Last Week Was Black Friday And I Was

One of the of the early birds waiting in line at 5:30 a.m. for a good buy on a new refrigerator. My wife and I were in line along with a bunch of other shoppers at the Sears Outlet on York Rd. in Timonium. My wife had the Sears ad stating that all Sears Kenmore products were 1/2 price and the first 25 people in line would get an additional $100 off. The doors were opened at 6 and we piled in and got our certificate for the extra $100.

The fridge we were going to replace was still working very well and we had it for 15 years with no problems. The new one would replace it and the old one will be used as an extra, as our other extra fridge bit the dust last month.

At the Sears outlet they had quite a few fridges to choose from. Many brands along with the Kenmore Sears brand were lined up from one end of the store to the other. Just about all of them had a cosmetic problem and we just kept looking for the kind we wanted. Minor dents would not do unless it was on the side or towards the back which would be hidden in the space under the kitchen cabinets. We wanted one with the automatic ice maker on the freezer door rather inside of the freezer at the top like our old one. Due to the freezer door being against the wall we couldn't pull the ice bin out unless we pulled the fridge all the way out so we could open the door all the way. The ice dispenser on the outside of the door was fine and when I need a lot of ice for a cooler, I kept putting a glass under it and dumping it into the cooler. It was a pain in the ass, but better than pulling the fridge all the way out to get at the bin.

We had measured the place where the old fridge was, and were looking for one that would fit. No luck there, all the new ones were taller. Oh Oh, that could be a problem. I went back home and remeasured to make sure and came back with the exact measurements. I was right the first time. I had checked out the cabinet above the fridge and decided I would have to move the cabinet up about 3 inches. It could be done with a little work and it wouldn't hurt the integrity of the cabinet.

We finally found what we wanted and the goodies that came with it. Sure is a big difference from the older fridges of 15 years ago. It was a Kenmore Elite 2 door with the ice maker and dispenser in the door. Everything is electronic with plenty of little buttons to do what you want it to do. It didn't have any dents at all on it and just 2 tiny scratches which could be touched up with paint. At half price and the extra $100 bucks taken off the price, it was an excellent buy. My wife and I are good buyers and will do our homework on any large purchase before buying. We usually know a good deal when we see it.

On Monday a friend and I removed the kitchen cabinet from its space over the old fridge, cut enough off to accommodate the new fridge. It was surprisingly easy, it just took time. When the job was finished you couldn't tell that the cabinet was moved. I then made arrangements for the Sears crew to deliver the new fridge and move the old one to my laundry room where the old one used to be.

They delivered on Wednesday at 7 a.m. , moved the old fridge and was off to their next delivery. The new fridge being on easy move wheels was a dream to move about. The only thing left for me to do was connect the old water supply. With a part that cost $1.44 at lowes I had that done in no time.

We love the new Kenmore and hope to have it at least another 15 years. I will say this much about Sears. All the people we came in contact with at the store were just delightful to deal with. Very helpful and cheerful they made shopping a pleasure. The 2 men that delivered were just as nice and they sure knew what they were doing. Kudos to Sears! I just wanted to give some praise where it is due. You hear about the bad things that happen when shopping and not the good experiences.

Black Friday for us was not so bad!