I never knew cleaning a refrigerator could be such hot, tiring work. I’ll explain. Thursday afternoon of last week, I noticed things weren’t very cold in the refrigerator. But my refrigerator has never been all that cold. It’s been a problem since it was delivered less than 5 years ago. In fact it’s the second edition, since the first one broke the second day I used it. At least five different repairs were made on it, but it never worked more than 24 hours at a time, so they sent a new model. It worked.
It was a soap opera getting it delivered. It didn’t fit in the elevator and the delivery men refused to take the doors off without technical support. We set that up for some days later, but of course they brought the refrigerator again and no tech. On the 3rd try they managed to get it delivered, although it was about a 3 hour operation.
I’ve never been shot in the arm with it, even though it’s supposed to be the best brand. Everything is plastic and breaks upon the slightest pressure. In addition, it never really cools that well. Although I will admit the freezer part does freeze well and quickly. It is a frost free model, but not always completely frost free, as I have to clean around the door every day and there are always icicles. Which means, probably that the rubber gaskets don’t work properly. Odd that this began when it was only about a year old, but after my experience with the repairmen, I preferred to let it go.
Consequently, when things weren’t so cool on Thursday, I knew in my heart of hearts the refrigerator had died, but I reset the thermostat and tried to keep it shut, hoping the next morning it would have cooled down. No such luck. But Friday I was seriously involved in finishing my sermon for the weekend and did not want to deal with this. João and I talked and thought since we hated the fridge anyway, we would buy a new one.
We were busy over the weekend, so we ate out and since the freezer still worked, at least I had my ice, so I wasn’t bent out of shape.
Today, Monday, we looked at prices and I was seriously shocked to see that it would be around R$2,000 or more to replace the fridge. We both thought that was a heap of money to spend, when it wasn’t in the budget. Back to square one… so we scheduled a repairman for tomorrow. Hopefully, it is fixable, and it will actually be fixed properly.
Consequent to the imminent repair (hopefully??), I took apart everything, removing all the shelves and scrubbed the refrigerator. I did the same on the freezer and then noticed (as it was full) that the frost free component is not working. In just these past few days there was a thick layer of frost on the walls and floors. So add that to the list of problems, although it may be related to the fridge not working. At any rate it took me about 2 1/2 hours to take it apart and scrub it down. To my immense shame, I was shocked at how dirty it was. It’s not like I don’t wash down the shelves very regularly, but the runners and the like were just plain icky.
On the other hand as hot and sweaty and tired as I got (and it was complicated to “unlock” the many shelves and drawers – I had to get out the manual to figure out how), I have a feeling this will never make it into my regular house cleaning duties. At least now I know how to remove everything. I think I miss the old grates instead of these solid plastic shelves. They were easier to work with and even easier to clean. I really miss appliances that lasted 20 or 30 years and weren’t made of fragile plastic. I will mourn my washing machine (I bought 3d hand) that is all stainless steel inside, when it passes. It must be at least 15 years old or older and other than being ugly and getting rusty, works very well. I have really come to hate plastic more and more – in everything – from water bottles, to food storage, to appliances.
I hate that stuff is made with planned obsolescence. That is so wasteful. One of the reasons that weighted my decision in favor of trying to repair and not discard is the whole issue of pollution and waste. It’s easier to just junk stuff, but is it better to do so?
Wish me luck and I’ll let you know what happens. I have a feeling this is going to be a very long and drawn out drama. I am not expecting to see any results tomorrow. If the repairman happens to come as promised, I doubt he’ll have parts, if he figures out what’s wrong… and even then I can’t be sure it will actually work after he fixes it. I know I’m being pessimistic, but I don’t exactly have a good track record with repairs. The toilet off of the kitchen has now been repaired 4 times in the past year, but doesn’t work. And yes with more than one plumber. Does anyone know what they are doing in the field of repairs? I wonder how long I can keep smiling and living without a refrigerator?
No comments:
Post a Comment