NEVER TOO OLD

I have been getting a real practical education this past week. Some of it has been self-taught, I might add.

My man B taught me the ins and outs of my plumbing/gas lines regarding the furnace, water heater and water softener. I now know what the five thousand valves are for and which lines are what and go where (not that I could ever repair them).

Since I had the compressor replaced on the refrigerator, the old gal just has not run the same. The periods of self-defrost were too long and the temperature controls had to be set too high in order to maintain the correct coolness inside. Something just was not right. I blamed it on the new compressor (they just don’t make things like they used to, blah, blah) and the owner’s manual they had given me had some very important sections missing which rendered it useless.

Yesterday, it hit me. I had read somewhere that if the OUTSIDE of the refrigerator felt warm to the touch, either the vents inside were blocked OR there was not enough air circulating around the outside of the unit. I put my hand on the outside top of the side of the old gal and she was cool to the touch where the freezer was but WARM to the touch at the middle and on down the side.

The certified yo-yo who worked on the compressor replacement had pushed her all the way back against the back wall and one side had barely ½ inch between her and the kitchen cabinets and counter. So, I put on my he-woman muscles and maneuvered her so that she now has at least 2 inches or more of space on all sides.

It only took me 2 or more years and plenty of chugging from her to find out what was wrong but she is now running the way Whirlpool had intended when she was manufactured. Sorry it took me so long, old gal!

By the way, I can also take a toilet tank off the stool, take it apart and put it back together. Learned that from my man B (or did I already know that from living in a cracker box for years?).

See, you’re never too old to learn new things (and my son thought I wouldn’t know who Amy Winehouse was)!

I ain’t as stoopid as I look!