Frigi-Dare You to Buy One...

So, this story picks up with my washer not working at all, but my plumbing seeming to be fine...

I contacted Frigidaire about my washer not working, and told them that it just stopped draining and spinning...what caused this - "Well, I have no idea, it just stopped working." So they send someone out on Thursday between 9-12 to fix it. The guy came out and pulled the pump out and it was filled with...you guessed it - my freakin' rug. So it's fixed - yay! We run a couple of test loads with just water and drain it into a big cooler. Still pumping out red fuzz.

The plumber came back out on Friday to test the washer line, now that the washer was working, and to replace the toilet. After about 45 minutes of digging in the drain line, he pulls out...you guessed it again - my freakin' rug! We put the washer drain line back in the washer drain and try a couple of test loads and everything is working great!

Friday night, I'm thinking that I will go ahead and start getting caught up on my mountains of laundry. I put in the covers to Beau and Brother's beds - just two pieces...just in case. The cycle runs for about 25 minutes and then just stops. I'm, of course, just sitting in front of the washer watching it spin and do its thing, so when it stops AGAIN - I have mental flashes of slitting my wrists with the dryer vent or maybe bashing my head in with the bottle of washing detergent. I can't believe that this is not fixed! I had plans to go to Athens today, but clearly that didn't happen since this needs to be done with...the sacrafices that I make. :)

I call the washing machine repair people this morning at exactly 8 - no answer. Okay, maybe they don't get in until 9 on Saturdays...so I wait until 9. Still no answer. I call Frigidaire again and they put me in touch with another repair company. I beg the guy to come today, but he insists that 'their schedule is full' and tells me he will be here on Monday between 10-2. At this time, I break down...yes...I cried.

Okay, Stacy, let's act like an adult and stop freaking out. You need to wash your clothes, being that you are down to your last pair of undies. What do people with no washers and dryers do? Laundrymats. Wow. That is a big step.

I pull up to Glad Rags on Spring Street and unload my 8 loads of laundry. I kind of wander around for a second, not really knowing where I am or what I should do. I see 6 washing machines that are open (and looking really decrepit) - so I set up shop and start cramming my laundry in. Including two more rugs...hee hee. :) I carefully read the instructions on the machine and follow them precisely. I also, for the first time, used liquid fabric softener - love that BTW! Then I go to pay and get everything going, and it is $2 a load to wash...well, of course I grabbed some change at the house - but not enough. So I have to ask a fellow laundymattian where the closest ATM is - she is very nice and helpful - and very fluent in English - so I'm off. I take out $25 and head back to the Glad Rags.

I'm standing there, next to the rolling baskets like you see in the movies, and I'm thinking - this is freakin' awesome. I'm getting six of my eight loads of laundry done and it's only going to take me the time of one load. And the dryers there are huge - and industrial! They only take like 20 minutes to dry a load! Freakin' amazing. I get everything done, folded, and loaded back in the car and head home feeling very proud of myself for going to the laundrymat. :) I think that I may even open one...hmmm a jewelry boutique/laundrymat...or a jewelry making boutique and a laundrymat. So many options! And I spent all of my $25 there - what a gold mine.

Bad News: Everything is Falling Apart!

Well, I didn't mention the drain line because we had no intention of replacing it until Sunday rolled around...

I'll start this story by prefacing that Sundays are not normally my cleaning days. Due to travel schedules, I was forced to do it this day or wait until the following Thursday - which was completely out of the question. So, Shane and I are cleaning and I ask him to put a couple of small rugs in the washer. 'Babe, do you want to wash some clothes first before the rugs?' 'No I do not - I want the rugs to be washed and dried before it is time for my shower later.' So Shane throws in three small rugs...fast forward 30 minutes...red water is quickly seeping from under the washer. It also contains a lot of peices of my rug. So I stop the washer and wipe up the water. Shane pulls the w/d out of the closet (next house WILL have a laundry room - BTW) so that we can get the water and stuff from behind. Well, we can't pull it far enough out, due to the angles of the room, to get behind it so we have to do it Ringling Brothers style and climb on top of the dryer (which sits on top of the washer) and use various house tools (swiffer, broom, vacuum hose, etc.) to try to wipe up the water. So what is wrong with it? I don't know.

So Shane and I just decide to move on. I'm going to go ahead and take my shower and we'll just get out of here...abandon ship. So I go to take a shower, and the water is not draining AT ALL. After the water has been on for 30 seconds, I'm already standing in an inch of water. So I yell for Shane and ask him to bring me the Drano. Shane arrives with the Drano and asks 'Is there a reason that the bottom of the bottle is wet?' 'Umm...not that I'm aware of. I guess the kitchen sink is now leaking.' Shane goes and there is now an inch of water under the kitchen sink. Meanwhile, I pour the remaining half of the bottle of Drano in the drain - and does it work? No. I continue to take a shower and figure the water will drain eventually. We go along our merry way and just chalk the day up to a wash (ha ha, no pun intended).

The next morning, I go to take a shower before work (it's nice to do that sometimes :)) and there is red fuzz covering the tub. So...everything is connected...got it. I turn the water on and it still is not draining. Well, I am not stepping in there with all that gunk - so I clean it - and take another shower in an inch of water. Miserable. Shane decides to take the day off so that we can get this mess figured out - and heads out to Home Depot to buy some good drain cleaner. Like meth-making material type drain cleaner. Meanwhile I'm sitting at work freaking out....those who know me will not be surprised by this. So I call Shane and tell him that I've had enough and I'm calling a plumber. A plumber comes out and tries to snake the washer drain line - but can't even get the snake in. He does some other stuff and gets under the house and comes to the conclusion that our drain line needs to be replaced. It is cast iron and original to the house - so about 50 years old. It has corroded so badly that water can barely make it through. When we had our inspection, we didn't realize that 'main lines' don't include the drain line...so we assumed that everything had been replaced. Not true. And want to know what his quote was - $3800!

I immediately contact my home warranty company, and they tell me that they are sending another plumbing company out to take a look. They come out yesterday, and tell me that they are now going to snake the main lines, instead of the washing drain line, in hopes to get some of the gunk out. Who knew that your drain lines were also vented on your roof? The plumber gets on the roof and shoves this snake-type electrical thing down each of the three roof vents. It is so loud and you can hear it coming down the walls inside...freaky. Once he does this, he comes in and we do a walk through - to find that the pipe made it's way up into a toilet and busted the porcelain. So - new toilet added to the checklist. He did volunteer to pay for it (umm...yeah!) so that was nice.

Next step, test the washer. Oh, wait - did I forget to mention that that doesn't work AT ALL any more?? Yeah, when it rains it pours. Getting in touch with Frigidaire was a whole other story - which I will save for another day since this post is turning into a thesis instead of a short story. Stay tuned to see how it all 'bubbles' up! Still not funny.

Good News: Pictures!

Well, here I am - a week later with not only pictures, but some super awesome updates on the house. Good news first, here are the updated pics:

The sitting room-where I reflect on...stuff.

The living room (there are more pics of the LR in the Picasa link to the right):

The kitchen (again, more pics in Picasa):















Guest bath:

Completed hallway!:

Master bedroom:















Guest bedroom:















So...everything is pretty much wrapped up, except for the major things that we want to do: replace the god awful backsplash, countertops, new roof, build a carport, new deck, landscaping, paint the house, etc., etc., and so on and so forth. But wait - I didn't mention a new drain line in there!!!!

Where Have I Been?

Wow...where have I been? I'm looking at my blog and am embarassed of how neglectful I have been....A friend of mine started a blog for her son today and has once again lit my blog fire!

I have lots of updates - but I'm not nearly as fired up about them now, so no use in sharing. One comment though - Charter Communications is apparently looking for someone to do their accounting and billing....like their customers! They have messed my bills up so bad and have the worst customer service. I dearly miss Comcast...:(

And these pics are O-L-D...I'm going to take some new ones tonight and upload them tomorrow.

Hope that somebody still reads this thing! I'm going to have to work overtime to get all my readers back! I love blogging!