I ended up calling an appliance repair company to come out and take a look at it. I thought it was the heating element in the oven that was going to need replaced - because, of course I know how to diagnose a problem like that! The repairman who came out tested that, and that was not the problem. It was bigger than that - the computer chip that controlled everything was bad. The oven was just the beginning, this thing controlled the burners, the clock, the timer, everything. That's when we had to decide, either go ahead with the repair, or buy a new stove. A new stove was tempting... but in the end it would have cost more, and really my stove was in perfect shape - except for the not working part, of course. So, we went ahead with the repair, and for about $300 we got, for all practical purposes, a new stove. Its body was in good shape, and with a new brain, it could again do the things it was made to do. There is no way we could have actually gotten a new stove for that kind of money.
If any of your appliances stops working properly, I would strongly suggest calling an appliance repair company first, before you rush out and buy something new. You can have a repairman come to your house, diagnose the problem, give you an estimate, and oftentimes fix your problem right on the spot, so you can get back to doing the things you need to do, all at a significant savings to buying something new. Mine took a bit longer because the part wasn't one he carried in his van, so he had to order it in and then come back to fix the stove a few days later. In the meantime, I realized how much I use the oven, even more than I'd realized before - and that's why I still appreciate it pretty much every time I use it.
