Chugga-Chugga
July 31st, 2007 - 9:00 am
Just as I laid down and Myu settled in to suck on the bed sheet, Lin called. He’d been to Home Depot looking at washing machines. They have a GE model, a few notches down from the one we have, on sale for $319, and so the rationalization for getting it has begun. He’d been trying to get the HD bill down low enough so we’d have enough credit to buy all the roofing supplies with it, but … it makes no sense to get this one repaired for a hundred bucks or to do laundry at a laundromat, and we both know it. I figure it’s going to cost us about $8 a week, just to wash the clothes and not dry them, plus the gas, and, of course, the time it takes to get there, sit there, and get home again to finish the laundry in my dryer. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do the math. A new washer will pay for itself in less than a year, and well … it’s been rather convenient doing laundry whenever I want or need to rather than when I have the time to go do it.
I’d have liked to be there when the sales guy tried to sell Lin on a top of the line model. Lin was telling me how they guy was selling him on how much better this one or that one was for delicates or whatnot. I can just see Lin rolling his eyes. I didn’t use half the settings on the one we have now. All I need is a tub that agitates at least at two speeds, several water levels, and hot, cold and warm settings. The very few things in this house that are wearables and could be described as delicate get hand washed anyway. We don’t own a lot of delicates. I’m a natural fiber girl, and Lin works construction. Our clothing tends to be on the tougher side. In fact, my main concern with having a plastic basket instead of a metal one was that our clothes might tear up the washer! 
I don’t know if we’ll get it this week or not. I don’t really mind going to the laundromat for a few weeks. It’d be something different. I know it will get old, but if I know there’s a new washer coming eventually, I think I can survive it. I am happy that Lin is taking some measure of interest and showing concern about my laundry needs. It’s really sweet of him to care even when there are so many other things that need to be addressed around the house. Still … until I had a washer and dryer of my very own, I never realized how quickly and easily laundry could be done, at any hour of the day or night, and at a moment’s notice too. There is something to be said about having that convenience, let me tell you.
So I am sort of giddy about getting a new washing machine. I was really, really upset when ours broke, but I didn’t want to act too upset about it. I mean, I didn’t want to ask for a new one, you know? While, yes, Lin does benefit from getting his laundry done for him, a washing machine is really for me. I don’t like asking for things for me that are in the range of “expensive” even if it does benefit someone else somewhat. I’m sort of silly that way.
Now if the oven ever goes out, then … THEN there will be extensive whining and begging for a new one (and not just any one either). I might be willing to live without a washing machine for a while, but I can’t live without my gas oven. 
Since I am awake now and Lin said he was going to call me back in a bit (no sense taking a nap in that case), I might as well go do the dishes and plot out something for dinner. Then maybe I can go to the craft store and poke at some beads and stuff. There’s time enough later for a nap.
I always say that, and then I don’t get to take a nap. I am convinced I have been so tired lately all because I am not getting my naps.
2 Responses to “Chugga-Chugga”
For years Consumer Reports recommended buying the basic, white GE for both performance and reliability. I haven’t followed the ratings in ten years, but doubt things have changed. A washer is indeed the one appliance which pays for itself ten times over during its lifetime, if not twenty. You’ll also notice that the new machine washes better. Remember to install new hot and cold hoses. They fail, and when they do the roof problem will pale in comparison. Five years max. After bargaining for the price, make the salesperson throw them in for free, and no paid service warranty, of course.
I looked over consumer reports on them yesterday, and the basic GE is still the front-runner. The broken one was a GE (though not so basic — you need a college degree to understand the control panel), and it was used by a large family for a few years before we got it, and we had it (and really, really used it) for almost another three. I wasn’t all that surprised it died. It lived a good and useful life. Though I was very disappointed it had to go on a Sunday evening. What a hassle! Taught me not to leave the washing until last minute, a lesson I will promptly forget again as soon as we have a new one. I am the queen of midnight laundry-doing.
With all the rain we have been having, I doubt I would notice a broken water hose in the laundry room. We have had some flooding problems in there. One day we need to put in a floor at house level and not yard level. Thank heavens it’s a concrete floor in there. If it keeps raining like it has, and it doesn’t look like it wants to stop for more than a day at a time, I may have to sandbag the area outside the door. Few things are more annoying than stepping down into a dark room and your bare feet hitting a half inch of ice-cold water filled with a million snails. Eeeew.