Let there be laundry
Jul. 9th, 2013 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustWhen I remarked that the washing machine blowing a fuse was not a portent to be dismissed lightly, I was right, of course. No particular prescience required: we've had the same washing machine since 1987, and it wasn't new then - we bought it from J when she sold her house and went back to university. It has been ridiculously reliable, but we knew we were living on borrowed time. A couple of days later, it developed a glitch and had to be coaxed, with much pressing of buttons and consulting the manual, to complete the wash, and another couple of days on, coaxing was ineffective. I hurled the unwashed load back into the basket, and went to Lindisfarne.
On our return, we contacted the engineer who had previously repaired the machine, and he confirmed what we feared, that it was time to buy a new one. Easier said than done: at the best of times we dither over consumer purchases. We selected the machine we wanted, which John Lewis said was out of stock, but that they would have more on Saturday. So we waited until Saturday - and don't forget that we had returned from a week away from home (in a holiday let which requires you to provide own bedding) bringing our dirty washing with us - when they decided that no, actually, they wouldn't be getting any more of that model, try again. We made another choice, and decided that we would by this stage be willing to pay extra for express delivery rather than wait 5 - 7 days for standard delivery, and filled in the form which didn't give us that option, but told us that the next delivery to Durham was Monday, eight days off. Not amused. But thanks to the kindness of neighbours and the wonders of the Old Cinema Launderette we made it; yesterday was Monday and a washing machine was delivered and installed, and I put through the first batch of laundry. Hooray! The machine is slightly larger than ou old one, but fits into the same space - the most noticeable difference is that one load is just slightly more washing than will fit onto the rack. I can learn to live with this.
We could have paid John Lewis extra to take the old machine away, but![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
durham_rambler had a better idea: Beamish Museum is collecting the 1980s? Very well... And yes, Beamish have confirmed that they would like our washing machine (and some of his 1980s political t-shirts): the only catch is that they have asked us to store these things for the until August. Well, we can do that...
On our return, we contacted the engineer who had previously repaired the machine, and he confirmed what we feared, that it was time to buy a new one. Easier said than done: at the best of times we dither over consumer purchases. We selected the machine we wanted, which John Lewis said was out of stock, but that they would have more on Saturday. So we waited until Saturday - and don't forget that we had returned from a week away from home (in a holiday let which requires you to provide own bedding) bringing our dirty washing with us - when they decided that no, actually, they wouldn't be getting any more of that model, try again. We made another choice, and decided that we would by this stage be willing to pay extra for express delivery rather than wait 5 - 7 days for standard delivery, and filled in the form which didn't give us that option, but told us that the next delivery to Durham was Monday, eight days off. Not amused. But thanks to the kindness of neighbours and the wonders of the Old Cinema Launderette we made it; yesterday was Monday and a washing machine was delivered and installed, and I put through the first batch of laundry. Hooray! The machine is slightly larger than ou old one, but fits into the same space - the most noticeable difference is that one load is just slightly more washing than will fit onto the rack. I can learn to live with this.
We could have paid John Lewis extra to take the old machine away, but
durham_rambler had a better idea: Beamish Museum is collecting the 1980s? Very well... And yes, Beamish have confirmed that they would like our washing machine (and some of his 1980s political t-shirts): the only catch is that they have asked us to store these things for the until August. Well, we can do that...
