Monday, March 22, 2010

wash day woes: part one


okay, that title implies that i have but one wash day a week. as in, "this is the way we wash our clothes so early monday morning." maybe in some parallel universe, that would be so, but this is not the case. i do laundry most days in a given week. and, as my washer and dryer are ancient and get so much use, they have seen better days. heck, they've seen 'em, but they're so old, they can't remember them!

this is never so obvious as when i put in a load of wash, and a few minutes later, i am alerted to the tell-tale galloping sound of an unbalanced load. i race out to the laundry room and tripping over all the debris, reach for the knob to stop the spinning cycle. i lean against the machine to catch my breath and notice that "old faithful" has traveled an inch or so.

the above scenario happens pretty often, no matter what i do to place the clothes evenly around the drum. it also doesn't help that elle comes over with her months worth of laundry and totally overloads the washer! i had to explain to her how a washing machine works and that the agitator has to be able to move to actually clean the clothes!

so, one day recently, i had put in a load of bilbo's work clothes and was busy in the other room. i became aware that i was hearing something but i didn't know what it was. i perked my ears and listened for a few seconds and then realized it was the washer again. i went tearing through the house, dashed out to the laundry room and caught sight of "old faithful", moving wildly across the floor and the top part that holds the lid had broken away and was flapping open and closed, kinda chomping at me!!!!! i got to the machine and pushed the knob in. as the spinning and thumping stopped, i saw that this time, it had moved a full 2 1/2 inches forward and about an inch and a half away from the side of the dryer! clearly, a record breaking trip for my trusty ole washer. and yet, it runs...takes a lickin and keeps on tickin!

i wish i didn't have to tax my poor washer so badly, but as long as convention requires mankind to wear clothing, i will be doing laundry...a LOT!

grateful:
1. for the maytag repair man
2. that i can fit a little "exercise" into my day
3. that t.willie enjoys helping with the laundry, even if it's just to use the basket for a stage!

2 comments:

  1. A travelling washer!! Where do you buy those?? Mine is boring; just stays put 'til it's done...
    Love that your days are always full of
    "excitement" and that T-Willie is there to make you smile. :)

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  2. Your writing is fabulous!!! This post is funny, and not so funny. Life without a functioning washer would be torture. Sounds like yours is a bit too full of life at the moment. If only it could contain itself and save it's energy for washing clothes rather than skipping across the floor :)
    Your grandson is so cute!!

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