Slice-O-Life-O-Matic
Posted: Monday, September 07, 2009
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
Buying a new kitchen appliance should be run, right? Bright, shiny, new, spotlessly clean, modern, all those things. I suppose buying a new refrigerator could be fun. Certainly more fun than buying a new car. But when your current fridge is limping along on its last leg, runs constantly and food is spoiling as you watch, it is not. We shop at Costco for goodness sake! There are piles of chicken, ground beef and fish in the freezer. So your hubby spent the evening researching fridges on the Internet after you asked him (with a chagrined smile on your face because you'd just been discussing how some husbands give their wives vacuum cleaners and the like as wedding anniversary gifts) if he wants a new fridge as an anniversary present.
During the night, lying in bed listening to our poor old workhorse of a 25 year old fridge running, running, running (of course when it did actually stop running, I worried that it wouldn't start up again) and getting more anxious by the moment, a thought occurred to me: what about availability and delivery dates. First thing in the morning, I checked it out and our choice of two retailers was reduced to one.
Eventually (neither of us was all that enthused about the venture) we headed out. We were armed with all sorts of data and consumer reviews. We had what we thought was a good idea of what we would need to spend. We were girded and shielded and hopefully prepared for whatever we might encounter in our coming "clash" with a salesperson.
Actually, the salesperson turned out to be quite nice and was very patient with us. That was the only good part. We bounced around from model to model while weeding out undesirable traits. At one point, while we were standing and listening to the virtues of the latest model under consideration, The Hubby leaned back against one of the fridges and nearly went splat on the floor. He forgot that they are on wheels and while empty are very easy to move. Also, he was starting to get that glazed look on his face that says, "Hey, I've taken in way too much information in way to short a time and am about to shut down for a while from the overload."
If we didn't need it to be delivered yesterday, we'd have had more options. Our reasonable amount to spend quickly became not so reasonable and then got down right ridiculous. I will admit that our ideas (even with all of The Hubby's research) of what a fridge should cost are probably hopelessly outdated.
When we (I'm sorry, make that we an I. My big, strong hunk of a husband is of no use whatsoever when it comes to making big ticket decisions. His brain just sort of says, "No, I don't think I can do that. That's way too much money; how can I decide to spend that much?") finally settled on a particular model, it was (for us) quite expensive. But without the ice maker and filtered water tap it was bearable. Then came the ultimate test of my courage in the face of the imminent spoilage of much food. That model, it turned out, with out the aforementioned options was not going to be available for almost two weeks. My mind was yelling at me, "Two weeks! Two weeks. I can't wait two weeks. Even if our fridge doesn't completely die in the meantime, I'll be a total basket case before then. I can't live with that much uncertainty," while trying to maintain a calm, cool and collected exterior. By the look on The Hubby's face, I was not succeeding. The confused turning in circles that I was doing probably had something to do with his assessment. The softly uttered, "Oh, uh, oh, uh" probably didn't help either. I did not however, even once pull my hair.
So we sucked up our pride, loosened our wallets and layed out the money for the fully equipped model. It was an unfair match to begin with; us against the universe and all. We bought it on a Sunday and it was delivered on the following Tuesday. I only had to throw out a few of the more sensitive food items. Really, with all technology is capable of, couldn't there be a little light somewhere on your fridge that comes on to warn you that expiration is imminent, say with about a months' notice? That would be so nice.
It's humming happily in the kitchen at this very moment. It's prettier than the old one and actually matches the rest of our appliances. Now if this one will just last another 25 years.
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Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)Wow, you hit on a great idea: having the fridge notify you of expiration dates. The user simply enters the expiration date on a keypad on the front, what kind of food it is, and when the expiration date approaches the fridge flashes a message to you. That would be something, wouldn't it? You could call it the Expiro-Matic, or perhaps the Shelf-Life Option.Thanks for sharing this. Well done.Hi Michael.I like your take on it. That's a great idea ... Expiro-Matic. What a hoot. But you know, we really got a more or less basic fridge. No water or ice through the door or fancy stuff like that. We aren't even hooking up the water to it.Thanks for reading and commenting.Dianne
Hi Dianne, We have recently been through the "dead fridge-new fridge" thing ourselves so can completely relate to the traumas in this article, in fact it brought them all flooding back and now I need a lie down! :) JulianHi Julian.It was the worry about the food that really had me going. I know I probably shouldn't have let it bother me so much, but I was raised to be frugal and not wasteful ... and to worry about money. :)Hope the lie down helped!Thanks for reading and commenting.Dianne
Happy Belated Anniversary Dianne. I wish you and hubby (and your new fridge) a lifetime of happiness! :) Fun article!Hi Brianna.Thanks for the wish. Bernd and I have already had a lifetime of happiness together. The rest is just icing on the cake.Glad you enjoyed the article. Wish I could say we enjoyed the experience.Thanks for reading and commenting.Dianne
Dianne:Been there done that! I might as well help ease the pain, don't even think its going to last 25 years. You see thats the way we are in our society,don't fix"Replace it".That being said you got to love "yes we can get that one ,but it will take week . Boy its just a giant plot to drive you up the wall.Really enjoyed the read!PS. How's the stove??? (Hmmmm) .Hi Frank.We actually replaced the stove about four years ago and so far it is holding up well. My sister has an 18 year old fridge that needed a new compressor a while back. Her hubby did that in a blink of an eye because he repairs A/C's. Bernd and I thought about fixing our old fridge for about 30 seconds. :) I do think it's sad that we've developed such a "throw away" attitude about so many things. You won't find that in the Lehmann household though. Out motto is "use it to death." I've got some ... ahem ... unmentionables, that are probably 20 years old if they're a day. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't admit that. :)Thanks for reading and commenting.Dianne
Your story brought back memories of our 'near-death experience' with our fridge a few years ago. It is a bad feeling to wonder if you will wake up to spoiled food.Hi Lorrie.I should show your comment to my husband and tell him, "See, I'm not the only one."Thanks for reading and commenting!Dianne
Look at the bright side...there are places in this world where people don't even know what a refrigerator IS! Congrats on the new fridge AND the many years of 'happily married'. Hugs!Hi Camille.Yes, and when you are contemplating how to manage for just a couple of days without one, you really do appreciate that you have access to one at all.Thanks for stopping by.Hugs,Dianne
We had a fridge going out a few years ago, so, in an attempt to be the frugal type I called a repair man to come and fix it.Now, although it was a popular brand and model, he could not fix it!But at least you tried to do the sensible thing, you know, research, set a price and model, then go shopping. I was really rootin' for you there, Dianne!Hi Ken.We were rootin' for ourselves to. But we're realistic folk and had few illusions about the outcome. Or maybe we're just pessimistic. :)Thanks for reading and commenting!Respectfully,Dianne
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