So there I was, minding my own business, when I heard the distinct sound of an imbalanced load of towels spinning in the washing machine. Annoying, but easy to fix. Open the lid, rearrange the towels, restart the washer. No big deal. As I opened the laundry room door, I stepped into an ocean of raging water. The washing machine was bouncing across the room like a pogo stick as water was violently pouring onto the floor. Something had gone terribly wrong. I quickly splashed over to the washer and hit the button to stop the spinning, but the water kept pouring out of the machine. At that moment, the thought occurred to me that I was standing in water with electrical appliances that were plugged in and running. So I jumped on top of the washer. Yes, that was a good move. Always safer to stand on top of electric devices submerged in water. Water was still gushing onto the floor. I knew I needed to turn off the main valve connected to the wall, but I was still concerned about the electric situation. So I grabbed a sock. Yes, always grab a sock when turning off water valves. I’m not sure what I thought the sock would do, but it did give me enough confidence to grab the valve and stop the surging water. I breathed a sigh of relief and splashed back into the pool at my feet. Still standing in water, I was calmly surveying the scene when my roommate Erin yelled, “The dryer is still on!” With swift cat-like reflexes, I lunged toward the doorway and landed on the carpet, barely escaping with my life.
Erin and I stood there for a while, each quietly realizing how much work we had ahead of us. We don’t have a shop-vac, or anything similar. We have towels and trash cans. The carpet situation was serious enough to merit renting a Rug Doctor from the local grocery store. The hallway was soaked and water extended to nearby closets and walkways. We spent the next 5 hours cleaning. During that period, I had time to reflect on the situation. I had cheated death. Certain disaster was about to wreak havoc on me and my friends, but I had saved the day. Ok, I’ll be honest, that’s how most of my daydreaming starts… major crisis, everyone else freaks out, I am a hero, etc…but I’ll explain that another day. Anyway, I decided to call my brother Paul to see if I really could’ve died. He said no. Apparently, I wasn’t in any danger. He said something about valves and hoses and told me some stuff I should check. He knows these things.
Anyway, I am alive and well. My washer still doesn’t work. It’s leaking water from under the bottom of the whole thing…not the hoses, not the connections, but under the whole machine. Feel free to offer insight or thoughts, or to just come over and fix it. Meanwhile, I will keep daydreaming about saving the world and not being afraid of electricity.
