If it Wasn't for Bad Luck

My refrigerator is leaking water all over my kitchen floor.  My garage roof is leaking water all over my husband Jack’s Harley.  My electronic garage door won’t close anymore.  I could go on for days.

I decided that nothing was earth shattering enough to warrant calling in a repair man.  So we try to remember to close the garage doors at night and live with a towel on the kitchen floor.  The Harley is on its own.   

After two months of a leaky fridge I thought that perhaps not fixing the problem might lead to more damage so I figured we should call in a professional.  Since I save EVERYTHING, I got out the 12 year old refrigerator manual and told Jack to find the service 800 # and call to find an authorized service tech in our area.  Instead, after two months, he decides to read the troubleshooting section.  He finds “leaking” and the next thing I know he’s asking me if we have baking soda.  No I tell him.  Then he asks me if we have a turkey baster.  Honestly, I had to look at what he was reading to be sure it wasn’t the Letters to the Editor section of Hustler magazine.  I’m assured it’s the refrigerator manual.  No, we don’t have a turkey baster I tell him. 

We went to the store and bought baking soda and a turkey baster for about $4.00.  When we got home Jack filled up a container with warm water and mixed it with baking soda.  He used the turkey baster to squirt it somewhere in the freezer and honest to God the darn thing is fixed.  Do you believe it? 

Now what do you suppose would have happened if we called a repairman in?  First of all, they would have charged me $175 just for the service call.  And I can’t imagine the guy would have gone out to his service van and come back in with a turkey baster and baking soda.  My guess is he would have pondered over the “problem” for about half an hour, told me it was a busted Fallopian tube and charged me $600 to fix it.  Frankly I’m still in shock. 

In the meantime I told Jack to get out the manual for the garage doors and see if he needed some Pepto Bismol and a Pez dispenser.