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WARM WORDS ON A COLD
CONCERN
Recently, the refrigerator in our house on wheels got sick. The first
sign we had of the seriousness of its condition was the frost build-up in
the main compartment within days of de-frosting. Then we began to notice
milk going sour even before its "Best if sold by..." date. So we
decided to check the temperature of our ailing little chill box. We bought
a thermometer and hung it inside on a door shelf. Sure enough, the
refrigerator had a fever. Even at the maximum cool setting, we couldn’t
get its temperature down below about 45 degrees.
We took it to an RV repair shop. There the mechanic attempted a quick
fix that didn’t work. We had no choice but to replace that important
appliance now in the throes of approaching death.
A week later, the replacement arrived and the skilled staff of the
repair shop went to work on our impaired RV. They efficiently removed the
terminally ill cooler, leaving a large and gaping hole in the side of our
abode through which the cold winds blew unhindered. They then quickly
installed the new one that had arrived, efficiently closing off that
temporary wind tunnel. However, there were immediate complications. The
replacement refrigerator didn’t work! All of its coolant lay in a puddle
in the bottom of the packing box from which they had just removed it!
Now what? Immediately another replacement was ordered for the
long-range fix. But we had a freezer and refrigerator full of perishable
food and no available refrigeration. If we were still in Ohio, we could
have set the spoilable food outside in the snow. But in south Texas, cold
weather only comes when you don’t need it and doesn’t last long enough
to do any good.
On the way home, we stopped at Walmart. There we bought a little 4.5
cubic foot electric refrigerator to serve as our emergency needs.
Kind-hearted neighbors opened their refrigerators and freezers to our
unprotected milk, meat and vegetables and helped Bruce run an electric
line into our shed to power the temporary cooler.
Replacement refrigerator number two arrived about four days later,
damaged beyond use. Number three was ordered and it, too, arrived dead and
unusable after languishing on a shipping dock in Dallas for several days.
Replacements four and five also died en route! We began to wonder why a
cheap "Made in China" dorm room refrigerator worked better than
an expensive U.S. made appliance.
In the meantime, preparing a meal was an exercise in planning and
patience. With little refrigerator space, we could not stock up on our
usual groceries. Meals had to be planned far enough ahead to allow time to
run to the neighbors’ shed for the frozen vegetables, use up leftovers
quickly to conserve space, make several trips to our shed for cheese,
lettuce, fruit or beverages. We ate lots of peanut butter sandwiches, but
we still had to go out to the shed to get the jelly!
Finally, two and a half weeks after the first ill-fated replacement,
refrigerator number six arrived – in perfect condition! This was after
phone calls to the refrigerator factory in Indiana, the storage warehouse
in Dallas, and two trucking companies, wherever they are based. The staff
of the RV Service Center quickly installed Refrigerator Number Six into
our long-suffering RV.
This "chilling" episode generated some frustration for us,
many warm words and a few hot and angry outbursts. But, when we finally
cooled down, we realized there was good news, too. First, the new
refrigerator works great. Second, we were settled in our "winter
home" when it happened, and not on the road traveling. Third, what a
valuable exercise in patience-building!
2 March 2010 - mshr
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