I have this problem that when I decide to do something, I just do it. I'm talking about projects here. You know, ripping up the bathroom tile, repainting the kitchen, making a new woodcut or a pair of pants... The main issue with this is that I usually get to this kind of stuff at 8:30 on a week night; dinner's over, little man's in bed, I'm still wearing whatever raggedy-ass excuse for a teacher outfit I put on in the morning, and I NEVER! stop to change my clothes.
I always wonder why everyone else's clothes seem so nice.
Hmmm, maybe the don't change tires in them.
Or re-caulk the upstairs shower.
Or, like tonight for example, fix the dryer.
Yep.
When's the last time you pulled out your dryer? Thought so. Imagine 2 inches of lint covering the only square of basement floor that never got painted when we moved in because, who wants to move the dryer? Now imagine that you've borrowed your parents' crazy catholic family van to bring an old, rusty, but free!, gas dryer to your house; only to realize - after you've moved the dryer into the basement - that your dryer is electric. Now imagine the two useless dryers sitting side by side, chatting it up with the totally functional washer full of mildewing clothes that you can't even dry outside because it's not just cold, it's raining. Now, if you're still with me, imagine the deep sense of satisfaction you'd feel buying a 2 year old electric dryer from the reuse center for 25 bucks, and the belt to fix it for $16.
Dinner's over, boy's in bed, DRYER TIME!
I rushed down stairs, introduced non-functional dryer number 3 to the other appliances and proceeded to take it apart. Thanks to some very brief directions (in French) and the subtle help of my very calm husband, I got the thing working on the second try. HALLELUJAH! As I was closing it up, I dropped the last screw down inside and had to take the front back off (of course!) Amidst much mumbled cursing and unladylike grunting, closing it up, I looked down at my clothes and realized I was wearing a floor length, wrap around, dry clean only, lint magnet. What idiot fixes a dryer in Banana Republic wool everything?
Oh. That'd be me.
But here's the thing. I'm so proud of my cheap self for getting and fixing a cast-off appliance, that my home-repair related euphoria profoundly overshadows any kind of fashion remorse, and any kind of guilt over my clothes just doesn't ever really stick. Besides, since I fixed the dryer, I can just wash some Target jeans and a concert t-shirt - tomorrow's Friday anyway!
1 comment:
Yaaay, Go A! That's awesome. We've gone through 2 dryers here. One was used and given to us. The second was the cheapest thing on the floor at Sears. Putting two kids through cloth diapers killed that (and the washer, eventually). Last year, desperate and tired of shitty appliances that we use at least twice daily, I financed that beast of a Bosch. 12 months same as cash. It hurt a little, it took me a year to pay it off, but it's got warranties up the ass, and it works like a charm.
So did you load the two useless dryers into the Pro-Life, Anti-Appliances van? What a week!
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