The Three Stooges took my fridge

Ages ago, I put my basement fridge on a website for sale and/or take away for free. All I wanted was the fridge out of my house. It took about two months, but someone responded to the add and arranged to come pick it up. I thought the rest of the move would go as smoothly.

I tidied the basement so they could get the fridge out. Moved the dryer and the dry sink. Moved stuff off the ledges of the stairway. Shovelled the sidewalk around the house and everything.

It started out well. The young couple arrived with a friend and the smallest truck I've ever seen. The girl was nice, but likely just there because it had been her and I making the transaction over the Internet. She did little but provide amusing commentary. However, the guys seemed tough enough, so I settled in for them to do a quick move. I should have known better.

The dogs hated them. They barked at every move they made for the first half hour. Once they calmed it was fine, but that took awhile. Occasionally, one of the dogs would forget the three people were here and go ballistic.

We ran into a few small problems. The fridge, at first glance, should have fit up the stairs no problem. However, there was nothing for the person at the top of the stairs to hold on to. A quick adjustment later, the guy at the top of the steps had a long winch around his waist as he hauled the fridge up while the guy at the bottom pushed.

Then they realized the hand rail needed to come off.

They pushed and pulled and moved and bumped and finally the rail came off. They tried to do as little damage as possible. The fridge was slowly moved to the top of the stairs. Trapping the top guy effectively between the fridge and door.

That crisis dealt with, they decided to push the fridge straight out the back door. I thought it would be easier than pulling it up the steps, through the kitchen, through the living room, and down the front steps. Apparently, I was wrong. The fridge was too wide for the doorway.

The guy decided to take the door off. No problem. Except they had no tools and my hammer was in the garage. On the other side of the fridge. Finally we got the right tools and the door came off. Screen door too.

It took nearly 2 hours to move the fridge start to finish. The doors went back on immediately as it was darn cold outside. The guy said as he got the door back on that he hoped there was a lot of snow so he could just drag the fridge to the truck rather than carry it. Oh... oops. Remember that part where I shovelled? Yeah. Me too.

Oh, and then the fridge was too wide for the gate. So they removed the gate. Entirely. From the posts.

Finally they hauled the fridge to the truck. It had been a long couple of hours making small talk with strangers and cringing every time they bumped a wall or door jam. They settled everything into the truck and I realized the real reason they brought three people. They needed the weight in the front of the truck to keep the wheels on the ground. They carried on looking not just a bit comical - three decent sized people in the teeniest truck in the world carrying the largest cargo.

It was nice to meet them, but I was glad to see them and the fridge go. Until I realized -- they forgot to put the gate back on.


I keep writing for NaBloPoMo. I can't seem to stop. Remember when I had nothing to say? Those were the good old days.