When my parents moved to Florida nearly a decade ago, I took their little basement refrigerator. After years of service to them, it was placed in the dark behind a set in the studio.
I mention it was in the dark, because I was amazed… no, make that disgusted… when I finally moved it to the other side of the studio. It was kicked out of its old spot during remodelling, but is again behind a studio flat.
Under the light, years of grunge and God knows what else became obvious. I found some paper towels and cleaner and had at it. Its level of filth would have fit perfectly during my bachelor years, but not the shirt and tie era!
It has not been defrosted since I moved it out of my folks’ basement. The freezer is now a solid chunk of ice the size of a microwave oven. That makes it a less efficient appliance.
Tonight, with the help of one of our floor crew, I moved it into the garage where it can finally defrost. I’m thinking 24 hours of dripping on the concrete floor should be enough.
Having your own personal refrigerator at work is a real luxury, and at the same time, a pain-in-the-ass. The luxury part is obvious. The pain part a little less so.
I let people store their drinks in it and even ‘borrow¹’ mine. I don’t allow food.
You know how it is. People forget they’ve stowed a sandwich and soon you’ve got a science project growing!
There’s a big sign on the door reminding people not to put food in it. Still, I throw out food as soon as I see it, usually once a week or more.
It’s funny how something inconsequential like this little ‘fridge can be so important in making my work hours a little easier. I hope my folks don’t need it back.
Blogger’s addendum: 24 hours later, the freezer was still iced up! I went at it with an industrial hot air gun. Twenty minutes later, good to go.
¹ – Borrowing is allowed, though except for a fellow meteorologist, no one has ever replaced anything they’ve taken – ever.
I too had a refrigerator at work until recently. It followed me away to college, back home to my parents basement and to my current job; serving me faithfully for nine years. My employer, however, cracked down on personal appliances at work and I was forced to remove it from my office. Not having a place to put in my present home I had no choice but to give it away to a co-worker. It hope it serves them as tirelessly as it did me. It will be missed.