SUNDAY NIGHT:
I open the refrigerator door to get some nice, cold water, and I notice the bulb is out. I spend about 32 seconds looking for where the bulb actually is so I can figure out what kind to buy to replace it, but realize that it’s really dark in there, and I don’t want to go find a flashlight, so I figure I’ll just deal with it later. Dark fridge, light fridge – as long as things stay cold and/or frozen, I’m good
MONDAY NIGHT:
I open the refrigerator door and remember, “Oh, yeah – that damn fridge light is out.” I spend another 32 seconds looking for the bulb, and then realize I just don’t want to deal with it – no big thing. My food is fine in the dark. (Yes, I know the light goes out when you shut the door—just sayin’.) So I open the freezer and notice the ice packs I have in there are dripping water, and I think to myself, “Well, that’s odd. I wonder why they’re doing that. Hmmm…OH SHIT. The refrigerator is completely silent. IT’S NOT EVEN RUNNING. Dammit.” It has now been off for over 24 hours without my knowledge.
I pull the damn fridge away from the wall, get behind it and put the plug in a different socket. Nada. Double dammit. And how come only the fridge isn’t working? I have an artichoke boiling on the stove just fine, and the stove is right next to the fridge. I also have a load of laundry going in the laundryroom, which is right on the other side of the fridge. So I’m stumped. I don’t get it. I do know that if I have to buy a new fridge someone is gonna get hurt. No can afford, comprende?
So I haul my happy ass out to the back patio and flip the circuit breaker, even though I suspect that it will do no good whatsoever, as hencetofor explained. Everything goes dark in the house, then everything comes back on, as it should. I go in the kitchen, open the fridge, and again, no light, no sound. TRIPLE DAMMIT!!!!!
Now I’m cursing under my breath like Fred Flintstone or the dad from A Christmas Story. I’m also sweating because now I’m moving into “Holy shit I’m freaking out” mode. My little feet inside my slippers feel clammy, and I have to rip my sweatpants off and turn on the A/C for a few minutes, even though it’s only 60 degrees outside.
Okay, think, think, think….Hmmmm. I wonder if refrigerators have reset buttons? I know my dad gave me a manufacturer’s booklet when he gave me this hand-me-down fridge when I bought this place a year ago, so if there’s a reset button, that booklet will tell me where! Yay!
Up the stairs I trot, into the study I go, and around the study I look. And look. And look. All of my appliance booklets are conspicuously absent. And, I keep them all in a folder together IN THE STUDY, labeled "Appliance Booklets." So where in the hell are they? How am I supposed to figure out if my fridge has a reset button? Why must the little gnomes that hide things when I’m not looking taunt me so?
So I call my best friend and ask her if refrigerators have reset buttons. After she’s finished laughing her ass off, she says no, they don’t. So I’m back to square one. Then, I have a stroke of brilliance – I will find an extension cord, plug it into the plug on the sink on the other side of the stove, and plug the fridge into that! Cleverness!
I spend about 5 minutes searching high and low for an extension cord I’m POSITIVE I bought last Christmas, to no avail. Then I remember, “Oh yeah. I bought that extension cord for work, which does me absolutely NO good right now. QUADRUPLE DAMMIT!” Then, a second stroke of brilliance! I will go upstairs and get the surge protector I use for the upstairs computer and use that, because it’s long enough! I’m a GENIUS!
Up the stairs I trot, snickering to myself, still sweating profusely, although the A/C is now at least keeping me from imploding, and I procure the surge protector. I march downstairs, for I am now a woman on a mission, and I plug the surge protector into the plug to the right of the stove, plug the fridge into the surge protector, open the door to the fridge, AND…….nothin’. I got nothin’.
“Okay,” I think to myself, “there is still another plug in the socket to the right of the stove. So I plug the surge protector into that, open the fridge door, and WALA!!! Nada. WTF????? Then I realize the surge protector light isn’t on – the little red light that should be on is inexplicably dark. Huh. Is it possible that I’ve blown out four sockets and a surge protector in the span of 15 minutes?
Then, I notice that the plug to the right of the stove has a little red button in the middle of it, and it’s popped out. Could it be that the solution is really that freakin’ simple? Why yes, it was! SUCCESS!!!! I push the little red button in and the surge protector light comes on, the fridge starts running, I open the door, and I can see everything inside because the light is on! YAY!
Why that socket to the right of the stove controls the socket the fridge is plugged into, and not the one the stove in the middle is plugged into, too, is a mystery for electricians to ponder. I don’t much care. All I know is I don’t have to buy a new fridge!!!! YIPPPEEE!!!!
TUESDAY MORNING:
I’m standing at my bathroom sink brushing my teeth with my SonicCare toothbrush that I just love! I rinse it off, replace the cap, and set it back on the charger. I glance to my left and notice my old manual toothbrush still sitting in the toothbrush holder with my toothpaste. I wonder to myself how come I’ve never thrown it out. Odd.
As I’m pondering this deep thought my cat, Ricky, who is sitting on the closed toilet seat, stands up on his hind legs, stretches over, and rubs his little kitty face all about the bristles on the manual brush. I immediately begin guffawing out loud, and say to him, “I DID NOT just see you do that!!!” Good God! How many times did he groom himself on my toothbrush when I WAS STILL USING IT???? GAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! And what if he actually chewed on it or something right after he licked his butt??? AAAAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!
I choose to believe that this was an isolated incident and I have never brushed my teeth with a brush that has been chewed on by a cat who just licked his butt. Because that’s just the way I roll.
The End.