After four weeks of being behind in the laundry, I finished it all with a dramatic flourish.
Feeling smug and self-satisfied, I was completely prepared for the week to come - caught up and under control.Then the flu happened and the children had a variety of accidents best not discussed in great detail resulting in an emergency load of laundry.
Thinking "I've got this," I ran downstairs with the exceptionally soiled laundry and started a load before stripping the sheets and comforting the sick kids.When checking on the load on the washer a half hour later, I was dismayed to discover a washer that was running but not spinning.
"The washer is broken," I announce to my husband, saddened by the thought of spending money on a new washer.
"Let's buy a new one," he says to me.
Shocked, I yelled, "That's a thousand dollars! We're not spending a thousand dollars! I'll find out what's wrong and then I'll fix it."
My husband looked at me and said, "Remember that I said we should just buy a new one."
So I turned to my friend, the internet, and to the magic of do-it-yourself fix-it videos filled with very competent men with moustaches explaining what is likely wrong with my washer and how to fix it.
"This will be easy," I thought, as I start bailing out the water before ripping apart the machine.
Successfully following the instructions on how to remove the washer cabinet (two hours later), I am left lying on my belly with my kids helpfully asking what I'm doing as I'm slicing my hands and bleeding all over the motor.But I did it and I correctly identified the problem (broken motor coupling) and I made my husband go and buy the new part the following day.
I ignored the washer the next day hoping someone would fix it for me.
I ignored the washer the day after that hoping someone would fix it for me.
On the third day, I watched the videos again and three hours later, I managed to have nearly put the motor back in place. Then, I put the washing machine back together and turned on the water which immediately started to pour
out of the spigot so the water was turned off again.
Still not losing hope, I plugged the machine back in to see if maybe the rest of it was fixed - nothing happened.
Disheartened, I trudged back upstairs to tell my husband we'll have to buy a washer since my fix didn't work.Curious, he asked me what wasn't working and then he very calmly asked me if I shut the washer lid.
A moment of silence - of course not.
Now he gets all the credit for "fixing the washer" and I get to feel a tiny bit foolish.
So I put a load of laundry in the machine in celebration of me being a moderately competent appliance repair person and I added a bunch of bleach to the water as there had been a lot of mildewed clothes sitting around.
Twenty minutes later, the drain hose pops off the back of the machine spewing bleachy water all over my laundry room.Four hours later, all of my towels are really nice and white and the laundry room reeks of bleach.
This is what I've learned: the moustached men on the You Tube videos are either professionals or significantly more experienced than myself. Sometimes, a $30 repair will take $1,000 worth of your time.
But I fixed a washing machine.
If yours breaks, call someone else.
