All Washed Up

Things have been falling apart around here.

Besides "The Car Wars" (oh, and the A/C in the car broke and was fixed for the 4th time!):

• The hot water heater blew a pin hole leak in the pressure vessel tank.  Small hole + Hot Water under pressure = Huge Mess.
• The water from the water heater warped some of the hardwood floors right there.  (The floors are starting to chill out, so we haven't gotten them fixed yet.)
• The oven stopped working.  The stove top worked, but the oven wouldn't light.
• My laptop's hard drive died.

And then there was the washer / dryer.

When I bought this place, it had the "contractor special" cheap-o-matics installed.  The washer was loud, and the dryer had a piece missing so that it shredded and frayed most things we placed in it.  It got to the point that we were hanging more clothes around the condo to dry than we were processing thru the dryer.  I'd hoped to replace it last year, but that didn't happen.

This year we did it.

Cora and I made up our minds, and one day we were in Home Depot, and we saw a set on sale for $300 off.  Each.

While the delivery and haul away was free, we were of course, dinged for the upgrade to the gas dryer model, new hoses and tubes, stacking kit, etc.

They fit, just barely, into the closet where the old ones were.  One of the delivery guys was a the skinniest little spider monkey of a man you ever saw.  With about 3 inches of clearance all around spider monkey boy climbed behind the old units and unhooked the old one.  And then when they installed the new one, he was behind it.  I figured that they'd encased him like the workers in the pyramids, but he climbed up over the top like one of those parkour dudes.

These are our first "High Efficiency" units so it's taking some time getting used to.

Firstly, the by the small amount of water that seems to be used for the wash cycle.  It seemed like the clothes barely get wet, but they are clean.

Secondly, is how quick the dryer does its job.  It seems like it takes no time for the clothes to dry, but they aren't even hot when we pull them out.  I guess that is a side effect of not having so much water in the washing.

And they sing.

When they finish, it's not a harsh buzz or a ding, but a happy little tune that they sing.  It almost makes laundry… enjoyable.

Not if science would just invent the auto-folding machine, we would be so set.