Keep on rocking in the freon world

S. busted our refridgerator today.

The building that we live in is kind of old (as old as a place can be in Toronto; for reference, my parents's house, which qualifies as "old", was built in the 1920s) and the fridge has probably been here since the first tenants phased out their ice-box.

It's so old that it doesn't defrost itself, and so every now and then we need to defrost. This is a largely unpleasant task, especially since our freezer is always full and an opportunity doesn't present itself until we realize that it's not possible to actually fit anything in the freezer anymore.

I decided the other night that I would defrost the freezer. I removed a significant amount of the ice, but there was still a large amount of ice clinging to one side of the freezer, and to the underside. It even seemed to have developed more ice since just a few days ago.

Last night, S. had the idea of chipping at the ice with a screwdriver and hammer, as if he were creating an ice sculpture. Because it was very late in the evening and not the best time to be defrosting a freezer, I suggested that he continue the next day.

The next day came, which is, of course, today. This afternoon, before he had to leave for work, S. decided to complete the task, and so he began chiseling with glee while I washed some dishes.

Chunks and chips of ice were flying every which way. And then, an "uh-oh".

Before I explain the next part (although anyone could guess what happened), I need to explain something about S. He is not a careful person. He is forever knocking things over, most notably a few years back when he managed to splash my glass of red wine all over his parents's $3000 custom-made white-and-green-and-rose carpet, and myself as well. The reason he did this? He was making a dramatic sweeping gesture which his arms. In that situation, he freaked out, while I calmly fetched a box of salt from the kitchen and began pouring it over the splotches of wine (salt absorbs wine, and makes a spill much easier to clean). I told S. that we would, the next day, borrow my parents's carpet cleaner vaccuum-dealie, and it would all be looked after.

That's not the only example I can offer. There are many. Just last weekend, at a party, S. knocked his elbow against my beer bottle against my teeth and lip because he was making an enthusiastic arm gesture far too close to me for comfort.

I'm not sure if he's clumsy as much as he is not careful. In the situation with the fridge, he was not being at all careful, and punctured a tube containing freon. And of course that tube blasted freon into his face (fortunately freon is only harmful if one is very over-exposed, and S. had none of the symptoms of overexposure, which includes dizziness, itchy eyes, headache, and cardiac arrythmia (or possibly arrest).

He freaked out and I was mad, not only because I knew he wasn't being careful, but because he had caused a problem, which I would have to deal with because he had to leave for work soon.

At S.'s behest, I called my father to see if the situation was fixable. I knew it wouldn't be, and my father confirmed this. He said it would be likely that our fridge would have to be replaced. But we both agreed that, in the long run, this would result in a more pleasant fridge situation: modern fridges defrost themselves, and suck up much less power.

The next problem was what to do with the food in the fridge and freezer. I just loaded up on groceries a few days ago and did not want anything spoiling. The fridge had to be turned off so that it would stop blasting freon into the apartment.

I called my parents's house to see if I could store my food in their fridge and freezer, and my brother came over to pick up myself and my food. S. went to work, and I had a moment where I yelled and said, "Who's going to have to look after this?!" but he was feeling so bad about himself that I couldn't be mad at him for long.

Later in the day I visited our landlord to determine what should happen now. She said that the fridge would have to be replaced, and that we would have to cover the cost (I didn't bother lying to her and saying that the fridge broke on it's own, because if she were to check the freezer herself she would see the hole that S. created with his chisel).

S. makes more money than me, and I feel that if our fridge needs to be replaced, he should be the one to pay for it. Not only because it would remove a significant chunk of my income for the month, but also because he was the one who wasn't being careful. When I was trying to defrost, I used a hair-dryer, not a fucking chisel and hammer.

I have at least ascertained that a refridgerator can be obtained at a relatively inexpensive cost, in terms of how expensive appliances can be.

The only downside in this situation, for me at least, is that I will have to listen to S. bitch about money for the next month.

Also, I have nothing to eat tonight. Must forage.