This past week, we replaced our ref. The old one lasted for almost sixteen years. The right size too, and energy efficient. In 2014, a technician installed a new fan/heater. Recently, it acted up when the weather was Saharan. On Tuesday morn, before I left, it wouldn’t cool anymore. Arriving home that night, I deduced that the appliance was almost ‘dedbol’. The light was still working and the back was still heating, but altogether, a write-off.

Browsing online, I wanted this Kelvinator ref. Being the multitude’s pick, it was out of stock. No new shipments on the horizon. We went with this Westinghouse fridge. The Swedish multinational, Electrolux, owns both brands. Paid with Afterpay. By ten am Wednesday, they delivered the packag to a family member. Installed it, too. They scurried away with the conked out fridge for recycling. An eleven-hour turnaround from checkout to order fulfilment…too easy.

Our fam threw out quite a bit of stuff as a result of Dead Ref Day. Some salmon. A kilo of banana prawns. 200 grams of uncooked beef sizzle steak. 300g of sliced deli ham. A box of Drumstick ice cream. Light milk. A large bottle of Korean Yakult. Glad we got rid of that hehe. Açai berries. Home cooked menudo that smelled incredible. Streaky bacon. Most of the fruit and veggies survived the onslaught. We disposed of some blueberries. The eggs and jam made it through. The sauces did not.

About the title

A bestselling novel and its movie adaptation inspires this week’s catchy title. The Dead Duck Day was significant in About a Boy. I had the privilege of catching it at the cinemas, before devouring the Nick Hornsby novel later. I do not intend to watch the TV series.

Our oldest extant appliance is a Samsung top loader, which has been spinning since mid-2008. Last year, we said sayonara to our electric stove, which served well for a few…decades. Here is a rundown of our most tenured appliances.

Samsung washing machine. We bought this way back. Our first ever Samsung purchase, it has not disappointed. It’s a simple 7.5 kg top loader, grabbed from The Good Guys. At the time, it came with a $150 cash back offer. Sweet. Before, the store’s mantra was ‘Pay less, pay cash’.

Their locations are not very convenient, as their stores are large-scale. Since then, we have also bought a Canon printer and a vacuum cleaner. All of these purchases lasted at least ten years. Our most recent buy was an Aussie-made Westinghouse stove. We bought all these big ticket items at their Alexandria outlet.

The Samsung is your standard no-nonsense washing machine. It has a few cycles: delicates, fuzzy, spin, normal, and quick. The latter does two rounds of washing, making clothes drier. Delicates is obvious: cotton, polyester, acrylic, and linen go on this cycle. It takes longer, with three washes. As the name suggests, it’s gentler on the fabric.

Use the spin cycle to make the items damp instead of dripping wet. You can set the time, too. The clincher is the music, which signals the end of the job. We believe a dryer is impractical as you can’t tumble dry most of these pieces.

Samsung TV. Thirteen years ago, we scored this Samsung TV. Purchasing in store at Myer, delivered to our door. The set has stood the test of time. The remote may have changed, as have the channels. We don’t watch as much telly but try to catch the evening news. The daily weather report is paramount for my sis and me. Free-to-air here is bland. Definitely no NBA. The summer of tennis and the Olympics are the sporting events that excite me. I am a casual rugby league fan. I haven’t watched a full match in ages. I hate cricket, even though it’s iconic to Aussie culture. Ditto Aussie rules football. These days, the telly is rarely the main attraction. With iPads and 5G smartphones, we are often ahead of the evening news bulletin. By the time we bought the set, we had Macs. Hence, the blu ray player was for music discs. The TV technology has improved and prices have dropped.

Kambrook toaster. Purchased in 2017. A two-slicer from Harvey Norman. Tough and made with stainless steel. Comes with a one year warranty. Has a slider which you can adjust from one to five minutes. Heats up quickly. Hopefully, would continue to serve well for breakfasts.

Sunbeam kettle. Also bought in 2017, from Myer. We loved the transparent look and the conspicuous water level. It comes in a steel/glass colour way. The handle and sides are grey. Can heat up to 1.75 litres. Once it boils, the kettle automatically stops. Presto, hydro. Along with the unit, we purchased extended cover for another two years. It’s still going strong.

The rest of our small appliances are novel. This excludes the Nutri Ninja blender. In 2015, we claimed it from Flybuys. Last year, we replaced our Sunbeam air fryer with a new nonstick one. In 2023, the old rice cooker was supplanted by a fresh model. The upright Breville sandwich maker was bagged from JB. For free, with my gift card. We got the microwave from the same online store as the fridge. Shopping from cart to our premises was breezy. There have been other pretenders, but make no mistake. This retailer rules them all.

The new fridge has a bigger freezer and more compartments. Conversely, the main section has a smaller capacity. A slightly larger ref would’ve been sweeter. Given that we needed one right away, this will do. Here’s hoping it’ll last another decade and a half. As a Professor in my fave movie once proclaimed, ‘Sixteen…remarkable.’