Showing posts with label saga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saga. Show all posts

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Straw on a camel's back or a broken washing machine...

How many people can say they have a washing machine saga?

Did you ever have one of those days? How about one of those months? I'm up to about two years now...

Most recently, my nemesis is the killer cold from hell. I've been sick for most of February. It started with the stomach flu, about three days of it. There were a couple good days before I got the worst cold I've ever had. It was a B-A-D cold that left me coughing severely for more than 3 weeks. I was definitely ill, but  couldn't really rest as I'm the caretaker for my poor husband who is trying to recover from a stroke. All of the chores got done, but minimally, as I just didn't have any energy to muster.

Early this week though, I was starting to feel a little better. I actually wanted to tackle some of the piles o laundry that had piled up. I did one load of John's clothes, got them folded and put away and started on the next. That is when the washing machine refused to finish the cycle. The clothes were wet and water remained in the drum of my front loading GE machine. When I opened the door, the water came pouring out. I grabbed a bucket and held what I could. I retrieved the heavy, wet clothes and wrung them out the best I could into a bucket. I had no idea if they were clean or dirty. Still, I tossed them into the dryer which took a very long time to dry them.

In the meantime, I called a local appliance repair company. I was told it would be a week before they could come out. I called Home Depot where I bought the machine and they suggested a guy they contract with. His phone was busy. I called Sears who said they repair appliances and would have someone get hold of me.

A very nice man came out, but explained that he had never repaired a front loading machine before, but he offered to take a look at it. As it turned out, he was in training and his instructor had to take a few days off for personal reasons. He had only been on the job 10 days. He took one look at my washer and explained that he really didn't know how to deal with it. Apologetically he suggested I call someone else. Of course, it didn't cost anything. I appreciated his honesty and called someone else. They would come out tomorrow.

The next morning, the nice man from Sears called me and suggested that if I didn't have anyone to help me, Sears could bring out a loaner machine and would take mine back to the shop and repair it when the main man came back. I thought that was way above and beyond and really appreciated this man going that extra mile. While we talked, he mentioned that sometimes, the pump filter might be clogged. I might want to try to clean that out and see if it helps. So, I did.

Of course, the water still inside the machine, about a gallon of it, ended up all over the floor, but I got that cleaned up too. Sure enough, that filter was a mess. I cleaned it, got it put back and turned on the drain and spin cycle. I threw in a wet towel and it worked like a champ. The machine was quiet, like it was 7 years ago when we bought it. It spun all the moisture out of that towel so that it was almost dry, just like it was supposed to. Its spin cycle was fast and furious. I was really proud of myself thinking I fixed it. I canceled my appointment with the repair man.
See, I got it to work. I honestly thought it was all better. I loaded up all the wet towels that I used to mop up the water on the floor, threw them into the machine with soap and turned on the machine. Gosh, it sounded good--so quiet. It worked like a dream. I went back a few minutes later and it had stopped. It is not fixed.

The Internet is filled with comments about this kind of a problem, where the machine pauses, locks and unlocks the door, never finishing the cycle.

I'm so disappointed. So much for my elation. I almost forgot about how miserable the last few weeks had been. I ended up calling the repair man back and getting put back on the list. He may or may not be able to come today.