No, Not The Fridge!

My fridge died on Saturday. It would have been one year old in June. Yup, ONE whole year! They don't make them like they used to. I've lived in this apartment for ten years and this is my third fridge.

The first one I had was fabulous! Separate doors for fridge and freezer (self defrosting). Nice big compartments for all of my perishables. It was well laid out and had a good light so I could see everything. It kept stuff REALLY cold. Milk and water were ice cold - without the ice! The produce never froze and the freezer section kept things almost as solidly frozen as my deep freezer.

It started acting up just before Christmas, 2006. I was preparing for an annual luncheon that I host and noticed that things weren't as cold as they usually were. I had been doing a lot of cooking and baking though and the fridge had been open a lot, so I figured it would cool overnight. The luncheon went off fine, but the next day the fridge was warmer not colder. I called the building caretaker and she called the repair guy, who was here within a few hours. He fixed the problem and I was a happy camper until two days later, when it did the same thing.

This time, it couldn't be fixed. NO!!! Say it ain't so!!!

I was given a replacement fridge that afternoon. The replacement was not a good match for a visually impaired person who loves to cook. It was deep and narrow with poor lighting. I couldn't arrange the shelves the same way, which meant having to set up a whole new arrangement for where things would be placed to make them readily accessible. It also didn't keep foods nearly as cold as my old one. I wasn't happy. I was promised a new fridge after April 1, 2007, which was the start of a new fiscal year. New fridges were ordered for several tenants, but the company was behind schedule in making apartment sized fridges and so I didn't get mine until early June, 2007.

When I finally got it, I was disappointed to see that it was VERY similar in style to my temporary fridge. It was only slightly better in layout. The fridge light was basically a night light. The shelves were shallower. They were deep and narrow. The one advantage was that the crisper's were a bit bigger. Even setting the temp to about 8 out of 10 only barely kept things cold enough. It was noisier too. I wasn't thrilled but I learned to live with it. I didn't have any other choice.

Fast forward to this past week. I wasn't sure, but I thought things didn't seem quite as cold but it was a subtle change and I just upped the temp control a notch to cool it down. When I made lunch on Saturday, the milk was noticeably warmer - I like mine really cold. When I took some time in the afternoon to do a salad prep for supper, I realized things were even warmer. I moved as much frozen stuff as I could to my deep freeze but it was already almost full. I called the weekend caretaker and we put the temp as cold as it could go. Sunday morning I moved all my frozen and dairy products to an empty apartment on the same floor that I live on and was given a key so I could access it any time I wanted. I moved all my produce after supper Sunday night.

Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful to have a full fridge and freezer. Many people do not. I am also extremely lucky to have an understanding caretaker who is willing to help and provide speedy repairs whenever possible. I've lived in places that you had to go to the Rentalsman just to get minor repairs. It's just really frustrating when you have no control over what is happening and just the thought of having to spend money, that I don't have, to replace food that might have been ruined is enough to drive me nuts. I really hate wasting things.

Monday morning, I talked to the caretaker and it was finally arranged that I would be given the fridge from the empty apartment. The fridge that is now in my apartment is very similar to my original fridge only newer. The lighting and layout are very good. The milk and water are COLD!! The produce is not frozen or wilting! The freezer is big and cold. The crisper is smaller but that is minor.

Is it possible to love your fridge? Yup! Now please cross your fingers that it has a long healthy life, 'cause I really don't want to go through this again!

dn