If you’ve posted a motorcycle problem on FixYa in the last month, chances are that tombones49 has answered it. Tom only joined FixYa in March of 2009, but he has already powered through 753 problems, almost all relating to motorcycles, and all for free. The people who have received his assistance know what an amazing technician he is. But they probably have no idea of what a jokester he can be.

Tom came to our site when a band of Washington politicians kidnapped him and forced him to give advice on FixYa, threatening to withhold food and bailout money. He managed to escape but his wife tied him up again and returned him to his captors, muttering something about peace of mind and debt to society. He has since been a model Expert and is now an outspoken advocate of FixYa’s “Mandatory Assistance Program”, as he calls it.

That’s just one of the tall tales that Tom tells. It can be hard to tell truth from fiction when hearing about his life. For example, would you believe any of the following stories, all of which Tom assures us are the truth?

*When he was 19, Tom married the valedictorian of his high school. After 36 years into what is thus far a 40-year relationship, she decided to become an ordained minister.

This is a quote given in 2007 by the president of Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division, Robbie Bach, regarding the famed ‘Red Ring of Death’: “The majority of Xbox 360 owners are having a great experience with their console and have from day one.”

And this is a quote posted yesterday on Microsoft’s Help and Support site, regarding the increasingly famous E74 error message: “While the majority of Xbox 360 owners continue to have a great experience with their console, we are aware that a very small percentage of our customers have reported receiving an error that displays ‘E74’ on their screen.”

For anyone using an older computer (i.e. any computer more than six months old), it can be hard to tell whether your system is just running slowly due to common minor issues like spyware, adware, and bloatware, or if you’re suffering from something more serious like the Conficker Worm that received so much press recently.

A great many of FixYa’s Experts are self-taught. It’s something that never fails to impress us. But some of our Experts’ tales of how they got started as technicians are truly amazing. Dirinda89’s is one such story, and we were lucky enough to get her to share it with us.

Five years ago, dirinda89 was on chemotherapy. The effects of the chemo were turning her mind to mush, as she puts it. Rather than passively accept this consequence of her situation, she started looking for something new to learn in order to keep her brain active. She had never used a computer before, and she decided to buy a system and start from square one. Every day during the next three years, while she soldiered through chemotherapy treatments, dirinda89 learned more and more about PCs and electronics. She first learned through trial and error, but eventually started taking college courses in Computer Management, then went on to earn her degree in the field.

Her strength and ability to create a positive from a negative experience is inspiring, but it fits right in with her character- dirinda89 is no shrinking violet. Until October of 2008, she drove an armored truck for Brinks and she considers her favorite hobby to be shooting her various firearms. Let that be a warning to anyone made jealous by her status as a Guru at FixYa, and tempted to do a little down-rating! Dirinda89 can obviously handle all comers- she can even take them for a ride on her 40-foot charter bus.

Is your refrigerator feeling a little hot? Is your kitchen slowly filling with smoke? If so, step away from the computer, call the fire department, then go to a friend’s house and continue reading this.

Maytag is recalling about 1.6 million refrigerators due to an electrical failure in the relay (for any non-fridge Experts out there, that’s the part that turns on your fridge’s compressor) that can cause overheating and potentially catch fire.

Recalled models were either side-by-side or top freezer, and have been sold under a number of brands including Maytag, Jenn-Air, Admiral, Magic-Chef, Performa by Maytag, and Crosley. You should go to the CPSC site to find out which model/serial numbers are involved in this recall.

Here is a list of the most popular models on FixYa affected by this recall. Please note, this only applies to your refrigerator if it starts with the prefix mentioned on the CPSC site and ends with the serial number also mentioned there.