Bummer

Financial Misery

OK, at one point this Spring I had some extra money.  Then, of course the trees fell down. And Tucker went lame, the lawnmower broke, and I backed the car into a tree.  I coped.

Last night, I went to take a bath and rusty water spewed into the tub.  I went down into the cellar to find my hot water heater leaking all over the floor.  It was pretty obvious my hot water heater tank was done for....dead with a hole somewhere in its heart. I am lucky enough to have a super service company here and by this morning they were already hot on the trail of a replacement system.

Dilemma. I could go for a cheaper installation of an electric system or go for a new oil heat system which is what I had. Definite puzzlement for me, but in the end, I opted for the same kind of heater I already had.  Cost a bundle, I fear and I had to tap into my home equity line, but now it's late afternoon, and I have hot water again.

In the meantime, I figured I could do a load of wash in cold water, so I filled the washer and....nothing. The machine made some anemic noises and just kind of shook a little.  I set it to spin and drain, got all the water out--that seemed to work fine--and tried again.  Same result. So, my washer, not even four years old, was not working.  I had to call a repair service for that.

More money down the drain. Another fair sized chunk when it proved that something was wrong in the timer control panel. Fortunately, the motor and computer board were OK.  Now, mind you, this is a name brand washer, hardly used as I don't have a family to wash clothes for. If does not have electronic controls or a ton of "bells and whistles."  I was supposed to be a good, solid "last for 25 years" solid machine. I bought it before I retired with the plan that it was one more thing I wasn't going to have to worry about once I retired.

Wrong. The repair bill--to replace the timer system--is still under the cost of a new washer, but not by much. Should this machine break down again, I will NOT try to get it fixed but simply find a way to buy a new one. I am SO annoyed. And SO broke.

Extra money clearly seems to attract extra expenses, even when you try to avoid them.

Bummer.

At least the Boys each got a bite of a strawberry flavored oat bar from the washer repairman.