the sub-zero hero

it's 10:16 wednesday night and i feel pretty much on top of the world. 

why? you ask.

well, since you asked --- work with me  --- i'll tell you.

i fixed the fridge today.

yep. i did.

well, okay, truth is, i called the service technician back to our house and, (bless him) he fixed the fridge.
but, sorry, i'm taking the credit on this one.
i made the call and sometimes, for some reason, making the call feels about as hard as fixing the fridge.

i'm sensing you're maybe going to require a tiny bit of back story:

last year, we moved into a house which is approximately 27 years old. just for the record, as a woman in her late 40s, 27 sounds pretty darn good to me.
in fact, it sounds young.

but, not only is our house that old, so is the refrigerator.

are appliances meant to last three decades? i'm not so sure.
usually the owner updates or changes the color or breaks a part or something. we have moved too much for me to understand the longevity of a good appliance relationship. but this fridge is one of the old sub-zeros. like maybe the first model ever. (i'm totally making that up). but, please, do notice the fake wood paneling. i'm pretty sure fake wood paneling hasn't been added to appliances since they stopped adding it to station wagons.
trust me, it's old.

oh ... and how about that dent in the meat drawer? clearly a moment where someone was feeling a wee bit desperate for some bacon.
(this woman won't judge).

while he was here, the technician did tell me it's the same fridge they put in all of the restaurants. that's fine, i told him. most days, my kitchen sort of feels like a food establishment. mind you, more along the lines of fast food than a fancy, white-clothed sit down kind of joint.
you're shaking your head. yours too, huh?

so anyway this big old thing is, well ... big and old ... but it is also making a Really Loud Noise. like it vibrates and hums and buzzes. (think along the lines of a chainsaw cutting ice). in a recent, admittedly-dramatic-moment, i declared to my family that it was so loud i couldn't hear myself cook!

SOMEONE. ANYONE. PLEASE CALL FOR TAKE OUT- NOW!

a few weeks ago, i finally contacted an appliance repair company and they sent out marcel. nicest guy ever. that week we were also having issues with our dish washer and washing machine. 3 separate appliances all on the fritz. i think that is what they call a trifecta! terrific in some things, but not so much fun in broken appliances. anyway, marcel was great. he fixed everything. but after he left, the fridge began to buzz again --- and this time, even louder.

you've. got. to. be. kidding. me. already.

so loud, that this week, while hosting a meeting in my kitchen with a few women, i turned the thing off at the breaker box. yep. i did. bam! take-that-ha-deafening-stupid-sound!
i'm sorry, i just wasn't up to having us shout across countertops and over coffee.

keep the fridge and freezer doors closed tightly and no one gets hurt.

felt like i at least owed y'all a picture of the inner contents.
yes, that is, indeed, a lunchable hiding back there between
the organic creamer and the 100% pure maple syrup.
we like to mix it up in our house. 

so, that's the story.
except for the mind-rattling noise, the fridge was actually operating fine. cold and cool and plenty spacious for a family of seven and all their culinary loot.
but a pair of earplugs was necessary to even enter the kitchen and pour a glass of water or stir a pot of soup.

the husband's not been so happy about it. and either is his wife.
fully aware that there are much bigger issues in life, but who wants to think about their fridge This Much? the only thing i have ever wanted from a fridge is its willingness to keep things cold and possibly to protect my favorite kind of cheese or a nice bottle of sauvignon blanc.

this kind of stuff can be irritating, right? can i get an a-men? like has anyone ever appreciated the inspiring quiet or non-noise of their refrigerator?
no, don't be silly.
of course not. we don't appreciate these kinds of things. we don't even think about these kinds of things. we don't pay one bit of attention to the light of a lamp until it burns out. we don't give thanks for our garage doors until the remote fails to respond. we don't sing the hot shower's praise until the water runs cold. we aren't all that grateful for the back door until it is gone. (i'll choose to stop now).

same thing with my fridge.

i just never realized the utter beauty of a wallflower-fridge. call me ungrateful, but i just didn't. 

since the fridge is so old, my husband was beginning to believe it might just be time to replace. so he's been doing some very extensive research on this. bless his heart. that's code for he's About Done hearing not only the rattle of his refrigerator, but also the whine of his wife. here's the deal though, the word "sub-zero" doesn't really stand for a brand, but for a break-the-bank price tag. sub-zero really means SUBstantial zeroes added after an already big number. yikes! like, let's move back to minnesota and just store our cold items out in the snow.
and replacing a built in sub-zero with a smaller fridge isn't necessarily a good option either as it creates all kinds of issues with cabinetry and flooring ... and, well ... yes, you guessed it, more zeroes!

so, i called the appliance company and asked them to come back.

i know it seems simple. 
certainly not rocket science to ask them to return.
i'm sure you would have thought of that first.
not sure what is wrong with us for not making that initial connection.
(probably something to do with what the rattle is doing to our brains).

but before my husband went hog-wild making this kind of big purchase, i thought, "we might as well try." and so i called. again. and this evening, marcel returned with his bag of refrigerator tricks and with a few clever adjustments, the humming came to a halt!

sweet silence!

praise Jesus! i can think and cook and host meetings again.

i wanted to hug marcel.
my husband wanted to hug marcel.
the children wanted marcel to leave so we could get on with our dinner (take out).

there sits the beast. i put it in the background because it's october 1st today
and time to focus on important things like pumpkins!
notice the white painted paneling on it. not fake wood paneling, but also not
conducive to jelly covered fingers or grimy kid paws.

a quiet refrigerator. i know, pretty simple. i bet you haven't given your non-buzzing appliances even one single thought today.

and i get that. it's how i'm wired, too. but, this whole fridge fiasco has gotten me thinking about the perfectly-working-things in my life which i need to give thanks for. those things which don't stand out and demand notice. those things we can so easily take for granted.

go ahead. make a list. what is it that haven't noticed recently for the simple reason that it is working just fine?

no pressure here, but i'm going to encourage you to give thanks.

give thanks for the hardly-noticeable working things and, if you need something fixed, i suggest you call marcel!