Okay..let me start by saying this fridge was FREE.
So our friends in Boone, the Garners, had their kitchen remodeled in an incredible way! It's gorgeous and 5 star! So they got rid of all their old stuff and asked Erin if she knew anyone who needed a fridge. It's a black side-by-side GE Profile with ice and water in the door. A very nice fridge! So of course..."If it's free, it's for me" is our motto. And we volunteered to take it off their hands.
Ant's friend, Collin, agreed to go to Boone with us to pick up the fridge. Seeing as how I'm in the family way...I can't really help. Anyway, let's start with borrowing a big truck.
We borrowed my grandpa's big grey truck. One I haven't ridden in since high school. It's like a 1980's model Ford. On the outside the paint job looks great and it sounds really good. Ant looked in the truck bed and realized it was rusted in so many places he could see straight through to the ground! The whole back end of the bed was a giant line of scary rust! Not to mention you have to pump the gas before it'll crank, and there's only two seat belts. Dad says it'll make it up the mountain, no problem.
We get to Boone without any trouble. We get to the Garner's w'out any trouble. The fridge is DISGUSTING! Mel hasn't cleaned it out yet and it's stinky and gross. So we (they) get the fridge all wrapped up on the hand truck and lift it into the truck bed. Then we realize there's a 5th wheel in the middle of the truck bed. You know...a big ball sticking up in the middle of the bed. So we have to borrow several of the Garners for help and finally wrestled it over the ball and get it secured. Not an easy task. I believe it took 5 grown men. So we get back in the truck and head back down the mountain. Again, an uneventful ride. Although there was a chance of running out of gas....there's two tanks on the truck and we were running below E in the tank we were using. Nice.
Ok...we get it home and it's just me, Ant & Collin. We call Ant's uncle Phillip. Again, the wrestling of the fridge over the 5th wheel then off the tailgate. This fridge is a monster! Huge and tall and heavy. Our entry is a split foyer, steps going up, steps going down, w/ a wall in the middle. Nice usually, just not when you're trying to move a monster fridge! We end up getting the fridge on the landing, then realize it won't go up the stairs b/c of the door. A) take the door off its hinges B) close the door to maneuver the fridge up the steps. We choose choice B. But the door won't close b/c the fridge is too big. We have to hang it off the lower set of stairs with Collin holding it up until we could wiggle the door past and close it. Keep in mind that the fridge has been unplugged hours before...meaning it's been leaking the whole time from the melting freezer. Yeah. We have to remove the pictures, mirrors, and candle sconces from the walls and unplug the wall flower. The fridge makes it up the stairs, but won't fit in th first kitchen door...so we have to move allll the furniture in the living room to roll it over the carpet...leaking. We got it. This took about 6-7 hours of our Saturday afternoon/evening. We left it there till Sunday afternoon.
Now Ant decides to measure it one more time to make sure it'll fit. It won't! He's so mad!! We measured, of course, before we picked it up...but I neglected to measure the bottom of the hole, where the molding is. Yeah....that takes over an inch off the space we have. Nice. We peeled the molding off the wall...not pretty and still had to FORCE it into the hole, scraping paint off the wall as we go! But at this point the fridge is still disgusting! I spent almost 3 hours scrubbing, spraying, washing, rubbing...layers of sticky gunk, kool-aid spills, and dog hair! EWWWWW! Ant helped with the drawers and such and we manage to clean it up. I reallllly regret not taking a before/after picture of the fridge. You really wouldn't believe this thing! We plug it in, shove it in, and wedge it safely in it's place. As we begin to load food in from the old fridge we realize the ice maker isn't making. Now, the old fridge had been hit by lightning and the ice maker didn't work. So we've been using ice cube trays...which I HATE! I didn't trade a fridge that didn't work, for a fridge that didn't work. SOOOOO mad at this point! Ant says the fridge isn't leaving..it's now a permanent staple in the house! We also forgot to plug the wall flower back in and Phillip had laid it on my $500 coffee table. Just so you know, fragrance oils remove stain and varnish from oak coffee tables. Yeah...ultimately pissed off at the fridge at this point!! My poor table now has two nasty circles that are a totally different color. Gross.
Well, after returning all the food, moving the old fridge downstairs, moving everything around, cleaning the house and mopping the floors and returning the hand truck we borrowed we were EXHAUSTED! Turns out the ice maker does work, as does the water in the door. It's in there, although I don't think it'll ever move! I like the shelves, the lighting, and the storage! My hands and feet were very, very swollen from all the hard work..hours and hours of it. I rested the rest of the night with my feet up and went to bed early. What a disaster of a weekend! I totally expected it to be an easy-peasy pick-up and delivery, no sweat. Boy, was I wrong!
Moral of this story: Always let your husband measure where your new fridge should be before driving and spending hours picking it up.
Ant was so wonderful to help and to put up with this. There were a few times I felt like he was ready to throw in the towel, but he never did. A HUGE shout-out to him for this. And thanks to Collin for helping on Saturday & Sunday!
