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 By Argile Stox July 19, 2006 There is one appliance in the house that sits quietly in a space and does its job 24 – 7 – 365. Its only purpose is to keep food cold, dispensing ice and if you’re lucky, it has a cold water dispenser. Every two weeks, perishable foods are purchased from the supermarket and placed in this box called a refrigerator. On a very still night you can hear the ice maker dropping its contents into a box in the freezer. It needs very little attention. Every month the vacuum cleaner sucks out any debris that may clog the air circulation vents that are located on the very bottom of this box. When stocked with new perishable foods, you can hear the compressor clicking on and running until the interior of this box has reached the adjusted coldness temperature setting. The refrigerator is used constantly by two adults and two children – every day. The refrigerator doors sometimes open and close at least fifty times a day, dispensing the inventory it stores to fill the stomachs of the individuals who occupy the house. Its only job is to keep food cold, dispense ice, and provide cold water. The doors are also littered with coupon clippings, appointment reminders, and emergency telephone numbers. The refrigerator not only holds food, it is also a reminder / appointment file cabinet. Sometimes, the refrigerator doors serves as an art gallery, possessing crayon or art paper designs created by Tracy’s youngest son in elementary school. Great school report cards of her two sons are also on display there too! I remember as a child my grandmother had a Sears HotPoint refrigerator that was in her house for and least fifteen to twenty-five years. In that time, I remember a serviceman came to the house only once to replace a compressor. Otherwise, the refrigerator did its job very well. However, this was not the case with Tracy’s six year old Sears Kenmore –side by side, ice and water dispensing refrigerator. Last week the ice maker began to fail intermittently. Then, Tracy noticed that the food and ice in the freezer section was slowly beginning to thaw out. The refrigerator which had served this family very well for six years –was dying a very slow death. Tracy and I had a twenty minute discussion about the future of this refrigerator. We discussed the aspect of calling a repairman to diagnose and repair the refrigerator. However, we determined that since the refrigerator was six years old, it would not make economic sense to put any money into repairing it. As the days wore on last week, the freezer section walls were beginning to lose the chill factor. We needed to get a new refrigerator –fast! Our first thoughts were to drive to an appliance store that sold discounted refrigerators. However, the spontaneous expedition to price out and buy a new refrigerator presented itself on a Sunday. In addition, the appliance store we had in mind was closed that day. As we sat in the SUV located in the empty parking lot, the dashboard clock indicated that it was fast approaching 3:00 in the afternoon –on a Sunday, and there were very few discount appliance stores open in the town of Rapid City, South Dakota. As Tracy and I stared at the closed store - we simultaneously said, “Sears!” Tracy immediately placed the gearshift knob in “Drive” and we began a mad dash to the Rushmore mall where Sears is located. The clock was ticking. We had no clue as to the operational hours of Sears –and were hoping that we had made it there just in time to rummage through the selection of refrigerators Sears had to offer. The identical refrigerator that Tracy had purchased six years ago from Sear’s, was on the showroom floor (priced about two hundred dollars more than the unit we were going to replace). The refrigerator was priced just over $1,000.00. That was way out of our budget. I am not a fan of side by side refrigerators. There never seems to be enough room in the refrigerator side for daily perishable consumables and the freezer side is very cramped. The two salespersons that were assisting us were very patient, and asked us numerous questions about the dimensions of our old refrigerator. Then the two salespersons fanned out throughout the showroom floor and picked out about three refrigerators that would meet our requirements. Tracy and I could not believe that refrigerators at Sears were priced between $700.00 to over $2,000.00 and above. This purchase was becoming a monetary nightmare. Of the three refrigerators that the sales individuals had suggested, only one met our price range –however, it was lacking some of the amenities of our old refrigerator (ice cube and cold water dispenser). It did have an ice maker (we would have to reach into this freezer section to retrieve the ice cubes (that, we decided we can live with. The cold water dispenser was rarely used), and the freezer section has its own compartment below the refrigerator section. Tracy and I looked at each other and our eyes reflected questions. Could we live without an ice cube and cold water dispenser? Was the refrigerator and freezer section large enough to accommodate our needs? The two salespersons directed us to a few more refrigerators that had the amenities we were used too –however, the prices were outrageous. So, Tracy and I went back to the original refrigerator that was in our price range and the deal was done. The new refrigerator would be delivered sometime Monday morning. That total cost of the new refrigerator was a dollar less then one thousand and fifty dollars (with tax). This included the delivery charge, the cost of taking away our old refrigerator, and the two year extended warranty. Most individuals shy away from extended warranties. However, when you make investment like this –you want that refrigerator to be fully protected against any defects or anything that may go wrong. In addition, the Sears extended warranty includes a yearly inspection of the refrigerator, and if anything goes wrong within that two year time period, Tracy makes one telephone call to Sears and repairman comes out to the house to fix it. The number to call for service is plastered right inside, on one of the refrigerator’s interior walls. So, you think that’s the end of the story? Not by a long shot! It’s Monday morning and I am comfortably sleeping. At about 8:30 that morning Tracy wakes me up and tells me that the refrigerator guys have arrived. I jumped out of bed (and that is not an easy thing to do with a chronic back problem). The installers needed to know where the water shut-off valve was located, so they can hook up the ice maker in the new refrigerator. I am half asleep, my back was screaming in pain, and I did not even have my first cup of morning coffee, yet! Ignoring the excruciating pain rolling through my back, I slid into my pants and guided the installers to the basement where the water shut-off valve to the ice maker was located. I had to jump on top of the washing machine to reach the dang valve, and shut it off. The pain in my back became so intense; I had to sit down on the basement couch for about ten minutes. As the installers were transporting the old refrigerator out of the house, I gazed at all of the debris that had collected over the course of six years –that was under the old refrigerator. I quickly took a broom to the debris and washed the entire space that the new refrigerator would occupy. The old refrigerator was not on wheels, so there was no way to keep that area clean. The new refrigerator is on wheels – WOW! Will wonders never cease? Within an hour, the refrigerator was installed and the ice maker was hooked up, the installers leveled the refrigerator so the doors close properly, and the refrigerator was turned on. Meanwhile, Tracy began to fill up the new refrigerator and wait for the ice cubes to arrive. Tracy’s youngest son couldn’t wait to hear the sounds of the ice cubes dropping into the box. The ice maker has five settings. You can set the ice maker to dispense five sizes of ice cubes. We all agreed on the medium setting. As I was reading through the instruction booklet, it mentioned that the ice maker would take at least twelve to twenty four hours to become fully functional. It surprised the heck as me, as the ice maker began producing its products within six hours. However, the instruction booklet advised that we discard the first few containers of ice. That was a real letdown for Tracy’s youngest son. The one thing that soothed his disappointment was the sounds of the ice cubes dropping into the box. Well, this concludes the details of our adventure in purchasing, installing, and operating the new Sears –Kenmore refrigerator. I can really bore you to death by writing about how our basement became flooded when the sewer line clogged and backed up last week, on a Sunday – and we had to pay forty dollars extra for the Rapid-Rooter guy to clear the clog… However, I think I have significantly bored you completely death, and at the very least, cured your insomnia –LOL! ------------ Email Argile Stox: argilestox@gmail.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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