Four years ago Jillfoil and I bought a new refrigerator. A side-by-side beauty with an ice and water dispenser built right into the door!
For some reason, now lost to the mists of time, we never had a water source connected to it.
For some reason, now lost to the mists of time, we never had a water source connected to it.
It didn’t bother Jillfoil or me because, it turns out, we’re not really ice people. Neither of us are big cocktail drinkers – we do mostly beer and wine – and Jill likes her drinking water to be room temperature anyway. So we never thought twice about it.
But my father, who likes the occasional cocktail, and my brother, who just likes ice in his drinks, have always teased us because we don’t even have ice trays. It’s become kind of an in-family joke that whenever they come over, someone has to stop at the store and buy a bag of ice.
And then one day, our kitchen faucet started dripping and I couldn’t fix it. So I called a plumber who had lots of more complicated and profitable jobs to do before he could get to us.
Weeks passed.
One morning, as I watched the water drip out of the faucet, I decided that I would up the ante and offer the plumber the opportunity to run the water supply to our refrigerator. And sure enough, he was in our kitchen four days later.
He fixed the faucet, ran a copper tube behind our cabinets, connected the water, charged me $245 and informed me that the ice and water dispenser still didn’t work. There was no power getting to it.
One morning, as I watched the water drip out of the faucet, I decided that I would up the ante and offer the plumber the opportunity to run the water supply to our refrigerator. And sure enough, he was in our kitchen four days later.
He fixed the faucet, ran a copper tube behind our cabinets, connected the water, charged me $245 and informed me that the ice and water dispenser still didn’t work. There was no power getting to it.
Water was getting to it though, and as a plumber, that was all he cared about. His work was done.
Mmmmph. I had plans! I was going to invite the family over for iced drinks! It was going to be a big surprise and the end of the “bagged ice” jokes!
Now I was $245 into this deal...and somehow, having ice became important to me so I called an appliance repair guy. Jillfoil astutely noted that if we hooked up the water when we bought the refrigerator in the first place, we might have discovered the broken dispenser while it was still under warranty.
Alas…
So the appliance guy was here this morning. He spent seven minutes with it and told me that some kind of “unit” was broken and needed replacing. He would order the part for me but he needed a $100 deposit.
The good news is that his best guess was that the part “shouldn’t cost more than $250.”
Mmmmph. I had plans! I was going to invite the family over for iced drinks! It was going to be a big surprise and the end of the “bagged ice” jokes!
Now I was $245 into this deal...and somehow, having ice became important to me so I called an appliance repair guy. Jillfoil astutely noted that if we hooked up the water when we bought the refrigerator in the first place, we might have discovered the broken dispenser while it was still under warranty.
Alas…
So the appliance guy was here this morning. He spent seven minutes with it and told me that some kind of “unit” was broken and needed replacing. He would order the part for me but he needed a $100 deposit.
The good news is that his best guess was that the part “shouldn’t cost more than $250.”
That puts our total spend at $495…assuming that his “best guess” includes his labor and time. Which you know it won’t.
That means that I will have spent about $500 for the joy of offering my dad a drink with my very own ice.
WTF?
That means that I will have spent about $500 for the joy of offering my dad a drink with my very own ice.
WTF?
1 comment:
F'n awesome!
I LOVE seeing your writing on the blog--it's like all those emails come to life! You write just like you talk. It's great. And, knowing your pop, he really does deserve a $500 cocktail. Don't you agree?
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