Toe to Toe With a Major Appliance and It Blinked First

I was a paragon of industriousness over the weekend. I've shifted into high gear to get some stuff done around the house.

I have company arriving on Saturday. That means, if nothing else, I must clean the house. The cat and I don't mind dealing with the squalor that usually dominates our living quarters, but I can't expect company to do the same.

I dust and run the vacuum from time to time, but usually only drag out the mop and the toilet bowl cleaner -- the BIG guns of house-cleaning materials -- in preparation for arriving company. Moreover, my desk looks like they test ICBMs on it. Oh, for the days when my office was a dedicated room with a door that I could just close when guests came a callin'.

I didn't really clean much over the weekend, but I did address a few things that needed fixing.

My major accomplishment was getting my washing machine running up to snuff. It began leaking about a month ago. My fierce work and travel schedule in April prevented me from taking on a project with the potential scope of fixing the washer.

The washer and dryer are in a small alcove off my office. A pair of folding doors can close off these appliances from sight, but because one of the only two furnace/air conditioning vents in the room is behind the dryer -- the other is behind a bookcase -- I leave the folding doors open.

Before accessing the washer, I first had to remove one of the folding doors. I then had to kneel on top the washer to disconnect the two hoses from the hot- and cold-water faucets. With that accomplished and the washer unplugged, I had to tip it forward, laying it on its front. Everything I needed to get to was on its backside, so laying it down worked as well as anything and was certainly easier than trying to "walk" the washer out into the room so I could get behind it.

The problem turned out to be a bad hose. The hot-water hose had a huge bulge right where it connected to the hot water faucet. I made the obligatory Home Depot run to buy new hoses.

Every damn job requires a trip to Home Depot, if you're lucky, and three or four trips if your not. It's an unwritten law of some sort.

I sat the washer upright, reconnected the hoses to the faucets and turned it on. I filled the tub up about a quarter of the way, hit rinse/spin and let it drain. The problem seemed to be solved. Yeah, right.

I threw a load of colored clothes in, walked away and returned 30 minutes later to find water once again puddling under the washer and seeping into my office carpet.

Drat!

Cussing under my breath, well, actually cussing out loud, I pulled the washer out again. I fiddled with all the fittings and retightened all the hose connections. I ran it again and it operated flawlessly: leak free.

Stopping the leaking wasn't really much of an accomplishment, as these things go, but I relished the victory as though I had rebuilt the motor.

I still have a hand towel stuffed under the freezer side of my refrigerator because I've never been able to stop its leak. I know it's a drain issue, but, for the life of me, can't figure out how to unclog the drain line. It has confounded me at every turn. I know I'm going to have to break down and call a repairman, but I haven't been able to make myself do it.

I hate to be defeated by a major appliance. So, as long as I hold off calling a repairman, I can tell myself that there is still a chance I will fix it.

Who am I kidding?