Do you remember the recent post ‘When Technology Freezes – Could I Be the Cause?’

I have the answer to that question!

Stick with me kids, I hope you’ll enjoy the ride!

You know Esmeralda was cured of her freezing ills.  She now runs like a wild horse over a golden prairie.  She glitters and sparkles and does everything I want and even more – she has not frozen – or even chilled out –  not once!

You remember the fridge that thought it was a freezer?  Well, here is its story.

It’s probably close to a  month now since I first noticed the fridge was running a bit too cold.  I adjusted the thermostat and waited for it to return to its proper temperature.

Some time later I noticed the temperature inside the fridge was still colder than it needed to be, so I moved the slider a bit further down the scale.

Over a period of days I noticed no decrease in the chill level and kept adjusting the thermostat downwards until I had reached the bottom of the bar.  The freezing was just getting worse and salady type foods were now icing up overnight and inedible.   A fresh organic chicken put in one evening was frozen solid the next morning.   My breakfast was made with frozen berry fruits and frozen yoghurt.

Trying to outwit the freezing fridge became a daily event.  What could be stored in the fridge and how could I store the other items?  I gave up trying to keep salad and vegetable items longer than a couple of days in a cupboard and slowly emptied the fridge of its contents – much of it ending in the trash.

Finally realising that being unable to store food in the fridge in the middle of summer was probably a silly status-quo to stick with – and realising I was wasting food and not being able to stick with my preferred food types, thereby compromising my well being, was just as silly…. I decided to bite the bullet and get the darn thing fixed.

I spent some time and gathered together a list of appliance service numbers with the aim of a) finding someone open and b) finding someone I could afford.

In one of those serendiptitous moments we all have,  I had found the Owners Handbook for the fridge when sorting through last years paper work.   Another moment of genius had me decide to actually look at the book and check the trouble shooting page before making the calls to service agents.

I didn’t get far with my reading, for on opening said book, can you imagine my a) amazement to find I had taken out an extended warranty at the time of purchase [I never take out extended warranties!]  and b) unbounded joy to discover there was still 13 days before it expired!  Thirteen days!!

Well, hallooy, hallay!!  Oh Joyous Day – just in time baby – a fridge repair at no cost!!

I capered vigorously around my tiny house and took Orlando with me – he purred and I sang and then we made the phone call.

In an amazingly short amount of time a service tech arrived, he looked like an older statesman in a techie suit and was polite yet remote.  He asked me to explain the problem and then, without hesitation, opened the fridge door and looked inside.

He stuck his head further in and almost immediately pulled it back out.  His face was stern and his voice disapproving,

“You know you’ve got your temperature set at the coldest point” he said and he put his arm in to move the gauge.

“What?” I said – looking, sounding, feeling like a stunned mullet.

He stood aside and ushered me in – if I squinted my eyes, blinked and stared I could just make out the words ‘warmer’ at the top of the scale and ‘colder’ at the bottom.

I pulled my head out of the fridge “I’ve never seen those words before in my life.”  I said to him vigorously.

He ‘tsked’ at me and shook his head.  I buried my face in my hands and wished the floor would just open up and swallow me …. He busied himself hunting through his hi-tech tool-bag and said – “This isn’t covered by the warranty you know.”

I think I groaned out loud.  “I’m not usually this ditzy….”  I think I  said, in a vain attempt to raise myself in his estimation.  He would have none of it.  Just returned an icy silence.

I heard myself give a little moan as I berated myself for being a Bear of Little Brain – apparently out loud, for he looked up at me and said “Winnie-the-Pooh.  I used to read those stories to the grand-kids.”  He looked momentarily wistful.

I  apologised for wasting his time – I could see he thought I was an absolute idiot.  And he was, of course, completely correct!  I told him I absolutely agreed with his every damning thought – I was indeed a person of very little brain – just like Winnie-the-Pooh was a bear of very little brain – and finally he unbent just a little and cracked a smile.

While I silently contemplated a bill with several zeros after a two or even a three, he finished packing up and writing out his notes on his electronic thingy-ma-jig.  Eventually he was finished and printed out the invoice with an ominous whirring sound.

As we walked to the door he said “You should probably take a few minutes and read that owners manual.”  He handed the invoice and a business card to me, “I’ve put down that the three point plug was faulty and I’ve changed it.”

He smiled politely, nodded his head firmly at me and left.

I quietly shut the door and with my heart in my mouth, looked at the piece of paper he had given me.

Job: refit loose plug at defrost element.  Test ok.

Call Out charge                 $0.00

Labour                               $0.00

Parts                                  $0.00

Thank you for your custom, have a nice day!

The business card held his names and contact details and bore the title  ‘Company Director’.

How much more good fortune can one brainless bear have?

I paid attention to how I was feeling.  In amongst the mix of shame and elation was that wonderful heart opening sense that another disaster had just been averted, that I, with all my shortcomings, shortsightedness and general idiocies was still, somehow being carried through to a happy ending…..

That seemingly humourless and remote service tech was obviously not a service tech at all!  He was the company owner, probably understaffed, obviously stressed, and needing to fulfill an urgent extended warranty job that turned out to be neither urgent nor even a job……  And he did have a heart – he knew a genuine ditz when he saw one – and he liked Winnie-the-Pooh!

So, to my original question – can I be the cause of technology freezing?  It appears the answer is a resounding  Oh, Yes Indeedy!   🙂

Geez!!

Thanks for coming by today, I love that you did!  🙂