It Was One Of Those Days
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Yesterday, it was one of those days we all have from time to time. Let’s see if I can get it all sorted out so I can tell you about it.
Something mild but aggravating was the clock in my bedroom dying yesterday. I kind of knew it was on its last legs.
Now I know most people probably don’t even have clocks anymore. They check the time on their cell phone.
But I don’t want to rely on my cell phone to check the time in bed, because that would mean putting on my reading glasses.
With a big clock face, I can just peer out from under the covers a little to check the time. Anything more would wake me up completely. I’m a light sleeper.
Appliance Problems:
My refrigerator is still causing me problems, and maintenance keeps telling me they will have to keep adjusting something in the freezer.
Meanwhile, anything toward the back of the refrigerator gets water on it and then sometimes freezes. I’m not saying a lot of water. Just enough to get things wet. So not a really big deal.
In the big scheme of things, this is a minor aggravation.
First, they suggested I get a freezer so I wouldn’t have food blocking the vent. No food in the fridge freezer should have meant no more problems. The vents would no longer be covered, since there’s nothing in there but an ice maker.
Nope, that apparently wasn’t it. So they keep coming over and adjusting something I couldn’t see.
Well, I can live with that. I now have an independent freezer, and it holds a lot of food. I keep extra almond milk and coffee creamer in there.
So around 5:30, I put a TV dinner in my brand new microwave.
The Power Went Out In My Kitchen:
Suddenly, the microwave went off in the middle of cooking my TV dinner. The convection oven went black. And the refrigerator stopped working.
So I figured the answer was in my bedroom closet, where the breaker box is. I tried flipping the two breakers labeled “kit”.
Nope, that didn’t fix it. Tried it again. And no, again.
I called emergency maintenance. A guy named John came out. He goes to the breaker box, and somehow the lights come back on. Hurray!
The guy who came to fix it said the problem likely began during the microwave’s installation. And when they were turning power on and off in the breaker box, something was probably not quite on or off. So he thought a surge knocked it the rest of the way.
Well, his fingers had the magic touch, I guess.
Someone Else’s Viewpoint:
I told him about the refrigerator problem, even though he doesn’t actually work here. Just to see what he thought.
He said his mother had a refrigerator with this problem. Something about when it defrosts, something in the back can sometimes freeze up. And you have to heat it up to unfreeze it.
Which means they would once again have to bring a hair dryer and stand in front of it, blowing hot air. They’ve had to do this before.
The maintenance man said he would put notes in his work order about it.
I told him I thought I was going to have to buy a refrigerator and a freezer if this problem kept happening.
So he goes on his way, and I take my evening shower to try to relax the tension out of my day. I realize these things sound simplistic and probably would not faze everyone.
This Is Currently My World:
But this is my world right now, and when irritations like yesterday start happening, they threaten my sense of well-being.
But looking on the bright side, I did get a new Hotpoint microwave. And it’s even white. Yea!
It’s kind of like the breaker box. You have to try this and that until you find an answer that will solve your problem. And then you can say you averted disaster.
I love your posts! My air fryer/toaster oven and microwave if used at the same time will blow a fuse, also. My refrigerator has developed a rust stain on the door on the outside and looks like it is always dirty. It’s very embarrassing, but it works so I can’t get any replacement. My roof was just replaced and now I have a water stain in my guest room ceiling. life isn’t for sissies. its an everyday challenge. I had hoped like would get easier … I am 79 … I’ll be 80 in July. thanks for letting us vent our complaints. we are not alone.
Ugh… I hate when I have one of those days. I totally feel your pain. Although, you say those things aren’t that big of a deal, but if I’d been in your shoes, I would have been mad all day. I’m so sorry, and I hope tomorrow is a much better day!
I am not well versed w these types of things; however I have had a similar refrigerator issue before. It appears that the water in your freezer drain is frozen and once the line is frozen all the way it then starts to drip down into your refrigerator. It could be that something is blocking the drain line but if they have heated the water w a hair dryer and the problem still persists it probably means the water is not being properly heated and they may need to order a part or replace the refrigerator. Hope they are responsive to this for you.
Brenda …
In our home if we overload certain circuits the breaker will trip. Perhaps adding the new freezer to your electrical load may be maxing out your apartment’s electrical capacity. Especially if you’re now running two large appliances plus the microwave … multiple appliances at once. Did you notice if your new freezer stayed on when the power tripped … the last thing you need is for it to stay off and ruin your frozen items. Your maintenance crew somhoukd be able to do a circuit test for you.
Well it is pretty funny! A friend once compared by life to the Perils of Pauline. Out of the skillet and into the fire most of the time. I left out the part where the lightning storm blew out the underground cable providing power to my barn and it cost $2400 to get it fixed. Not much funny about that from my point of view but I’ll bet the electrician laughed all the way to the bank!
It was definitely “one of those days” wasn’t it? I don’t like days like that; just want to crawl back in bed and burrow.
Please do NOT buy a refrigerator. That’s their responsibility and should be done sooner than later.
I hope today is a much better day.
Take care!
I am so sorry, Brenda…such problems make so much stress for us at our ages, as fixing things is much harder…be it doing ourselves or actually getting management to fix what they are supposed to take care of!! Some days, I feel so anxious, which drives up my already high blood pressure. It seems things take a much much greater effort these days, no matter what the thing is!! Take it as easy as you can!!
Brenda, I’m so sorry for all the inconveniences you had yesterday! When everything hits us at one time it becomes very frustrating. I had that kind of week last week. Ava accidentally knocked me off my feet while I was trying to put her in the car and I did a full face slam into my car, no hands. Boy was I a mess! And I’ll admit my face needs a little color from time to time, but maroon and purple are just not my colors lol. The ugly is just about gone now after 14 days but my ribs are still mighty sore. Then, as if I needed more to deal with, my horse Pepe somehow got deep cuts on both sides of his leg and since the vet couldn’t get away to come out Janet and I had to take him to Muskogee to get him tended to, he wouldn’t load up for me on the way out, walked right in for Janet, wouldn’t load up for me or Janet to come home, vet came out and he walked in like a little gentleman for her. Embarrassing! Then the dogs both escaped and stayed out chasing bunnies ALL NIGHT! No sleep, because I could hear them barking. I could also hear the coyotes! They finally came home and Ava escaped again two days later, out all night, would let me see her but wouldn’t come home, neighbor got hold of her and called me. The ground is so wet that every time I fix a hole she just digs another one. She’s been exhausted for the last 3 days and I keep giving her antihistamines for allergies, and thank goodness they keep her knocked out! What a godsend!! She also stole a rooster from the neighbors but they don’t want him back because he was a stray and doesn’t get along with their roosters, so I now have a gigantic black copper maran, beautiful rooster, but my horse Bo HATES his crowing although he and Pepe are getting chummy! My life is a wonderful combination of stress and hilarity. Get animals they said, it’ll be fun, they said. I also think the apartment complex has to buy you a new fridge if they can’t fix the one you have. If you rented it with one, it’s up to them to keep it as it was when you agreed to sign a lease. They aren’t obligated to buy you a brand new one, just one that works right. And I wonder if using the microwave and the toaster oven at the same time might have flipped the breaker. Both of those draw a lot of power and your new one might be higher wattage than the old one was.
Well I sure got a good laugh out of your story!
I couldn’t use my microwave and air fryer at the same time. Tripped the breaker every time. I now have an air fryer in my oven. When my breaker needs to be reset I can’t just flip it “on”. It isn’t always on the full off position when it flips. It is just midway. I can’t just flip it to the on position. I have to flip it on, then off and then on again. Hope that helps . Might be what the problem was when you tried.
Clocks! I’m definitely in the I NEED AN OLD FASHIONED CLOCK TO READ party. I have a “new” digital clock radio (it’s about 20 years old now) that is plugged in to an electric socket sitting on a night stand where I can see it. I have the same model of clock in the guest room. I have digital clocks on my microwave and electric stove. The microwave I inherited from the former owner of this house. Been here 8 years and it still works like a charm – I have no clue how old it was when I bought the house in 2014. The electric stove is newer, I think I bought it in 2017. I also have the little clocks in the right hand lower corner on each of my laptops that tells me the time while I’m online. And I have two battery-operated clocks. One is a 12″ tall decorative metal clock with an aged-white face and black Roman numerals that I bought from Amazon at least 30 years ago that has a little swinging pendulum. In this quiet house, I can hear the “tick/tock” pretty much throughout the house (it’s not that big of a house). And an even older battery-operated clock that dates back to 1986 I purchased from Gimbel’s when it was going out of business in Milwaukee. It has a 4-prong weighted “pendulum” with four “globes” coming out on four little “arms” at the base of the clock, in a faux-gold/shiny brass colored plastic that rotates 360 degrees back and forth. It is covered by a clear glass dome. It too has a cream-colored face with Roman numerals. I’m not a cell phone/smart phone person. I have a flip top cell phone that I pay $20 for monthly (plus all the taxes and “service fees”) through Consumer Cellular (through AARP) that I use not to make calls other than 911 if I ever need to, but I forget most of the time to stick it in my bag when I’m going out and about. When I do remember to take it with me, I use it to show me the time while I’m waiting at bus stops for the next bus to come. Normally I wear an old fashioned wrist watch, but the battery died on my favorite some time during the height of the COVID pandemic and I haven’t yet taken it to a jeweler or one of those battery places in the mall to get the battery replaced. I’ve no idea how to do that myself and no intention of learning. Thus, the cell phone is my “watch” – just clunkier and uglier and easier to forget to take it with me. Anyway, in these retirement years, I’m not as obsessed as I used to be with “time.” What a blessing that is.
I agree with the others that they need to replace the frig for you. That is way too annoying. Probably cheaper for them to get you a new frig than paying their workers to repeatedly do service on it!
It was a very stressful day for you. Those things pile up. I’m glad the service man realized what the problem was right away.
Some days you just have to hope when you go to bed the next day will be better. Like cars we need appliances to live and they can give us problems and when it rains it pours as they say. Hope all is up and working well again.
I hardly even miss reading your blog and comment occasionally, so when there was no blog yesterday I worried, had something happened to you or Ivy. Anyway sorry you have had all those irritations with your appliances and hope you get a new refrigerator. As others have said I think this is what they should do for you and soon.
Glad you and Ivy are OK.
None of that was minor! It’s so frustrating, because it seems like it happens in clusters, instead of spaced out. I also think the complex should be getting you a new refrigerator!
I have the same question as Eileen – I thought it was the responsibility of the landlord to fix, or replace appliances.
All of those irritations piled up together definitely make for “one of those days.” Hope today is better.
If you are renting, why aren’t they providing you with a new refrigerator? I’m renting and if I had problems, they would do that. I hope those issues are resolved for you.