I love my house. I really do. It has character. We have owned three houses in our married life and each of them have had a charm about them. None of them have been particularly old, but old enough to have…well, issues. I guess with charm there are always drawbacks.
Apparently, life is not the only thing that goes through seasons…
Around here, the appliances also partake of the seasons.
It goes in waves. One year it was the dishwasher. It would work, get fixed, work for a while, stop working, get fixed again, until we finally got a new one. Then that one shorted out and got fixed, shorted out again, got fixed again…and several more times of that. Yes. Anytime we have lightning, I’m holding my breath that the dishwasher is going to short out again.
Another year it was the washing machine. Oh, I thought I’d lose my mind when the washer wasn’t working. Months and months, it was on the fritz. One day that is forever imprinted on my brain is the day I decided to go to the laundromat with ten loads and two kids. It was a sweltering day. We were there for quite a while. I bought tons of tokens, so the kids could play the games there, while I did the laundry.
I couldn’t figure out why Indigo was being so difficult, until we went home and he had 102º temp. All I know is that I yelled and cried and disciplined all the way home for the awful behavior in the laundromat. (Who really CARES how a child behaves in the LAUNDROMAT, for crying out loud! OK, me. And the bachelor trying to read a book!) I felt so terrible when I realized how sick he was.
The Sears guy came and looked at the washer and in the process of pulling it out, got grease all over our cream carpet. About a foot and a half of greasiness that never came out. He ordered a part and the same problem happened again. And again. And again. Finally it died~ mind you, it was only a couple years old. Eventually, I got another new washer. I kissed that beautiful thing when it arrived, all shiny and new…and working!
I have deep appreciation for those women who have to go to the laundromat on a regular basis. Goddesses they are, the whole lot.
We’ve had wells at the last two houses. And with wells, there are a whole slew of issues with the sump pump, etc. A couple of years ago, on Thanksgiving Day, we were about to have a big feast down at Nate’s mom’s apartment. She lives in our lower level and has her own kitchen. It’s a nice place. Well, around noon, about a half hour before everyone was supposed to arrive, the sump pump started backing up…in her kitchen. NOT good. We moved the event upstairs, but no one could use the bathroom all day.
Which takes me back to our first house…remember Al Webster? O Plumber of Plumbers? The one we named our dog after~ Alex?
The beginning of winter, when the ground is frozen with no hope of coming undone until March…we had a major pipe failure. Ol’ Al came over and with his hardy self and droopy drawers, said, “We’re not gonna be able to fix this ’til the ground thaws…”
Then he said the heart stopping words…for a girl, anyway…
“You’re not gonna be able to throw any toilet paper in the toilet. NONE. For the rest of Winter…”
WHAT?!
Ah, yes. Good times.
I haven’t gone into the air conditioning that keeps going out during the hottest days or the heater that goes out a couple of times each winter on the sub zero days. Right now, I can breathe easy on that because it’s getting warmer out~ about 40º!
No, right now, I’m concerned about the lack of water pressure that has lasted for weeks…since I came back from Arkansas. A little trickle is all she wrote. And you better not dare flush while anyone is in the shower!!!
Everyone around here is just lucky that I am still clean shaven, is all I can say. It’s tricky de-follicle-ing with only a trickle.
Come to think of it…remember the phone issues on my way to Arkansas?
I’m on my 3rd brand new phone since then. In fact, I’m due to pick up another new one right now. Each one has completely stopped charging, while being plugged into the charger, until it’s DEAD. They look at my phone and say, “I’ve never seen anything like it…”
While I’m in the store, they’ve ruined about 3 or 4 phones at each place. I’d say we’re up to 10 ruined Palm Centros by now.
Hmmm. Oh dear. OK, things are coming to the light now. It’s amazing the revelations you have in the midst of writing.
I’ve just realized…
It’s ME. Maybe I’m so full of electricity that I’m the one shorting everything out? Oh my word. How crazy would that be. I knew I had a fiery personality, but…this is ridiculous.
***Shoot. I have to get off my short horse now. Turns out, that Nate’s MOM has always thought SHE was magnetic. She has never been able to wear a watch~ they always die! Hmmmm…it’s all starting to make sense.***