January - Repair Month?

When did January become repair month? This year started with lots of issues.

My convertible had a dead battery last month. We called AAA to jump-start it when our charger didn’t work. They managed to get the car running, and we drove it around all day. It started again each of the next few days, but then we tried to start it one day, and it was dead again. It still sits in the garage not running until we can afford to get it to the dealer to discover why the battery is draining.

The reason we can’t fix the convertible for a while is because we’ve had several other repair bills.

The brakes started squealing on our van. Unfortunately, they had to be replaced. Since Larry uses the van for surfing nearly every day, we didn’t feel we had an option not to fix it. Especially since the convertible was already out of commission.

Also in December, the icemaker on the refrigerator stopped working. We didn't bother with it at the time because we had lots of company. Early this month we called out the repairman. He said we had three options: unfreeze the water line, replace the bin and auger mechanism, or replace the entire door. The last option really wasn’t valid because the refrigerator is nearly thirteen years old. The repair guy turned up the temperature on the freezer and manually left the light on, hoping the line would defrost. Fortunately, it did. The water began to dispense normally. The ice also dispensed—sort of. But the crushed ice didn’t work. Fortunately, the bin and auger mechanism (which had broken) could be replaced cheaply enough, so we’ve ordered a new one.

Then on Wednesday when we started a load of towels, the washer just stopped working. We called out the repairman, who arrived about 7:00 at night. The control board (the most expensive part of the washer, of course) failed. The new one will cost nearly as much as we paid for the washer itself just over two years ago. Larry decided we had to fix this one since it matches the dryer, which still works. So we wait for the repairman to return with the new control board.

When did January become the month for repairs? What really has me concerned is the month isn’t over yet…