An Unwelcome Guest

Murphy moved in today. We listen to Dave Ramsey every once in a while and he has this saying about "Murphy moving into your spare bedroom" when you can least afford him to. (If anyone is confused I'm talking about Murphy's Law - Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time).

For several weeks, my rear left turn signal and break light have been out on the minivan. I still always use my blinker because it works in front so when I push down I hear and see that frantic arrow going about three times as fast as it should letting me know that a light is out. I hate it. I feel. . .messy. Rude. Dangerous. Poor.

Jay fixed it last week by replacing the bulb and it was fixed for all of two days. We knew then that the electrical system had some short in it and I called and made an appointment. My rear windshield wiper was also on the fritz. Whenever I used it, it wouldn't stop at the end of the window and just kept on wiping until it was upside down. I took it into the shop today and left $200 poorer. But everything works now.

Two days ago, I was washing a load of whites when I heard the washing machine make a sort of grinding sound. I haven't had good luck with my whites lately. Not every time, but often enough, several pieces of laundry come out with brown spots on them that match the spacing of the holes in the metal tub. I didn't know if my oxyclean was somehow oxidizing the metal so I stopped using that. Or maybe the bleach was causing some sort of reaction or the temperature of the water was too hot. I was patiently trying to figure out the problem but when it started to rub metal on metal, I finally called a repair man. He came over at 2:00 this afternoon.

Here's how our conversation went:

Me: Thanks for coming. Sorry about the weird location of our washer (it's in a tiny room that you have to walk through our closet to get to...kind of cozy with the repair guy).

Him: Hmph.

Me: So, it sounds like it's rubbing against something when it spins. And it didn't drain all the way last time.

(I manually reach in and turn the drum. I can't hear the sound it was making two days ago)

Me: It was making it. Maybe it has to go fast.

Him: I hear it. Your yada yada yada, blah, blah, blah is yakity yakity yakity and you probably need mumble jumble gobble gobble.

Me: Really? How much will that cost?

Him: It'll be expensive. I'll put the new basket under warranty because it's less than 10 years but the other two parts are way in there and they aren't cheap. We'll have to take the machine apart and it'll take at least two of us here.

Me: Hmmm.

Him: Let me get out my handy dandy electronic notebook and type all of this in. Click here, click here. You'll need this part and this one. But we'll put this on warranty.....it'll cost you about $500.

Me: WHAT?!!!

Let me backtrack a bit to yesterday when I called and made the appointment with Sears. I tell them what the problem is and they explain that it'll be $45 for someone to come look at it. If I decide to go ahead with the repair, then that $45 will go towards the cost of the repair. If not, I will still owe the $45. I agree and we schedule the appointment. Then the guy pulls out the roulette game board and asks me if I want to accept their one time offer of a one-year warranty on my front loading washer for a mere $300. It would cover all costs of a repair. If you're me, $300 is a lot of money to guess with and I declined. I worked at Radio Shack and I know that Extended Warranties are a scam. 90% of the time you don't need them and they are mainly a big money maker for the store. But today...that deal is looking pretty sweet.

Him: This happens when you people (I swear he said that) don't use HE detergent with your front loaders. I see this all the time.

Me: Who uses HE detergent? I don't know anybody who uses HE detergent. No one told us to use HE detergent.

Him: It's in your owners manual.

Me: Oh. Well, then.

Him: The other soap gums up into the washer and corrodes this blah blah part. That's why you're getting those rust marks on your clothes. Your tubing is probably clogged to. People with kids always run crap through their machines. It probably has some coins or toys or something in it.

Me: That's very likely (thinking, "you big jerk")

Him: You have to pay for the parts now. They'll be delivered to you in two big boxes and then we'll call to make sure they're here before we come for the repair.

Me: Ugh. I don't want to do this. This washer is only 4 years old.

Him: You're lucky! I've see this happen to people after one year without using the right detergent.

Me: (thinking...your machines are a piece of crap then.)

Me: talking - Um...I have to call my husband.

(Jay and I talk....this totally stinks...I know....o.k.....bye)

Me: O.K. When will you come fix it.

Him: We can't get here until January 10th.

Me: Swell.

Maybe it's just that it's December and we just had our anniversary, Christmas, paid for a board review course for Jay in San Fransisco in February but this is Murphy at his finest. I have kids. Boys. They are dirty. I do a LOT of laundry. January 10th is two weeks away. *%&^$#%$!!!

Go Away Murphy!