LEARNing 4

This is going to be a short post.

Yesterday I LEARNed that I need to be more observant.

I need to look, and see, and notice, and pay attention.

I need to LEARN from my surroundings, my environment, from the people, places and things around me.

Something so simple as a visit from a refrigerator repairman...

We remodeled the kitchen in our lake house.  We bought brand new appliances, including my dream refrigerator:  French doors and a pull out lower freezer drawer.

I already LEARNed that I have to be sure the top doors close all the way.  Just like I LEARNed that the garbage can cabinet does NOT have a drawer return on it; I have to manually push it closed.  Just like I LEARNed that although I have more cabinets than before, they fit the space, not the food and the way we use the kitchen.  I'll have to LEARN my kitchen all over again, where I put things, where they might fit...

Yesterday was the second time a repairman came out to the house.  The brand new refrigerator wasn't working the weekend before Christmas - it was 66 degrees in the refrigerator and the freezer motor was frozen over with ice.

We/I LEARNed that the refrigerator is cooled by the movement of the air flowing over/through the freezer motor, up into the refrigerator compartment.  So when the motor is frozen, stopped, there is no cold air going up into the fridge.  The very nice repairman came out and showed that to J, and when we asked him to even out the doors (one was hanging lower than the other and scraping the freezer door), he said we need a new hinge.

We haven't been back to the lake since then, since before the New Year's holiday, so when we went up this weekend, the first thing we checked was the freezer.  And there was ice forming inside again!  We already had an appointment with the 2nd repairman to come yesterday afternoon to replace the hinge.

When he walked in J immediately mentioned the ice again, and he basically told us to shut up, we didn't know what we were talking about!  Now of course, he didn't say that in those exact words, but he took one look at the appliance and said the reason it was freezing is because the freezer door gasket wasn't sealing and the door wasn't closing.  We immediately jumped on him and said we were POSITIVE the door was shut when we left because of the previous freezing issue...

This is where the "shut up" part came in:  the freezer door had a 1/4 inch gap on one side and no gap on the other.  The door wasn't sealing all the way so outside air was getting in and of course, causing the ice.

I LEARNed to listen to someone who knows more than me.  I LEARNed that neither my handy husband nor I was observant enough to catch that, even though we both know that could have caused the issue.  I LEARNed that I need, to borrow another phrase and bastardize it a little, to "stop, see and LEARN."

I need to SEE things to LEARN them, not just look at them.  I need to pay attention to LEARN.

And this is something I thought I knew, something I thought I had LEARNed long ago.

I was wrong.