Homeowner Fail and Bubby

Grammy is here for a week while Ruby and Pam are on vacation and she couldn't have come at a better time because, like usual, we are falling apart. Norah and I have both been really sick and BVZ is still slowly recovering from back surgery. The gloomy weather hasn't done much to lift our spirits and on Sunday the refrigerator decided to conk out (the freezer was cold, the fridge not so much). My first instinct was to call a repair person. BVZ's first instinct was to buy a new fridge (this one came with the house--we don't even know how old it is). Thankfully, Grammy's first instinct was to ask how long it had been since we cleaned the coils behind the front grill.

[Crickets.]

Um, what? I asked her how often we were supposed to do it. EVERY THREE MONTHS. Are you effing kidding me? She asked how long it had been since we'd done it.

[Crickets.]

Um. NEVER. I had no idea this was a thing. Is there some homeowner's manual that I don't know about? You know, the one that prevents everything from falling apart? So, I took off the front grill and I am not exaggerating to say that there was a CARPET of lint on the coils. Grammy helped me vacuum them up and for a few hours the fridge got cold again. But then it got warm and so we ended up having to call out for repair anyway (it was the thermostat).

But, chalk it up to another homeowner FAIL on our part. This American dream thing is way overrated.

But, in other cute Norah news, she has started calling Grammy, 'Bubby.' At first we thought it was a fluke, but sure enough, that's what she calls her. According to Urban Dictionary, 'Bubby' is an endearing term for a Jewish grandmother. We're going with it.