A funny thing happened after the appliance technician replaced a thermostat in a refrigerator that is in the little house that Sheila rents. She asked him why the freezer door pops open when the fridge door is closed. He said, “Some fridges are like that.” She didn’t believe him and neither did I.
Just in case I was wrong, I googled the question! The service guy happened to be right. It is not unusual because the refrigerator and freezer sections are connected by air channels. Closing the door shut forces air from one cavity into the other, often pushing the freezer door open. The information also recommended the fridge be slanted slightly to the back. This maneuver plus lubricating the door gasket with Vaseline would alleviate some of the popping opens.
I found the Vaseline tip a bit odd. I knew it was good to smooth down tufts of hair and cow-licks, removing makeup stains from clothing and even defining eyelashes but I didn’t know it could polish shoes too. My shoes will need a good brushing before the Christmas dinner and dance this year. I also heard back in the day that married couples kept it handy for some reason but I haven’t figured out why?
What about those darn elevator “close” buttons that are not what they seem? Even if an apartment building has an up-to-date elevator that runs with the precision of a Swiss watch, I generally found myself waiting the maddening extra few seconds for the doors to finally close by furtively pushing the “close” button. Turns out, there’s a real answer. The “close” button is never programmed to work in most elevators. As well, crosswalk buttons are there for pedestrians to speed up the arrival of a “walk” signal. And in various places, they do. But not everywhere. Some cities admitted that most of these “push buttons” were no longer active, having been replaced by automated systems that keep all the lights on a set timer. That makes them placebo buttons just like the close-door buttons on an elevator. As with the elevators, it would be too expensive to replace or remove all of the non-functioning buttons, explains engineer Ed McLaney, “There is no obvious harm in letting the people keep impotently jamming crosswalk buttons.” Many will keep pushing away – perhaps because occasionally they’ll get lucky and the light will change right after they push.
I hate to break it to you, but big companies aren’t just going to let a chilly employee crank the heat up whenever he or she pleases. But if they simply locked the thermostat or put the controls out of reach, the employees would regularly complain. The solution: A thermostat that doesn’t actually do anything but it does appease the people in the room. I suspect that, “The thermostat control on the wall of the Westmeath Rec Centre doesn’t alter the temperature a fraction of a degree, only fooling people into believing they feel the change.”
For some people, simply seeing the “HD” label on the TV is enough to convince them that the picture is better, even if they don’t have the proper connection or they’re not watching an HD channel. Simply being told is enough. Sometimes, even, it takes a grandchild to demonstrate to them how to find the HD channels. Only then do they realize they’d been deluding themselves. Dutch scientists conducted a study one time and showed 60 people an identical video clip on identical TVs. Half were told that the clip would be in high-definition and they attached an extra-thick cable to the TV to complete the charade. The control group was told to expect a normal DVD image. Afterwards they were asked to describe the picture quality. You can imagine which group thought it watched the superior version!
So many yard sales around in recent weeks reminded me of a friend’s experience. Jerry had a regular booth at the Stouffville flea market (York Region). He tried selling a first edition print at $125 for weeks on end. The next time he priced it at an inflated $495. It sold within an hour. Is there a price too high to pay for the pursuit of happiness? Apparently not.
Psychological Science claims so-called self-help books don’t work one iota either. Meant to solve problems, change behaviour or make you become a better lover, they only help the people who need help the least. I’ve read them too and they sure didn’t help me.
