Refrigerator Breakdown

 

So much in my life these days seems to be breaking down. 

The latest was my GE Profile refrigerator. 

I bought this top of the line refrigerator when we moved into our new house in November of 2005.

Yes, that's right. This refrigerator lifespan is only supposed to be between ten and fifteen years old. This refrigerator is like yours truly. Still running past our expirations dates.

Remember about a year or two ago when my refrigerator first gave up the ghost? At that time I decided to just get a new refrigerator. I went down to Home Depot (or was it Lowes?) and ordered a new refrigerator. When it was delivered there was major damage and I refused to accept it. Not just a dent but it was like the new refrigerator fell out of the back of the deliver truck and on the highway and they reloaded it back to the truck. I think I posted about it.  When the delivery guys were unloading it from their truck and unpacking it they noticed the big dent.

It's hard to see but there is a major dent on the bottom left top door

The boss guy called me over to show me the damage and asked me if I would accept it that way. Of course I said "No." WTF? So they took it back and I was back to Square One. This after three postponements of delivery. So I would have to reorder the refrigerator. Go through the whole process again. Thank goodness I have a backup refrigerator in the basement, albeit a smaller one which I packed all my food into it. Actually not all the food, when I cleaned out my old refrigerator that was a good time to throw out the unknown packages and also the one that were past their sell buy date (lots of them). 

When I told Pat of my situation he suggested that I just try and repair my refrigerator. Hey, I didn't think of that. So I did my diligent researching got lucky and found a good, dependable, honest refrigerator repair guy. I made an appointment with him to come over and check it out to see if it was worth repairing. 

He came over and found the problem. The heating element in the automatic defrosting was burned out. He suggested replacing it which I did. Two reasons. First I really like my old refrigerator and secondly, it would be cheaper than buying a new refrigerator. Also, I hated to throw out a perfectly good refrigerator that only had one part that needed replacement. And I hate to admit it, I had grown fond of that refrigerator like one grows fond of an old car that one has had for a long time. He repaired it for a reasonable amount of money ($300 some) and I had a "new" refrigerator plus I was able to keep my old friend in the house.

Everything was fine until last week. One morning last week I opened my refrigerator door to take a sip of my bottled spring water and noticed that it wasn't cold. Oh damn! Don't tell me! I check the freezer and  the ice contained and yes, it was melting. My refrigerator was conked out again! 

Again I had to completely empty that ice bucket and the rest of the refrigerator. Again, I had a lot of "stuff" in my refrigerator and here I thought I was being a good boy by not collecting things in my refrigerator. Guess not. 

Up down the cellar stairs I went again, emptying out my main refrigerator. Me with my difficulty climbing stairs, this was a workout I hadn't planned on.

I called my repair guy to arrange for him to come out and look at it. He wasn't in so I left a message. The next morning though, after again checking the average life expectancy of refrigerators (10 to 15 years old) I decided to just bite the bullet and buy a new refrigerator. I went down to Home Depot and checked out the new refrigerators. I saw one I liked that had a Black Friday sale discount of $900 plus another $150 off for a total sale price of $1,700. I bought it and arranged for delivery, which was supposed to be for tomorrow.

When I got home my refrigerator repair guy called. He apologized for being so long in getting back to me and asked what was going on. I told him "Nevermind, I just bought a new refrigerator." He said "The new refrigerators aren't made as well as the old ones and he would like to have a look at mine, no charge. That sounded reasonable, why not? If he could repair it, I would save money and also keep my old friend, my GE Profile refrigerator. After all, we've been through a lot since Bill and I moved down here from Pennsylvania.

He came over and as he suspected it was an easily fixed problem. The control board was shot. He said they don't make them anymore (planned obsolescence) but he had one in his vehicle (a Jeep). He said it cost $265 and would I be alright with him trying that. I said "Sure!" He put it in

and sure enough my refrigerator is been running smoothly ever since! In fact it's running better now than it has for years. For several years now when the motor kicked in (which seemed to be often), there was an unnatural whirring sound that I dismissed. I don't have that sound now and the refrigerator doesn't seem to be running as often. Maybe I can save on my electric bill. I was so happy when my old pal the refrigerator kicked in. And he has happy for me. He likes satisfied customers. That's what I like about him. He cares. While he was here I also had him clean out all the lint that had accumulated in my dryer. That was $120. My whole bill with him was $502, including labor. I can just imagine what that would have cost if I had used my previous service company which went private and the repairmen are now working on commission. I fired them after the last outrageous bill. But I digress. I have to admit I'm a bit gun shy now if the refrigerator motor isn't running but that appears to be normal now that I don't have a failing control board. If this refrigerator outlasts me I'll be one happy camper. And I'm really glad I could keep my old refrigerator. It's perfect for me and so solid. 

It's my Goldie Locks Refrigerator. Not too big.

Not too small.

Just right!

Happy 85th Birthday Ron!

 Friends! Here is my annual birthday video.

Here's hoping I can make another video next year!

I Can Breathe Again

 Now that the Blue Wave has wiped out MAGA I can breathe again. 

Ever since I realized that a large portion of the American public was conned by Donald Trump into believing his lies, I felt like the America I grew up in and believed was all a lie. With the results of the midterm elections in which the Democrats effectively wiped out so many Republicans who have cowardly bent the knee to The Convicted Felon in the White House, I've been depressed. It was just hard for me to believe that so many of my fellow Americans supported Trump and his thugs. Perhaps what finally woke them up was when they realized Trump's promise of lowering the cost of living and no more endless foreign wars was just another Trump lie, was what enabled so many Democrats to return to power. Make no mistake about it, a lot of voters did not vote FOR the Democrats but they either voted against Trump or they just stayed home and didn't vote because they couldn't bring themselves to vote for a Democrat. Not that I can blame them. Too many Democratic politicians have for too long taken their base for granted. They became to involved in fringe groups like which pronoun to use and reparations for blacks. Give me a break. How about the every day American who can't keep up with the cost of living? And by the way, the Democrats can start by replacing Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer with new young blood. 

Just saying. And another thing, forget impeaching Trump. That's not going to lower the price of gas. Impeach Hegseth and Bobby Kennedy, Jr. but it's a waste of time impeaching Trump. Besides you'll just get J.D. Vance, the same one at the top of this blog posts who is refusing to swear in a legitimately elected member of Congress, Abdul El-Sayed. 

A load has been lifted off of all of us, even those MAGA who don't realize it now. America was going in the wrong direction with Trump and his spineless Republican enablers. Now we have a Congress which is going to do its job which is oversight and providing a balance of power to prevent any one person becoming a tyrant which is where this country was going. And maybe, just maybe American can regain some respect in the world community, much of which Trump has squandered in the past ten years by his childish and deadly tantrums.

We're on the road to recovery folks. I had hoped I would live long enough to witness the demise of MAGA which I have. Now I want to live another two years at least to see Jon Ossoff elected president. 

Senator Jon Ossoff

Sorry Kamala, your time has passed. 

The Blue Wave

Chris Pappas, first openly gay an elected to the U.S. Senate.

 Last night I was up until 2:30 AM this morning following the midterm elections returns. 

The majority of American voters finally came to their senses and massively rejected the spineless Republican candidates and put Democrats back in power. Not all Democrats won (Florida is still in ignorance) but enough won, especially in Texas to turn that state blue. 

There is so much I want to say about this historic election which I don't have time now to do so. However I do want to note that for the first time in American political history an openly gay candidate, Chris Pappas of New Hampshire was elected to the United States Senate. I'm old enough to remember when being openly gay was against the law. We've come a long way my fellow Americans. I'm glad I have lived long enough to see this.

By the way, is it me or do a lot of gay couples look alike?

I Voted!

 

I arrived about forty-five minutes early at my local polling location which is conveniently located at the entrance to the development where I live. 

I was again first in line as I was the last time I voted. I like being first.

From the time when I could legally vote (21 years of age back in 1964), I've voted in every election. It's interesting, I rarely see young people vote. That's how weird I am, I couldn't wait to vote. Now Congress finally changed the law and lowered the voting age to eighteen. I was eighteen and in the U.S. Army. Old enough to put my life on the line for my country but not old enough to vote. Took them long enough to correct that mistake. 

Of course I voted straight Blue (Democratic). I doubt if I will ever vote for a Republican again in whatever years of life I have left on this earth. The Republicans have pretty much self immolated with their subservience to Trump and their failure to keep their oath to the Constitution when they took office. I'll never take them seriously again after their betrayal to my county. 

Now to await the results of today's mid term elections. I hope there are no surprises like the last two elections when The Stupids elected Trump and all those Republicans. Hopefully they have realized now, that their pocketbooks are affected, what a horrendous error they made electing a criminal like Trump as president and his spineless Republican enablers. 

When this election is over and the Democrats take power, hopefully accountability time will come.

 

Election Eve

 

Only one day to go for the midterm elections.

It has been a long two years since Trump was elected president. Millions of Americans and people worldwide have had to suffer the consequences of the incompetent and lawless Trump presidency. A presidency that was only made possible by the profound ignorance of his supporters, the cowardice of Republican lawmakers, business leaders, and a corrupt Supreme Court who enabled Trump and his thugs and cronies to get away with their crimes. I will vote early tomorrow. I hope you will too.

Change Those Clocks!

 

That time of year again! Time to change all the clocks back one hour to Standard Time.

I hate this twice a year ritual. Mainly because I have so many damn clocks. At last count I think I have between forty-five and fifty-clocks that I have to change. And almost every one of them has a different method of changing. 

Thank goodness I do have a handful that change automatically. But most I have to figure out the secret sauce how to change them. Some the dial doesn't work so I have to take the battery out and wait for that time to arrive (usually 11:00 AM) and put the double AA battery back in. I have two clocks that are high up on the wall. One in the kitchen and the other in the garage that I look at all the time. I have to change those because those are the ones I depend on. But both require me to stand on a step ladder to get the large clock off the wall and take it down to a flat surface to change. And as you know these days this old man isn't too steady on his feet. 

There are other clocks that I don't bother changing because I rarely look at them. I leave them be.

Why do I have so many clocks? I like clocks and over my lifetime I've collected a lot of clocks. I just like clocks. I remember each one, where I got it and what time of my life that I got it. Memories, that's the story of my life.

This morning I had a scare though when I got in The Princess (my new Hyundai Venue). I had no idea how to change the clock in my car. Then I realized my car doesn't have a clock. I use Apple Play and whatever time is on my iPhone is what is going to be displayed on my navigation screen in my car. But I had no navigation screen. "What's up with that?" I thought. Then I realized I didn't have my iPhone in my pocket. Phew! I almost made a trip without my iPhone. I hate when I do that because I feel so vulnerable leaving the house without my trusty iPhone. How would I record an accident if I had one or call somebody in an emergency. We are all so dependent on our smart phones these days aren't we?I am totally dependent on mine, I know that. It's like driving. Before I drove I really didn't miss driving but now that I've been driving these past decades I can't imagine my life without having the use of a car to get up and go whenever and wherever I want to go. 

Have a great day everyone, I have a dozen or so more clocks to change.