They don't make them like they used to.

Way back in June of 2000 Mike and I made our first appliance purchase. The appliances we had at the time were all older model Kenmores that had more than paid themselves off for my Mom who had generously included them with our purchase of her house. Some of them (the dryer and dishwasher) we still have while the rest have slowly and systematically been replaced. I remember planning on making this purchase at the time. I did my research and read good things about these newish front load machines that were on the market. We do have water issues here so the savings on water really grabbed my attention. Having been a witness to what workhorses these Kenmore products were I knew we'd be coming home the proud new owners of a front loading Kenmore washer. In essence it was an easy purchase to make, but at the same time it was a but like a punch in the stomach. This was our first major purchase as homeowners. Our first real "grown up" moment. It seemed almost ridiculous that we were making this purchase decision on our own with no hand holding from any of our parents. We were little more than kids, babies it seemed at the time and we were talking about a lot of money. What if we made a mistake? But we soldiered on, pretended we knew what we were doing and bought the washer, deferring the payments for a year on our new acquired Sears card. Then we came home and I think I may have thrown up, just a little bit.

A few days later our washer arrived and, just like the salesman had predicted we would, after it was hooked up we sat around the kitchen table with Dad, Linda and a pot of coffee and watched the first load, start to finish. And he has been providing endless hours of entertainment ever since.



I'm not embarrassed to tell you it was true love right from that first day or that our new washing machine made me love doing laundry. I was and still am the laundry Queen. It's rare to hear me complain about having to do the laundry. Dusting, yes. Unloading/loading the dishwasher, oh yes. Vacuuming, oh hell yeah. But never the laundry, which is good because the four of us can produce a ridiculous amount of it. Now the last few weeks I've been concerned that perhaps all was not right with my lovely little front loading Kenmore. Who I've just now decided to name Kenny. You see Kenny has been getting more and more vocal during his spin cycle. To the point where he can drown out the TV, very annoying when I'm trying to concentrate on McDreamy, McSteamy and the rest of the Seattle Grace gang.

Last night Old Beard popped in for a moment and his expert (in pre-Old Beard days he was an appliance repair man) diagnosis was Kenny was getting ready to lose his bearings. We discussed repair versuses buying new and he promised to research how much cabbage a repair would cost. Apparently it isn't a simple or cheap fix on a fancy machine like Kenny. After Old Beard had taken his leave Mike and I discussed how annoyed we were at the thought of having to replace a machine that hadn't quite made it to his 7th birthday. Especially when you consider we own a dryer that is fast approaching 20 years of service and a dishwasher that is not far behind. Surely it would seem reasonable that those would need replacing first.

Later that evening my brother popped up on my MSN to direct my attention to some interesting websites. Which is what he does instead of asking me how I am or what's going on in my life while at the same time giving me no information about his own . One on the list was curbly.com. Which I have to admit I really enjoyed, which didn't surprise me because Dave is always right about this sort of thing. This site has all manner of information in regards to home improvements and just general home related articles. As I nosed about I stumbled, quite by chance, across this article. Which I'm not exactly sure made me feel better or worse. The estimated life expectancy of a washing machine is only 8 - 15 years? So my beloved Kenny falls a bit short of the average, but somebody has too right. I admit it was "comforting" to read that washers have a relatively short life span, but on the other hand, what the eff? A grand, at worst only buys you 8 years or less? Now that's a bit hard to suck up. I can only hope that Kenny keeps his mouth shut about this and doesn't let the dryer know it could have retired about a decade or so ago. And thank God they don't hang out with the dishwasher because she's about 8 years past the golden handshake as well.

Now so far I've neglected to tell you the funniest part of this story and again it isn't funny in a haha way, but that big ole cosmic joke way that I've become so fond of. You see not long after Old Beard had left, just as Kenny was reaching the high note of his spin cycle there was a huge noise and Kenny started rumbling all over the laundry room. Something inside Kenny had let go. He did manage to limp through the rest of the cycle, but I think he's truly living on borrowed time now. I shudder at the thought of not having on site laundry facilities. Yes Papa and Grandma Linda would and will, if need be, graciously loan us the use of their machine, but I think inconvenient pain in the ass should cover how I feel about that.