Ah finally I can sit down tonight and sip my wine…. Tonight I just realised that the humble washing machine is a complex piece of machinery that I could not live without. If I were on my own, I would not mind not having one, I would prefer to have a trip to a laundrette to do my wash but since having an ankle biter, we have at least two loads a day to wash.
On Tuesday night, the darn thing started to play up. I had to rescue a load of my baby boy’s clothing as it has been sitting there for hours. The problem seems to be a clogged pump filter according to the manual. I took out the filter and found these treasures in there – four AU$2 coins and three 5 cent coins. I was happy to see them as I could definitely enjoy a large hot cuppa with these found treasures on my next trip to Gloria Jeans. I put back the filter, switched the machine on and guess what – it did not work. For the past three nights I have been doing the washing sort of in semi-automatic mode. I would let the machine do the wash and I did the manual pump override. It wasn’t a walk in the park because I did the job until 10:30pm waiting for the cycles to finish – for the love of my son indeed.
I could not afford to get a new washing machine and was becoming resigned to the fact that this is going to be my night life as a Rock Dad until I can afford one. I could just see myself playing a guitar to this white boxy thing and if ever the missus asked me where the hell I am taking my guitar and amplifier with me, I would just say – “Sweetie, I’ve got a gig with the washing machine tonight.”.
As what a bloke would do, I had enough and decided to give it a go. I pulled the back of the washing machine off and pulled the top off and tried to get access to the pump. After an hour of analysing and fidgeting I have decided to tilt the machine sideways to allow me to access the solenoid and twist the hose a bit. What a pain – poor design on the manufacturer I would say because there is no way to access the pump except through the bottom or by completely dismantling the machine. Suddenly I thought, I should try to move the impeller manually by the use of a long screw driver. As soon as I directed the torch, there it was like a tiny devil smiling at me peeping in the corner and hoping not to get noticed – a 10 cent coin… I was spewing (Australian for really mad) and cursing and fidgeting and bending and kneeling and poked and poked and poked and cursed some more until I got it an hour and a half later.
One thing I learnt tonight is the most basic of all things which is attention to detail….. It was not a 10 cent coin, it was a 5 cent coin instead…. Nearly the most expensive 5 cent coin I have ever seen. You beauty!
