Listening to Mrs ERJ

A woman who had been on a business trip to the West Coast walked through the front door of her house late one Friday evening.

Her husband had been watching their new-born child.

Walking through the door she sniffed and announced, "It smells like Junior needs to have his diaper changed."

Her husband was watching football and drinking a beer. He did not even turn to look. "Nah. He doesn't need a new diaper."

The woman put down her luggage, walked over to the child and inspected the diaper.

"Holy crap! There must be three pounds of poop in that diaper." the woman said.

"No problem." the man said dismissively. "I checked the box the diapers came in. It said it they were good for seven-to-ten pounds."

Our outside freezer

The yellow para-cord to the handle goes to a counterweight that closes the door.

No, I am not on a diet.

For months, Mrs ERJ has been informing me about an issue with our outside freezer. The upper shelf has been frosting up.

Last night it reached became a crisis.

I finally broke down and looked at the freezer.

The head of one of the bolts holding the upper hinge leaf to the box had snapped off. What are the odds of that?

I managed to get the stub of the bolt out with a pair of vice-grips. It is an odd size, #10-32. Because of the limited access, I need a hex-head bolt instead of one with a pan head with a Philips/slot. There is no room to get a screw driver on the head of the screw.

Until I get a replacement, we will be using the ratchet strap to keep the door on the freezer.

Until I looked at it, Mrs ERJ's inclination was to pitch the freezer. A freezer that does not keep food on the top shelf frozen is a hazard and costs a lot of money.

All for want of a sixteen-cent screw.  Shame on me for not looking sooner.