I’ve been hanging around the house today waiting for Larry Ellison to buy the Warriors. So far he hasn’t bought the Warriors. Which brings me to my oven.

We have a very good Maytag double oven — one on top and one on bottom. The top oven is the big honcho. It’s large and it’s where we do the major cooking. A control panel runs it. This control panel could pilot a rocket ship. To work it you punch buttons which control temp, cook time, self-cleaning, the works. Each time you hit a button the control panel whistles at you.

The bottom oven is smaller and it works with a knob. Do you remember knobs? When you want to use the bottom oven you turn the knob to the right until you reach the desired temperature. Bingo.

Yesterday the top oven — the fancy one — stopped working. We thought an element had burned out; you know one of those burners that glows red. We called the guy and he did some tests and showed us the element was OK, but the control panel failed, the space-age control panel. He had to order a new panel from Sacramento which he installed today.

The panel cost $226. With labor and tax the whole deal came to more than $350.

So here’s what I wonder. When did knobs go out of style? I bet the guy could have replaced the knob on the lower oven for 15 bucks. I don’t see how these complicated control panels help the consumer — they remind me of free agency in sports which never helped a single fan.

I’m for a world with knobs on ovens and radios and TVs and record players (that dates me). I love a simple knob and I don’t like control panels.

That’s what I’ve been thinking while I wait for Larry Ellison.