random thoughts – Day 2,413 (Sunday 10/25) – temperature fluctuations

Recently, the daily temperature has fluctuated with seasonal ranges from the low 30s to the mid 60s. Likewise, my refrigerator, bought not quite fourteen months ago, is experiencing some temperature swings, though not quite so dramatic (thankfully). It’s a repeat of the temperamental activity dealt with in mid-June, specifically, the ice cream is no longer frozen, the ice cubes are wetter than usual, and the sound of the thing is a steady hum instead of the previous cyclical variety of noises.

The situation was corrected in June with the replacement of a part that controlled the automatic cycling of the “frost free” defrost stage. The technician told me about defective parts from a now-former vendor and that they were replacing dozens a day for a stretch of time a few months previous. Now it seems like the replacement part is from the same crappy batch as the original part, because it has lasted barely four months.

Immediately after the repair, the refrigerator box was running too cold which I noticed when my grapes were covered in ice crystals and the orange juice and half and half sounded crunchy when I shook the containers. In response, I lowered the setting a smidge below the notch marked “recommended” and things have been fine until the past few days. Suddenly, the ice cream that was solid enough to bend a spoon is more akin to the soft serve variety. The ice cubes, once brittle and dry, are now wet like a spring thaw.

Smooshy ice cream.

My quiet Sunday morning was spent looking for the paperwork for the refrigerator. Drawers were rifled through and some junk papers discarded. I don’t really need the grocery store and gas station receipts from July, do I? (They just piss me off, anyway.) After going through four drawers and a filing cabinet, it occurred to me the info I needed was most likely sitting in my email. Sure enough, it was. And the exercise feels like a justification to get a printer, because as much as I love trees, I am still a hands-on lover of paper files which do not require electricity, wi-fi, a series of passwords and authentications, and a search command to access.

Of course, the last printer I had sat unused on a shelf for the entire nine years I lived in Lowell until I paid to make it go away at an electronics recycling event. And as always happens, a couple months later,  informed that I was one of many selected to be laid off, I suddenly needed a printer for home sale and job search activities as much as I needed air, food, and water. Thank goodness for my favorite in-office job benefit, access to a printer, which almost made it worth the hassle to drive downtown, park in my assigned garage, and walk several blocks to the office on a regular basis.

Anyway, the model number, serial number, invoice number, and purchase date were located in the original emailed purchase invoice. A service request was sent online, partially for the cyber trail. And now, I wait. The outdoor temperature climbed from 29 degrees at 6 a.m. to 58 degrees on the approach to noon, so it might be a good time for me to finish off the ice cream before the freezer declares my ice cream season over. Not that the season ever really alters ice cream consumption in New England. Like iced coffee, it’s a year-round part of the diet here.