Appliances

May 14, 2013

Appliances is the subject of today's aggravation.  Actually, it's not appliances per se but more the follow the leader attitude when one appliance is having a melt down.  Ever notice that when an appliance goes on the fritz it seems to generate a universal wave of destruction among it's peers.

This week, for instance, I put two (literally) things in the dryer and sat down on the sofa to watch one of my cheesy tv shows and an hour later finally realized that the dryer was still running.  Odd I thought.  Odd indeed.  Those two items and one of which was just a sheet was still wet, as in fresh from the washing machine wet.  Grrr.  I hate laundry piling up and I hate wet clothes that I can't do anything with even more.

Okay so that's one thing.  While I was in the hospital our behemoth commercial grade shredder gave up the ghost.  Shredders in our house have a very short life span because we shred everything and shred often (as in every day).  If you're keeping count that's number two.  Fixing the shredder isn't an option - once it fails to slice and dice it's out of here.  Jeff has already replaced the shredder with a bigger, faster machine.

Then there's the microwave.  Also during the last week or so the built-in microwave unit went on strike.  Since it's built in to the wall unit tossing out isn't really an option.  Emergency repairs will have to be performed in an effort to save it's life.  Luckily, at the same time as it was dying, so was the battery business.  We had bought a small but effective microwave for the drivers and it's now perched in my kitchen and doing a fine job of heating coffee and cooking bacon.

Now I wouldn't put my failing kitchen appliances in the same category as somebody's roof being blown off but when it's happening to you, it's a big deal.  I don't want to jinx the remainder of my appliances by suggesting a general work stoppage.   Our house is getting older, like it's owners, and while we're slowing down too, we haven't stopped entirely.

I feel like printing out a picture of a NEW dryer as an incentive to jumpstart the dryer's heart. The good news, if there is any, when Jeff pulls the dryer out, I might find some errant socks hidden among the dust bunnies!  Of course they will have been underneath so long that they are nearly an archological treasure and will need washing!

You see the cycle never ends.  Dirty clothes require washing and drying.  When one of the major appliances in the laundry room is broken, the circle that is known as laundry breaks down causing a backup in the clothes' hampers.  Reminds me of a traffic jam here in Washington.

P