The Dirty Deed is Done – Freezer is Defrosted

The upright freezer is now happy. I am tired but moving. I am not sore or in pain the way I would have been a year ago. But I am a bit wobbly. Now I’m just watching that the temp setting gets it to zero. I’ll check once more before I go to bed. And I’ll check again in the morning. Right now, it has made it down to 10.

There were two brown marks under the freezer, on the linoleum. I am not sure at all whether they are from this freezer or from my old one. I can’t remember. And back then, Frank, my nephew (now gone), probably moved it so he would know but except for a séance, that’s not feasible.

One of my dear friends is a former Navy electrical engineer. I called him. I told him they were very dark brown, on the linoleum. But they are not puckered and black. I asked if I should move it just a tad left or right, so I could check for newer marks, in about a week. He said I could probably wait about a month and to check then. With luck (and the help of the Good Lord), there will be no change and I can assume it’s been there since the old freezer’s days.

Now the poor thing is almost empty. I ended up spreading things around a lot, to make it feel and look fuller. I will be picking some things up tomorrow. And I will be making a lot of crockpot meals this month. For now, to keep it happy, I also placed about half a dozen half-gallon bottles ¾ full of water in there.

I got really lucky half-way through. One of the messiest and tedious parts is always collecting the water and falling ice without a mess on the floor. I suddenly found two of those disposable foil roasting pans. I grabbed them and put them on two of the shelves and they covered most of each shelf. What a treat that was. My brother and I were talking tonight. He does the same thing. He also keeps them with his freezer-defrost-stuff from year to year. Guess what I’ll be putting inside my picnic cooler (the one I stash the frozen foods in while defrosting) so I will have them ready next year?

It is over. Next year, it will not be as bad. This time, I was finished by 1 p.m. – that means it took about 6-1/2 hours, but that includes clean-up and re-stocking, etc.

I can go to bed knowing it is over – for now.