In with the New and (Soon) Out with the Old

Late Tuesday afternoon this week we needed to get out of the house and think about something other than hospitals and illness, so we hopped in the car and went off to a large appliance store to make one last check before (probably) deciding on the dishwasher and refrigerator that we had previously priced at two competing stores.  Both of these important appliances, we were told when we purchased our house last February and had the inspection, were "nearing the end of their useful lives." I sent the dishwasher to hospice the first time I tried to use it, but we weren't ready then to make the major decisions about replacing everything in that room except, ironically, the kitchen sink. Now we are. We've done our homework and will be moving from black (old appliances) to white (the new ones), adding a number of new drawers and cabinets though possibly refurbishing some of the existing ones, and re-doing counter-tops and lighting. Most importantly, we have thought through the logistics and inconvenience of a total make-over, and we have decided to do the job in smaller stages. Hence the decision to replace the ailing dishwasher with the new one in the same place, but to relocate the new refrigerator (the original one having been placed inconveniently directly opposite the dishwasher in a galley arrangement!) to where it will be in the new room, further down the line of cabinets to a now-empty spot in the breakfast area. Voilà. I wouldn't even need to clean out the fridge before the new one arrived; I could make an easy transition and just call the gas company or ReStore to pick up the old one when I was ready.

Well, we found what we wanted Tuesday night at the newest store and amazingly, they said we could have both delivered on Thursday, December 31. Starting the new year with the first steps of the kitchen renovation, oh how nice! I suggested they put a bottle of champagne, or at least cava, in the fridge, but that didn't happen. In fact, they called Wednesday and said the dishwasher wasn't going to be available after all until next week, but that yes, the refrigerator would arrive between 1:45 and 4:45 Thursday afternoon, and yes, they would install it and hook it up to the water line.

This was to be our first experience in requiring a water line for a refrigerator. When we lived in Spain we had the basic small refrigerator/freezer, but we had friends who had an "American" refrigerator with ice and water dispenser on the outside of the door. They laughed about it, but it was already in the house they had bought. We laughed about it, too, and said we would never want that.

Then, when we came back to the U.S., we bought a house that already had an "American" refrigerator with ice and water dispenser on the outside of the door. It is astounding how quickly we got used to using the water dispenser. Johannes doesn't use ice, and I have learned not to use it often either, so we didn't appreciate the ice maker so much, though our cat Guapa learned to love the mysterious noises it made and I learned to turn it off from time to time to avoid polar inundations.

The new refrigerator and the almost-empty old one 

So, as it turned out, the new side-by-side "American" refrigerator we bought (it's a Samsung) also has a water and ice dispenser in the door of the freezer. And the delivery guys, who arrived an hour early on New Year's Eve, told us they were not allowed to connect it to the water line (perhaps since it was a relocated water line, not the same one they were taking a fridge from) but they told us hurriedly exactly what we needed to do to connect it. And then they disappeared to complete their appointed rounds before New Year's festivities started.

These are the times that it is useful to have an engineer husband. In due course he got it connected, and in due course it started to deliver water. Dutifully we followed the verbal instruction from the delivery people, who told us to throw away the first two gallons of water. And we were anxious to follow their instructions to also throw away the first tub of ice cubes, but we could not get any ice cubes to come out.

The project of figuring out the ice maker stretched into New Year's Day, when we made more attempts. We were hindered by the fact that I was unable to see the fine print in the black (there has to be some!) panel on the freezer door. Having purchased appliances in Europe, we are used to manuals that contain instructions in a dozen or so languages, and pictures, but this one appears only in English--not even Korean! And that is immaterial, as neither of us can see the fine print and small pictures in the manual, either.

Technology to the rescue: On January 2 we downloaded the manual on the iPad and spread out the pages to create larger type. Then we had to move page by page through a really poorly written book, doing everything that pertained to the ice maker. On the second or third pass through, I found something that said it would not operate if the water pressure were below 20psi. Engineer husband disappeared to the basement to open the water valve fully. Then we waited, because the manual said that you had to wait for 12 hours for ice. And I said, "It really is not a high priority if this doesn't work--we can call the distribution center tomorrow and tell them they have to send someone out to complete the installation that their guys finished in record time on New Year's Eve, and remember, we don't use ice anyway!"

Guapa playing in front of the new refrigerator

And then, before we went to bed, suddenly Guapa jumped up and bolted for the kitchen. Then we, too, heard the familiar weird sounds of solid rumbling in the freezer. The next morning--after 12 hours--we tested, and sure enough, there was ice. Success!

But it is only now that I write this that I remember that we forgot to throw out the first bucket full of ice made by the ice maker.  I'm going downstairs right now to pump it out and throw it away so I don't embarrass myself with unsavory ice cubes when our next guest who uses ice gets a drink of ice water. By the way, I haven't finished cleaning out the old refrigerator or freezer yet. After I use something from the old one, I put it in the new one. I figure that by the end of the week it will be easy to scan the items left and figure out which ones are worth moving and which should be consigned to the garbage disposal, trash, and recycle bins. Of course, we may be eating some interesting things next week.