The guys are coming to take away the fridge after almost 18 years of dependable service. I hated to say farewell at this time, just because it was a bad time to drop a grand on another appliance, but when one's ice cubes become mushy, one must do what one must.
It's a blank canvas now, for the first time since we moved in. Business cards, photos, kiddie drawings, comical magnets, calendars, lists, schedules, cartoons, magnetic clips, holiday decorations, all manner of things have been stuck to the face of this humble machine. It has been our Kenmore. But tonight we shall be Kenless.
Eighteen Thanksgiving turkeys have gone in and out of this thing; eighteen roasts for Easter. Just seventeen for Christmas, since we didn't make it to this year's Christmas.
Oh, well. It was the first fridge we bought. Well, not counting the tiny one we got after the landlord's fridge died at our old apartment and he wouldn't replace it. That one was -- no kidding -- built in Yugoslavia, and performed about as well as a Communist country appliance might be expected to. What it mostly did was generate enormous hunks of impenetrable ice around the interior freezer. After it went kaputski, we got by with a little bar-size fridge until we inherited another one. Then we got a new one with the house.
And now it's going away.
Since we've been here we've replaced every other appliance, small or large, except the stove. From the hand mixer and microwave and toaster oven to the furnace and AC unit and water heater, from the dishwasher to multiple coffeemakers and coffee grinders to the rechargeable flashlight, even parts for the ice maker inside the fridge -- twice -- everything has been replaced but the stove and the refrigerator. After tonight, the stove stands alone.
My wife never cared for this fridge. I was just happy that it was frost-free. And that it's seen us through years, happy and hard, flush and busted, challenging and simple. I can get sentimental for something that just happened to be standing around during major milestones, it's true.
All right, Kenmore, your refrigeration is done. Time to get you emptied of your remaining half-chilled contents as we await the new machine.
LATER TUESDAY...
The outfit from which we purchased the new one, which I will identify only as "Blowe's," called us to say, well, looks like the fridge didn't get on the truck after all. To which I explained that the shipper (a subcontracting outfit), whom we had been told by "Blowe's" to call this morning, had said that the guys were coming late, and was "Blowe's" sure that the fridge did not make it on the truck?
Call ya right back...
Nope, still there in the store! How about that! Well, we'll just try to get that to you tomorrow.
I strive to be polite to customer service people, having done some of that work myself and having reached an age of some sober adulthood, but that set off Angry Yoda immediately, and boy was he pissed.
OH NO. THERE IS NO TRY. WE PLANNED THE WHOLE DAY AROUND THIS AFTER YOU CALLED TO TELL US ON SUNDAY THAT IT WOULD BE HERE TUESDAY, AND NOW WE HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN WEDNESDAY AND YOU'RE GOING TO TRY TO GET IT OUT? YOU HAVE TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. THERE IS NO TRY.
Yes, right, we'll do that.
AND WE WILL BE EXPECTING A CALL IN THE MORNING TO TELL US WHAT TIME. (Which we did not get this morning, which is when we called and were referred to the truck guys, and someone just lie lie lied to us.)
Yes, you bet.
As you can guess, I was pretty sore. Imagine how mad I would have been if I did not work from home, and had taken off Tuesday to accept delivery of the appliance, just to be told that maybe I should have taken Wednesday off instead, or possibly Thursday... I'm sure my supervisor would have loved that.
So we'll see, "Blowe's," we'll see. Keep you posted....
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE:
New fridge arrived at one, actually sooner than we'd been told, so I had to scramble to empty the old one. We bid Ken a fond farewell. The new one seems to be working just fine. A happy ending? Mmmmyeah, but not entirely, not till I pay the credit card bill....
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