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Tuesday, June 06, 2006

and boy are my arms tired

I have really absorbent clothing.

I'll tell you how I know that in a minute.

First, let me tell you about what happened a few weeks ago. I had a gift card from RC Willey for $26.31. They mailed it to me to "thank" me for purchasing a dining set there. Wow. What the heck can you buy at RC Willey for $26.31? I'll tell you: two little red trays (gifts for my girls), a candle (pomegranate scented), and a purple blanket. Okay, not exactly $26.31 - you have to pay an extra $.29, but so what. All these treasures were found at the back of the maze of that place, in the clearance section (except the candle - who decided the prices for candles? it's a scandal...).

Since the blanket had been on clearance (and everything that goes along with it, ie, opened, fondled, whathaveyou), I set out to wash it first thing. I read the care instructions (as I always do - really. With everything that I wash) and it said to hand wash and either line dry or tumble dry low. Well, pardon me, but that blanket was too soft and too big and too wonderfully purple for me to consider hand-washing; I wanted to use it right away. So I did a delicate cycle with Woolite. When the washer was finished spinning, I opened the lid to see that huge chunks of the blanket had been spun off. I'm not talking about little flecks of lint - chunks. Still, the blanket was intact, so I threw it in the dryer (after cleaning the lint screen, of course, which I always do - really.) on low heat with a fabric softener sheet. I couldn't wait for the dryer to finish and then cuddle up with my newest blanket. I opened the dryer door and found...a wet blanket. Uh-oh. More chunks. I cleaned the lint screen, which was saturated with soft, fluffy purple. I tried another dry cycle, which left the blanket, again, warm but more-than-damp.

Crap.

I went outside to tell Darin that our dryer was broken or clogged or somesuch. He was talking with the two neighbors that we're sandwiched between, one of which is an electrician. Electrician groaned when Darin turned to ask him a question. (I don't like bothering people I know for stuff - I'm almost always more comfortable hiring a stranger - why is that??) I then realized that in the 3 years that we've lived in this house, we hadn't had the vents/ducts cleaned. Not-Electrician Neighbor said that I could call a duct-cleaning service and they'd send a guy out and it would only cost like twenty bucks.

Try sixty.

And it didn't fix the problem. The vent was clean, but upon further inspection, the dryer itself wasn't putting out any air to get to the vent. Darin ended up taking the back of our dryer off the next night, and yanked out about 3 pounds of stuff, mainly pretty purple lint.

My point in telling you this story is that the night my dryer didn't work for the blanket, I ended up taking all my laundry to the laundromat. I was afraid that my dryer was dead, and, more importantly, li'l ~j. needed clean uniform clothes, even though it was only the last week of school. So I carried all of our dirty laundry to that place by Cafe Rio and in a few short hours, it was all finished. All done, and the bonus is that our dryer wasn't broken after all.

Fast forward to two days ago.

The nice thing about having church at 1:pm is that, incase you forgot to get clothes ready on SaturdayIsASpecialDay, you have time in the morning to do a few loads of laundry. (That's the only nice thing, by the way.) And so I first did a load of towels (have I told you that all I've done this summer so far, it seems, is wash towels? I love the swimming season), and then a load which included the dress and tights that Curly really wanted to wear.

Waiting for the towels to dry, I went into the laundry room to see how much time I had to wait.

That's when I smelled it.

Like fire, but I could see no smoke. I opened the dryer and took a whif. Nothing but clean towel goodness. What the...?? Could it be our air conditioner? Had we been running it too much? I left the room, thinking maybe I had imagined it. After about ten minutes, I went back. The smell was worse. I moved the dryer around and couldn't figure out where the smell could be coming from. Not long after that, li'l ~j. told me she smelled fire, and Darin was in the laundry room inspecting the dryer. We could not figure this out.

Once the towels were finished drying, I proceeded to put the second load into the dryer. I opened the washer.

BLECH!!

That's where the smell was coming from.

The washer was filled with water and a nasty smell. I turned the washer off and unplugged it. I figured out that the smell had come from the motor trying to run, but something was stopping it. I was talking to my dad on the phone at this time and he suggested that perhaps a bearing had come loose or somesuch. I ignored it for as long as I could, which ended up being until yesterday afternoon. (We really go through a lot of towels.)

I got all of the laundry ready and had Darin load it into the van, along with the detergents and such. But that left one more load that I had to get.

And that's why my arms were tired. And how I know that I have absorbent clothes.

Imagine: a washing machine filled with water and clothes. I did plug it back in to try to spin it out (for a millisecond before I heard a rattle - guess my dad was right), but ended up removing each piece of clothing and wringing it out so that I could take it to the laundromat. The worst ones were Superstar's terrycloth swimming robe and a pair of my pants.

It was a sweaty two hours at the laundromat, filled with Univision (have you ever seen Cristina? It's a spanish Maury or something, and it's vile - there was a guy from Salt Lake City on there talking about how he has always known he was a homosexual but his church made him go on a mission and then get married to a girl to 'cure' him and he broke his wife's heart and now he has two boyfriends and they all share a bed. He actually said, "Well, it's a big bed." Tool.). I remember once hearing Marie Osmond (who, for your FYI, I classify with Oprah, so you know what that means, except Marie's not all up in my face all the time like Oprah) say that sometimes she has her kids load up suitcases and they go to a laundromat and get it all done and the kids think it's a blast. Now, I don't think I'll be bringing my kids with my any time soon or ever, but I really like getting it all done at once. Still, though, I'd like to know the fate of my washing machine. We've had it for 6 &1/2 years. Is it time for a new one? What's the timeline on when to get a new appliance?

BONUS: Afterwards, I went to Pudding On The Rice, and I got some of their Vanilla Rice, Rice Baby to take home. Yum. That was my reward. Even though I just called it Vanilla because I don't like them calling it Vanilla Rice, Rice Baby.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

AHAH! One more reason for me to not like purple--- it clogs your dryer!

Lyle said...

I always get lost in RC Wiley. It does not matter how many time I've been in the store. I'm sure it was designed in such a way so that customers would be compelled to ask a salesperson for assistance/directions and buy something in the process.

Can I tell you how much I loathe tryign to figure out/troubleshoot or fix large appliances. Washer/dryer are at the top of the list...Going to the laudromat ranks up there also.

Anonymous said...

Where is this Pudding on the Rice store? Is there really such a place in UT county?

Thanks for any info. I am always looking for good food that is not Mexican or Chinese. I think the 2nd coming will be heralded in when a Jewish deli finally decides to make a home for itself in Utah county!

~j. said...

mom - you don't have to use the purple blanket. Just know that purple is a favorite of your daughter and her daughters.

lyle - I wonder how often that happens: "I'll tell you how to get out of here if you'll purchase this Lazy Boy Recliner...".

becky - welcome. It's in a small building in front of the Albertson's on University Parkway. They sell just rice pudding - all sorts of flavors and mix-is, etc.. I hope it lasts. It's a cool place. Sharing that building is Nicolitalia's Pizza (I think that's the name), which will be the next place I try. I've heard that the owners are from Boston, and that the pizza is great (why is pizza better back east?).

La Yen said...

We have had our washer and dryer for 9 years, and W has fixed it hisself two times--both times some little piece has burned out and made it not agitate. Ours was brand new when we bought it, and I think that ten years will be good enough to buy a new one when it breaks again. But I don't want to buy one unless it is the orange sweet one that costs a million dollars. So maybe eleven or twelve years.
Yours was used, right? 6 1/2 yers is plenty.
Now, say, if your esposo was a man who liked to not ever spend money--theoretically, of course--what I would do is call a repair guy over from Sears and get his estimate. And if it is less than $300 fix it, and if it is more, just tell this theoretical guy that it will be cheaper to go back to the Willey and get the fancy orange oned htat cost a million dollars, plus we are in a draught and the water bill will be cheaper, and does he not realize that you have NOTHING in your life but dirty clothes and SOME wives get to go to London with their husbands and SOME wives haven't given their entire bodies for the whole purpose of continuing HIS SEED and a new orange washer and dryer is much less than a divorce.
Theoretically, that is what I would do.
PS you have more in your life than clothes, but you know my penchant for the dramatic.

~j. said...

Good theory. Hypothetical Man actually is phoning Sears this very day. (We did buy it new, and from Sears - it was the purchase that made me feel like a grown-up.) I told him to have fun waiting for Sears guy to show up because if he calls today then that means Sears Guy will show up when I'm in Texas. Or later.

La Yen said...

Between 9 am and 9 pm monday or thursday or friday.

Bek said...

Oh Jen......

This is the very reason we got a home warrenty. I can call them to come and fix anything and they only charge 35$...no matter what.

They have so far replaced the washer AND dryer, the oven and the fridge. Best money we ever spent! We are hopeless..it would be nice to have a husband who can fix stuff. Mine just knows how to call the fix it man. ;-)

Poor purple blanket.....

Carina said...

Abuelita loves Cristina.

I really want to try the Nicolitalia's pizza. Maybe we should mysteriously meet there one day.

I just realized I don't think we've cleared the vents/ducts in the 6 years we've been in the place. Our appliances are old too. Don't look now, we're trying to get out of that place.

dalene said...

So sorry.

Except you are now my hero for scoring anything under $30--let alone FOUR whole things.

Even if one of them fell apart.

And I'm with you on the Oprah/Marie thing. Did you know she (Marie) even makes a sewing machine? Among other things.

And boy did you make me hungry for rice pudding.

La Yen said...

Does anyone we know know Marie? I need her to autograph my little golden book. It has Donny's signature already. I just need Marie, and maybe Jimmy, although I don't care about Jimmy's so much...

Anonymous said...

Okay, I have new dresses for your girls WITH PURPLE IN THEM! When we were at Amherst for Luke's graduation, he & Alexis kept telling us how great Massachusettes Pizza is. Let me know-- from a former Bustinian standpoint. A few months ago we got a call from Sears saying that they would be over on Tuesday or Thursday between 9AM & 9PM to repair our air conditioner. We don't have an air conditioner from Sears!!!

Anonymous said...

candle scandal huh? good one.

la yen... you'll never buhlee dis: i know the daughter of marie's accountant and for the short time i lived in provoland, i went to her office. i can't think of her dad's name, but the last name is horton. as in hear's a hoo. (kinda like where's waldo) last i knew, he was a bishop in a ward in orem. i know exactly where he lives, but i don't have my coordinates right. university parkway and turn at a light. let me know how it works for you.

dalene said...

A friend of mine is her personal assistant. I don't know if she does the autograph thing. But I'll inquire.

cabesh said...

So, call the BYU laundry (not the one in the RB), they used to do dry cleaning and laundry for pretty cheap....goodbye hot, sweaty laundry mat!

C. Jane Kendrick said...

And that is what you get for alksdfjlksjflksjlfk!

~j. said...

bek - I think we have a similar warrantee, but it only applies to the appliances which came with the house, ie, not the washer & dryer (which we had before). I love when the man knows to call the fix-it man.

azucar - yes, lunch, let's.

compulsive - I like that you think the same about Marie that I do and you know her personal assistant. tee hee. Are the two facts related? hm...

cabesh - wow, that would be a big step for me, letting someone else do my laundry. I'm really obsessive about it. Yet, the idea is intriguing...

cj - what? also, I have a surprise for you.

Geo said...

I must have been brainwashed as a child watching Maytag commercials because when Rob and I bought our w/d from Sears (also our first "grown-up" purchase), I thought they were supposed to last 20+ years. Haaaaaa.

Your well-told story reminds me of so many similar horrors . . . one also involving great arm strength and a sea of soapy water and another resulting from trying to wash BURLAP table coverings . . . . I guess I deserve to have to replace my set after such abuse.

I had one of those RC Willey coupons once and traded the whole thing for their scandalous candles.

How big and fluffy is your purple blanky now?

La Yen said...

I can testify to the obsessiveness of Jenny's cleaning needs. Things I know not to do at her house:
1. Load dishes in dishwasher
2. Unload dishes from dishwasher
3. Help with any laundry task other than folding

Last time I was over there, they were at a something or other and I decided to clean the kitchen and I was FRANTIC, because I had loaded and started the dishes and I knew I had better get them in the cabinets before she got home and I had to watch her struggle with being happy that they were done. It was like a race!
She is normal on everything else, though.

~j. said...

It's true.

geo - my fluffy, silky purple blanket is WONDERFUL, thanks for asking! And, it's more of an eggplant...

Tori :) said...

Tried Pudding on the Rice the other day. I REALLY liked it!!

dalene said...

I know this is so last week. But my friend finds Marie to be lovely (and it's a fabulous story about how she got her job).

I'm just not into the whole celebrity thing.

That's all.

kiki said...

Pudding on the Rice? 'Splain.

kiki said...

I want to go to this pudding place.

~j. said...

carrie - come out here and we'll go for a date.