I never understood the ins and outs of a refrigerator. I know that it keeps food inside it cold. I know that the outside is not cold. What I have never understood is what makes a fridge frost free? How do you defrost a fridge that is really overdue? Where do all those drips go that you occasionally hear? Why is it that older fridges have coils up the outside of the backs but newer ones don’t?

As my kids would say, I have a lot of book smarts but sometimes the commonsense goes away.

My old fridge – which was (operative word) very old and I bought off a friend second hand – died on Monday. It was still keeping things cold but was running constantly. I couldn’t, regardless of how cool I set the temp, get it to stop. I finally pulled its plug.

My new fridge is being delivered today. I figure this is a good time for me to clean the area where the fridge goes. The old fridge, and maybe all fridges – I have no point of reference, is really heavy. It is now on the screened porch. I am hoping I can convince the guys who deliver the new one to move this one further for me.

Here’s to cold food and wine and drink!