2022 At 78 RPM-Week 7
And as promised, here's the refrigerator story, start to finish, though it's not really finished yet. About a year ago, I noticed the left and right doors on the fridge were no longer level with each other. I figured they'd just sagged over time and didn't pay much attention to it, thinking I could get them adjusted back to level some day when it became a problem. Then more recently I noticed that there was more condensation inside the fridge. Then there were a couple times I came home to find the fridge side door slightly open. A little research and I found that there was a cam under the door hinge that was supposed to keep the doors in an open or closed position, and help guide the door to a secure closing. A close inspection showed the cam was only half there, and then I remembered finding little pieces of plastic on the floor near the fridge that I couldn't explain. I'm guessing now that those were the remains of this little cam on the fridge side. The extra humidity in the fridge was coming from the door seals no longer making good contact all around. And on the days when the door got left open slightly, it got really bad. Some of that moisture got circulated into the freezer and froze onto the cooling coils. That sent the fridge into defrost mode a few too many times, and the water couldn't drain out through the little hole in the bottom and froze solid. After that, the defrost didn't work properly at all, it just kept filling the freezer side with more and more ice at the bottom. And once the ice got so thick, the water would run out onto the floor a couple times a day. I kept meaning to buy a new cam, but I was having trouble finding the right ones, and I procrastinated too long. Eventually the ice seemed to build up to a point where cold air couldn't circulate from the freezer to keep the fridge side cold, and then I knew we were in trouble. That's when we went to look at new fridges, and ordered one from Lowe's. While awaiting delivery, I wound up defrosting the whole freezer with a hair dryer, and that seemed to fix the fridge side from being warm until the new fridge arrived. Delivery day came, we emptied the fridge and freezer into a couple of coolers and waited for delivery between noon and four, taking half a day off from work. Four o'clock came and went and nothing. A little after five they finally called and said they were on their way. 5:30 they finally showed up. They took the fridge off the truck and started unwrapping it. That's when we saw several dings in the fridge door, and part of the seal was torn off the freezer door. So I rejected it, and they said they'd call to schedule a new delivery. Well, that was a Monday, and I had company come on Thursday. They called Thursday and said they could deliver Friday. I said no because of the company, telling them I'd reschedule after they left. Company came, then one of them got sick on Saturday. Took a Covid test, which came back negative, or at least the first one did. A second test on Sunday came back positive, and now there were four of us in a tiny condo with a positive Covid test. We quarantined for the next week. I eventually got a bit of flu, but four covid tests all came back negative. That was the most work I've ever missed in my life, the whole week, plus the previous Friday. So after we got all that taken care of, we went back down to Lowe's to schedule a new delivery. At first they tried to tell us they'd refunded the money and cancelled the order, but we knew that wasn't true. A lot of talking and we finally got it all straightened out. Delivery was scheduled for the next afternoon. This time I emptied the fridge and freezer into two coolers in the morning (I had found another one at the Goodwill for cheap), and I waited until I got the call before leaving work. I was at lunch when they called, and I hurried home to meet them. Off the truck it came, they unwrapped it, and this one was damaged worse than the first. Not only were both doors dinged, someone had crushed part of the back with a forklift or something similar. So back on the truck it went, and back into the fridge went all the food. I was pretty upset at this point and didn't know what to do. The next day was Saturday and that's when I opened the fridge door and it fell out of the top hinge pin and I had to catch it before it fell. With a little work I got it set in place and had to get help holding it up. A little duct tape secured the door in place while I tried to figure out what to do. Taking a close look at the bottom of the fridge side door, it appeared the plate that set over the hinge pin, which was made of plastic, had broken completely loose from the door and was pushed up inside of the door. It was so far inside there that the pin wasn't able to reach the socket it was supposed to fit into, and the door was just resting on the bracket beneath. I had the bright idea to screw some big barn door hinges to the side of the fridge and to the door. I shimmed the door up so it was level with the freezer door and screwed 'em in place. It worked like a charm and the broken hinge plate at the bottom dropped right out onto the floor, it's still sitting here on the counter as evidence.. And since the door wasn't leaking air, I took a few moments to clear out the drain hole in the freezer and it hasn't given me any problems since. The hinges don't look beautiful and the bottom one isn't lined up correctly so it makes a horrible noise when you open and close it. But the seal is good and it's been working great. Two days later I went up to Lowe's and cancelled the order. They offered to give us a discount on a different fridge, but nothing we liked was in stock, so we declined their offer. They refunded the money we paid, except for the haul-away fee for the old fridge. Thankfully we realized that before we left and got that refunded as well. Next day I get a text from the fulfillment warehouse with a string of pictures showing another damaged fridge and a note asking if it's OK to deliver it like this. I texted back that no, it certainly is not OK to deliver it that way, and that I had cancelled the order anyway. Then they called to get a verbal confirmation that I didn't want the third damaged fridge. That was almost two weeks ago now, and we're taking our time finding a new fridge from some place other than Lowe's. Hope that story of woe was worth the wait, thanks for reading. It's funny from a distance, but it was a real pain as it went on.
Edit-4 Jan 2023-Added tracklist for searching.
1. Tennesse Ernie-Christmas Dinner
2. Dave Clavner With Jack Carter And The Black Mountain Boys-Jingle Bells-Square Dance With Calls
3. Xmas Chimes Of The Homeland-Sacred Night, Holy Night
4. Tommy Dorsey And His Orchestra-Vocal Refrain By Bonnie Lou Williams-Sleigh Ride In July (From The International Film "Belle Of The Yukon")
5. Anne Shelton, Vocal, With Roy Robertson And His Orchestra-The Christmas Spell
6. Frann Weigel With Len Cleary At The Piano-The Night Before Christmas
7. George Wright, Organist-White Christmas (Holiday Inn)
8. Roscoe Gordon And His Orchestra-Cold, Cold Winter
9. Jan August-Piano Solo, With Orchestral Accompaniment-Winter Wonderland
10. Haleloke Kahauolopua-Mele Kalikimaka
