The Refrigerator Debacle

Over three weeks ago now, our refrigerator stopped working.  The refrigerator part is at about 60°F, while the freezer is at about 35°F.  While constantly pushing my landlady to take care of it, and after a visit from her or a representative once every two days (also more or less tethering me to my apartment, rather than enjoying my vacation from work), this situation still has not been remedied.

We have had to throw out about $200 worth of food, and we have not been able to buy any frozen food from the grocery store, which makes preparing food less convenient than it should be.

Wednesday night, when I came home from work around 11:30 pm, this is what I saw in the hallway (this is the view from the entrance to my unit):

So, while not a NEW refrigerator, at least it's a replacement.  Just sitting in the hallway.  Notice the marked exit sign?  In case of fire, FAT CHANCE.  Today is now Friday, and this refrigerator is still in the hallway.  Why, you ask?

Good question.  Not that I can manage to swap these refrigerators by myself.  Also, not to mention that this is not my job.  When I called the landlady, she told me that, because the fridge had been stored sideways in a truck to move it, it had to stand upright for two days before it was plugged in.  I do not understand why this would be.

So, no frozen goods (even ice cubes) for almost a month.  Almost a month of keeping my beer, butter, milk, eggs in the freezer.  Oh well.  Maybe, by the time I get home today, we will have a functioning refrigerator.  Fingers crossed.

Google+ and Your Life

I have let many blogs lie fallow over the years.  I am honestly just typing this in order to create a blog post, and I haven't quite gotten a handle about what I'm going to talk about.

That being said, I've recently been shoved into the world of Google+, which has occupied a good deal of time for me.  I have been on vacation from work for the last more-than-two weeks, and I return to the grind this evening.  Finally.  As a full-time worker, I am accustomed to scheduling my life around work.  While it is nice to take some time off every once in a while, finding things to do with myself on a daily basis, with no goals or obligations, is like staring into an abyss.

I have walked a LOT.  I live in a very boring suburban downtown area in a town bordered almost exclusively by towns with decent downtown areas.  The problem with this, though, is that I do not drive, and travel ranges from 4 to 8 miles.  I live right next to a Metra station, which can take me into and out of Chicago at will, but I feel like that takes the fun out of it.

I decided that I should do more to be in shape, so I went for a jog, which lasted for maybe 100 yards...I forgot that my legs and lungs are not quite as they used to be.  So, I started walking.  I walked and walked for about two hours, until I had wandered into downtown Naperville, which was nice.  I was sick of walking, and the train station that could take me home was five minutes' walk away.  Perfect.

That has been a wonderful way to waste some time without spending money, and catching up on new music via my iPod.

Now that Google+ has come along, I feel like I can just sit around, update, tweak, and peek in on other peoples' lives in a more coherent way than social networking has allowed before.  Are you on Google+?  If so, add me to a circle.  I have started this (ugh) Blogger site in the hopes that, in the near future, these sites will get stitched together in such a way that I can update here, and my profile will reflect the changes made.  Here's hoping.