Saturday, January 24, 2009

Clothes Washer Died...


I knew it would happen. As soon as we start talking about clothes washers on Machinery Talk ours dies.

It has been a good one though. Always owned Kenmore by Sears and got great service. Need one right now so not sure we will go to the city to get another one.

We really would like front loading stackables for our little utility room or dirt room some call them on the farm. It has a door to the side porch and a door from the hallway near the kitchen.

The dryer is so close to the toilet that, well you get the picture. The room is tall in this old house and pretty small dimension wise.

Don't you just dread it when an important machine goes down? The washing machine keeps the clothes clean but planter provides the income! I know that is comparing apples to oranges but farmers do both. I just happen to have a tractor down at the same time. At least it isn't a planter down at planting time!

The stackables would be like a new planter or drill on this farm. It isn't in the budget. The old machine lasted ove 10 years with no repairs and I paid $400 for it for the boys while they were in college on Neil Avenue. When they graduated, it came home to replace the old Kenmore that died at Rhude Road.

It came here with us in 2004 so we got another 5 years out of it. I wish it had a use meter on it like tractors and automobiles have, it would be astronomical in number of uses.

LuAnn is doing her research on it right now and there seem to be some "bargains" out there right now in January in a record slow economy. There is a local store that charges more but gives good service but they don't handle Kenmore of course.

We do like to keep our money invested locally, especially in these challenging times. Our community needs our money spent where it is earned. That is key to viable local farm communities but that is a whole different topic maybe we can touch on some other time.

Right now we need to find the right machine for us in our empty nest years. About the time I say that though and something will change in the family, too! We are fortunate to have all six kids living within 80 miles of us though we can see where three of them may have to consider moving farther away to advance in their careers.

More research is needed to make the mud room work better while handling the washing, drying and folding of clothes.

We would rather be looking at seed catalogs to plan the garden this year!

Have a blessed weekend while we continue to think about our friends and family in need. The community will be tuned to 60 Minutes tomorrow night when they cover the impact of DHL closing their large hub in our county seat at Wilmington.

Ed Winkle

2 comments:

  1. We used to live on a neighbor's farm. He made me a deal, if I kept the lawn mowed and didn't but him, he would only charge me $225 a month rent. In turn we got a 100 year old house, a barn, and lean-to shed. My wife and I are both scrounges so when anyone would have a household appliance they were getting rid of we store it our barn. So, at one point we had three dryers and two washing machines.
    Then we moved. We had barely moved in when our washing machine died. But when we moved we had given our spare washer to the folks who moved in. It was still sitting in their front yard but it really didn't seem right to take it back. I don't know why we didn't just leave it to begin with.
    So wife and I drove to Portland to get another free washer/dryer set. I think the goal was to end up with a matching good quality set.
    The house was next to impossible to find. Fortuantly we had a google photo of their driveway. The washer dryer was in the basement of a split level. We had to take the heavy washer up the narrow garden steps. When we finally got it home it we wrestled the washer into place, took the dryer to the old house, gave the old washer to a fellow who thought he could fix it so he could wash wool. And then the motor coupler broke in the washer. At that point I was ready to spend the money on a new washer. But my lovely wife found the new parts on the internet and I fixed it. Somewhere around that time a fellow came by looking for used appliances and I helped him fill his van. I need to go back to our old house and check the supply of washer/dryer sets. I would be glad to give you one or two! I don't think in our 12 years we have had to actually bought a new washer/dryer, freezer, or refrigerator. "We've been really lucky," says my wife. "We just have low standards," said I. "No we are resourceful and lucky," said my wife...
    When I get my $100,000 from Mr. Obama I'm going to buy some new stuff for Mrs.!

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  2. Ah, that is funny! You sound like me! The supplier is supposed to put the still-working dryer in the barn in case one of the kids need it in the future! Then LuAnn told me how one of her participants was going to use her IRS refund to buy a dryer and I told her to just let that lady have it so she can spend the money on her kids. Tax Day is big stuff to her participants, those who live paycheck to paycheck...

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