Susan Writes

“That freezer is more than 12 years old,” the appliance repairman said.  I anticipated his next words.  “Why are you smiling?” he asked.  That’s not what I expected to hear.

            “Because I thought you’d tell me it’s too old to fix,” I said and shrugged my shoulders.

            “Well, it can be fixed, but the repair cost will be more than it’s worth.”  That was my guess when Husband noticed the temperature inside our upright freezer was above 0°F. We had to save the three dozen jars of freezer strawberry jam I’d made so the good folks at our favorite local appliance store sent a repairman. A few hours later they delivered the new freezer that I chose and bought in 10 minutes.

            2:00 a.m. Sunday morning, the smoke alarm outside the bedroom door went off.  The sound is usually described as a beep or chirp.  In the middle of the night, it’s “ENT! ENT! ENT!”  (Say silent and scream ENT.) Husband and I threw off the covers, and our feet hit the floor.  He stumbled to the alarm and punched the reset button. “ENT! ENT! ENT!”  We didn’t smell smoke or see fire.  ““ENT! ENT! ENT!”  Husband stood on a kitchen chair and removed the battery to silence the alarm.

             “ENT! ENT! ENT!” the alarm screamed. The smoke detector was hard-wired to an electrical source.  Husband used a stepladder to disconnect and remove the alarm.  No more “ENT! ENT! ENT!” We walked through the house to be sure there was no smoke or fire and went back to bed.

            The next morning, Husband awoke before me.  His first words were “Don’t expect coffee.  The coffee maker is dead.”  Surely not. Maybe he could try another outlet. He’d tried every outlet on the kitchen counter.

            “Did you try one not on the kitchen counter?” I asked. We set the coffeemaker on the same kitchen chair that had been a stool to reach the smoke alarm a few hours earlier and the coffee maker worked.  I needed that cup of coffee.

            Could the blaring smoke alarm and the dead outlets be related?  Husband discovered a small manufacturer’s stick-on label inside the smoke alarm cover.  ‘Replace after 10 years.’  The installation date was 2005.  So it died of extreme old age.  Sunday afternoon, Husband replaced the smoke alarm and made sure all the others in the house were alive and working well.

            Monday morning, an electrician quickly diagnosed and repaired the non-working outlets.  A ground fault breaker that controlled four outlets had died.  “That sometimes happens,” the electrician said. 

            I should have expected two more mishaps after the freezer died. Everyone knows bad luck happens in threes.

            Now, as I write, Husband and a repairman from the heating and cooling business that installed a new unit last year are talking. Husband said, “I heard the unit running non-stop late last night.  It was not cooling.  I noticed the copper refrigerant lines going to the air handler were covered with ice.”

            Here we go again.  Is this bad luck number 1?  Or maybe a tag-along #4? ####

Filed under: Everyday Life | Tagged: appliance, freezer |