Mayday!

A few months ago I suddenly heard the obnoxiously loud sound of a Mack truck's jake brake coming down the street in our usually quiet and sedate neighborhood.  I wondered why a huge truck like that would be roaring through our area. I looked up and down the road through the dining room window, saw nothing, and the continual noise was disconcerting, to say the least.  I went into the laundry room to look out that window that also faced the street, and was shocked to discover it was the washing machine on the spin cycle!  "Mayday!  Mayday!"  (That's from the French venez m' aider, meaning "come help me!")

I quickly turned the washer off as our son Doug, who lives downstairs, came bounding up the stairs, pretty upset because he was on a conference call with work at the time.  Yikes!  He said it shook his pipes downstairs (I'm sure it shook him up too!).   I explained I thought it was a Mack truck's jake brake, which did little to mollify him.  He asked me not to do laundry between the hours of 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.  on any day because that's when he's on conference calls.  Cramped my style!

However, I complied, and the machine worked fine for weeks after that.  Thinking it must be okay again, I did my wash without thinking too much about the time of day. 

Yesterday I put in a load of sheets, went about some other housework, and my jake brake machine went off again!  I dashed to the laundry room, quickly shut it off and decided "This is it!"  Doug came bounding upstairs again and thankfully this time he wasn't on a conference call.  He heartily echoed my sentiments about getting a new washer, offered me the use of his machine to finish my remaining 3 loads of laundry, and even carried the baskets up and down the stairs for me. 

Below is a picture of the offender:

This beastie was also rusty on the inside all around the top and even the tub had rust around the holes that created rust spots on sheets and pillowcases if I didn't remove them from the washer promptly.  Time for a new machine, I said to myself, even though it was only eight years old.  During our married life, we had one washer for 15 or 20 years with no rust and never a problem like that.  They just don't seem to make them like they used to; Doug says they design them to create repeat sales. :o)

My main cirteria for a new washer was a top-loader that had a stainless steel wash basket and an agitator.  I went online and did some research on washers and found one on Home Depot's website, so I e-mailed that link to Dave at work with a request for a new washer. Dave said "yes" to the request, but "no" to Home Depot.  He informed me that since they openly support the homosexual agenda he prefers not to purchase from them.  So we didn't.  I found the same machine on Lowe's website, so when Dave came home, we went there and then ended up buying a different machine. 

We bought an on-sale, high efficiency, top-loading  Maytag Bravo without an agitator and with reinforced hoses for under $600.  I asked the salesman how it gets clothes clean, and he explained there is a washplate that does the job.  It also spins at 800 rpm's so the clothes are mostly dry by the time they are ready for the dryer, cutting drying time to less than half.  (Rust spots are fair game, but I hope it doesn't spin the patterns right off my pillow cases!)   It also uses only 14 gallons of water compared to the 45 of my old washer.  We also bought a 1-year Maytag warranty and a 2-year in-store warranty for $69.00. 

Goodbye, old buddy; Lowes was just here and took you away.  Rest in peace.   A new machine has now taken your place.  Now I'm praying the ad about the "lonely Maytag repair man" is true.  :o)

Copyright © 2012 Elaine Beachy