Appliance repairmen are notorious for never showing up when they say they will. "I'll be there between 12 and six." They show up at 7 and charge you extra because it is after hours. I am fortunate to have a reliable repairman who is here when he say he'll be here. This morning it was 8 am sharp.
He had been here a few weeks ago and had to make a return visit after ordering a part to fix the automatic water dispenser that was not working on the refrigerator. The only problem, to install the part, the fridge had to be completely emptied so it could be tilted forward. So I set my alarm early to empty the refrigerator's contents. Even more impressive than that, BK set her alarm and came down to help me. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my friends? This forced emptying was a much needed opportunity to remove all of the science experiments that had made their way to the back. It was fun trying to figure out exactly which vegetables turn blue and which ones turn green. And, how long can you keep tofu before it is unrecognizable? Actually, it was not so bad. The experiments were not good enough to earn me a Nobel Prize.
As we dug deeper, it suddenly dawned on me that nothing that we were taking out was actually refrigerated. The shredded cheese resembled queso . . .liquid. Definitely not a good sign. When I opened the freezer, it looked like a replica of Glacier National Park. All the way down the back and pooled in the bottom was ice, solid ice. This too was not a good sign.
Thinking he was just replacing some worn tubing, Mr. Repairman, Darryl, had to deal with the ice in the freezer and the heat in the refrigerator. It is now 8:10. This day is off to a great start! He made all the necessary mechanical repairs. He then said, "That is about five gallons of water frozen in there. It is not going to work properly until all that is melted. I suggest that you get a bunch of towels and a hair dryer. I hope you don't have any plans this morning."
So, armed with a hair dryer, every clean towel I own (which is quite a few since for once I am caught up on laundry), and a butter knife that was masquerading as a chisel, BK did battle with my freezer. She spent an hour holding the dryer and breaking off chunks of ice with the butter knife while I sopped up the dripping water. Darryl gets paid $75 an hour; our time, priceless.
Now I have about fifty pounds of soaking wet towels and a working refrigerator with dispensing water as well as a glacier free freezer. I will forgive Darryl for being here at 8.
Good friends will often show up to help you blow dry your hair for a special occasion, but it is a great friend who will show up in your kitchen early in the morning to blow dry your freezer! I love you BK!.
