8/20: helpful help and a long-working machine

I got a sewing machine as a gift from my parents when I graduated from high school many years ago. It wasn't an expensive machine, but my mother knew what to look for and chose a great one from Sears. It has never had trouble over the past 2+ decades, and it's never needed servicing, even though I don't necessarily treat it well (for instance, I sometimes sew on paper with it). Tonight its light bulb broke in such a way that I can't get it out on my own (I cut myself trying). I thought: this is really an amazing machine, taking decades of (ab)use, and its first problem isn't even related to its sewing mechanism. And then I thought: this is from Sears; maybe they can help. I went to Sears online and had a live chat with someone named Bruce. He didn't seem to miss a beat when I said I was needing help with such an old machine, and he told me where I can take it for repairs. After an overwhelming day of bureaucracy at school, I so appreciated Sears' (and Bruce's) straightforward approach.

And now an update: When Chris came home from a late meeting this evening, I told him what had transpired. He said he thought he could get the bulb out, and he did! And then I had a glimmering that my mother--way back when--had given me an extra bulb in the sewing tool-kit she had put together for me. I found the bulb, which has travelled with me from Pennsylvania to New York to Kansas to California to New York to Arkansas over the years. We put it in, and all is good. So now Chris and my mother are added to my gratitude list for the day.