Oops, I did it again.
No, I did not play with your heart, or indeed get lost in any games (I had to google the lyrics, honest). What I did do however is miss another instalment of this increasingly less than weekly blog. Sorry.
The reason for this egregious oversight? Well it had a little to do with fatigue, a little to do with frustration, and a lot to do with a fridge.
Second Hand Woes
We got a new fridge when we bought our house some fifteen months ago… New to us that is. In truth, as some friends were moving down to the big smoke known as London, and in true tight-wad Yorkshire style, we snapped up a bargain pre-used fridge for a pittance. It was a reet bargain!
Unfortunately, although we saved a lot of money at the time, the fact that it was second hand might have impacted on it’s longevity just a tad. The sad fact is, that since just before Xmas the poor thing had been on it’s last legs, suffering a pained, drawn out, and increasingly noisy demise, until two weeks ago when it finally chilled it’s last. RIP.
To be fair it hadn’t been working right for a good long while but it was that all important pre-crimbo run up when it really bit. This is not the best time for a fridge on the fritz, especially when money is tight. We held off for as long as possible but when it started to be warmer in the fridge than outside it. Something had to be done.
With this in mind we scraped together our pennies and went looking for a unit to fit the custom made space the former fridge had occupied. This took a day of shopping. A day in which we found the perfect replacement but, due to the ‘up to 20 weeks’ delivery timescale eventually had to settle for something a little less ideal but still lovely. That just left getting the old fridge out and the new one in.
This did not go well.
Do It Yourself
As previously mentioned, Dave, the guy who fitted our kitchen, put the fridge in it’s allotted space. As this left a significant gap above the unit, he then built us a small shelf/bookcase to minimise the effect. Unfortunately it minimised it enough to mean that the fridge... well it just wouldn't budge.
Myself and my wife, Tina spent about two hours trying to get the thing out of it’s hidey-hole. A process that involved much pushing, pulling, tipping, swearing, and at one point Tina actually climbing inside it (it seemed like a good idea at the time). The delivery guys when they came took a far more common sense approach and pointed out the aforementioned bookcase could just be unscrewed and taken out.
They couldn’t do this for us however (health & safety gone maaad!!), nor could they stay while we gave it a go. The new fridge was therefore stored in the garage temporarily and the disposal of the old one re-scheduled. It took fifteen swear free minutes to get the bookcase out after that.
Still, a few days later than planned, we are now back up and running with a safe place to store food and with the advent of Storm Emma, the timing could not be better.
Snow Go
‘The Beast from the East’ to give Emma her other name, has wreaked havoc on the U.K. and, although I think our little slice of West Yorkshire has possibly got away with it far more than other areas, it has meant that actually leaving the house became something of an impossibility for a few days.
It’s a little bit strange because the odds are that I might not have left the house anyway, at least for the first couple of days. There is a subtle difference between not going out, and not being able to go out however, and that is the position I found myself in.
Snow stops me. It robs my wheelchair of traction and it chills my poor little fingers to the bone and beyond, making it almost impossible to push myself more than a few feet. Add to this my slightly sideways feet pushing in front of me like a snow plough until I’m faced with a small white wall in front of me and I’m sure you can see why the white flakes of doom are among my least favourite things in the world, ever… ever.
Everything In Moderation
So, yes. The last two weeks have been, for one reason or another, a chilling experience. They have seen me swing from one extreme to the other. Like Goldilocks things have been too hot and then just a little too cold. For one whole week ‘the fridge’ was the go to topic of frustration and resentment. For the next week it was ‘the snow’ (there may have been other words interspersed in those two expressions but not ones that can be repeated in polite company, or for that matter, a blog my mother reads).
The weather forecast seems to indicate that Emma might be on her way though, so hopefully it won’t be too long until a little equilibrium can be found. Hopefully, with a clear driveway, and a working refrigerator we can start to live something close to a normal life. Hopefully things can be not too hot, nor too cold, but just right.
Until next time...
The reason for this egregious oversight? Well it had a little to do with fatigue, a little to do with frustration, and a lot to do with a fridge.
Second Hand Woes
We got a new fridge when we bought our house some fifteen months ago… New to us that is. In truth, as some friends were moving down to the big smoke known as London, and in true tight-wad Yorkshire style, we snapped up a bargain pre-used fridge for a pittance. It was a reet bargain!
Unfortunately, although we saved a lot of money at the time, the fact that it was second hand might have impacted on it’s longevity just a tad. The sad fact is, that since just before Xmas the poor thing had been on it’s last legs, suffering a pained, drawn out, and increasingly noisy demise, until two weeks ago when it finally chilled it’s last. RIP.
To be fair it hadn’t been working right for a good long while but it was that all important pre-crimbo run up when it really bit. This is not the best time for a fridge on the fritz, especially when money is tight. We held off for as long as possible but when it started to be warmer in the fridge than outside it. Something had to be done.
With this in mind we scraped together our pennies and went looking for a unit to fit the custom made space the former fridge had occupied. This took a day of shopping. A day in which we found the perfect replacement but, due to the ‘up to 20 weeks’ delivery timescale eventually had to settle for something a little less ideal but still lovely. That just left getting the old fridge out and the new one in.
This did not go well.
Do It Yourself
As previously mentioned, Dave, the guy who fitted our kitchen, put the fridge in it’s allotted space. As this left a significant gap above the unit, he then built us a small shelf/bookcase to minimise the effect. Unfortunately it minimised it enough to mean that the fridge... well it just wouldn't budge.
Myself and my wife, Tina spent about two hours trying to get the thing out of it’s hidey-hole. A process that involved much pushing, pulling, tipping, swearing, and at one point Tina actually climbing inside it (it seemed like a good idea at the time). The delivery guys when they came took a far more common sense approach and pointed out the aforementioned bookcase could just be unscrewed and taken out.
They couldn’t do this for us however (health & safety gone maaad!!), nor could they stay while we gave it a go. The new fridge was therefore stored in the garage temporarily and the disposal of the old one re-scheduled. It took fifteen swear free minutes to get the bookcase out after that.
Still, a few days later than planned, we are now back up and running with a safe place to store food and with the advent of Storm Emma, the timing could not be better.
Snow Go
‘The Beast from the East’ to give Emma her other name, has wreaked havoc on the U.K. and, although I think our little slice of West Yorkshire has possibly got away with it far more than other areas, it has meant that actually leaving the house became something of an impossibility for a few days.
It’s a little bit strange because the odds are that I might not have left the house anyway, at least for the first couple of days. There is a subtle difference between not going out, and not being able to go out however, and that is the position I found myself in.
Snow stops me. It robs my wheelchair of traction and it chills my poor little fingers to the bone and beyond, making it almost impossible to push myself more than a few feet. Add to this my slightly sideways feet pushing in front of me like a snow plough until I’m faced with a small white wall in front of me and I’m sure you can see why the white flakes of doom are among my least favourite things in the world, ever… ever.
Everything In Moderation
So, yes. The last two weeks have been, for one reason or another, a chilling experience. They have seen me swing from one extreme to the other. Like Goldilocks things have been too hot and then just a little too cold. For one whole week ‘the fridge’ was the go to topic of frustration and resentment. For the next week it was ‘the snow’ (there may have been other words interspersed in those two expressions but not ones that can be repeated in polite company, or for that matter, a blog my mother reads).
The weather forecast seems to indicate that Emma might be on her way though, so hopefully it won’t be too long until a little equilibrium can be found. Hopefully, with a clear driveway, and a working refrigerator we can start to live something close to a normal life. Hopefully things can be not too hot, nor too cold, but just right.
Until next time...
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