Saturday, November 4, 2017

A little religion and a lot of refrigerator

We're at Campus RV Park in Independence, Missouri, and got here by happenstance. I called for a reservation at a nearby state park with a lake; they didn't have any spots that were close to level. So I called a private RV park. They were full but recommended Campus RV, which wasn't on any of the apps I was using. Turned out to be a great location. Level spot.  Big grassy areas to walk the dogs. Just a mile from the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.  And with a view of the intergalactic-looking temple spire of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an offshoot of the "regular" Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints whose headquarters is in our home city of Salt Lake.  

Living in Salt Lake City for 40 plus years, I'd heard of the RLDS Church but didn't know much about it, other that its members had a difference of opinion with the LDS Church and went their separate way. I won't go into theological history here (nor could I, most likely) but Independence is the RLDS world headquarters. And being in the RLDS neighborhood lead me to some interesting reading. First thing I discovered was that in 2001 the church changed its name to Community of Christ. Apparently someone in charge (a mortal person, not the guy upstairs) thought "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" was a tad unwieldy. It is a mouthful.


As for what we did besides getting on-line religious instruction, here's the back story:  While we were in Ohio, our 14-year-old RV fridge died.  We had it replaced in Medina at Avalon RV. They said the average lifespan of a Dometic -- the company that makes most RV fridges -- is ten years. Our rig is pushing 14, so we had a good run. New fridge looks great (black glass front panels instead of a fakey gold oak). But on our way to Independence the refrigerators display panel started blinking an error message that per the user's manual means "The cooling unit has malfunctioned." Not good for a fridge.

Trouble shooting told us to push a reset button. Didn't budge. Unplug then replug was another suggestion. Too easy.  D
idn't work. Jim got an appointment with a mobile RV company called Athena Coachworks. Then he called Avalon, the installer; they thought it might be that the reset button was bad. Jim called around to find the part, and drove to get one. He also had several discussions during the day with the mobile RV repair service (they promised to fit us in) and with Dometic.  

Late in the afternoon, two guys from Athena Coachworks came to our RV park. After a lot of wrangling in the very small outside access to the fridge, they determined the problem was a circuit board failure. $500 later ($496.97 to be exact) our fridge is working. That was more than we were expecting to pay, but we're glad it's working.  And that we had an extra 500 bucks available. Here's to hoping the fridge keeps working. And that Dometic honors the warranty. 
Coming from a main stream Protestant religion, to me the spire of the Community of Christ temple looks like a sea shell or a space ship.  You could see the spire from our campground.  The campground manager told me that the campground property is owned by the Community of Christ.
Jim and Arlo with the Community of Christ temple spire to the right of the photo. The church auditorium at the photo's left. Independence is the world headquarters of the Community of Christ Church.
Maddie and the $500 failed refrigerator part.

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