Aging Microwave 

When I was a kid we never had a microwave oven. When they first were invented they cost a crazy amount of money and were big enough to drive a VW bug inside. Since they were invented after my parents had added the third kitchen to our house there was no dedicated space to add such a large and ugly appliance to our main kitchen. The other two kitchens were hardly ever used so we certainly were not going to spend any money outfitting them.  
Since I did not have a microwave during those early years that I was developing as a cook I had no interest in getting one of those new fangled machines myself. It was not until I was out of college a number of years and the prices really went down to be less than the cost of a television did I get one.  
I never used a microwave to “cook” anything. It was purely to reheat leftovers, something I always had a lot of. When I met Russ he had a giant ass kenmore microwave, large enough for a 20 pound turkey. He also had a microwave cookbook, but I would bet good money it was never opened once. Probably seemed like the perfect gift to give a bachelor son.
As soon as Russ and I consolidated our households I did away with the big ass microwave since I had been brought up in a home where the kitchen was a room to look good and annoying ugly appliances were unwanted. Not that I did not have and use many appliances.
I have grown to love my microwave as the feeder of family members when I am not home. All they have to do is pick out one of the many containers of previously cooked food from the fridge and in a matter of moments they had a homemade meal.
For the last few months I have felt that our current microwave is not doing as good a job of heating so it used to. Sometimes I have to put a bowl back in a couple of times to ensure that the middle of a soup is actually hot, this despite stirring. Since I don’t buy frozen food with heating instructions I am not sure if the microwave is actually getting less effective or I am imagining it. Maybe I should buy a lean cuisine and cook it according to the package and see if it is hot and that will tell me if my machine is working. I just can’t bring myself to buy that kind of food.
I guess I will keep this microwave until an epic failure even though new ones cost barley as mush as dinner out for the three of us. If I felt like I might cook a fresh meal every night I might do away with the microwave all together, but that is too much pressure on me and then what would we do with all the leftovers in the fridge?