Some days are just harder than others. To put it mildly, Sunday was not a day of rest at my abode.
I have been struggling with a washing machine that has a mind of its own. On Sunday it decided to unleash its wrath upon me and my house. I guess not all mechanical relationships are meant to last.
But, I am getting ahead of my story.
The "Machine" decided to go into perpetual spin cyle about 8 days ago. Part of the spin also included having a permanently locked door, so I was unable to just open the washer and end its activity that way. As I was working solid at the office (9am-3am) for our annual craziness sprint, I decided the easiest fix was just to unplug it. I was wrong. Let me repeat this for anyone who might make this mistake when dealing with a washer gone crazy. I was wrong.
Five short (or long) days later, depending on who was living through them, I found myself with my first real day off. I also found myself inexplicably standing in a puddle of water on my mud-room floor. It made no sense at all to me. How and why would a washing machine, with no power running to it, begin to leak? It was dry as a bone when I unplugged it. I mopped up the mess and went back to my leisurely day of trying to get the rest of the house in order. A couple of hours later I returned to the mud-room, only to find a new puddle. Perplexed, I mopped this up and followed the trail this time, discovering that the washer was dripping from the barrel. With nothing to lose at that point, I climbed back over the top and plugged it back in, hoping that it would spin and get rid of the water it had collected. Amazingly, as soon as I plugged it back in it started to spin and make a lovely draining sound. What was equally miraculous was that it made the sound for the door latch popping free.
Finally, I could end the entire spin-cycle issue. I would still need to get a repair man out, but at least the drip and the frozen door issues would be solved. I crawled off my perch and returned the chair to the kitchen.
And then.............. I opened the door. This was not a wise idea. Just in case you did not expect me to say this, let me once again repeat, THIS WAS NOT A WISE IDEA.
Nearly a full barrel of water poured out of the Machine, flowing all over my recently mopped floor, drenching me from the waist down and covering me ankle deep when it settled. Hell hath no fury like a machine unplugged!
It probably does not need to be noted, but I did not spend anymore of my day nipping about leisurely putting the house to rights. No indeed I did not. I spent the rest of the afternoon bucketing up the water from my mudroom floor, creating barricades so it would not escape into the kitchen, and generally feeling like a very wet moron. And perhaps a moron does what I did next, which is to put my soaking towels into the Machine to spin (they were too heavy to wrestle to the laundromat). Would you believe that 7 loads of laundry later, I had everything that had been drenched and the laundry I had saved up during busy-season taken care of? Yes, I did. I decided I was too tired to go to the laundromat, and if the spin cycle worked, why not try a whole cycle? And if it worked once, why not just keep going?
Of course, now I just have to get the basement ceiling fixed - yes the water seeped through despite my best efforts. And I have to make sure that the mud-room floor is solid and no other damage has been done that I cannot see.
And I really need to......replace the "machine". Please don't read this outloud. I don't want "it" to know until they come to get "it". I realize that right now we seem to be at peace and the laundry is processing nicely. But you see, I just don't trust our relationship anymore. So I think I will have to donate this to a home that perhaps "it" will treat with more kindness than it has me of late.
I have tried to be a good washer-owner. I use the right soaps for its type. I don't use harsh detergents or ones that are bad for the environment. I even use the cleaner that they recommend on TV. I am not sure what I have done to sour the relationship so badly. Except perhaps being gone so much lately. I really have not given the poor thing much attention of late. I suppose that could be reason enough. Yet I just can't let this behavior slide. It really was over the top for a mechanical tantrum.
So working or not, I will have to say goodbye. Rather sad though - we've worked hard together over the years. And there is something very rewarding in a relationship built on mutual respect and hard work.
In any event. let this be a warning to you all. Do not ignore your appliances. Do not let them take advantage of you either. Their tantrums could end up with you bailing water, changing drywall and considering what color to paint the basement ceiling.
Stay dry my friends - ....................stay dry
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