The Tip of The Refrigerator

 Well, as we all know, we have had just the worst past two years.  The worst.  I mean, I'm not daring the Universe or anything but mydawg.

We've weathered it okay so far, there have been a few times that we lost it; mentally, spiritually, physically.  Luckily we haven't spun out at the same time, mostly sticking to our "One Crazy Person At A Time" policy.

Until the refrigerator stopped working.  That apparently was the limit.

Kevin mentioned last weekend that the ice cream was soft.  We both just kind of went "Hmmmm" and moved on with our lives.  Then on Wednesday I grabbed the butter and it was soft. You're sensing a theme, aren't you?

I checked out the fridge section and it was cold but not COLD.  The freezer was as best as I can describe as meh.  The ice machine is making ice and happy, the vegetables were frozen, but the ice cream was soft.  I texted Kevin that I thought there was a problem, like, for real though.

He came home and went into problem-solving mode.  He discovered that the coils desperately needed cleaning.  It's a newish fridge and they are on the bottom and not on the back as we were used to.  Thanks to two years of just GAAAAAAAHHHHH, this maintenance task just didn't even make it onto the to-do list.  There was a whole other dog's worth of hair and dust under there.  Sigh.

Using the shop vac and an air compressor, he cleaned it all and we waited.  Kevin said that he'd noticed that the refrigerator had been running more lately.  I hadn't and tried not to raise an eyebrow at the not mentioning of that.

We left it closed until the next morning, hoping that would fix it.  It didn't.  I unplugged it for an hour to let it reset, as suggested by the interwebs.   Nope.  Kevin said that he would look into it more and ask his friends if they knew anything.  

I was in the middle of one big work project and had just finished another.  I didn't make time to research any possible causes or fixes.  So we were not as proactive as we both usually would be.  We were both victims of magical thinking, it was just going to fix itself.

He came home and I was making dinner, at which time I decided that I should probably stop eating food from that refrigerator and freezer.  He tried a few things and we looked at the owners manual to no avail.

Then we both kind of just...stop thinking about it.  It was an unsolvable problem.

This is Not Like Us At All Ever.

This morning I spent an hour trying to find an appliance repair company.  It is shocking the lack of skilled technicians.  I left a voicemail for one at 8:03 this morning, they open at 8:00.  It's now 11:30 and no response. 

Then I phoned the store where we bought the washer and the dishwasher.  They're local and their customer service is really good.  They have a technician and....he can be at the house on Monday, May 12th.  I asked if there were any other options and she put me on hold.  They are "working me in" for next Tuesday afternoon.  That's one...two...three...almost four days without a refrigerator. But I scheduled it.

NOW my brain flips into Go Mode.  I can get ice and fill the ice chests. Something I should have done two days ago but WE LISTEN AND WE DON'T JUDGE.   I cancelled all the cold stuff from the grocery order. Maybe I can buy a dorm fridge to get us through the weekend.  We'll just have to eat out all weekend and WON'T THAT BE FUN.  

Sigh.

Kevin phoned a friend and our Nephew.  Nephew said that there is a reset switch that probably needs pushed.  It's inconveniently located at the back of the refrigerator.  I pulled it out (it's on coasters) but I can't get back there still.  Instead of being on the evening news for being crushed to death by a dying refrigerator, I am waiting for either Kevin or Nephew to get home later today.

We're not buying a dorm fridge because I realized that once we were done, we have zero use for it.  Now I'm back to buying ice.  Then I realized that other than water, most of the stuff in the refrigerator is going into the garbage.  Sigh. And I already submitted the grocery order.  Also, now I have to empty everything, fill up our recycling that I just took, and then replace everything. 

Now I'm spun out again

Instead I'm listening to music on my headphones while alone in a silent house because my brain is the frog in the Bugs Bunny cartoons.  (Michigan J. Frog)