One to two years ago I started
noticing that my clothes were starting to look old, even taking on a grey
tinge. It was some months after I noted this that my daughter insisted we
change from a powder detergent to a liquid one.
Why?
Because those family members
with a lot of dark clothes were noticing a visible amount of soap residue on their
supposedly clean clothes. Liquid detergent couldn’t be leaving that residue.
Ah! That might explain the grey
tinge.
It was a few months later that I
noticed my clothes were starting to retain some stains, making them look even
older with the still present grey tinge. Then my kids started complaining that
the agitator wasn’t working. Though, every time I checked it, it worked.
Then Royce started complaining
that his clothes and bedding still stank after washing them. (More like Melinda
complained.) I put that up to his sweat issues and the fact he didn’t do his
laundry often enough.
Then one day I went to put on a
supposedly clean nightgown and it smelled and felt like I’d lived in it for a
week. None of my pajamas smelled clean. That’s about when the kids said the agitator
had stopped altogether.
Okay, there is a problem.
Solution. New machine.
New problem, well old problem.
No money.
Okay, Jerry has a Home Depot
card. I checked it for an available balance.
Okay, real problem.
In the process of making sure we
had a working toilet in our main bathroom, we’d maxed out his card. I mean I
pay on it regularly but there seems to always be something else that needs
repairs. That and the money Jerry invests every year to try to raise a garden.
(Try being the operative word.)
So I looked at what money I did
have.
We are in luck. I’d saved a substantial
sum to cover a once-a-year bill and it ended up being less than I’d
anticipated. I planned for that to be a “rainy day fund”.
Well, it’s a rainy day. So I
investigated getting a new machine.
I went to Home Depot and looked
at some models. I even asked an employee to help me find one that would meet
our needs. Our biggest one is a large capacity, mostly because the men in our
household tend to just dump all their clothes in at once without sorting.
(Mostly unnecessary when most everything you own is jeans or dark-colored
t-shirts.)
With the employee’s help, Royce
and I debated the merits of models with and without the agitator. We finally
settled on one, which was on sale, without an agitator. Due to our inability,
lacking a truck, to transport a washing machine, I placed an order, with free
delivery and set up, plus hauling away the old machine. This was near Christmas
so due to the holiday we had a wait a week or so for delivery.
Now here’s the thing about this
machine. It is the most expensive appliance I’ve bought ever bought, (our
fridge wasn’t quite this much). This thing is full of technology. We don’t even
have to select the water level (size of the load) we need because it senses how
much is in the tub and fills accordingly.
Now my kids took right to it and
figured out how to use it the very first day. Royce even figured out how to
connect it to his phone or something. (He can control it from his phone.) Me,
it took a bit. The first couple of times I had to have Melinda set it for me. I
understand it’s harder to learn new things as you get older, and this grandma
isn’t getting any younger.
Of course, one of the first
things we noticed was our clothes were smelling clean again.
I don’t know about anybody else,
but recently I noticed the stains on my clothes were much less noticeable. So
our old machine hadn’t been cleaning anything for quite some time.
The other day, while I was
folding my last batch of clean laundry, I realized that the grey tinge was even
fading. I contemplated that fact for a few minutes then figured out this rough
outline of just how long our old machine had needed to be replaced.
Hopefully, we won’t have another
major repair or expense anytime soon because my “rainy day fund” is gone now.
Story of my life. I think that’s the only time I ever had such a fund.
Smile. Make the day a brighter
day.
