Home Repairs: Refrigerator Edition

We closed on the house two weeks ago to the day. It hardly seems possible, but we did. Moving with a toddler proved to be more hectic than I could have ever imagined. Thankfully, the weather was nice and we had a group of great friends to help us last weekend. 

It became clear that while our house was in great condition, there were a lot of little things that needed to be taken care of right away. One of the first repairs on the list was the refrigerator. While it functions well enough (although not my choice of style), the freezer was having some major problems that we learned about upon moving in. The freezer door is equipped with an ice and water dispenser that was somehow broken and causing the freezer to fill up with frost. When I looked into it further, I realized that the little flap that is supposed to stay closed until you press the lever for ice was not closing properly, thus letting warm air creep into the door and frost over. Not only was it frosting up the freezer, whenever we would hit the lever for the ice, it would just back up in the door and create a melty ice dam at the opening. It was a mess.

The only solution, I thought, was to take apart the door from the inside (with about a billion bolts). However, I decided to Google the problem and found awesome YouTube videos on how to repair GE refrigerators. I soon learned that it is easy to fix the gizmos on the ice dispensers by simply prying off the front digital panel and unhooking some wires (after you unplug the refrigerator of course). 

Thanks to the videos online, I quickly learned that it was not the flap that needed replacing, but the solenoid (whatever that is). I'm still not entirely sure how this little device makes the door flap open, but I guess that doesn't matter as long as it fixed our frost problem. After pulling out the panel, taking out a few tiny rusty screws, I had reached the problem -- the dastardly solenoid that had given up all hope of opening our ice dispenser flap. Now looking at this photo, it has become clear to me that my next project as a home owner should be to get a damn haircut. Geez.

For reference, this is a solenoid. The one on the left is the replacement and the one on the right is the sad sad pile of rusted-out metal that stood between me and my crushed ice water. I'm not exactly sure the kind of neglect it takes for a part that's buried behind two layers of plastic and barely encounters fresh air to completely corrode, but there you have it. I hooked up the new wires, screwed the panel shut, and the freezer and ice dispenser seem to be back in working order. 

Cost: $41 for the new solenoid

Time: About 15 minutes of my time. Home ownership feels good this week.

Homeowners

We signed a ream of papers last night and basically the transaction is complete on our end. As soon as the paperwork goes through and the sale is recorded we get the keys (which probably won't happen until tomorrow). I have to say, the process was very anticlimactic. Even though we handed over a giant check and signed our lives away until 2042, it was hard to drive back to our apartment and celebrate. 

That is, until we all sat down after dinner to watch Doc Martin, one of our go-to TV shows at the moment, and had to pause the show to listen to the band playing down the street at full volume. On a Tuesday. We rolled our eyes and laughed, vowing that Friday will be our last night in this apartment.

We will have our house tomorrow and there's still so much to do!

Delays

It seems as though our lender got bogged down with work at the end of last week and failed to send our loan documents to escrow today. As a result, we did not sign and there's a pretty good chance that we won't close on Wednesday. Funny, when I get bogged down with work, I stay late at the office -- and my work never has hundreds of thousands of dollars hanging in the balance. 

I know, one day is not a big deal, but that doesn't mean that I'm not pissed and bummed and pissed again. 

Thanks, Monday. You sucked big time.

Photo Emergencies

For about three weeks, my Nikon camera battery has been MIA. I just assumed it was misplaced or stashed in a special spot (that I'd certainly never forget). I assured myself that I'd find it once we started packing and organizing, but I really did it this time. I'm pretty sure it's lost for good. So, last week, I ordered a new battery charger online and it arrived yesterday afternoon. 

As a result of the charger being gone, I haven't taken as many photos as I usually would, hoping to extend the battery's life for real photo "emergencies." The battery finally gave out when I was taking a video of J and Little playing "forts." I'm sad I missed out, it was really cute, but I know there will be many more opportunities, as Miles loves nothing more than playing forts. 

Well, except for eating Pirate's Booty for breakfast, sans pants, while watching soccer with his dad. Last weekend, we were having a rough morning -- Little woke up way too early, was hungry and cranky, but refused to eat anything. He also decided that his pants had to go. Who am I to judge? So, J found a soccer game on TV and a happy morning was born. Little ate his weight in Pirate's Booty and went on to enjoy a more healthy breakfast. A true photo emergency if I've ever seen one.

Eight More Days

Only eight more days until we close on the house! Yay! 

I couldn't be more ready. An encounter this weekend with the maintenance staff at our current building confirmed that I am no longer suited for apartment life. Well, more accurately, I am no longer suited for living in a building that is run by condescending lazy a-holes. I know I will curse home repairs later, but right now I can't think of anything more satisfying than to actually fix something that's broken on my own damn schedule and to my own level of satisfaction. I will get to be that condescending lazy jerk-wad with myself and that will be outstanding.

Anyway, the packing. It's coming along. We now have a nice large pile of boxes in the corner of our living room. It's hard to tell by just looking around the apartment, but we've actually made a good bit of progress. Our closet is cleaned out, the kitchen is about two-thirds packed away, and a good deal of our shoes and clothes are in boxes. Miles has not lost any of his toys yet, but I think they'll be next on the chopping block this coming weekend. That's when we go into pioneer mode, living with just the bare essentials and gearing up for April 14th's big move to the east side. Thursday and Friday after we close will be busy with packing and coordinating small moves with fragile stuff like our art, dishes, and refrigerator items. We are also lining up repair people to come in and do minor things that the sellers (another set of a-holes that I will be happy to rid from my day-to-day existence) declined to fix, like the leaky sink and garage roof.

Until then, I'm trying to concentrate on work, so I don't have any surprises and can fully devote the end of next week to settling in. I have a lecture coming up on April 18th and there is lots to do before then! Busy busy week ahead!