One Didn't Make It

Julie and I went to Utah this summer. The trip was mainly to attend my family reunion in the Ogden Valley in Utah. We had one less worry this time. Our wonderful dog Kobi passed away a year ago so we didn't need to make arrangements for someone to watch him while we were gone. That left our aquarium. Granted, fish are a bit (a lot) easier to care for and emotion doesn't usually come to play if one dies, but they were a concern none the less, no matter it being small.

In the past we've had a "sitter" stay at the house and one of the duties was to feed the fish each day. This time we had no sitter. Now, I read somewhere that fish don't need to be fed every day to survive. In fact, I read, they could survive two weeks without being fed anything. Hmmmm.... I didn't want to risk it so I went to PetCo and purchased an automatic feeder. It was even digital! It cost $48!

Before we left I set the thing up, filled the "reservoir" and ran it through its paces to make sure it would dispense enough but not too much food. Our fish are pretty big and they would be hungry if they didn't get enough but I didn't want to foul the water by feeding too much. Confident, we left the house and I didn't think about them again for over two weeks. Hey, they're fish!

Incidentally, I still need to blog about our vacation. The part before the drive home. That'll come later, maybe. So, we got home and one of the first things I did was to look at the aquarium. Everything looked good. Fish were swimming all around and all was normal. So. I. Thought.

I checked the automatic feeder........... very little food had been dispensed! VERY little food! The thing was still full! Apparently, the paces it went through before I left didn't work so great after I left. The hole was too small or the food got bunched up plugging it or something, but the fact was that the fish received almost no food for over two weeks! I felt really bad. I fed them. They were hungry. Did that seem to be an understatement? Okay... THEY WERE HUNGRY!

As they ate I searched for each of the fish to see if any were missing. It was kinda hard to count the three Yo-yo loaches. They are about the same size and I had put a lot of vegetation in the tank to afford lots of hiding places. I could never get three in sight at once, two yes, three no. Everybody else was accounted for and none worse for the wear apparently.

About a week later I finally got around to doing a thorough tank cleaning and water change. When I do that everything comes out of the tank except for the gravel, the fish and half of the water. The fish were much easier to count then and sure enough the smallest of the loaches was missing. Sad. I didn't see any parts or pieces so if it was eaten (I wouldn't have blamed anybody, after all they didn't get any food for two weeks) the other fish had licked the platter clean.

The other possibility is that it jumped out of the tank. That would take some talent because most of the tank is covered. I haven't seen any of the fish come close to clearing the water even during their most enthusiastic feeding. For one to jump and then have the unlikely misfortune of jumping high enough in exactly the right place so as to fly out of the tank well, that was asking quite a lot. A quick scan around the front and sides of the tank discovered no fish on the floor. I went to the kitchen to get a flashlight to look in the dark recesses behind the tank. Before I got back Julie yelled out, "There it is!". Further inspection with the light confirmed her proclamation. There was the shriveled, dried up corpse of the third Yo-yo loach. THAT was one talented fish. The mystery was solved and after a quick flush everybody got on with their life. Except.... the..... one..... loach.

You thought the refrigerator story was long! At least that was about a major appliance. Let me wrap this up by letting you know that I really enjoy the aquarium, it has a calming quality about it and is fun to watch. The fish seem to flourish and maintenance isn't overly burdensome. I took a video of the tank a few days after this last cleaning. Maybe you'll like to see it? Behold...

Oh, I returned the automatic feeder to PetCo and got my money back. Piece of junk... :)

By the way, if you click on the four arrows on the bottom right corner the video will enlarge to full screen. The resolution isn't as good but greater detail can be viewed. Didn't know that? Well, now that you do, go back and watch again those two videos of Reine crawling. They don't get much cuter than that and I'm not just saying so because I'm the grandpa!

It's Only 16 Years Old!

Our refrigerator that is.

You know there comes a time, eventually, when there sits the thought in the back of your mind worrying about appliances. Isn't it interesting that almost everything we buy we buy with the understanding that it'll need to be replaced. Sometimes soon: like a computer, cell phone and other things that will be out of date within a couple of weeks or maybe a month... and sometimes years from now: like a car, shoes or a hair cut... but for some reason we think that electronic appliances will NEVER need to be replaced and if they stop working then THAT IS JUST HORRIBLE! Piece of junk.

Why is that?

We've been pretty fortunate really. Over the years we've had to fix the clothes dryer once and we've replaced the oven/stove and the dishwasher. I think the oven/stove was a fashion decision and I can't remember why the dishwasher needed replacement, maybe the dishes weren't getting clean anymore.

A few weeks ago, maybe a month, the refrigerator started making a clicking noise and then after a while it stopped (the clicking I mean). Then it would snore sometimes (the refrigerator I mean). Really, it sounded like snoring- not loud but definitely a snore. Well, then the dust hit the fan. The freezer door stopped closing right and we realized that a hard plastic part at the bottom of the door broke off and the door just didn't seal right anymore. Amazingly, right then or very close mind you, the fridge was warm and the ice began to melt.

How long had we had this refrigerator anyway? Julie called Sears to see about a repairman and found out that according to their records we bought the Kenmore SIXTEEN years ago! And it was breaking down already...!? =o)

It was decision time.

Would it cost a lot to repair? How much would a repair have to cost before we tossed it in favor of buying a new refrigerator? What else would go wrong with it, and how soon, if we did pay for a repair now? And isn't shopping for a new refrigerator more fun than repairing an old one anyway? So we scheduled a repairman-guy-person who couldn't come for a few days (which was better than 10 days or 3 weeks the other two shops quoted us) and we went shopping! The new ones we liked were going to cost at least $1200 and we were seriously considering it, depending on the repair estimate. How much would it have to be to make us buy a new one? $600? $400? $250? $43? We are really bad that way.

SO!

The repairman-guy-person came by a week ago last Wednesday, did some tests and told us the thingy-ma-jig is bad and needs replacing. Because the refrigerator is so old they don't have the part in stock and it'll need to be ordered- 7 to 9 days. The part will cost $90 and we'd have to pay another $60 (in addition to the $60 we'd owe him for this visit) to have him come out to put it in. I honestly don't remember what the name of the part is but it controls the defrosting of the cooling unit. He said the compressor was good as was everything else. Only the defrost controller was bad. So we decided we couldn't really justify purchasing a new fridge if the repair was only $210. We order the part (and the part for the freezer door). What to do about those 7-9 or more days before the new part could be installed? Man, this story is long, are you still reading? Are you crying? Oh... I see... bored to tears. Well, I've got to finish it now, we're getting to the good part.

The person had removed the inside cover at the back of the freezer and showed me that it had filled up with ice so that no air could circulate, hence- no can cool the fridge or freeze the freezer. He got out a heat gun and thawed it out. Now the refrigerator/freezer would work right- until it froze up again, because the defrost timer control isn't working. How long will that be? I ask him. Maybe a few days, maybe a week, shoulder shrug. Ooooo-kay.

Yesterday the fridge was warmer and the ice began to melt (it leaks water out of the ice dispenser when it does that), we get the hint. We find out that the part isn't in yet. Today we learn it just came in but we can't get into the schedule until Tuesday. Julie goes to Seward with Lindsay and Reine, I tear into the freezer to do what the repairman-guy-person did last week. An hour and a half later everything is thawed out and the cold is working again.

Here is some of the food removed from the freezer.
Other stuff went into the garage freezer the night before.

I take the shelving out and it begins.

After removing about 139 little screws the cover comes off and little Antarctica is revealed.

I don't have a heat gun so Julie's hair dryer steps in like a trooper.

Ice all gone. Air can circulate. I cut my finger on a metal fin.
They are sharp!

Ready to put the cover back on, replace the shelves and thawed out food. Good for another 10 days! If, after this repair Tuesday something else goes wrong, it'll be on the street looking for somewhere else to drip water.

Our appliances are truly remarkable. They work for years on end (especially a refrigerator) with little or no maintenance making our life more comfortable... and we take them for granted! After this maybe I'll be a bit more vigilant vacuuming the dust bunnies out from under my trusty old friend.

Reine Mobile

Just about three weeks ago our cuter than a button granddaughter began to crawl. I got her on video just a day after she first crawled so she is a little shaky yet. The second video is one of my favorite videos of all time. I love the way she looks up at me, starts to crawl and then looks up at me again. She isn't too steady but eventually she gets to her elephant. I also love the way she smiles at Grandma after her cough/sneeze at the end.