Access to the refrigerator components is from the outside. This is where Florence worked her magic and got our fridge up and running again. When I look at a mass of wires like that, all I can think of is calling for help!
IF IT’S BROKEN, SHE CAN REPAIR IT. I’m convinced that my wife can repair anything, so it’s time for me to write this post and pat her high! The topic is a little 
embarrassing for me, but here we go. If it breaks, Florence can fix it. I’ve known she was handy for years, but since embarking on our motorhome adventure her skills have become far more obvious and far more necessary. Think about it. What if your brick and mortar house could be driven down the road…the plumbing, electrical systems, appliances, computers, and televisions all would take a real beating every time there was a pothole in the road! Right? Well, that’s exactly what happens even with the highest quality motorhomes. Things just stop working once in a while after taking such a beating. And it’s the reason that no matter how far off the beaten track we wander, there always seems to be a mobile RV repairman in the area. I’m convinced these guys make a fortune! I’ve often threatened Florence with “putting her to work.” If I purchased one of those inexpensive magnet signs advertising RV repair service and slapped it on the side of our Jeep, she’d be able to drive around these RV parks trolling for business. And she’d make a fortune just like the rest of those guys!
Florence spent $3.00 at the hardware store buying some connector parts. The mobile repair guy I called understood the problem and quoted me $525.00 to come out and repair the fridge. Amazing!
AND I CAN’T REPAIR A THING. I can’t repair a thing! Mechanical things, to me, operate magically. Really, does anyone honestly understand how flipping a wall switch lights the chandelier? Or how a microwave oven heats food? Well I don’t, for sure! And I gave up trying to understand or repair things many years ago. This was after I realized that I couldn’t hammer a nail without bending it. Or when my BMW felt like it was “running a little rough” and I told the service adviser at the dealership I needed to have my carburetor adjusted. I assumed I had one somewhere under the hood. Hell, I’d never even heard of fuel injection! And then there was the time our lawnmower just “wouldn’t work” for me. I told Florence I’d had it and that I was going to Home Depot to buy a new mower. By the time I returned, she’d repaired the old one…it was as good as new!
She doesn’t look a bit like a mechanic to me!
WE’VE DIVIDED THE “CHORES” ACCORDINGLY. We’ve developed a system that works for us. I do the food shopping, meal planning and cooking. I clean our bus and keep the Jeep washed and waxed. I do my best on the motorhome when we can’t have it professionally washed. I’m good at these things. I don’t think Florence has run a vacuum cleaner in the last 5 years and I kid her that she needs a recipe to boil water. But she takes care of “all things mechanical,” inside or out! And she does all the navigation. When we arrive at a campsite, of course, the water, electric and sewer need to be connected. The Jeep needs to be detached from the motorhome….air brake system and all. When a brake light bulb fails on the Jeep, she goes to an auto parts store and before you can shake a stick…fixed! Inside an Ace Hardware store, Florence is in her element. She often teaches the salesmen at Home Depot more than they knew before they met her. It’s unbelievable to me! I drive our motorhome with the best of them. I can back into a tight spot without batting an eye. But read a map? Navigate our travel? Use three GPS systems and several software programs to do so? Nope, she does it all. Left to my own devices, I wouldn’t have made it past the city limits on the day we left home four years ago. True! Here are some examples of her handiwork, and I’m not talking about fixing a leaky faucet or unclogging a drain. No, no, no…what’s impressed me so much over the years are much more challenging repair jobs. .
When our fridge went on the blink recently, a mobile repair service quoted me over $500 to repair it. And I’m sure we’d have lost all our food waiting for the guy. Florence fixed it in about a half-hour with a $3 part from Ace Hardware.
WINDSHIELD SHADES. One morning we were getting ready to hit the road and I couldn’t get either of the electric windshield shades to retract. “We’re screwed, I thought. There’s no way I can drive without being able to see through the windshield. About all I could come up with as a quick fix was to try to somehow use duct tape. Not necessary. With some tools I didn’t even recognize and using something called a voltage meter, Florence had those shades operating perfectly in short order.
REFRIGERATOR. Another time recently our refrigerator stopped working, and we’d just been to the grocery store and stocked up on food and frozen goods. I was sure we’d lose it all. When I told Florence about this, she asked me if there were any numbers or letters on the little door monitor. “Yes it says, D402-6. Looks like some kind of code to me.” Before I knew it, she had her nose in our motorhome manual – the size of an old phone book. She then announced that she was pretty sure the overheating sensor switch had failed and she planned to bypass it. What does that mean, I wondered. Anyhow, after a quick trip to Ace Hardware the fridge was working again. And the ice cream hadn’t even melted!
AND THE LIST GOES ON. She’s fixed door latches, cupboard shelves and even a valve on our propane system. If it’s broken, she can repair it. Computers? Not a problem. She’s so much better than those guys at the Geek Squad it’s not even a good comparison.
WE EACH HAVE OUR STRENGTHS. We don’t try to fit into any stereotype models of what a couple of RV travelers should do or how they should divide the chores. We do what works for us!
Florence is at home in a hardware store. Me? Not so much!
NEXT TIME. In my next post I’m going to show you around one of the most beautiful parks we’ve found in all of our travels. Shall we re-group in a few days and take a look at it together? Good. See you then.
I’ll continue my story next time.
