I Killed My Refrigerator

It was an accident, I didn't mean to do it! I was just trying to relieve it of some frost deposits that had formed on its coil in the small freezer section. My intentions were honorable and I was only trying to help.

The Dearly Departed

The refrigerator in question is a small auxiliary unit I used to chill and store my "adult beverages". It was a rather inexpensive unit but faithfully served its mission in its short life. Modern refrigerators as a whole are amazing as they do their duty quietly for decades without needing any outside intervention. So important is their function, a rare failure is just cause for a real household emergency.

I was expecting a friend over last night and while tidying up, I decided to drink a beer to make the chores less tedious. When I opened the refrigerator door I noticed a large frost buildup on the coil in the freezer section. How this got here is a mystery, I had never seen it before. Maybe I left the door slightly ajar recently allowing the humid Arabian Gulf air in. In typical male fashion, I saw this as a problem that had to be solved NOW and with the maximum brute force available. I grabbed a stout knife and fetched my hammer and proceeded to chip the frost away with heavy blows. I used the knife to pry under the ice deposit and struck it on the end to dislodge same. This worked for awhile.

Little did I know that my heavy handed tactics were happening very close to some sensitive and vital parts of the refrigerator. After one particularly hard hammer smack on the knife, I was rewarded with a loud hiss accompanied by a misty spew of gas from my patient. I instantly knew what happened, I had breeched the pressurized closed system with the point of the knife and punctured a coil which allowed the refrigerator's life blood, Freon, to disperse into my face. I had cut the jugular vein and I knew it was fatal.

Fatal Wound

I respectfully unplugged the wounded machine. It was a small hole but it was enough. I knew it would be more expensive to repair than to buy a new unit. It will be wheeled out to the nearest dumpster tomorrow and will stand as a monument there of my stupidity for a day or two. What a waste. A replacement will be procured next week.

I am a die-hard do it yourselfer. I have a good mechanical understanding of things and have successfully repaired many cars and housing issues much more demanding than this although I have screwed things up before at times and have had to call a professional. That is just part of the learning process. What I learned in this latest fiasco is to not go banging around refrigerators with hammers and sharp objects. No good can come of that.

Overall, I made the mistake of rash behavior to solve an irritating problem rather than sitting down and thinking about my choice of resolutions. Looking back, I should have just turned off the refrigerator and let the frost deposits melt. This carries over to all aspects of life and I guess that is the point of this post is that acting hastily and forcibly can be costly at times. Take that to the bank.