Our new home came with its own shiny old doorbell. It was set to play “For he’s a jolly old fellow” every time someone pushed the button, but it was buggy and usually all we got were the first two notes. We had “boo-doop”. for a doorbell. If you pushed the button too hard, you could get “boop” instead. Now, boop does not a doorbell make. Even boo-doop is pretty pathetic. If you were upstairs, or if you were to sneeze while someone was at the front door, you would miss the doorbell.

When the nice guys from the Home Depot replaced our front door last week, they replaced the button part of the doorbell, but it didn’t fix the problem with the sound. We had a beautiful new brushed nickel boo-doop-er. Sigh.

The husband was stuck at home all day yesterday dealing with issues relating to the sale of our old place (keep your fingers crossed – we’re almost there!), and he apparently decided to tackle the doorbell. Frankly, I’m surprised I didn’t come home to find him in the workroom with goggles, a Dremel, and a screaming doorbell in pieces on the bench. If it’s electronic, he usually likes to gut it and rebuild it. Dr. Frankenstein for gadgets. But instead, he just installed a new doorbell. Not as interesting a project to report, but the bell now goes “ding-dong” like a proper doorbell should. It has an actual bell in it – how delightfully old-school!

Of course, I then stood outside for 5 minutes jabbing at the doorbell to hear it chime. Because I like buttons. And bells.

I noticed that the old doorbell has not been discarded. It may still be autopsied and/or dismembered. Perhaps I will come home one day and hear my dishwasher going boo-doop, because it thinks I’m a jolly old fellow but it can’t get all the words out.