Fridge Trauma

In the past 5 months, I have had to call the wonderful people at Maytag 5 times to come out and fix my refrigerator. Every time, it has been the same problem: it's not cold enough, i.e. the freezer isn't physically freezing food and/or the fridge is also no cold enough, so there is a constant supply of soured food in my fridge. Lovely. Not to mention every time the repair guy comes out, I have to take off work, which is not a luxury I really have seeing as my vacation supply has been negative since I started this job.

Every time the repair comes out, there is a different problem, with the same result - something needs to be replaced. So the condenser, evaporator, coils and freon tubes have been replaced so far. Last week the evaporator was replaced.

Last night I am sitting on my couch when I hear a sound like water hitting a very hot skillet. That sizzling sound. I look at my fridge instantly because I just KNOW that that is it. This is not a sound one usually associates with a fridge - the sound of heat - but with my fridge, he is the likely guilty party of all the appliances in my kitchen.

After pulling apart the panel in the back of my freezer, it becomes evident that something is melting onto a very hot coil at the bottom, hence the sizzling sound. Now we smell burning. I instantly make a mental note to myself to buy a fire-extinguisher the next time I go to the hardware store.

So when deciding that yet ANOTHER trip from the repairman is necessary (to fix whatever he screwed up last time), we plug the fridge back into the wall - BAD IDEA. The coils in the fridge start smoking instantly. I'm no mechanic, but I'm pretty sure that's a bad sign. At this point, I'm wishing I didn't cheat my way through thermodynamics and paid attention to the refrigeration cycle chapter. I panic. I call my Dad - as embarrassing as that is. I hate calling parents for stuff like that because I feel like at 25, you should have a grip on things like this. But I also know from experience that my Dad is better at yelling at customer service people and gets his way more often than not, if anything, just because he retired and has the time to bug them every 20 minutes if necessary.

Dad, as I suspected, came to the rescue and the repair guy is coming out [AGAIN] today and my Dad will handle it for me. Let's hope this time the fridge works for more than a month. I'm hoping, but honestly, I'm doubting.

Meanwhile I'm looking for a new fridge online. A non-Amana brand fridge.

I Love Snow

I am back from vacation rested & relaxed. I can't tell you the last time I felt like this in general, let alone having to come back to work. Refreshing really...

Went skiing at Winter Park and got to visit with Sarah & Ethan, the newly weds. I forgot how much I enjoy skiing really. Sometimes that's hard to believe with what all the clothing and heavy equipment to carry around, not to mention very uncomfortable ski-boots - these boots where [NOT] made for walking... Hah. (My apologies, that stupid Pizza Hut commercial keeps running through my head) But the skiing and weather were awesome, so I couldn't complain. Plus, I have to say, Andrew's first time down a steep mountain after an 8 year hiatus from skiing was humorous. If I had video, I would painfully watch it over and over again...

Tip: WEAR SUNSCREEN WHEN SKIING. I have learned this the hard way.

Comment on the Colorado Driving Right-Turn System: It seems Coloradians (is that what they're called?) are hesitant to commit entirely to a full right-turn into traffic. Therefore, at every intersection where a right turn is possible, there is a long entrance/yielding lane for you to merge into traffic through. This was comical to me. Most states just look both ways, look for an opening and turn right into traffic, no "probationary" lane is necessary. Is this indicative of a failure to commit amongst the population of Colorado in general, or just a fear of joining moving traffic of a different direction?

My First Out-Of-State Business Trip

Here we are in Washington DC - exciting right? It was my fourth trip there in my life and nice even if it did involve boring work, because let's face it - it was free. And I'm pretty much (with a few exceptions) always up for a free trip.

I realized I don't have much of a function on the project that sent me to DC, which I find disturbing and comical at the same time. disturbing because it makes me feel like my professional value can be questioned at any moment, and I'm not sure I could come back with a witty reply that would suffice to prove anything. Comical because the people on this project team seem to think I know what I'm talking about, which is absolutely ludicrous. I am simply repeating verbatim what I have overheard the PM say numerous times over the phone to various entities involved. Basically, my value so far is that I am an excellent repeater of random phrases.

I get the grim feeling this will either work much to dismay, or much to my favor... Let's hope for the latter.

From Weddings to Sports

Isn't really close to the same thing sometimes?

This weekend was pretty tiring, but went well overall. Friday we went to the Chateau to help set up for the Open House Saturday afternoon. We launched our website last week, by the way - Hooray! Check it out: www.chateaupolonez.com Thanks to all those who helped get us to this point - especially Andrew for offering slave-labor!

Interesting food fact: For a chocolate fountain, the chocolate discs you buy have to be atleast 33% cocoa butter - this also holds for good chocolate fondue. Twenty-Five pounds of chocolate discs (feeds about 250 people) with 41% cocoa butter costs $200, so when they charge you an arm and a leg to rent a machine, you know why.

Saturday's Open House went well, we had about 100 brides go through which is good news. Hopefully some good business will be the effect of this event and the marketing!

Sunday was a trip to one of my favorite places - Central Market to prepare for the big annual event SUPER BOWL XL. Well I have to admit this wasn't a terribly exciting game; I attempted to add excitement by picking squares in my office pool, but I got bad numbers (seriously, 9/9 and 2/5 - almost never happens) so it wasn't much help. However there was good food at David's place so that always helps the atmosphere, much to the detriment of my waist-line. David makes a mean strawberry daquiri (and by "mean" I imply deceptively strong), so beware!

I tried my hand at floral arranging this weekend and it went ok - I won't be starting that kind of business anytime soon I think. I did one for my Mom for Valentine's Day, one for the house, and this week I will work on one for the Andrew's Mom. I'll let you know how it goes - hopefully i'll get better at this soon. It's the thought that counts, right? Maybe I'll even get to post pictures soon, when I pick up my new digital camera- yeah!

I'm going to Washington DC for work this week and then Denver this weekend to visit Sarah & Ethan, and get in some ski/quality relaxation time. Trip updates to come!