Part 2

Jump forward 8 years.
With a family of 4, laundry is pretty much a daily thing. If you do laundry once a week then expect most of the day to be gone once you put the last bed sheet back on. Now since I’m one of the lucky ones who can stay home with my children then a load of laundry a day worked well for me. Until a year ago.
I only had another week left at my job. I was trying to be responsible and get everything I could in order for the next supervisor so that the transition would hopefully be a smooth one. I was concerned about the people who worked under me since I was leaving at the busiest time of the year. I only had 5 more days to go through all of my files and make my notes, deposits, etc. Needless to say, laundry was not a priority that week. My last day came and went. I sighed a heavy sigh and went about the task of putting my personal life in order. Priority number one was laundry. I got up early Saturday morning, sorted all the different colors and started my first load. I got half way into the 2nd load when kaput! The motor went out on the washer. Great. Just peachy. Now, my husband is mechanically inclined (yes!!!!) and he was able to replace the motor himself with only a hundred dollar bill and some grumblings (yes, he does that a lot). A few short months later, my dryer quits working. My husband tears it down, finds the problem and gives me the name of the part and model number of the dryer. I’m to call and get a new part. Well, I called. Then I called DB back. It’s cheaper in the long run to buy a new dryer. A few more grumblings later we’re on our way back to Kenmore Manor. Did I want a new set, he asks me? Nope. The washer is fine and nobody sees it but me. It doesn’t mean a hill of beans to me if it matches. I just want one that works. So, I get a new dryer and DB thinks I’m thrifty.
A few short months ago, my refrigerator/freezer (side by side) doesn’t make ice anymore. I call a repairman. He comes out, blows out the back of the refrigerator (says it’s dirty and needs to be done once a year), claims victory over the machine and leaves. It works fine for a few short weeks and then poof! It quits making ice again and our frozen food is thawed. I call the repairman back out. This time it’s a young man who went to school with my middle son. He tells me he has good news and bad news – which did I want? Give me the good news first I tell him. He starts off telling me I’m getting a new refrigerator! That’s the good news! The bad news is the compressor is going out so I HAVE to buy a new refrigerator. Wonderful. A new compressor for this would have cost $689 but, he says, it does come with a 30 day warranty. I showed him the door.
Back to Kenmore Manor again. We had bought our refrigerator on clearance and it had all the bells and whistles. Almost 9 years later I’ve learned I liked those bells and whistles and wow! We got a good deal 9 years ago! So our salesman (or stalker – whatever adjective you like to give them) asks us what we have now and then starts us off going down the aisle where not one refrigerator has a price tag of less than $2000. I stopped and told him that there was no way in hell I was spending that much money on a disposable refrigerator. Disposable he asks? If I have to buy a new appliance every 8-10 years then it’s disposable. Parts to fix the appliances are so expensive; it’s cheaper to replace the appliance than fix it. That makes it disposable. Oh, he grunts. He shows us the cheapest models he has, the ingrate. We ended up with all the bells and one whistle for a price we considered reasonable. Now my dishwasher soap dispenser is not working properly. We’re back to the dilemma of to fix or not to fix? DB says the stove is safe since it has to be USED in order to break down.
He’s a funny little man.