November 20, 2013. Canyon Lake. A Big Mess.

Ken opened the small fridge under the bar.   He needed nothing from the fridge, but he noted water seeping out the bottom and wanted to investigate.  He discovered that this small fridge had a freezing compartment at the top, which was full of ice.  There was a solid block of ice inside and surrounding the small compartment.  The freezer door would not open.  It was a mess.  Clearly the fridge was operating in an efficient manner so Ken and I decided to defrost the whole thing.

This small fridge has a history.  When we renovated the house, Ken and I installed an expensive wine cooler under the bar, right beside the ice maker.  David and Suzanne sleep right under the bar and the noise of the machines kept them awake so at night they would drain the ice and unplug the cooler.  After a few years, the expensive wine cooler broke and the ice maker began leaking into their room, so they pitched the cooler and put the ice maker outside on the lower lever and they brought the cheap under the counter fridge from the lower deck, right outside our master bedrooms.  That was ten years ago.  I do not think that fridge has been defrosted from that day to now, but it has worked well, we thought.

Now I am boiling water to steam the ice.   I change the boiling water every ten minutes but so far I only get dripping into the pans.   I am afraid to pour the boiling water on the ice for fear it will drip down into the lower lever, which would be the bedroom of David and Suzanne.   Soon I will be able to pry off the big chunks of ice but so far I can not get to the metal.    Time is on my side.  Ice will melt, eventually,  and soon the mess will be gone.  Guaranteed.