This Life is Real…and so are the Answers

We’ve all heard the cliche, when it rains it pours. When people say this, it’s not about the weather forecast…usually. It’s about the circumstances they are dealing with in their life. We are having a deluge right now.

My advice to those seeking to purchase new appliances, stagger them. Don’t buy the bundled sets they offer at big-box stores. If you do, you will have lovely, in-fad appliances for a few months, maybe even a few years if you are really lucky. But when they go bad, they all will!

When I was around nine years old, my parents purchased a new, matched set of a lovely avocado green washer and dryer. This was pretty exciting for our family. They were placed in the basement where all good washer and dryers once went. This was their allotted home. It was cozy for them, with the cement walls and floor, a shelf to recline above them to hold laundry supplies if they were really upscale. If not, the boxes of detergent sat on the machines. No one thought this was wrong. Only the wealthy had a laundry room! Of course the set was made by Maytag…everyone knew that was the best. It must have been, because fast forward to when I was doing laundry for our oldest daughter. The set was almost 15 years old by that time. It probably had a couple heating elements replaced over the years, but no big deal.

Seven years ago or so, we purchased three appliances. I was so excited! It was our third new refrigerator, but this was a big one. A Samsung, side-by-side, about 24 cubic feet. We purchased it for under $1,000. That sounds horrific, but have you gone refrigerator shopping lately? No more wire shelves and cramming a supply of food for seven people into a tiny space. I had moved up in the world. We also purchased a matched set of Samsung’s front load washer and dryer. This was my second pair of new, but again, I had moved up in the world. I could actually wash comforters and really large loads for our family of seven. And since it was HE, we were really going to save money! I’ll talk about that one in another post.

For some of you, this may not be a big deal. But for me, it was extra special. For many years, with all our moving around, we either moved into houses or apartments with filthy appliances, or we bought used. I cleaned them up, always in horrible shape, and used them, thankful to have them. To have three new appliances, that were large enough for our family, with warranties…I was speechless. My mother had just given me her flat-top stove/oven for a birthday gift. It was about five years old, but in excellent condition. I finally had the black and stainless steel that was now in fashion, adorning my kitchen. Kitchen work was now easy-peasy!

These appliances have served me well over the past almost eight years. We had a little glitch with the refrigerator after a couple years, but our extended warranty took care of that. Our son replaced the heating element in the dryer for a fraction of the cost of calling the repair man.

Life was good.

Then it started to rain.

The washer had been giving some kind of a code for a couple years. It would ding, then flash OE, sucking all the detergent down the drain. My husband would clean the filters, then it would be alright for about six months. Well, that no longer is good enough. Every other load has to be re-started. I think the drain leading from the washer must be really clean by now! But to top it off, water now leaks from under the machine. Not a lot, but I’m assuming that any is not good. Reading up on Samsung washer and dryers yesterday while I was waiting at the dentist to have my teeth cleaned…consumer reports said, (in my paraphrase,) count yourself privileged if your set made it to five years. Well, I guess I’m a winner!

July 29th we returned home after a very long day out in the heat for one of my events. It had been a great day, much better than I thought considering it was July in Kansas! Opening the freezer, because ice is good when it’s hot out, I found the ice cube trays to be liquid. The ice cream was also soupy. The refrigerator was also a bit warm. I started a load of laundry, and then the dinging began. I was not a happy camper!

We replaced a part on the refrigerator that was suggested after much research on my part. That did not work. Now we have narrowed it down to a leak, or the compressor. If it’s the compressor, we should probably just purchase a new refrigerator. Because believe it or not, reports say they don’t last more than about eight years. Again, I win!

The most frustrating part hasn’t been living without a refrigerator for almost a month now. I’ve done that before. The part that is driving me crazy is the inability to get someone in our area to look at it to tell us what is wrong so we can make a decision as to what to do. I like our refrigerator, it looks brand new still. The same model available in the stores now, pretty much looks the same, with an over $1,000 price on it. What to do when your phone calls are not returned, your messages are not answered? The real kicker…yesterday on my way home from the dentist, I stopped at the little building where one of the men has appliances. It said ‘open’ but no one was there. Right by the front door sat a white, Maytag washer, the exact one my mother purchased back in the mid-1970’s! It looked brand new.

When it rains, it pours. And the best thing to do is to just trudge along. Rather like these people in this race. Although, to me, that’s a huge pile-up waiting to happen!

Children see rain like this:

I once did too! When the difficult times come, and they will, splash in the puddles. See the prettiness of the situation.

Sometimes it is difficult to see the rainbow, that bright ray of sun. Other times, you are privileged with both!

Yesterday I went to the dentist. No cavities still at almost 53 years old. I can live with that! I may not have a washer or dryer, or a refrigerator. But I will probably have all my teeth when I die. Life is good!