Before & After: Mr. Heckles, The Love of Reed’s Life
I’m in love. I’m talking about my new (super old) refrigerator. This fridge, whom we lovingly call Mr. Heckles, was made in 1949 by General Electric. I’d always wanted an old fridge, just like the one Monica had on Friends. Gender aside, I am Monica. Really.
A month ago, we finally signed a new lease at an apartment complex that did not provide a fridge. I seized this opportunity to find my dream fridge. I scoured eBay, Craigslist, Etsy, antiqueappliance.com. You name it. Everything was over $400. Until one day, while scrolling through Craigslist, I found adorable Mr. Heckles for $150. I bargained the owner down to $100 and picked Heckles up in two weeks. When we took him home, he kind of peed himself and smelled of rust and mold. So, we cleaned him up and took off his age (rust) spots, and painted him blue.
He refrigerates like middle-age fridge with the wisdom of an elder. I just bought the manual on eBay for $5. I feel like the only person in the world who gets excited about fridge manuals. Lately, my life is all about Mr. Heckles and how we can make him better. But I can’t help it! Look at him! Ain’t he handsome?
Thank you, Reed!