A Boring Appliance Story

In the summer of 1995 I left my second husband and moved into an apartment. I happened to work for a company that was part of a large corporation that also had appliance superstores. We got a 20% discount at the appliance store. I went there one night and bought the very cheapest washer and dryer they had. We are talking BASIC. The washer was basically off and on and the dryer has a few settings. So these twelve-year-old appliances that the store clerk tried to tell me wouldn't last five years were still chugging away. The washer was giving us a lot of trouble with the part that tells the machine the lid was closed and the dryer knob has been replaced with a small needle-nosed vise grip. Then on Monday, with the washer full of water, detergent, clorox and bed sheets, it gave up the ghost. I tried every way on earth to get that switch to tell the machine the lid was closed and it just would not.
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And then I did something so unusual it still amazes me. I called my neighbor two houses down and said, "Can I ask for a really crazy favor?" She says, "Uhm, okay." I said, "Can I bring my wet sheets to your house to run them throught the rinse cycle in your washer?" I don't know my neighbor. We've met a few times at those awkward neighborhood watch/national night out things and we wave at each other sometimes. And that's it. The only reason I knew her name is because we get a list of names and addresses of our neighbors every year. But she always seemed like someone I would probably like.
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So I wrung out the sheets a little and put them in a bucket and walked down there. She showed me her house and we discussed home improvement projects. We discovered that we had both been in New York in June and did several of the same things. We discussed our kids. A whole hour flew by and it was time to leave but we both promised to get together again. She also expressed interest in accompanying me some Wednesday for MOW. I'm really glad I took that step out of my comfort zone. It was funny because I told my Mom I was going down there and she was aghast. She was all, "That's ridiculous, you should go to a laundromat!" I'm glad I didn't take her advice.
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When I got back home, I had to figure out how to get the water out of the washer. I got the garden hose and put one end in the washer and the other end in the street. Fortunately our laundry room is right next to the garage. Well I had never siphoned anything before so I was kind of nervous. I put my mouth on that hose and started sucking as hard as I could and trying to listen at the same time. I was terrified of getting a mouthful of clorox water. Then I thought maybe I could use the turkey baster and I laid the hose down, and not a minute later, water started running out! I was so proud of myself. Then I ran in the house to look in the mirror to see if I had a weird brown ring on my mouth.
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My Sweetie and I were almost arguing about the new washer. He insisted I pay the extra for delivery and installation and I was all, "Aw, hell no. I'll do all of that and you pay me what they would charge." So I bought the washer today, brought it home, took the old one out, set up the new one and earned my $65. Why would you pay someone $65 to do something you can do yourself? My reasoning is if My Sweetie is so gung ho about getting rid of that $65, he can give it to me. I expect I will get that $65 on Friday.
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It was fun to look at the funky new front loading washers, but I knew they weren't for me. I'm one of those space cadets that walks around for 10 minutes after I've started a load of clothes remembering things I want to add. That is something you can NOT do with a front loader. My washer was $399 and does all the stuff I wanted. It even has a second rinse option which will be great. I always double rinse my bedsheets but I always had to do it by setting the timer on my oven and then turning the knob back around. Now the washer will take care of that on its own. And the drum or barrel or whatever it's called is a lot bigger than my old one. Now I just need a new butter dish and I will be perfectly content. Until the next thing.