Washington NC Historic District

In the ever exciting news of my day, the Sears repairman just left. He ordered two parts and a repairman will be here on Wednesday (if the parts arrive) to install them. He said it was an easy fix but also told me the Samsung I have is a horrid machine. In so many words. We’ve not had trouble with it, but if the “bearing” goes out, as it does on many of them, it’s an over $800 fix. So if the bearing goes out, it damn sure better wait another year until I have the money to buy a new one. He doesn’t like the brand, doesn’t like front loading washers, doesn’t think anyone should buy them. Jane bought a top-loader and can wash an immense amount of clothing at one time, a week’s worth of two boys laundry. At one time. Amazing. It’s a huge machine.

We’ve had the Samsung for about 5 years, if I remember correctly, maybe even longer than that, yeah … longer than that. So it’s not tearing up and it’s not a bad machine. Of course, we don’t do huge loads, that may be why it’s not messing up. I caused the recent mess by removing the filters from the hoses, trying to get more water pressure, which was stupid because now silt covered the sensor for filling up. He said it was an easy fix. Yeah for that. Yeah for Jane and Andy for giving me the $$ to get it fixed as a Mother’s Day present. What a wonderful gift.

The parts should be here on Wed and then a repair man will come to finish the paid in full job. He said I could use the machine if I just shut off the water after the spin cycle but the dryer isn’t plugged in and I don’t have clothesline, so that ain’t happening. Wow, a post about washing machines, how droll.

I bought my first washing machine from Ronnie Eastburn in Hot Springs, AR back around 1980 when I was pregnant with Caroline. I brought that machine with me here to Washington and used it for at least 12 years before buying a new one for the house on Main St. I think we bought a new one because we had to leave the old one in the Weyerhauser house for the next occupants. We had to buy a microwave too, if I recall …

When we moved into this house, it had a washer, so we gave ours to Peggy’s daughter who had no machine. We probably would still be using the Ronnie washer if it was here. Those old machines didn’t break down, they were just motors and gears and knobs. No special computers, no singing songs when they were finished. That’s what Melanie was remembering about her old washer, it was avocado and she bets it’s still running somewhere. She had a Samsung and got rid of it after 2-3 years because it kept breaking down. We haven’t had that problem, thank god, this is the first repair we’ve needed. I hope this machine will last at least a couple more years… we’ll have to replace it with another front loader and the repairman really didn’t have anything nice to say about front loaders.

Oh well. Such is life. The machine we bought had high consumer satisfaction ratings and was said to be top of the line when we researched it. It was also half price. Caroline used her Lowe’s card to pay for it and we made the payments each month. Less than $800 for the pair. And they’re blue.

Jane’s new Maytag is huge. Her dryer is so big, Emmett can fit in it. Not smart, putting that much weight on the tub, but hey, it’s not my call — he thinks it’s really funny.

They lost the feral cat Lucky when thew new HVAC was installed. No big loss in my mind, the cat picked on the other cats. It’s much more peaceful there with the dumpster-found cat gone.

At their core, a healthy amount of daydreaming and reflection enable memory consolidation, and they allow non-linear connections to form, which both help our ability to break down and target issues and look at them through a new lens. — just read that.

Get this:

Jane’s been posting instagram photos of Emmett baking over the last 5 years. He’s 12 now, started baking at a very early age.

She always does #thekidbakes for the pictures. Lots and lots of photos over time…

The FOOD NETWORK found them! He’s auditioning, via Skype, for the Kids Bake-Off show. Can you believe it?

We’re dying laughing about it, because Emmett never met a person he doesn’t know, goes full bore 24/7 and can outtalk anyone. He’s perfect for it. He’s also extremely photogenic… a real cute little kid, he looks younger than 12 but he’s all personality.

So, he auditions via Skype on Monday at 5:30. I can’t wait to see how this all turns out. Jane says, “so what if he’s the first kid voted off, the experience alone will be worth it.” They’re going to bake all weekend, to up his skill level but he’s been baking cakes since he was 4 or 5 with us. None of it is new to him, he can make croissants, cinnamon rolls — you name it. He’s not big on decorating with fondant and Jane says that might be his downfall but how knows?

so that’s your fun news for the day.