Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Suds in the Bucket

I'm still in NOLA and Mardi Gras recovery mode...72 hours later I finally am starting to feel like my old self again...and yes, I feel fat and no, I don't want anything to drink that has any alcohol in it...

I've even pushed a wine bottle away...

yeah...I'm in that kind of recovery mode...

So just when I think I am doing good...bad news comes along.

Ok, it's not REALLY bad news but it's one of those "what the hell?" kind of things...

So right now sit back and relax and I am going to moan and whine to you about...

my washing machine

that's right...my washing machine...

Because I need to kick up a fuss about it and you are my target audience.

Washing machines are one of those things we take for granted...like you always assume you are gonna have one once you are a real bona-fide adult with your own place.

In college you just accepted that you had to wash down the hall in the dorm or if you lived in an apartment you either had a wash center in the apartment complex or you went to the laundramat.

I drank Bartles and James wine coolers at the laundramat...it was a regular party.

Actually most of the time I just saved my laundry for when I came home and had my mom do it...but on the occasion when I needed to do it myself I usually grabbed a girlfriend and some wine coolers and off we went...

there were usually cute boys there that needed help with their folding...

About mid-way through college I moved into a duplex that had a washer/dryer hookup and so my mom handed down the old Maytags and I no longer had to haul the laundry and wine coolers off to the "fluff and fold"...I could just keep drinking at home.

Once I was married I still remember we excitedly purchasing our first washer/dryer. It was a set from GE. It lasted us a very long time...almost 18 years I think. They dryer outlived the washer by a year.

One day the washer just decided to die...there was no fixing it.

Unfortunately for me it was 3 days before both kids left for camp and I had a ton of washing to do. So me and the ex went to Best Buy and said "get us whatever can be delivered today".

We ended up with a GE front loader.

I have hated it ever since it came into my house.

The cat, on the other hand, was fascinated.

For the first week we had the washer, Zulu, my huge fat Bengal cat, would sit in the laundry room and watch the washer as it went through it's cycle.

He is now terribly bored with it and no longer watches...

A year later we had to get a new dryer.

I have no issues with the dryer...but the washer I have wanted to divorce almost longer than I had wanted to divorce the ex.

So last week it makes some terrible noise and then a burning smell occurs.

Uh oh...that is NOT good.

So today I had the repair man here...and for $93 he told me that the washer needed a new part...to the tune of almost $700 and that did NOT include the labor, etc. But he could give me a great deal on it and I could get it all done for about $690...

Um...no...don't think so...

I can haul off to Lowe's and get me a new washer for less than that...and it will be one I actually like...

But I just took thought it could be fixed...but that is not to be...

Now here is the "take it for granted" part.

You don't actually MISS your washing machine until you don't have one.

If your dishwasher goes out...you just hand wash...not convenient but not too big of a pain.

If your oven goes out you just don't cook things that require an oven to cook.

If your stovetop goes out you cook in the oven or crock pot or eat out.

If your dryer goes out you hang stuff to dry.

If your fridge goes out...well, there you are screwed...

And if your washer goes out...well, yes, you CAN hand wash but have you ever tried to hand wash a king size set of sheets?

Yes, I CAN go back to the "fluff and fold" but I don't think they will let me bring in any Bartles and James...heck, do they even MAKE Bartles and James wine coolers anymore?

Don't tell me...I REALLY don't want to know...

gross...

So tomorrow I am off to buy a new washing machine. That is what I get instead of getting to do something fun for spring break...I get a new washer!

I think I will return to a top loader...it won't match my dryer but I don't really care...I just want a machine that will work. I still have clothes from NOLA that need the alcoholic fumes and stains to be released from them...

I have a friend who subscribes to Consumer Reports...he has promised to help me find a good one...and once I have it I have enough laundry to do that I may need a FEW bottles of wine to entertain me...

That is if I can bear the thought of drinking anything like that ever again...but I'm pretty sure I can...

Inspiration Song: "Suds in the Bucket" by Sara Evans...closest thing I have to something about a washing machine...not that I like that song any more than Simon Cowell did when someone sang it on "American Idol"...

Bye Darlings...you never know how much you miss something until it is gone...even if it is a major appliance!

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