# mourning a huge elderly friend.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 26, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mourning-a-huge-elderly-friend/511686 "2009-09-26T22:49:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mourning-a-huge-elderly-friend/511686/1 "2009-09-26T22:49:54Z")
Last week my freezer went out with a bang. Some idiot drove into a power pole down the road, and the power cut out, apparently too much of a shock for the old girl. Flames, melted plug and a burnt plug-in later, we salvaged what food we could, shoving into the top of the frig, and had to toss the rest. This wasn’t any dinky little thing, this was a monster: six feet long, waist high, over two feet wide. You could hide a whole family in this thing. And she’d had good innings – my great-uncle bought it for my great-aunt the year before I was born, so she was 46!!! Here in the Midwest, you need a honking big freezer to put your half a cow/deer/pig in after butchering. I have personally put twenty chickens in it after we butchered all the roosters. Now I don’t know how to shop. I’ve been so used to buying loads of stuff on sale or huge packages of stuff at Sam’s and repackaging it into smaller quantities, twenty pounds of ice, etc. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mourning-a-huge-elderly-friend/511686/2 "2009-09-26T23:12:48Z")
AWWWWWWW… **schnucki** that’s sad. I have two biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig ass upright freezers and a small chest type freezer. I just don’t know what I’d do without ‘em and I’m just one person. I love puttin’ me up some fresh veggies durin’ summer and like you buyin’ stuff in bulk and repackaging. Plus, I tend to make a ton of stew, soup, chili and the like and freeze it in smaller quantities to take out thaw and heat. A friend of mine’s parents have a freezer that is 62 years old. They got it thirty years ago when it was “on its last legs” and the thingis still goin’ strong. It’s a huge chest type freezer made my Norge. Anywho, here’s hopin’ you find you a good one soon. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mourning-a-huge-elderly-friend/511686/3 "2009-09-27T00:08:55Z")
This is a blessing in disguise. That old freeze was probably horribly inefficient and a new one will likely pay for itself in a couple of years. Look for your energy usage and bill to go way down. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mourning-a-huge-elderly-friend/511686/4 "2009-09-27T00:27:43Z")
> [@treis](#): > > This is a blessing in disguise. That old freeze was probably horribly inefficient and a new one will likely pay for itself in a couple of years. Look for your energy usage and bill to go way down. This (above) and of course [this.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I07xDdFMdgw) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mourning-a-huge-elderly-friend/511686/5 "2009-09-27T01:20:49Z")
> [@schnuckiputzi](#): > > Flames, melted plug and a burnt plug-in later, we salvaged what food we could, shoving into the top of the frig, and had to toss the rest. Looks like she died as large as she lived! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mourning-a-huge-elderly-friend/511686/6 "2009-09-27T03:44:27Z")
It’s not a blessing if you can’t afford a new one or if you have to throw out the food. A blessing is someone replacing it for you and hauling away the old one. ---
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mourning-a-huge-elderly-friend/511686/7 "2009-09-27T21:50:36Z")
Um, yeah…speaking of hauling away…anyone in the market for a LARGE, um, storage container, slightly rusty? You could put a lot of something in it, and it has a lid and everything!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mourning-a-huge-elderly-friend/511686/8 "2009-09-27T21:52:50Z")
You might check with your homeowners insurance company. Many HO policies cover the cost of spoiled food with no deductible. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mourning-a-huge-elderly-friend/511686/9 "2009-09-27T22:21:55Z")
And whoever crashed into the pole will be paying for your new freezer, won’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mourning-a-huge-elderly-friend/511686/10 "2009-09-29T06:48:54Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > Sorry, the OP is entitled to fair market value for the old freezer. Based on a quick check on Craigslist, the average FMV of an “old freezer” is about $40. Don’t forget the cost of the spoiled food