Forget warranties if you’re far from an urban area. Several years ago, we had an otherwise great TV from Samsung. They promise in-house service if a widescreen TV has a problem. What the warranty doesn’t say, not even in small print, is that if you’re not within 200 miles of an authorized service facility you’re out of luck. This 65-inch television failed early on. That’s when we learned that little catch-22. Through a series of escalating calls to Samsung, over the course of eight weeks, we eventually got a check for the price of the television. Not a repair, not a replacement. The next one was NOT a Samsung. In the meantime, we bought a small (37 inches) replacement for temporary use. It’s available for guest room use should we ever need it.

Last year, our LG refrigerator (one that’s supposed to be very reliable) failed after eight years. It’s frustrating to not have a working television. It’s way more difficult not having a refrigerator and having to keep buying ice for coolers to keep things cold. A repair guy (local, not LG) said the cost of fixing it would cost nearly as much as a new one. We picked a new fridge from websites. Unfortunately, nobody would deliver to our small town. Well, Sears would—in three weeks. I ordered one from Best Buy in Las Cruces—two hours away. I rented a U-Haul truck to get it home. More than a little challenging to get it from the truck into the house.

Ok, we knew it would be a long trek for flying anywhere living in a small town. As we like to describe our location—“in the middle of nodamnwhere.” You give up lots of stores for things that you don’t need often. That includes major appliances. But you don’t expect that you can’t get repairs for them or that you must find a way to get them home. Still, living in a small town offers things cities don’t—like no traffic. Less stress. More property with better views for less money. Friendly people. Peace and quiet without:

• Weed whackers
• Leaf blowers
• Barking dogs
• Loud neighbors
• Delivery trucks
• And much more

Just remember, the big corporations may have lots of products to sell you—they really don’t care about keeping you happy. Local stores do. They need repeat customers. Multinationals—not so much. But we’re not leaving. We have our dream house high atop a hill with a great view. With the good comes the bad.