What I Learned Today

Sometimes when you plan a day of rest, your plans are disrupted by unfortunate circumstances.

This morning shortly after we had gotten up, our visitors at our condo called and said, "The refrigerator seems to be dead. It worked last night, but this morning everything in the freezer is melted. The breaker switches are all on and the light comes on in the refrigerator."

Since it was the original refrigerator with the condo, 15 plus years ago, we decided to buy a new one at Lowe's in a nearby town and take it to the condo. You know, Lowe's has those lovely little trucks with the hydraulic lifts that you can rent for such endeavors if you don't want to wait for delivery. So, we drove the hour from our house to the Lowe's nearest the condo. We found the ideal condo refrigerator - big enough, not too big, good price, in stock.

Then we discovered they did not have a truck with the handy-dandy hydraulic lift, nor did they have appliance dollies with straps - not for loan, not on hand, not for sale. So, we borrowed one of their heavy duty hand trucks; they loaded the refrigerator on our truck (which we had sense enough to bring just in case), and we strapped it in with ratchet straps. I even figured out how to hook one of those dudes up - never done that before. And, off we went to the condo.

We are on the second floor; the first floor is parking - required by law due to hurricane flooding, but we have an elevator. Unfortunately, the door to the elevator is not very wide...not as wide as the refrigerator we had bought.

So, we took off the doors, slipped it in, got it upstairs and into the kitchen. Of course, I am using "we" rather loosely. My partner and one of our visitors (a young father) probably did more than me. Visitor's son also held the screws and carried the freezer door upstairs. Other visitors helped find tools and were generally helpful.

We moved the old refrigerator out and discovered that the ice maker water line did not have a cut-off valve. Aha! We'll just crimp the copper line so it won't leak and we won't bother to hook up the ice maker right now. No. The copper line was brittle, and continued to spring leaks no matter how we crimped or cramped it. So we stuck it in a bucket and went downstairs to turn off the water to the condo. A lot easier said than done. Thank God, for cells phones or we would have been relaying messages up and down.

Finally, the water is off, and we discover that the refrigerator came without the ferrule and compression nut, and the old one was very worn and corroded.

We quit and went to eat. A trip to the hardware store produced a hook-up kit. Soon, the refrigerator was in place. We had as much trouble turning the water back on as we did turning it off. No cut-offs are marked and we decided that we had probably turned the water off to our section of condo - fortunately no one else was there.

Visitors transferred contents of one refrigerator to the other, took spoiled and out of date stuff to the dumpster. We removed the doors from the old refrigerator and hauled it down to our truck. Mopping up and all done; the job was over. Thanks to all who were present and contributed his/her part to the effort.

At least we a now rid of an ivory refrigerator. We replaced the dishwasher last year in white. The stove is next, and it's not working very well; so I imagine this winter will find us replacing it also. It's electric; so all is have to do is measure and make sure we get the right kind of plug for our outlet.

What I learned today: nothing is ever as easy as it sounds. People working together get things done without getting hassled and upset. Food helps everyone. White brightens a somewhat dark kitchen. New refrigerators are lighter than old ones. Getting a job done brings satisfaction to all involved. Working in the heat makes me so tired that I cry. A shower is the finest thing after such a day, and using the shower massage on the soles of my feet was heaven. Bed looks very inviting. Goodnight, all.