REFRIGERATOR AT LAST? AND ON TO THE NEXT PROBLEM

We arrived home last Friday night - much earlier in the evening than usual.  It was a combination of exhaustion, the heat, possibility of heavy rain later in the evening, and knowing that we might have to be up and about early on Saturday for the delivery of our new refrigerator.  Normally no matter how late it is when we arrive home we clear out all - or just about all - of the stuff in the RV.  This time we only brought in what we needed to have for the night and Saturday morning.  We did not want more stuff in the house - which was still discombobulated from when the new fridge had been delivered the week before.  There was no computer phone call with the time that the delivery would be made the next day as we were suppose to receive and had received the night before the first refrigerator was received.  Knowing that the crew also calls about half an hour before they actually come, we went to bed expecting a call the next day. 

I was woken by someone ringing our doorbell and pounding on the door at 7:30 am.  I was unsure if it was the delivery as no one had called and was physically too exhausted to get up and look out the window.  At 9:30 am my alarm went off. I telephoned the store and was told that I was not on the delivery list for the day.  (Glad I didn’t force myself out of bed at 7:30.)  The delivery manager who told me this seemed to have no memory of who we were and what was going on.  He put me through to the appliance manager.  She remembered us, but it was as if we had not been told the week before that it would be delivered on Saturday - the day I was calling her.  She told me that she had the fridge and it would be delivered the next day - Sunday.  (Quite frankly we were surprised that they deliver on Saturday or Sunday - it used to be week days only.)

The time frame for the first refrigerator to be delivered was 11:30 am to 4:30 pm. We figured that there was a delivery time which ended at 11:30 am and one that started at 4:30 pm. We were called and told that the time range was 12 pm to 5 pm.  Lunch was problematic - there was food in the basement freezer and some packaged food in the house - but we had not had a properly working fridge in over a week and a half and did not really have food in the house for the lunch, but we figured we could hold out  - and what were the chances we would be one of the last deliveries of the time frame? 

We woke up before noon and dressed and went into our home office to work on our computers, sort mail that arrived while we were away, catch up email etc.  Around 3:00 husband said that he really needed to eat something as his blood sugar had dropped.  Crackers were not enough - so I made him a can of pea soup.  I had a small individual applesauce.  We went back upstairs.  Now, I did get work done - I managed to transfer files to a DVD for my annual archiving of last year, caught up on email, etc.  At 4:00 the phone rang.  It was the delivery company’s computer again - delivery was now to be 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm! 

I telephoned the store - they had the same info, but they did give me a phone number for the delivery company.  I called same - 3 times as the first two times I was dropped off hold.  I got a nice woman named Becky.  I explained that entire saga- damaged refrigerator delivered, having to wait a week for a replacement, delivery not set up for the day before as we would be told, the change in time at the last minute, we are both Diabetics and have not eaten and are becoming ill...  She went and checked.  There had been a problem on an earlier delivery that set the crew back 90 minutes!  She also told me that there were 4 deliveries ahead of us so it would be an hour to an hour and a half before they came and we should be able to go out and eat something.  I thanked her.

We did not go out for lunch as we did not trust doing so.  Glad we did not.  We received a call around 5 pm that they would be here within half an hour.  Husband went outside to wait.  Good thing.  The numbering is odd on the houses here plus depending on the GPS it can show us up the street or about 5 + blocks of where we are.  Husband saw a truck stop about 2 houses up the street from us with the men in the truck looking confused and he waved them over. 

As opposed to the first crew which was just the other side of perfunctory - meaning a little short of same - this was the type of the delivery we expected (other than the time problem).  Two friendly delivery men. Robert had explained to them that they were taking back the same model that we had recently received because of damage.  They came in and measured the doors again.  (The last one came in, so this one had to - they were twins.)  The one in charge looked at the damage and shook his head that it had been delivered like that. They took the old one out.  They unpacked the new one.  The one in charge called husband over - there was a scratch in the freezer door of the new one - he and we had the same idea - the freezer doors were switched.  They brought the new fridge in.  They removed the plastic wrapping from it.  It was plugged in so all knew it was working.  They saw that it was not level and leveled it.  (The prior crew had told us it could not be leveled when we asked them to do so.)  They did not set up the inside, but I had been told by the manager that they are not suppose to do so.  If this crew had come with the original fridge and same had not been damaged and had worked right - I would be just as happy with this store as I was after I bought a washing machine from them.  (Which is why we bought from them again.)  We tipped the two men - husband is not one to tip for deliveries and such, but we agreed that they did that good a job - especially compared to the last crew.  After delivery and setup the fridge is suppose to sit set at the middle range for 24 hours without opening and closing the door or putting any food in it.  We shut it off and set up the shelves inside, put in the remote thermometer and shut the door.  We went out for a much needed dinner at the Asian buffet we go to.

It is more or less working properly.  Apparently it is suppose to go up and down more than our older fridge to keep the proper temperature - although not as much as the first one did.  It is also suppose to do so less after it is filled - it is suppose to be at least half filled and food added a little at a time.  We have put a lot of bottles of water (made by us, not commercial) in it to add food to it as we have not yet been food shopping and even then, do not have a lot of food in the fridge at any one time in hot weather (in case storm takes down the electricity), and not that much in the winter either other than at certain times as there are only two of us.

So Monday afternoon after picking up the mail at our box - from over a week - and lunch out at Wendys, we came home and I was ready to start catching up on work at my computer.  Our bank statements, as well as those for our business and for the two clubs of which I am treasurer had all come in and I planned to work on them.  ( I had caught up on email on Sunday while we waited for the delivery.)

I turned on my computer.  Some message went past too quickly for me to read.  I then tried to go to the Win XP virtual machine in my computer to catch up and sync my Organizer entries in my old Palm Centro with Organizer - but the computer would not switch to the XP side.  Husband came to figure it out.  Unfortunately I have been having problems with my old, analog monitor recently and it decided to die in the middle of this.  We managed to turn my computer sideways and hook it up to the monitor from husband’s second computer - hanging on the wall on his side of the office.  He fixed the computer problem.

He had been looking for a new monitor for me.  I really did not want a digital one, but that it is all there is.  The big problem was that unless we were going to rearrange a good part of the office, I needed a small monitor - about 18 inches across - or it would not fit.  There were two candidates he had found.  One was Walmart and one was from Staples - but the latter had to be ordered.  So Walmart it was.  We went in to a local Walmart.  We found the monitor we had been looking at - on our trip last week we actually had a chance to see it running and it looked okay.  We also found one that he had not seen anything about that was smaller.  He looked it up online on his cell phone - well rated and only US$60 (plus sales tax).  We decided to go with same.  It could be returned and at that price if we decided that I should have the other monitor (it can be turned vertically which might be good for me when reading full page things such as IRS manuals), this was cheap enough to keep as a spare emergency monitor around the house.  We took it to the electronics desk - it was $90?  Husband pointed out that it was $60 online - we were told that we had to ask for a price match (to Walmart’s own online price).  He walked away in reference to a call he had taken.  Husband checked and he told him that we should take it to customer service and buy it there, asking for the price match.

This Walmart is in the middle of being updated.  The entry now has a gate that when closed only lets one into the store, not out, and when open bings when one someone walks out.  Plus there is a security device on the box - how do we get to the service desk - without security descending on us?  He decided that he would stay inside of the entrance and I should go out, get in line and explain and ask what to do.  I walked over to the first register aisle (empty of customers) and walked out and got on the service line.  I was 3rd in line.  But there were problems with everyone ahead of us.  Finally after he watched people walk out the entrance, set off the alarm, and have nothing happen, he met me at the line.  We bought it for the online price and started home. 

My old monitor sat on a small plastic shelf, which I do not want to get rid of.  (I keep my 2 external hard drives for backup under it, as well as it having sections to hold both kinds of paper clips, pencils, pens, etc. ) Apparently the old monitor bent the shelf and the new monitor rocked.  We finally got it balanced and working.  I then ran to cook dinner and add some items to the refrigerator after shutting off the computer.

Yesterday, Tuesday, we finally went for our annual eye exams.  We were due last November - back when husband’s shoulder was in pain and we could not go that far.  Since then this and that has happened, so it took until now.  (All was good at the appointment - thank you for asking.)  We drove home afterwards despite the drops in our eyes. 

On arriving home I helped husband set up our portal air conditioner in the living room so he could finish a weaving project on his loom and went upstairs to try to catch up on computer - and pay a bill.  I had trouble seeing anything on the screen - it all seemed overwhelming (husband had changed the settings to make the icons larger - something I really did not need or want).  Colors were too bright.  The white was too bright.  I figured it was all related to the eye drops.  I managed to work around it - checked email - first time since Sunday, paid the bill, etc.  Husband later changed the icon settings back for me.

So today when we came home from a couple of errands I was ready to go to work on my computer and get work done.  It was still too bright - the white too bright, the colors too bold - and I am talking about type - not pictures.  I ended up switching to my distance glasses (normally use reading glasses - as I am doing now with my laptop - when working on the computer) and pushing my seat back as far as my arms could reach.  He spent a good deal of time - dinner was late tonight - trying to get to the colors and white so that they are not too bright/bold for me, but not so that the white is grey either.  Not sure if he/we are done with it with yet.

And he does not understand why I say - change is never good.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

For some reason change is easier for some people.  There are people who look forward to something new - new clothes, new car, new computer, new household appliance, new house, going someplace new on a trip.  Are you one of them?  Or are you like me - someone who wants everything to stay as it is and has trouble adjusting to change?

REPLACE THE REFRIGERATOR?

Well the ants were resolve as of last week.  I have been very careful - I wash the dishes, etc immediately after we eat, then dry them and put them away, then dry the drying rack, dishpan and sink.  So far, so good.  (Fingers crossed.)

The refrigerator is a different story.  I have spent weeks now watching the thermometer in it - it is a remote read so I don’t have to open the door.  I understand that there is some play in the temperature of the fridge and I sort of know how it works.  For food purposes it has to be kept at 40F or less and for insulin related reasons it has to be kept at 36 F or higher.  It can go as high as 46F, but since the food has a lower top limit, I basically have to keep the fridge (house or RV) between 36 and 40 F.  I try to keep both at 38F and between 37 and 39F to allow some play or in case the thermometer is off. 

I know how to adjust the temperature - turn the knob colder if the temperature is too high until the compressor just clicks on, it if too low then turn the knob just warmer so the compressor clicks off.  I am at good at this.  In the RV I have been known to jump to the back when we stop for gas to make a quick adjustment. 

Recently our house refrigerator has been acting wrong.  I look at the thermometer and it is 37F.  I leave it.  I look again maybe 10-15 minutes later and it is 40F.  It should not jump that much that fast or without seemingly hitting any temperatures between.  It is then hard to get the temperature back down to where it belongs.  I am not adding large amounts of food at all, let alone food that is not already cold.  I thought I was just missing the adjustments and started setting the timer in my mobile phone to go off every 15 or 20 minutes to remind me to check the timer.  Still missed the jumps.  Husband and I have been discussing what to do.  For what a repair would cost, it would not pay. 

So we have been looking refrigerators online and in stores.  Since we have a small house, we have a small kitchen and a relatively small fridge.  When we moved into this house 30 years ago we owned a refrigerator that we had used in our apartment and brought that with us.  Sending the one that came with the house (from the prior owners) to the garage (which did not have electricity) where its main use was to have our, then, Christmas tree stored on top of it.  One July 4th week we were away and came home and found that while we had been away the fridge had died.  As we threw out most of what was in the fridge, we thought to and tried to plug in the fridge in the garage - it no longer worked.  So we bought a new fridge. 

For our apartment we had bought a 15 cu ft refrigerator.  Due to confusion the company that we bought it from took about a week to deliver it to us - and they delivered an 18 cu ft one - with an ice maker and told us to keep both when I called that they were wrong.  (Apparently they kept mixing us up with another customer which led to them claiming that originally they tried to deliver and I was not home - I was home and on the phone, by coincidence, at that time.  We bought the fridge in 1982 for the apartment.  I know this as I was working on a piece of embroidery at the time, worked on it all work while stuck in our apartment waiting, and it is, yes, dated 1982.  I am not sure of when we bought the first one for this house or its size.

When we had our house treated for the bed bugs in 2009 we found afterwards that the refrigerator which we had replaced that one with was no longer working.  Since we found several individual bottles of water in the fridge and its freezer which were not ours, so apparently the bed bug crew had stashed their water bottles in our fridge (it was a major heat treatment) and had been opening the doors all day - so our fridge died. 

At that time we bought the fridge that is currently in our house.  It is 20.9 cu ft.  Like all of our other ones it is white and a top freezer.  I did not particularly like a number of things about it, but we were in a rush and bought it - it has served us well.

Monday night we decided that we had to replace it.  We both looked online and found that there seemed to be 3 possible replacements of about the same size.  Tuesday we went to a major house/hardware chain to look at what they had. None of the 3 excited me.  They had oddly arranged shelves (all were actually from different companies - not just the same company with different nameplates) and such.  Husband had heard about fridges which allow one to set an actual temperature and the fridge will keep that temperature - not the usual turn the dial a little this way or that and stick a thermometer in the fridge to check the temperature.  I found one that was “only” $300 more than what we were looking at - or to look at the extra price another way - it added the equivalent of 50% more of the price to the price.  This was something he REALLY wanted.  He had given me measurements at home before we went out and this one did not seem that much larger in size and we left it in consideration.

We then went to the other major house/hardware chain to see what they had.  Basically the same, but the model that we had seen and husband was interested in, was slightly different - or at least it’s number was. 

We have bought large appliances from both in the past and based on same decided that we wanted to buy from the first company, but decided to go a different store in the chain which was larger and “maybe” would have something different.

They did not.  So I made the decision.  As much as I would hate the fancier fridge - it was side by side and I was not even sure a turkey would fit on the tiny shelves and we had to take it in stainless as white add another 50% to the price, it made sense for the problem we have with keeping the temperature in such a small range.  We bought it.  To be delivered and set up on Friday.

We then went home and measured the front door - it was about an inch too small, but we figured that they could take the fridge doors off as there was a measurement without same and it would fit. 

One thing husband had read about is that the freezer in this type of fridge has a small “door” to the main compartment which opens and closes to take cold air into the freezer and it makes the main fridge section warmer.  We have a small freezer in the basement - from when we used to grow vegetables and I would actually shop at sales to buy food and would store the extra in this freezer.  Now it is mostly empty  - when I went to see what was in it - everything had a date to use by in 2016.  I tossed them out.  I then took all of the items in our fridge’s freezer downstairs to the freezer. Only things I left in the upstairs freezer are some of those liquid filled plastic things that one freezes and puts with food or meds to keep them cold in transit.  I then turned the fridge’s freezer temperature almost all the way to the warmest temperature.  (We would need to move the frozen food to same anyway as it takes a day for the new fridge/freezer to reach temperature.

Overnight the same thought came to each of us - the fridge also had to pass through 2 doorways in the house - and they were narrower.  Then husband went downstairs and laid out the measurements of the fridge we ordered - it was huge!  It would not only block part of the entry into the kitchen from the dining room, it would also block access the (only) light switches in the kitchen.  I measured the old fridge and came in about 3-4 inches smaller front to back then he had measured.  We went back to the store and canceled the order. 

Now what to do?  Well, the fridge had been working okay since yesterday (Tuesday).  Maybe it would keep working - at least until we return from a trip next week.  The sale on the various refrigerators continues to July 10, so we could still get the price when we came back.  We looked at the 3 fridges in the right size and decided which one we would get - but we figured we would buy it after we returned from our trip.

Husband decided he wanted a chicken pie we had in the freezer.  I went down and took it out.  Temperature in the fridge was 37F - great!  I put the pie in to cook and was playing games on my cell phone.  I wanted a glass of soda - in taking out the bottle that was there, I notice we would need more and added a bottle - a room temperature bottle - to the fridge.  When I looked up again the temperature was 45F??!!!  By now we have several thermometers sitting in the fridge - the one we normally use seems to always be the odd one out.  In this case the others all showed the temperature to be 40F - could it be a thermometer problem?  We have spare of the remote read and I set that up and took the first one out - same problem.  Even with the temperature set to the coldest setting  - it was not getting colder, the compressor did not seem to be on.  We unplugged the fridge and then plugged it in again (it seemed to help twice before since the weekend).  No effect. 

Extremely s l o w l y the temperature dropped.  After dinner, we went out and ordered the fridge that we had decided to order next week. I don’t love it - but hopefully it will work and it is better than the huge side by side husband wanted - and it should fit through all the doors it needs to.  It is suppose to be here Friday. 

Now for logistics -

We have an automatic ice maker to old fridge - as we had one before, we had bought it again.  We are not getting one for our new fridge - we rarely use ice and end up tossing out the shrunken cubes that are in the freezer.  We can do it “the old fashioned way” and have frozen trays of ice in the freezer.  But we have to shut off the water to the fridge and get rid of the water in the line.  Husband found it and turned it closed as far it as it went.  I threw out the shrunken, dried cubes in the ice bucket and turned the ice maker on to use the rest of the water in the line up.  We either have much more water in the line than we thought, the ice maker uses much less water than we figure - or the water is not actually off and has a leak in the tap as we keep getting more ice cubes - right now they are just shells of ice, but they keep coming.  Just heard more drop.  We bought a “cap” for the end of the water line - just in case the water is not and cannot be shut off completely. 

Freezer, as mentioned, is basically empty.

That leaves our fridge section.  There is an open package of American cheese slices, an open package of cream cheese, 2 hot dogs, and 6 eggs in it. I have 2 of husband’s insulin pens in it.  If we cannot keep them below 46F, I am not going to worry about it as they will need to be used within 42 days - and they are 20 days worth, plus husband is in the middle of pen - so they should be used up long before the 42 days.  The rest of what is in there does not really need to be in a fridge “to keep” - soda, sealed bottles of ice tea, condiments (no mayo), and similar.  Our RV is currently plugged in to charge the batteries (done twice a month, just happened to be doing it now) and we will turn on the fridge in the RV tomorrow and put the food from the fridge in it until we can move it to the new fridge.  (Hot dogs could just be frozen and put in the basement freezer.)

I soooooo hope that this is the last of the stupidity that has been going on.  (Well, I do have to make a 3rd call to an insurance for our reenacting unit - so, still repeating chores over and over.)  I really cannot take any more!


THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

When one thinks that everything is resolved - something isn’t and will need to be dealt with and redone.

Oh, and things always break at the wrong time.

Oh, and when all these things are going on and one goes down to do laundry and pours water out of the dehumidifier all over the basement - the laundry can wait!