A Curve in the Road

Sunday started a little rocky for Rick, so we did not start the day in church.  We did a little necessary shopping in the morning and as the day progressed he started to feel a little better.  By the afternoon, the weather was great so we took a short ride on the trail.  Our total trip was only about five miles, but when riding the trike a person uses the upper thigh muscles rather than the calf muscles.  We both discovered that we still are terribly out of shape, and our thighs need lots of conditioning yet before going on longer trips. The trail itself, though, was delightful.

Half of the fun of riding the trike was in watching the expressions of the people who have not seen a person on a trike before. Most say things like, "Ah, cool" but a few just shake their heads like we are overgrown children (which, in truth, we are!).

Lindsay called this morning to tell us that Green Bay was 2 degrees with a wind chill of -25.  Rochester, Stephanie informed us, was even colder.  We smiled as we cruised down the road with the car windows open, enjoying the refreshing 70 degree temperatures today.

When we got up this morning, we looked forward to meeting with Michael, the contractor who is selling us the cabinets for the laundry room. He called this morning and arranged to come to our house this afternoon to measure the room.

We went out to get some needed supplies for installing the water heater, arriving home just in time for lunch.  That's when our day dramatically changed in a way we had not anticipated. Our budget took a curve in the road as it detoured to a new, necessary project.

I opened the freezer to get out food for my lunch and discovered WATER in the freezer.  I have noticed in the past week that some of the food in the refrigerator was frozen while some food in the freezer was covered in ice crystals or was somehow soggy.  Yesterday the package that holds waffles was covered with frozen drops of water.

"Ah, Rick," I said, "I think we have a problem."  He came out and saw the water dripping off the ceiling of the freezer.

"Oh, that's not good," he said. "Did we just not shut the freezer tightly from this morning, or is this really on the fritz?"  Neither of us really knows the answer to that question; however, Rick was up last night because he said he heard such a racket that it woke him up.  He went toward the kitchen to investigate and discovered that the refrigerator was the culprit making the noise.

Sadly, our budget is not endless this year (has it ever been?), so our decision was a no-brainer.  We can get along without cupboards in the laundry room, but we cannot get along without a refrigerator.  We called Michael, put the cupboards on hold, and went shopping for a new refrigerator.  Our choices were limited since we wanted white (not stainless steel), a single door on top (not French doors), no water dispenser (Lord, are we outdated!), and a drawer freezer on the bottom (finally, something in vogue!).  We found a model that we wanted, ordered it through Home Depot since they had the best price, and we will have it in two days.

The refrigerator and our Schwan's order were both supposed to arrive on Wednesday, so we cancelled the Schwan's order since we may or may not have a freezer to put the frozen goodies in, and no one can eat THAT much ice cream.  We then arranged to take some frozen food over to Steve and Chris' house tomorrow (thank God for relatives!), and we plan to start our two electric coolers tomorrow.  We'll eat what we can, refrigerate the necessities, and store what is left with friends and relatives.  The funny thing is that if we were still in Wisconsin, we could put the frozen food out on the back screened-in porch where it would be safe from squirrels yet colder than in the refrigerator, and we could put the refrigerator food in boxes in the garage.  All would fair well.

Am I disappointed not to be getting the cupboards?  Yeah, I am.  But as I pointed out to Rick, this refrigerator was made in March of 2003, so it is 10 years old.  We knew that we were on borrowed time with it, and with this purchase, we will now have officially replaced all of the major appliances.  We also have "spread the wealth" with the merchants of Dunedin and Clearwater since we bought the washer and dryer from Best Buy, the oven and new water heater from Lowes', the microwave and dishwasher from h.h. gregg, and now the refrigerator at Home Depot.  Let no one accused us of not being an equal opportunity buyer.

This is a disappointing curve, but we know that with patience and perseverance we will eventually meet all of our goals.  And the good news is that with all new appliances, Gladys is just that much younger and more physically fit to keep up with the demands of modern living.