you’ll see something floating on the bottom right of this site’s window. it’s a chat app. you don’t need to sign up for anything, as long as i’m available to chat you can chat on the fly. it pops up in Adium for me.

this new fridge came in today, had to replace the shutoff valve on the icemaker line that was coming from the water main. it took me two weeks to find that damn valve, for future reference: it’s in the register in the basement that’s RIGHT ABOVE the computer desk. at least the previous owners were nice enough not to wall off the valve completely, although they did close in the majority of the line itself in the ceiling…which is going through at least 2 joists…in tiny drilled holes…

the shutoff valve was a trip. i had picked up a icemaker line KIT instead of just the line itself because i wanted to be sure i had the hardware available for not only the line replacement, but the attachment to the fridge as well. it’s a good thing i got the kit, because while i didnt have to use the line or the fridge-attachment hardware i did need a couple of pieces from the puncture valve.

here’s the old screw-valve:

what you are looking at is a failed compression nut and a deteriorated gasket. you see that metal bit over the black gasket? yeah, that’s supposed to be attached to the rest of the nut. the limestone in the water tends to deteriorate rubber gaskets over time, i know this because in the last couple of years i’ve had to change out a whole shit-ton of them in various plumbing in the house, and they all go the same: fine until disturbed, then they dissolve. i was worried about this before the new fridge was coming, so once i found the icemaker line i was satisfied to not close it off, let the gasket give up the ghost. sure enough when it was time to make the exchange earlier today the valve began to leak….good thing i was quick with the towels or there would have been some wet components (i’m telling you, it’s DIRECTLY over the computer station).

so once the fridge was in place i told the guys i had a plumber on the way…. after they left i went to work figuring out the leak. shut off the water main, removed the screw valve and had a close look at it in comparison to the new piece i had and figured it could be done after all. the only problem with the new one was it was a puncture valve…meaning it had a pointy end that i didn’t need, and the old one wasn’t about to give up it’s T for me to put in just the new nut and gasket…so i took some wire cutters and scored the puncture metal, then broke it off cleanly with a pair of vise-grips. put the new one in the old one’s place, and for the last hour it’s been dry as a bone. that’s not stopping me from going down to check on it every 15 minutes, though. the curse of DIY home repair is that you become painfully aware that your house is only held together with the building equivalent of gum and shoestring, and thats how it is.

in the meantime, when i’m not agonizing over the possibility of a small leak in the main, i’ve been amazed at how much more quiet, efficient, and overall pleasant the new one is. it’s about 4cu/ft more than the old one and the stainless doors change the overall dynamic of the room. the french-door style fridge makes for a lot of space, and everything you need out of the fridge is at waist level and up. the freezer pulls out like a drawer, with a top smaller drawer on the inside for bagged frozens. the damn thing pleasantly beeps at you if the fridge doors are left open, at first i thought it was a truck outside backing up.

re: the old one leaving, the delivery guys had a look at it and said “RCA? don’t they make Teevees and stuff?” they were perplexed by my relic, yep, that’s why it was time for a new one.