Welcome to the 23rd edition of Content Nausea. You can read the 22nd edition right here. Thank you for being here.
The mental side of self-isolation has started to shine through in small ways. On Friday, I thought my refrigerator was starting to run too loud. Was something wrong? I opened and shut the door a couple times to see if there was an issue with the seal. It appeared to be fine, but then I remembered that when I went to get ice cubes two days before, the ice was a little wetter than usual. Is something up? Do I need to throw out all of this food? I finally sprung for a 32-ounce container of half-and-half in my last grocery order to try to make things last a little longer. I did not want to throw it out. I have since gotten another 32-ounce container of half-and-half in another order.
I already knew it was futile to freeze things. My apartment has two mini-fridges. One, which stands about four feet tall and two feet wide, sits snugly under the counter. The other is about half the size, and it’s in another corner, where the microwave sits on top of it. There is a milkcrate that is fastened to the wall above the microwave, so it is also a snug fit.
The larger fridge was the source of my consternation Friday. I have attempted to keep things in the freezer, but mini-fridges do not have real freezers. Instead, the things on the metal shelf behind the plastic flap would defrost a little too much for my liking, while the food on the top shelf of the fridge would freeze. Sometimes, I have to sit on the floor and brace myself against the fridge in order to un-stick the rubber ice cube trays from the freezer. It is a losing battle and an inconvenience when attempting to plot out meals over two weeks. The smaller fridge has the alcohol and seltzers, so outside of the occasionally slushy beer, there is nothing to worry about.
On Saturday, I went to fill up my water bottle at the kitchen sink, and the water did not shoot out of the faucet with its typical force. Will my building lose water? I don’t have any plastic water bottles, only Canada Dry seltzer cans. Was someone in another apartment taking a shower? What’s going on?
Luckily, there was one thing that had an easy fix. I couldn’t figure out why my apartment was so cold Saturday morning. I was in a hoodie and joggers, but it did not help. Then, I realized it was 47 degrees outside and that I had turned the heat off during a balmy day earlier in the week so I could sit on my couch with the window open at sunset and attempt to approximate sitting on my old roof for happy hour. I never turned it back on. It was 61 degrees in my apartment. It was an easy fix.
Thank you for reading the 23rd edition of Content Nausea. It is much appreciated.
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—D.G.