My Blog Saved My Life (Okay, Just My Refrigerator)
It is my 14th blogoversary today, which is a fitting time to tell you this story about how my blog saved my life* this week.
Frost appeared on the contents of the freezer. We tried clearing out the ice in the freezer, but it didn’t fix the problem, and it only got worse—the refrigerator suddenly didn’t feel as cold as normal. We knew we had encountered a similar problem in the past and removed the back panel, but we couldn’t figure out how to do it again. We were stuck, and set up a repair call despite my fears of having workpeople in the house in the time of COVID-19.
Then I remembered that I wrote a blog post about the experience. A quick search brought up the correct post. It didn’t contain many details, but we now had a date, so we could look through files and try to find the video we used. We found that, too, though we still didn’t have instructions for how to get off the back panel. We were stuck.
Except… my blog gave me the date. So I went through my photos taken on that day, and found that we had photographed the location of the hidden screw we needed to remove.
The next morning, we woke early to get started. The video didn’t tell us to unplug the refrigerator, but my blog post did, so we unplugged it to be safe. It took about two hours to melt and clear out all of the ice and unblock the drain tube. This time, we documented the experience in detail with notes in my journal and videos. We’re waiting out the weekend to make sure we actually fixed the problem, but it’s currently looking and sounding better. It comes full circle because I’m now writing about it on my blog once again so I remember what we did.
For 14 years, I have shown up in this space. 30% of my life so far. I have documented the highs and lows, the news articles that caught my eye, the books I’ve read, the freezers I’ve saved. I’ve recorded my feelings about infertility and loss, the people who have come and gone, the changes that have taken place through my thirties and forties. This blog has been an amazing receptacle to hold my memories and return them to me when I need them.
Thank you, blog, for being there for me for 14 years. And thank you, to all of you, for reading it.
* Clearly, I do not live and breathe due to my blog, and the title is more a tongue-and-cheek usage of “saved” as in kept content. Though you can never be too careful right now about COVID-19. And all joking aside, I do believe that the connections I’ve made here have strengthened my mental health and wellbeing. So, yes, I don’t think “saved” is too strong a word.
12 comments
I had a similar issue with my stove part; thanks to Past Me, I was able to easily read the completely faded and obscured part number off an old picture I’d taken the previous time we had that problem.
Go Past Us! Maybe you’re not a useless as you sometimes seem….
I used to be able to remember that kind of stuff. Now I’m glad I keep notes (mostly at work – at home I can usually just look things up on YouTube).
Happy Blogoversary! 14 years is incredible. I’m glad you’re here, and that your blog is as useful to you as it had been to me!
A blog commenter mentioned clotting disorders to me which I then asked my doctor about which it turned out I had. And probably that’s why Alex and Ryan lived to be born.
Most of my blog life came about because of your community so you had a very huge part in probably saving their lives.
Congratulations on 14 years! Hearing you say it reminded me that I’m probably in that range too. Must go look it up now. (Really appreciate your backup/saving messaging, BTW–you really have saved me!)
Happy blogoversary! I’ve been reading your blog for nearly 12 of those years, and you feel like an old friend.
I love stories like this. It’s always nice to know Past Us gives Present Us little gifts. I tried to pay it forward and do nice things for Future Me, like washing all the dishes before I go to bed.
What really makes me happy is reading this post and the comments and feeling like I’m not alone in the way I think of all my timeline versions of “me.”
I was just trying to remember when something happened and I assumed I wrote about it in my blog and I did and I found it and I figured out when it happened (which was not what I had guessed at all). It was not the first time I have used my blog as a reference for my life. I’ve been blogging for 10 years and it’s crazy to think that record of my life is out there. I appreciate when it helps me out.
I also use my blog to check exactly when things might have happened! I love that you had a date, and you had photos to help you. Three cheers for blogs saving our lives – or at least, our refrigerators/freezers and our sanity!
Happy blogoversary (blogiversary?)! 🙂
Happy blogoversary! I don’t write much (not at all lately) on my own, but I do check in here with you. I too have used my blog a time or two to help me with past reminders of events. FB can also be useful in that department at times too: Just today I had a reminder that I got my Finnish citizenship 10 years ago today! And that I’ve been living in Finland for 21 years this summer. Time…goes!
Happy happy happy blogoversary! I am so glad you launched this space, which is also a community.
I love that your blog solved a problem for you. I find mine does that, too! Not to the degree as the Refrigerator Caper — yet — but it is so handy to be able to refer back to something that you really focused on at one point in time.
Happy (slightly belated) blogoversary! Like others above, I search my blog to help me remember things ALL THE TIME. Just one advantage of blogging (& long-time blogging at that). 😉 Thank you for being the inspiration for my own blog, as well as a great friend for at least 12.5 of those 14 years! xo