Bittersweet Surrender

I tried to save it. I really did. I failed.

After my harrowing experience replacing the broken coupler on my washing machine, I was still a little nervous that it would die. It's old, has been leaking something, and has been starting to smell. After replacing the coupler, it was smelling more, and just over a week ago, the smell was so strong I was afraid the machine would spontaneously burst into flames. And I have kids now, so no more thrill-seeking shenanigans. More googling and talking to a handyfriend confirmed that now the transmission and/or motor was dying, too. Our friend started to tell us how to fix that, too, but we decided that we should let the washer die and start shopping.

I was hoping that when it was time to buy a new washer, we'd be in a position to buy something cool like my mom's new set--it's shiny and red and plays a song when your laundry is done. But thanks to a great sale at Home Depot (time to pay them back for all those Home Depot Saturdays), we're getting a high efficiency washing machine. We've been told that it will be delivered tomorrow in the four-hour window of 9 to 5. I hope their delivery and installation skills are better than their math skills.

Dave asked if I was going to pour out a bottle of bleach over it while blasting "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday." (I think he must have Boyz II Men on his mind, as he tried to get away with wearing shorts with his shirt, tie, and sportcoat to church yesterday.) I told him that I really haven't formed an attachment to it, so I wasn't particularly distraught about the death of the washing machine. I'm really excited about the new one. On the other hand, our TiVo turns 7 next month, and if something ever happens to TiVo, we'll hold a full-on funeral service. But let us not speak of such things.

I have quite the mountain of laundry to attack tomorrow, so I'm taking suggestions on what to watch while folding.