The Washing Machine

The Washing Machine

I guess that not everything on my blog has to be about the new job. There are so many things that have been affected by the move and one of them was a washing machine. When we moved we didn’t want the old washer because of the abuse it received from our salty water and I didn’t think the stackable washer/dryer we had would fit. I though we could just get by for a while and maybe even have to buy new appliances. That stackable didn’t work right the last time I tried it.

Now three weeks in Dena was a little tired of the laundromat and so was I. (What am I saying? I never stepped foot in the laundromat!) I mean I felt bad for Dena. So the this last weekend we were planning on going to Owosso to visit family and friends and play Bunko. We thought we could kill two birds with one stone and pick up the washer/dryer at the same time.

Now like most of the stories I tell this isn’t going to over soon so get a cup of coffee or tea before you continue. The story actually covers 5 days so it wasn’t over soon for me either.

Friday afternoon we headed out with a plan of efficient and swift movement but no such plan can withstand my luck. First we went to Dewitt to get the trailer to haul the washing machine but the lights that worked the last time I used the trailer now wouldn’t work at all. (Sometime I'll have to tell you some of my trailer stories.) After fussing about an hour and a half in the cold (I don’t like cold) I decided I would just have to return later.

Of course that also made us late for the next stop where we also realized that we left the gift for Becca back in Whitehall. That also made us late getting to Mom’s who was waiting for medicine we were bringing her. Okay, so now we get a night’s sleep (not a “good” night’s sleep because the air mattress was loosing air) and I’m up the next morning to fresh snow to shovel and then a trip back to Dewitt to get the trailer.

I still couldn’t get the lights to work so I figured I’d be nice to all the other cars and take back roads. That led to an hour and a half of white knuckle driving and then to get the washing machine. Manny and Amy who are renting our house in Owosso were willing to help me get the machine out of the basement but that was probably because they didn’t know how difficult it would be.

The combo is 6 feet high and weighs just a little less than a full grown elephant. The staircase to the basement is just wide enough to strip the skin off your knuckles and the steps are too far apart to use my hand truck. Moving the washing machine up the stairs gave me insight to what it would be like to move a sumo wrestler out of the ring. When we finally got the washing machine to the trailer I wasn’t up to the task of putting a 6 foot into a 6 foot tall space. I just laid it on the floor.

The best part of the story is we got home safely and got the washing machine into the apartment and bathroom with relative ease. “Relative” is an important thing to note because it really wasn’t all that easy. I’m just saying my luck was better at this point. Then because the washing machine wasn’t working right the last time I thought I would have to fix it before we could use it. It turns out that after we set it up it worked just fine without any repair and I had all the parts. Hallelujah!

Now that’s not the end of the story. On Tuesday I was scheduled to go back to Owosso and there’s no room for that trailer here so again thinking I’d try to be efficient I planned to take the trailer back to Dewitt. I just got started on the trip when Dena called to remind me that again I forgot to take Becca’s gift so I had to turn around and go back. I guess I can give up on the second career as an efficiency expert.

The white knuckle Saturday was nothing compared to Tuesday. I was on I-96 with traffic on all sides of me and wind blowing across the road when I started to jackknife and slide. You know that taste you get in your mouth right after a brush with death? They’ll never make a breath mint out of that taste.

I was about half way to Dewitt when I got a call that I didn’t have to go to Owosso after all. Strangely it was of no comfort at that point. I pressed on and got the trailer back to Dewitt and eventually returned to Whitehall alive but mentally battered.

This ordeal cost only about $100 in gas but I’m thinking next time I’ll just buy the new washer and dryer.