Since we’ve moved into the new house, I’ve been noticing that the refrigerator hasn’t been very cold inside. In fact, it’s been getting a bit warm. I ignored it for several days, hoping that I was mistaken or that it would fix itself. Not too good for food safety, I know, but the alternative was too daunting to contemplate.

You see, major appliance repair here is a real challenge. When we moved here, I was worried about things like reliable electricity, Internet, and overnight package delivery, none of which have been a problem. But when a major appliance goes out, then you have a problem. (We had a similar scare a few weeks ago when the washer did nothing but make loud, scarey vibrating noises when it was turned on.)

The alternatives are to try to fix it yourself (usually not very feasible, especially with newer appliances), load the thing into the back of the truck and head for Tucson (usually at least twice), or pay a large sum for someone from near Tucson to come here (again at least twice). Ugh.

So yesterday, having taken the temperature of the refrigerator and realizing that it really wasn’t cooling, we loaded all of the food into coolers and contemplated what to do next. Brad read about a way to reset things, which we tried. No luck. He then suggested emptying the freezer (which was working fine) and turning the whole thing off overnight. Ok. It’s below freezing here at night, so we put the freezer food into coolers and put it all on the porch. (Good thing we have lots of coolers. They’re a necessity here even for grocery runs.)

Miraculously, now, the fridge seems to be working again. Thank you to the appliance gods. And yes, we threw out the mayonnaise.