stray contamination. Three down, one to go…what kind of ‘creative control’ are you planning to exercise?”
“Well, the selection of commercial flavors is really limited. I’d like to have more options.”
“Such as?”
“Uh…hmmm…OK, snickerdoodle flavored yogurt. That would be good!”
“And how exactly would you achieve this flavor break-through?”
“I’d have to experiment, of course.”
“So, now I get to add R&D costs into the justification. That’ll crank the numbers up.”
I narrowed my eyes and pursed my mouth in my best, ‘you’re pissing on my parade’ look. Then Linda started her own tour of yogurt makers on Amazon.
“The one you want costs $129. What’s wrong with this $40 one?”
“It doesn’t automatically chill the yogurt, so I might have to get up at four AM to put it in the fridge.”
“Only if you start the yogurt maker at eight PM. Didn’t you take a class in time management a few decades ago?”
“The cheap unit is all plastic. The Cuisinart machine has a brushed stainless steel control panel.”
“With lots of pretty buttons on it, right?”
“Never mind. I’ll just design my own yogurt maker,” I said in exasperation.
“Oh no. We’re not going there. Don’t you remember your ‘Automatic Burrito Maker’ fiasco?”
“That was not my fault! If you’d have let me install the ‘soft float’ robot control option, that burrito maker would have worked just fine.”
“Said option cost $2700 and I was cleaning dried guacamole off of my kitchen walls for over a week. No you are not going to design a yogurt maker. This discussion is over.”
So, that’s where we left it guys and gals and now I need some help. Linda just needs a teeny-tiny push to see it my way. So, I’m going to put this to a vote. Who thinks that I should get a yogurt maker? You vote and I’ll pass the results on to Linda. My bet is that two weeks from now I’m going to be in the yogurt business.
See ya,
jfowen.com 
Sorry Jerry, but I think it isn’t wise to side against your wife 🙂
🙂
Probably not, but I like to live on the edge. 🙂
Perhaps you have a pattern here. If you want to buy a yogurt maker but doing so will only encourage you to buy a pasta maker which will only encourage you to buy that dessert thing they have been selling on TV, then set a limit – one foodie gadget a year, or every five years, or whatever. I’m guessing this is a slippery slope problem. I’m with Linda barring further data!
Based on the poll results, you’re not alone. 🙂
Thank you!
I thought I left a comment when I took the poll, but it disappeared without a trace. I say get the more expensive yogurt maker, then prove that it was worth it by holding an experimental, multi-flavoured yogurt stall on a Saturday morning and making enough money to buy your wife a present (and an english bulldog too, if the business takes off!). 🙂
I like the way you think!
I’m so conflicted. I think you should get the shiny yogurt maker with the fancy buttons, but also I think you should save up for the Bulldog, because I need pictures of said Bulldog wearing fancy hats.
It’s also worth adding, I think, that I was once obsessed with owning an ice-cream maker so I could make Mars Bar ice-cream. When I received it though, despite believing that I couldn’t continue living without this totally necessary piece of equipment, I used it once and now it’s gathering dust in a press somewhere.
You’re practicing to be a politician, right. You just provided meaningful support for three different positions while simultaneously avoiding offending either of the opposing factions. I’m so impressed! I really want to move to Ireland now so that I can vote for you.
Truth be told, I’d be good with either the dog or the yogurt maker. 🙂
I actually didn’t realise what I’d done until you pointed it out to me, LOL! The diplomatic tendencies of my inner HR nerd are showing. 😀
Such a talented HR nerd! 🙂
This is coming from a woman who has made her own cheese, beer, bread, pizza, crackers, granola, cereal, and dog biscuits. She has a VitaMix blender, a KitchenAid mixer, a Cuisinart Food Processer, a Juicer, an IceCream maker, an Apple Peeler, a Bread Machine, several different Mandolin slicers, an entire Beer Tower devoted to All-Grain Brewing, and a husband who once built his own laser. Go ahead and get the Yogurt Maker. The real benefit comes not from the money saved but from the joy of engineering and creation. Nothing says love like the gift of homemade food. Nothing says you are in the home of a genius like a countertop littered with dusty gadgets.
Wow, I wish you’d have been around when I was making the original argument. You’re good! 🙂
Do you remember the food dehydrater you had to have years ago? You wanted to make your own jerky and dried fruits. It is still collecting dust and has never been used.
Do women EVER forget anything?
Nothing that’s worth storing up in order to use against you later!
😉