I’ve often worried, during the power cuts we get here from time to time, about the food in the freezer and how long it would last, should the power not return within a reasonable time scale, say 12 hours or so.  Well not any more.

Last Friday night at around 10.30pm we realised the fridge/freezer was not working. How did we know? The beer was warm! How long had it been ‘not working’, I don’t know, but if the state of the ice cream was anything to go by, quite awhile. What a nuisance, and just at a Bank Holiday weekend too, no chance of getting a replacement before Tuesday at the earliest.

Having said that, it didn’t really owe us anything, in fact we reckon it must have been 26 years old. So on Saturday morning the quest for a replacement began. How hard could it be? After all in the intervening 26 years we had been introduced to  ‘internet’ shopping, so searching for the right make, model, size and price should be a breeze, and all without leaving the comfort of your own home.

It soon became apparent that the range of fridge/freezers available was simply mind-blowing. Even when you narrowed it down by price and size the choice was vast. In the end, when all fridge/freezers were beginning to look alike, we decided to take a trip to a well known high street retailer and look at a few of our selected models ‘in the flesh ‘.

This was helpful to a point but seemed to throw up more possibilities, so back home we came for more ‘surfing’ and measuring. 48 hours later we were still no nearer. So-called ‘helpful’ reviews of the appliance posted by other buyers were confusing and contradictory to say the least, and also threw up more questions, which in the end we decided could only be answered by another trip to the high street. So that’s where we found ourselves at tea time on Bank Holiday Monday.

I wish I could say we returned home empowered and informed. Sadly we did not, the truth is there was too much information available and too much choice. The more we looked the more questions we had.  Sounds silly, but it’s true.

But ever conscious of time ticking by for our perishables we resolved to order some model or other before midnight in an attempt to secure a Thursday delivery slot.

At around 11.30 pm I was just in the process of completing my online order when the website went down. Just when you thought the situation had been resolved, another problem, whatever next?

If you want to know the answer to that question, you will have to read my next post.  To be continued . . . . . . .