broken washing machines and other rantings

Ok now! I'm done with broken things! A few days ago, our latch on our back door broke. In enters the baseball bat to the track of the sliding door so that the door is forever closed and unable to be opened. (Hubby's grand idea-works well.) Off to Lowe's I go. Get a replacement handle assembly.....try to install on my own. Let me tell you, this woman is no Mrs. fixit! I took off the existing assembly handle on both sides, leaving the lock assembly still in the door. So far, so good! Two more screws for the lock assembly.....oooops......lock assembly falls into the door. Yes, you heard me INTO THE DOOR. Stop laughing! There is NO WAY to retrieve the lock assembly. Ok, so it was broken anyway....we are remodeling the kitchen and installing french doors sometime in the near future (next couple of years)...it's not hampering the function of the door, so I leave it there. I opened the package of the new door handle, and took all the parts out. I figured out how it went onto the door and tried to start putting it on. The only holes that matched were the screw holes. I couldn't get the "innards" of the handle on the inside of the door. Thought about maybe getting the drill, thought about the aluminum I had to drill through and decided not to. I put the old handle back on, minus the lock, and put the baseball bat back. Unusable back door. Remember...we have a dog! UGH Told hubby, but he is working so late that it will be next year before it gets done. *sigh*

Ok, so onto the next broken thing. Picture this...piles of mile high mountains of laundry. Haven't done any in a few days. Go to do the laundry, come down to a puddle of water inside my washer. Things that make you say hmmmmmm. Put it on drain and spin and OH MAN!!! The washer makes a horrible little grinding noise. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. It always happens when I have mount washmore. So, I called the repair guy who came today. He reaches into my washer, pushes on the basin, says "I can tell you what the problem is probably going to be and it's not good." Can anyone say "waaaaaaaah" with me? Tells me the basin is not supposed to move back and forth, and if he's right it will be pretty labor intensive. So he says he'll call me with an estimate because he has to order the parts and asks if I have the owners manual. Well, I like to consider myself a pretty organized gal, and I located it in a few minutes. The one good light at the end of the tunnel....he found the parts were still under warranty. Yippee! Then it can't be that bad right? WRONG. 3 year old washer, front loader, very expensive. $300 to repair. You've got to be kidding me! Not only that, but I will be without my washer for more than a week till the parts come in. *sigh* Anyone got any quarters? Laundry mat here I come. The silver lining is that all my wash will be done in a few hours. LOL

We have only been living in this house for one year. The air conditioning has had to be fixed, the hot water heater had to be replaced (these were covered under the new home warranty), the dishwasher had to be replaced, and now the back door handle, and the washer. What in the world? The blessings of home ownership I guess *grin*.