The Refrigerator

Now officially moved into new apartment! We finally solved the refrigerator problem by moving in a smaller model that needed lower voltage. Only problem was up until today that refrigerator was in use, leaving the inside...lacking certain qualities one wishes for in one's food storage box.

My boss Matt appeared to be getting queasy from the mere sight of the interior. But there wasn't another fridge handy, and after two days of running upstairs to do cooking, I really wanted any working refrigerator. So I just decided, "I will defeat this  thing!" and had them haul it to my room where I attacked it with hot, soapy water.

I didn't take any pictures of the inside because some things I do not wish to remember. The majority of the food had been remove (except for general grime), but the few items remaining had managed to cement themselves into the massive freezer burn (yes, this was in the refrigerator section) in the back. Michael was my moral support during this adventure and can bear witness to my efforts of chipping away at the ice with the end of a spatula.

Pound, pound, pound. Thawing with warm towel. "No, still stuck. Wait....I got it! It's a...potato?"

This isn't the worse refrigerator I've ever seen, though it deserves a prize for effort. I still have not seen anything to rival the condition of the two refrigerators at Oxford after twenty students had been using them for three months. Luckily, I didn't get that cleaning job. But now I can wholeheartedly sympathize with the people who did, even though they threw out my last day's food in the process. (One girl explained: "Everything was disgusting down there, and if it wasn't it was touching something disgusting so I threw it all out.")

An hour and a half later, I chipped through the ice, leaving the inside a shade reminiscent of Melville's aquatic monster. This was my accomplishment to day. I feel immense pride in transforming this object and now crown my self Queen of Refrigerator Cleaning.

There is one definite bonus to the new, smaller refrigerator. Even though I have less space inside, I can now reach the microwave and toaster oven on top much more easily. Before, I had to stand on tiptoes to open the toaster and judging the brownness of my toast was impossible. Now both are at a more appropriate level.