Cold Beers and Diet Coke as well as Frozen Pizza

I bought a black-market refrigerator. Or it might as well be.

Landlords in So Cal do not supply refrigerators. Huh? Yep, odd but true. Even stranger is people native to this area think it is normal to have to move the large necessary appliance. I have heard of people in Manhattan who’s showers are located in their kitchen...that seems more normal than renters have to furnish their own fridge.

When I moved to OC I had many concerns. One of which was a refrigerator. How was I going to keep my beer and diet coke chilled and my pizza frozen when I wanted to buy a new couch but I might be stuck having to purchase a large cooling device. So I went to my favorite website at the time Craigslist Orange County and typed in Fridge as an item to purchase. I was stunned by the results. So many to choose from in make, model, size, and price point. Literally, hundreds of used refrigerator which put my mind at ease that I would not have to head to the nearest Sears. For example, today I did the same search and stopped counting at 36 posted today.

Finally it is move in day from my new apartment. I run over to get the keys and sign for the delivery of my red leather couch. I opted not to buy a fridge until I had residence of the apartment because most vendors on Craigslist seem to have an urgency to make the deal. Also, for $30 a month I can rent one. I once again search the available items and find a unit for $100 that must be sold that day. I call the college student who is cleaning out her storage unit and arrange pick up. I call my coworker Rob who has a Pickup truck and a refrigerator dolly. Having to move a fridge is such a common occurrence that people own dollies. Rob gets lost coming to pick me up and we are on a time crunch to get to the place before it closes. We make it there with minutes to spare. I hand the girl cash as we load my purchase and off we go. Mind you, I did not even check to see if it worked just handed some lady my money and took the goods. It was a nice fairly new fridge pretty, she was moving in with her boyfriend and they did not need two of them. She seemed honest.

We head back to my place to unload the fridge. Everything is going great. We measure the opening. We are sliding the fridge in but then it seems to get stuck. We push. And push some more. The fridge stops moving. The wall must be bowed. Great, now there is a large hole in the wall. Nice. And I do not have a way to keep my beer and diet coke chilled and pizza frozen. Oh and there is a fridge in the middle of my teeny tiny kitchen. Lovely.

That was on Sunday.

Back to Craigslist I go to buy another used refrigerator and sell the one I have. Oh, this poster is buying and selling. This might be the ticket, as he appears to be a fridge broker. I contact him. He calls me back. I tell him I have a good fridge but it doesn’t fit and I am interested in the 18 inch. He will sell me a “new” one that fits the criteria, buy mine drop off and pick up for $75.00. I am paying him to downgrade to a smaller older appliance. But beers and diet coke have got to be cool and pizza has to be frozen.

A rainy Thursday Night in December, the underground Kenmore salesman calls me. It is time to make the drop. I start to get worried because really who sells/purchases large kitchen items at 11:00 at night in the rain in a geographical location where rain is rare. What do I really know about this person? This could be a front for some sort of serial killer. I better bring Rob. Everything was legit (as legit as a Fridgidaire purchase and a Whirlpool sale from the back of a pick up truck can be).

All is well. I now have a lovely, no frills Hotpoint fridge with coils in the back. I think my mom and dad might have owned it in their first apartment. I am not energy efficient and probably pay through the nose to electricity but at least the beer and diet coke is cool and the pizza is frozen.