Lesson #7: Pay now or pay later.
I'm learning how to fix things. This is no small feat for someone who does not like to read directions. When opening the bakery, I chose to buy mainly used (less expensive) equipment in spite of my limited mechanical abilities, which is not the smartest decision I have ever made in my life. I am trying to cope.
First it was the ice machine. The ice cubes kept getting smaller and smaller. Who knew you had to clean the machine or the ice build-up would wreak havoc on the size of the cube. Luckily the guys at the restaurant supply store took pity on me and explained the drill. I was back in business after only $9.95 and a 15-minute cleaning cycle.
Then one day the freezer stopped freezing. The thermostat read 40 degrees (Fahrenheit) and my morning manager said maybe it would fix itself but I knew better. I called the repairman who said the thermostat was broken, so the defrost cycle was not coming on, and ice was building up on the coils until they no longer worked. That one cost a lot more than $9.95.
Next was the bread slicer. One of my employees knocked it over when trying to push it. It broke beyond repair. Fuggeddaboudit! We did manage to save the casters, which cost about $25 each.
Then the refrigerated display case was warm (it's supposed to be 38oF). Absolutely no clue why it was not working. Apparently you have to clean the air filter from time to time because dust clogs the flow of air that cools the motor and keeps it from overheating. That one was also expensive.
Mechanical things are a mystery to me. My father and two of my brothers are engineers so there was always someone around to fix things. I'm sure they made it look more complicated than it really was so I would not hang around and bother them while they worked. As a result, I never really paid attention to what they were doing. Unfortunately they all live in California, which is little help to me now.
I did figure out how to fix the oven. Truth be told, I bought a second, brand new oven (out of desperation and frustration - a bakery needs at least one working oven, right?) and then my BROTHER, who was visiting at the time, called my DAD, and THEY called the manufacturer, who called me, and walked me through the repair on the old oven. Of course by the time it got fixed, I had already bought the new one, so now we have two (which is not such a bad thing). It turns out that the underlying problem with the oven (which materialized in spades with the new oven) was electrical, and not my fault at all. It still cost me however.
Now the freezer in the back room is not working, AGAIN. This one was new when I bought it three years ago, so go figure...
Today's lesson? If you can't fix stuff, buy new equipment. And, however much you intend to put aside for emergency repairs, triple or quadruple it.
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