harry homeowner

Oh, the joys of home ownership! Three weeks ago, we started having trouble with our washing machine. The appliance that we bought a little less than two years ago started acting up. It was having trouble completing the rinse cycle.

I’m not “Mr. Fixit,” but I did spend a few hours trying to figure out the problem. But they don’t teach washing machine repair in seminary, so my Old Testament Survey class didn’t do me much good. Finally, I called the repair guy.

When he arrived, he looked at our machine and said, “Oh, I see the problem. You bought an X brand washer. They are not very good. You should have bought a Y brand. Armed with this knowledge, I was confident I could avoid this mistake next time I bought a washer. But that was not very helpful to someone who is running out of clean socks. When I asked if he could fix it, he said, “Sure. I CAN fix it, but I would need to come back with a helper, and it would cost an arm and a leg.” He recommended I just buy a new washer. Which, ALSO costs an arm and a leg.

So, it was off to Lowes to buy an appliance. We made arrangements to have it delivered ASAP, which in this case was the following week. Which meant I had even fewer clean socks.

The big day came for the delivery, and they brought it, just like they promised, “between 8:00 and 4:00.” They hauled it in, hooked it up, and took away the old washer. “Finally,” I thought to myself. “I can wash a load of socks.” About ten minutes into the wash cycle, however, the floor drain started backing up and it was time to call the plumber.

The plumber arrived, as promised, between 8:00 and 4:00 the next day and unclogged my drain. (Which cost TWO arms and a leg) By that time I was completely out of socks and critically low on other essentials as well. Long story short, I spent the next day (between 8:00 and 4:00) doing three weeks of accumulated laundry.

So, the bad news is that this whole episode cost me a bunch of time and money. The good news is that I have a clear drain, a new washing machine, and a drawer full of clean socks. I also am blessed to have indoor plumbing. I can wash my dishes in the dishwasher, and don’t have to use an outhouse. Indoor plumbing is great! Even if it means I have an occasionally clogged pipe. And I don’t have to haul my laundry down to the creek to wash my clothes, which would be hard on both my socks and knees. Do I complain a lot? Yes, I suppose I do. Perhaps God can teach me to count my blessings instead.