The Lesson of the Blender

It's a shitty, basic, red Oster blender with the initials AEM Sharpied on the base. It was free. And I took it. This morning, I realized I shouldn't have.

It's 7:50 AM, I'm supposed to be at work at 8:00 AM. Whew. Are your stress levels rising reading that, because mine are. Fluttering around the kitchen, I make a coconut-mango-pineapple chia seed smoothie as a quick (ha!) fix for breakfast.

Throwing everything in the blender, I press "Pulse." The two tiny blades crank to life, emitting a soft grinding noise and a gross, burning smell. I keep pulsing (hey, I'm in a rush) and only the first half-inch of the canister is getting blended... Leaving the other 4 cups of frozen fruit untouched. Dammit.

Stubborn as I am, I grab a knife and try to manipulate the top pieces to the bottom half-inch, thinking that hey it might take a little longer, but at least I'd have my breakfast. I spent a few minutes forcing this blender to fit into my expectation of "working," but saw very little payoff; 80% of the fruit was still unblended and my time and patience was wearing out faster.

Frustrated, I pulled out my sturdy, reliable food processor, set it up with the blending blade, transferred the contents of the blender to it, pressed "Pulse," and was done in one minute flat.

Was that so hard? (Yes.)

Set Your Future Self Up for Success
At what point was accepting this hand-me-down worth it? Front end: Don't spend $60 on a new blender (good!). Don't offend a friend who is being generous (eh.). Long term: Being left stranded in a high-pressure time of need (bad!!). Here, take my $60, past-self. You're gonna need it.

Keep A Solid Toolbox of Resources
When a project gets tough, the toolbox of resources you have is CRI.TI.CAL. Do not take the easy route, because the easy route is only good an hour or so, maximum a day - however long the feeling of cheating fate lasts. Investing in a good decision then testing it out before the golden hour of need will make sure you have a large portion of your needs taken care of. With these taken care of at the start, you can use your action time handling other fires.

As Soon as Something Doesn't Work, TOSS IT.
Do not ever think someone needs a shitty blender. No one needs to be yelling in their kitchen at 7:50 AM. So, remember how we are supposed to treat others like we'd like to be treated? Don't be the reason someone has a shitty blender in their toolbox. That kind of want sets others up for success and is underserving of (most).

I'm sure the blender served AEM a good purpose earlier in its life, but it's now sitting in my trash can waiting to be taken away for good, and I am now cursing the day I thought it was a good idea to accept a free blender.