The Clam Rampant

Kasia May 2nd, 2008

I am a happy little Clam right now.

Kit - I definitely owe ya one. Thanks so much for the tip on the scratch ‘n’ dents!

(What’s funny is that when I mentioned to my stepmother that that’s where I’d gotten it, she said “Oh yeah, I used to buy some things there…” but it apparently hadn’t occurred to her to suggest it.)

I left the evening job a little early and drove over to Livonia to the closer warehouse. Got there, oh, probably about 6:30 or so, and started walking around.

At first I just saw a small line of fridges along the back wall of the room. “Eh,” I thought, “that’s a pretty meager selection, but I’ve driven all the way across town. I may as well go look at them.”

So I did. And I walked along a little way, even down past the top freezers, just to see what kinds of things they had at what kinds of prices. And I came to the end of the row…

…and I looked in the doorway I had just come to…

…and there, spread out before me, was a literal WAREHOUSE of fridges. I almost swooned.

First I started just walking through aimlessly, looking at this - and this! - and this! WOW - a French-door bottom freezer for $700?!? (It had some door issues - I wouldn’t have bought it.) You know. That sort of thing. I was totally the kid in the candy store.

Then I knuckled down. First I tried to pull out my cell phone to call The Canuck and have him help me get a little grounded - no dice, as my phone was out of juice. AND I had somehow failed to bring a tape measure! But the store had lots of red yardsticks, which did the trick, and I started walking the aisles with a purpose.

I decided to eliminate anything that had any checks other than “New” and “Cosmetic damage”. Some things had been bought and returned, but I eliminated them because I wasn’t sure what might have happened while they were out of the store’s possession. Some said “New - damaged”, but I eliminated those - again, I have no idea what the “damage” is.

To cut a potentially very long story a little shorter, I found my new fridge. It’s a Frigidaire, 17 cubic feet, either silver-colored or stainless (I wasn’t sure which). Good proportions for my kitchen. The freezer’s a tad smaller than I was hoping for, but it should meet my needs, and the fridge isn’t overly tall, so if Canuck and I decide to replace or modify the cabinet configuration in that kitchen (the cabinet space is pretty meager), the over-fridge space can easily be used. It’s a bottom-coil model, and best of all, the energy cost estimated it at only costing $42 per year!

There is a big dent on the side, but it shouldn’t affect the function and it’s not visible where the fridge is going to be. What really sold me was the size and proportions, and that it looks a little more upscale with the silver/stainless front.

See, Canuck and I are almost certainly going to need to move in less than five years. My condo is 2 bedrooms. If we put all our books into storage, along with one desk and computer, we could turn the office back into a bedroom and house one or two kids there, but even with two kids, my place would be quite snug. So if we move past one, we’ll be looking to move, and in Detroit, the appliances nearly always stay with the house.

So I found myself thinking: if I were going to sell the place, what would my target buyers be looking for? Who are my target buyers? I realized it was probably a young single or couple, zero or one kids, or possibly someone approaching retirement. Any way it went, it seemed unlikely to me that they’d appreciate a big 18 or 20 cubic foot fridge, which would dominate the kitchen and take more power to run. They’d be much more apt to like a smaller fridge that fit in the space. And this fridge still gives me two more cubic feet than my last one, so…

I did buy a 3-year service agreement - my father told me recently that refrigerator compressors are breaking more and earlier, and that it was worth considering. And I’ll have to pay for set-up and delivery, which on top of the base price, the warranty, and taxes will put me over my actual tax rebate check. So hey - President Bush, Speaker Pelosi, and whoever else: I’ve done my bit. If our economy keeps flagging, it is NOT MY FAULT! I spent that rebate, just like you told me to!!!

Kit, I owe you a beer.

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