by Claire
I am back from my brief hiatus! I say that because I was on a roll and intended to continue with sharing some details of the move and my March 31/April 1 numbers but then I got tired…very, very tired! The fatigue from the move hit me Wednesday night and I crawled through Thursday and Friday! Today was another busy one but I am happy to report that I have absolutely, positively nothing I HAVE to do tomorrow! The kids and I went to Mass tonight so that we can sleep in and lounge ALL DAY TOMORROW. We even joked about wearing our LOUNGE CLOTHES all day!! The kids find the term “lounge” extremely funny. 🙂
So where to pick up on sharing stories from the move? I mentioned there was just a bit of drama. I’ve shared before that I have a total obsession with doing laundry. It is truly a household chore that I enjoy. And so one of the first “must dos” upon getting into the apartment was hooking up my washer and dryer. Backing up a bit you should know that I bought the washer and dryer upon husband #2’s first move out in August 2011. (Short recap for new readers…my second husband moved out first in August 2011, came back in October 2011, I started blogging in March of 2012 and he again left the building in September 2012–this time for good). My Dad is retired military and while I paid for the washer and dryer, Dad did get me a very good deal through AAFES. And while my Dad is not a usual warranty buyer he insisted I get a warranty for this GE washer and dryer. No particular concerns with the products but given my circumstances at the time this was another way my Dad was trying to take care of me. I paid $99 for 3 years beyond the 1 year manufacturer warranty.
We’ve had some interesting discussions on this blog about extended warranties and I think the general consensus has been they aren’t worth the money. I still agree with that position but have found the rare purchase of this warranty to be one of my best decisions yet.
The washer began leaking in August 2012 just before the wuzband left. With all of the madness going on I did not get to call in the issue until after the 1 year manufacturer’s warranty expired. Thankfully the extended warranty kicked in and a repairman came out to tell me that my washer was fine but the design of the water jets does not do so well with the very hard water of South Texas. So as the calcium deposits built up and the water jets got clogged, the machine would continue to force water out of them with such force that the water would shoot right out of the machine! So the repairman said he had seen several of these calls for this particular model and he recommended tiny filters to go in the washer hoses to trap some of the sediment and prevent it from going into the washer. The call was covered at 100% but given the issue it was a one time only deal.
Any guesses about where this story is going?
I never got around to buying those very inexpensive filters and putting them on. It was just one of those things that fell by the wayside. Moving into the apartment was obviously the best time to set this up. I went to Home Depot and got help finding these tiny washer hose rings with filters and the simple instructions for putting them on. I’m familiar with hooking up washers (Dad made sure before I left for college that I knew how to do a lot of household stuff. Little did he know how much I’d need that knowledge). I’m not so familiar with those little filter things.
Last Sunday morning before I left to clean the house I fired up a load of laundry. Like an idiot I didn’t stick around the apt to make sure it was all going well and instead zipped right out the door. 4 hours later I returned to find water on the concrete outside my apartment! A lot of water. I completely freaked out! I entered the apartment expecting to find an all out flood (thinking all the while that I am thankful that my world is insurance and that I always, always have insurance issues taken care of and the renters policy had already been switched over). There WAS some water inside the apartment but it was just about 2-3 feet front of the washer with the bulk of it going out the back side. The water was coming from the connections at the wall it seemed but the apartment maintenance man (that I bothered on Easter Sunday b/c I’m just a Dudley Do Right and wanted to let them know immediately) noted that the washer was off balance and that may have contributed to the water overflow as well.
Mr. Maintenance Man was kind enough to send out a carpet cleaning company that very day and they went ahead and did a water removal just to be safe. I offered to pay but the offer was refused. Maybe a case of feeling sorry for the woman who can’t hook up a washer? Whatever it was I was very thankful. We disconnected the washer and I got to make a second claim on my warranty!
In the end I learned that I not only had the filter thingys on incorrectly, I had the wrong type! I also learned that the leg of my washer that handles the self-adjusting/balancing had broken. And so the leg was fixed (which was a 2 hour ordeal b/c of the location and the guy had much difficulty) and I got the proper filters and I was back in business by Wednesday.
So, the moral of this story? I have a lot to thank my Dad for in this life and never, be kind to apartment maintenance staff and never leave the first load of laundry unattended after you hook up the washer!
