Day 4236

Long day. When I was fixing breakfast this morning I tried to get something out of the freezer and the door wouldn't open. Something strange was going on because the door seemed welded shut. I finally pried the door open with a large screwdriver and discovered that the inside of the freezer was covered with ice. The supply line to the icemaker had broken during the night and flooded the freezer. I guess it was a good thing that the water froze because it would have flooded the house otherwise.

I shut the refrigerator off and opened the door so the ice would melt. It was a huge mess because all the food in the freezer was frozen together. I went to the storage warehouse to get a large ice cooler and then to the supermarket to get two twenty pound bags of ice. I called the appliance repairman and then started to thaw the ice with a hair dryer so I could remove the food and transfer it to the ice chest. 

Luckily the appliance repairman was able to come out today. He discovered a broken valve that was supposed to stop the flow of water from the supply line after the ice trays were filled. I tried to shut off the supply line in the  utility room, but the shut off valve above the water heater was broken too. Now I had to call a plumber before the appliance repairman could continue working. I told him to order the parts he needed and come back tomorrow. Luckily, the second plumbing company I called had someone they could send out today.

The supply line to the refrigerator has been shut off now and all the ice in the refrigerator has been removed. It was a messy, tedious job to remove all the ice and clean up the water on the floor. I suspect that there is still some ice behind a metal plate on the freezer wall that I didn't have time to remove. I was able to salvage most of the food and we didn't have to throw much away. The ice cream all turned to soup, but most of the other stuff stayed frozen. The appliance repairman returns tomorrow and hopefully we will be back in business. I could have easily bought a new refrigerator for less than the cost of all the repairs I've made over the years. Unfortunately, nobody makes refrigerators that fit in our mid-fifties kitchen anymore. I'd either have to get a cheap apartment sized refrigerator, or completely remodel the kitchen so one of today's monster refrigerators would fit. I'm so tired of fixing things, but's that's life if you live in an old house.

I was able to get my errands done before the repairman arrived, but I wasn't able to get to the gym until very late in the day. I walked three miles around the track, lifted a few weights and came home again. Dawn still got her sunrise walk. I didn't even know there was a problem when we were walking Dawn this morning. If I hadn't wanted a scoop of ice cream in my morning smoothie, I might not have known until much later. It all worked out well. It was kind of a miracle that I was able to get an appliance repairman and a plumber out to the house on the same day. The refrigerator still isn't fixed, but nothing is leaking now and we're headed in the right direction.

Dawn doesn't bark at repairmen. All our other dogs went nuts when a repairman was in the house. Dawn just slept calmly on the bed in the bedroom the entire time. So far, I seem to be the only thing that upsets this dog. Dawn is still biting her paws, but the cone seems to work pretty well to protect them. You have to be careful when you take the cone off. The minute Dawn thinks you aren't looking, she'll start going after her paws again. I'm tired and a little discouraged. I'd much rather be out at the Astronomer's Lodge looking at the night sky without a care in the world.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day