JANUARY 2025 Monthly Running Challenge

Monday, I did a load of laundry. When I went in the wash room afterwards, I smelled a burning rubber smell. I didn't see anything, so did another load. This one, there was no smell, but it wasn't spinning right and I couldn't get the suds off the clothes. I rinsed it about 4 times before enough got off to be "safe" to dry.

I called and made an appointment for a repairman to come look at it today. What a waste of our time and my money. He was very nice and honest, but just looked up the model on his phone, guessed as to what the problem probably is, and quoted a price that was more than a new machine would be to get it repaired. He did say that his company was horrible about that and charged way too much for both parts and labor and he suggested I just buy a new one somewhere. Of course, I had to pay for the service call and his time.

Also, last night, my microwave quit working. I was trying to pop popcorn and it wouldn't pop. Everything was working, it just wasn't getting hot. I mentioned it to the repairman and he said it was probably the magnetron, which is what went bad on the last one I had. This is a built in microwave/oven combination unit, so not something that is cheap or simple to replace.

I spent the afternoon looking to try to find when I got the unit I have now and why I decided to replace it instead of getting it fixed. Turns out it was in 2017. It's hard for me to believe it was that long ago. I never did find anything in my journals about when the old one tore up or why I replaced it. I just found references about needing to start looking for a new one 6 months before I actually bought one because it had been a long time since it tore up. Procrastination at it's finest.

I have called another repair person to come look at both items on Tues. So, we'll see what they say. I may have to wind up buying both (oven, microwave, and washer). If I do, I will try to get built in units that are separate, but stack. (The oven and microwave.)

Then, my sink drain has been slow running for a couple of weeks. It was getting worse, despite the fact that I was using drain-o type things in it. So, I decided to take it apart yesterday and see if I could find where it was stopped up. Everything under the drain was clear, so I used my drain snake in the drain that goes into the basement. It got to a point that I couldn't get it to go any further. I wasn't sure if it hit something solid, or I just wasn't doing it right. So, I poured some drain-o into that pipe so it would get to the plugged up area, left it a bit, and then poured hot water down the drain. Well...that was a bust. Now it is totally stopped up and it took 24 hours for a little bit of water to leak down. I was planning to take it back apart today and try the snake again, but I just didn't have the energy. I may try tomorrow.

I do have a plumber that is coming to fix a couple of other things I have going on - basement leak and shut off valve in the master bedroom. I texted him and he said he could also unstop the drain, or at least try. Problem is, I'm not sure when he is coming. He has been sick for 2 weeks and, I've heard, is getting married tomorrow. (He's my cousin.) I can live with the other things, but not having a working kitchen sink is a big pain in the XXX. It's almost as bad as not having water at all.

I know these are basically minor first world issues and I am blessed to be able to afford these fixes without huge financial difficulties. It'll all work out. I was just frustrated today. This week has felt like a week of Friday the 13ths.