{"id":1557,"date":"2016-04-29T14:44:05","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T14:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/?p=1557"},"modified":"2016-05-06T11:39:22","modified_gmt":"2016-05-06T11:39:22","slug":"stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/2016\/04\/29\/stuff\/","title":{"rendered":"Stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We value experiences and relationships more than we do stuff. \u00a0But stuff still has a way of keeping you tied down. So part of the idea of this adventure, at least in my mind, was to force ourselves away from our stuff and replace it with those things we value more. \u00a0When you live in tight quarters there is not much room for physical stuff. \u00a0Even if we had the space, we are filling our days with exploring the outdoors, nature, history and science that we don&#8217;t have time to futz with physical stuff. \u00a0Yet somehow we still have too much stuff and so something&#8217;s got to go.<br \/>\n<a title=\"Ditching the dead fridge\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/136797225@N05\/26819789035\/in\/album-72157667732964662\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7382\/26819789035_970789d21a_n.jpg\" alt=\"Ditching the dead fridge\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" \/><\/a><script src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>A month ago we shipped a couple of boxes of stuff home that we didn&#8217;t need. \u00a0I also tried to sell our unused cooler on Craigslist but no takers. \u00a0We brought a folding table with us that we have unfolded exactly twice and used neither time. \u00a0It stays in the bed of the truck where I keep thinking someone will steal it so I don&#8217;t have to haul it around anymore but it&#8217;s still there. \u00a0I brought clothes that I haven&#8217;t worn and games that we haven&#8217;t played. \u00a0Our fifth wheel has an outdoor kitchen that we really do not use. \u00a0It has this HEAVY counter that folds out with a stove that does not work, a cabinet where we store a box or two of\u00a0crackers, and a mini fridge. \u00a0If we were to go full time the first order of business would be to convert the outdoor kitchen into drawer and closet space for\u00a0the bunkhouse. \u00a0From the outside, the space would just be a few inches deep and house tools and such along with\u00a0a fold down standing desk. \u00a0But that conversion is a different story&#8230;.we&#8217;re talking about stuff.<\/p>\n<p>We had sort of forgotten about the mini fridge until we got to the warm weather of Florida and wanted cold beverages on hand but couldn&#8217;t afford the space in the main fridge. \u00a0So the mini fridge became\u00a0the beverage fridge. \u00a0And it was awesome except for the fact that it only runs on AC so doesn&#8217;t have power on travel days. \u00a0Well, after our fun day exploring <a href=\"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/2016\/04\/24\/my-friend-the-lighthouse\/\">Ocracoke <\/a>I came back to the rig for a nice cool beverage and found myself grabbing a\u00a0warm beverage instead. \u00a0The fridge, it seems, had died. \u00a0I made sure the outlet had power and when I took the fridge out the compressor was pretty hot so I know it was getting juice. \u00a0Maybe the motor seized up. \u00a0I don&#8217;t know but I could not revive the little guy. \u00a0Not only did we not have cold beverages anymore, we also had more useless stuff.<\/p>\n<p>Even back in our home town I think it would be difficult to find the place you take a non-working fridge. \u00a0I hit up Google for the answer. \u00a0I called several appliance repair places to see if they knew (they all said to call a scrap yard). \u00a0So I search for scrap metal and found a few that were on our route to Virginia. \u00a0One that I called seemed\u00a0perfect until she said the fridge could not have freon in it. \u00a0&#8220;Do you know how I can get the freon out of the fridge?&#8221;, I asked her. \u00a0&#8220;Nope&#8221; was her quick reply. \u00a0I called another place, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicscrap.com\/\">Public Scrap<\/a>, and they said they would take it even with the freon AND &#8220;we got big 18 wheelers coming through here all the time so no problem bringing your trailer&#8221;. \u00a0So here is a little video of us navigating the scrap yard with Ava and the Beast&#8230;<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rrLeRM5RmhU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The sign out front said no freon but the guy at the window assured me it was fine (maybe mine&#8217;s new enough it doesn&#8217;t use freon?). \u00a0So, we set the fridge out in the pile and said goodbye to some dead weight. \u00a0I hate the thought of it ultimately finding a resting place in the landfill after they strip out any metal that may be of value. \u00a0I did take a brief look at replacing the compressor but even the expert repair people say, &#8220;its cheaper to buy a new one&#8221;&#8230;ughh, I hate that. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.greenecoservices.com\/41-ways-to-reuse-recycle-refrigerators\/\">Here <\/a>is a list of 40 ways to reuse an\u00a0old fridge&#8230;none of these are particularly feasible for us\u00a0right now however.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m now watching Craigslist to see if we can score a replacement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We value experiences and relationships more than we do stuff. \u00a0But stuff still has a way of keeping you tied down. So part of the idea of this adventure, at least in my mind, was to force ourselves away from our stuff and replace it with those things we value more. \u00a0When you live in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[12,47,46],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1557"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1557"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1563,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1557\/revisions\/1563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}