Thursday, September 13, 2012

Bad appliance Karma?

I don't really believe in much of anything supernatural, but lately I've felt a bit that I must have offended the appliance gods.  In any case, appliances have been dropping like flies around our house. 

First it was the dishwasher.  I had noticed a little leakage earlier this summer, but managed to convince myself it was spills or something.  I don't know how long the thing had been leaking a lot more than a little, before I wandered into the kitchen in bare feet and made a nasty discovery.  (As a note, I don't go barefoot much around my house, because the temps in here seldom rise above what it takes to freeze my feet.)  So I step up to the kitchen sink, onto the little mat thing I keep there to. . . not sure what.  Catch the drips?  Catch the crumbs?  On reflection, it doesn't make much sense.

It does work as a signal, however.  One bare foot on the mat, and. . . .squoosh.  The thing's sopping wet!  Naturally, I then spend 20 minutes pulling everything out of the under-sink cabinet to find the leak, since it must be the drains.  And, in fact, I DID discover that the seal around my faucet has worn out, and bits of water are getting through.  But nowhere near enough for this flood.

Making a note that if I have to unfasten and re-seat my faucet, I am by George going to get a new one that doesn't look 13 years old, I dry out the rug, lay it back down, and. . . it's soggy again the next morning. 

About this point I realize that the also-13-year-old dishwasher is suffering some lack of structural integrity.  This may be where the karma comes in--it heard me talking about maybe replacing it, as it doesn't seem to work as well as it used to, and all the little rack peg things are rusting.  It should have known me better.  With my cheapskate nature, I seldom replace anything unless it's definitively dead.  Since the leak wasn't hoses or connections, but something structural, this qualified.

So, I schlepp out, buy a new dishwasher, spend an evening and a morning installing it, and have no sooner recovered from most of the aches, pains and scrapes incurred in the process, than my 2-year-old microwave dies.  In the worst way: everything works except the thing that makes the stuff get hot.  Estimate for repairs: $200 to $400. So. . . another appliance, another painful installation (it's the over-the-stove kind), delayed for days because the spouse is always at work and the boys not quite strong enough or tall enough to help me.

And that has to have been appliance revenge.  I mean, two years?  What's next?  The 13-year-old fridge (yeah, we remodeled the kitchen--wait for it!--13 years ago!)?  Or will the water heater of unknown vintage give up with a sigh, or a burst, probably while the house is full of company (hey!  Lots of help in installing a new one!)?

I wonder if a couple of sponges and a dishrag would be an acceptable sacrifice to appease the appliance gods, or if I need to give up my favorite coffee cup?

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