Rambling RV Rat: Oh Fiddlesticks! The Fridge Fizzles Out

Mom and Dad completed Week 1 at Amazon! Comprised of four floors of conveyer lines, KIVA robots, computers, automated guided vehicles, and thousands of people, the Haslet Fulfillment Center is ginormous! And it is like Fort Knox—scan your badge to enter the facility, scan your badge at the time clock, scan your badge at your workstation, scan your badge to get supplies, and go through security scanners to leave the inner sanctuary!

My parents are in the Receiving Department doing the task called “Decant”. Scan the package, open the package, deposit the contents in a tote/totes, and scan the tote(s). Mom says scanners have overtaken our lives. She thinks St. Peter probably requires us to “scan” to enter the pearly gates of heaven! (Imagine how bad Scanner Hell must be!)

This week, they only worked five hour “hardening” days, giving them an opportunity to get acclimated to the processes. Thank goodness—they came home quite pooped out! But my parents are troopers, so I know they will survive “peak” season.

In the meantime, our RV fridge fizzled out. It worked fine when we arrived, but seemed to take a turn for the worse when we switched from propane to electric. It just wouldn’t stay cold. Ironically, the freezer portion of the unit worked fine. We waited several days to see if the extreme heat wave here in Texas was having a negative impact on the unit. But alas, the temp in the fridge never went below 43 degrees. It seemed the fridge was stuck in “defrost” mode. This is our third fifth wheel, and the second time we needed to replace an RV fridge. In both instances our rigs were under 2 years old!

After much deliberation, we bite the bullet and purchase a residential fridge, scheduled for delivery on October 1. Low and behold, my parents come home from their Amazon shift on Tuesday, just 2 days before the scheduled delivery, to find the darn fridge operating perfectly, registering at 34 degrees!

The last thing Mom wanted was to spend 1,500 bucks on a refrigerator. But if we cancel the order, we will be subject to a 50% restocking fee. Screwed either way.

Mom’s been ranting and raving since the discovery (she does this VERY well), while Dad dismantles the old fridge and preps for the new fridge delivery. This includes capping the propane tank connection, insulating the holes from where the vents were, removing the drawer underneath the fridge, etc.) Needless to say, I’m being quiet as a church mouse, staying out of both of their paths.