Fridge Fun

 I have long been plagued with refrigerator problems/issues...

Back in 2011 (yes, this was before I blogged), we had a fridge issue that became apparent in the middle of the might.  Let me preface by saying (if you didn't already know from my rantings) that the house in NJ was built over 100 years ago and there is no space in the kitchen for a fridge.  (There is barely enough space for 2 people to be in there at the same time; a major reason why I fell in love with the kitchen in the Poconos house.)  The fridge has to go on a landing as you go down the stairs to the door to the backyard and then the basement.  I'm sure it worked much better when it was an icebox.  Anyway, as a result, we have a very specific space and it's small.  It doesn't require a mini-fridge (although I have one of those in the basement for "overflow), but it does require a very specific size that is not easy to get.  In January of 2011 (a year when it was very icy...I will never forget), our fridge started to give off a weird odor and it became noticeable in the middle of the night (or maybe it was early morning). As a result my husband unplugged the fridge and we moved everything to the basement OR to the fridge next door (because at the time my parents lived next door to us...or rather we lived next door to them since they owned their house and lived there from 1972-2019 and we rented the house that had been my grandparents and was owned by my mother from 1995-2022).  Imagine me moving items from one house to the other in the dark when it was cold and icy out.  It was not fun.  

Finding a new fridge that would fit in that space wasn't easy.  But it was even MORE difficult when ten years later, this fridge died (shouldn't it have lasted longer?) and we had to find a few one, purchasing it from a "designer" appliance store.   And while they were very helpful, there were also some issues: https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2021/08/chaos-on-summers-day.html .

My fridge problems were not just tied to our house in northern NJ.  There was also the issue with the fridge at what was my parents' house at the shore:  https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/lowes-lies.html  and https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/queen-of-coordination.html.  There have been problems at the house in the Poconos; where I have MULTIPLE fridges (a beautiful large one in the kitchen, a "wine" fridge in the bar area, a fridge [and a separate freezer] in the basement [which doesn't work right...the freezer portion does, but the actual fridge, not really] and the garage).  As previously mentioned, the fridge in the basement doesn't work and should be gotten rid of (someday I will pay for someone to pick it and a few other large items up and take them away, but now is not that time.).  The fridge in the garage works well, but we don't keep it plugged in because we really don't need it, unless we are having a party and then we use it only for a week or so.  The fridge is the kitchen is amazing, but it's getting old and it's had its issues.  (I was actually afraid I was going to have to replace it earlier this year and that would have cost me MAJOR bucks, but we found a repairman who came out and sort of resolved the problem as well as giving us some advice, so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for now.)  

And then there's the story of the mini-fridge for my son's dorm.

His freshman year I rented a Micro-fridge (fridge on bottom; microwave on top).  It was expensive.  My son said the microwave was rarely used and not needed.  I thought it would be cheaper his sophomore year to buy a fridge.  Which I did, from Amazon, and had it delivered.  But...it was supposed to be delivered to the college, but somehow ended up at some man's house a mile away!  Two days before my son was headed back to college and we are trying to figure out how to get this shipment from one place to the next.  Thankfully security at the college were very kind and went to the person's house, picked up the mini-fridge and actually delivered it to the dorm!  It was there when he moved in, but...

Because the mini-fridge was larger than the usual "cube", I knew getting it from the college to our house in NJ over summer would be a challenge.  So I decided to have it stored over the summer.  Or at least I THOUGHT it was stored over the summer: ( https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2025/08/august-25-2025.html) apparently it was never picked up because it was not in the room when they came?  Where the heck did it go?  No one knew, but in the end, the college gave my son a mini-fridge that was comparable to what he did.

Needless to say I wasn't going to have it stored over the summer again.  So this year, we made a trip to the college the weekend before my son was to come home for summer break.  We took the fridge to the house in NJ and it's been unused in the basement since then.

Today it was time for my son to go back.  How to get the fridge and all his "stuff" back to campus?  It's NOT all going to fit in my SUV.  Do I rent a trailer?  Rent a U-Haul?  Thought it about it, but...

In the end, here's what we came up with.  We loaded the car with as much as we could in addition to the fridge.  We drove from our house in NJ to my son's college in NY.  (About an hour drive.)  Had my son unload the car (with help from his wonderful suitemates). Went up to his room/suite and was impressed with the size (although the rooms are still tiny).  I’ve been told this is the best suite in the dorm (and maybe on campus).  Hubby and I then drove back to NJ, leaving son to arrange all his stuff in his (small) dorm room.  We loaded up the car with the rest of his stuff and drove back to NY with it.  Called him from the road to let him know where we were so that he could meet us at the lot closest to the dorm.  (The one that is only open on move in day; when he moves out we can't use it...ugh.)  Unloaded the car for the 2nd time and then had to hurry off because there were no spots in the lot and we were parked illegally.  Which means I never really got to see the suite or talk to his suitemate.  Instead we got back in the car and headed for PA.

Timing for the whole process?  Left NJ (for the first time) at 10…arrived back in the Poconos (we did make one quick rest stop) at 3:30.  It was a LONG day.

Thankfully this is the last time we have to do this.  Senior year!  How the heck did that happen?  How did ANY of this happen?

Now this old lady is ready to collapse.  Only 9 months until we go back and pick up the fridge before graduation.  What do I do with it then?  Who knows...it's another fridge problem that can wait for another day.