I stayed home for a couple hours today because we were having work done on our washing machine. We'd been unable to use it for more than a week because it wouldn't agitate. Our friend John Martini had come over on Sunday and we investigated the problem without success. We couldn't access all the motors and things, but we were able to test the electronics. We thought we'd isolated the problem -- by process of elimination -- to the transmission or what we thought was an alternator.
John suggested a local repairman he trusted. The name was familiar to me too, and when he returned my call he suggested I contact General Electric, because if it was still under warranty I'd save money. I like an honest business owner. I set up the appointment for today, and I was ready to assist the technician by relaying what John and I had learned.
The man arrived within the expected four-hour time window. I told him the problem as I saw it. He noticed the little flap where the probe from the loading door hit was out of place. It had been that way for months. John and I had played with it on Sunday as well. The washer had worked in the past with the flap out of place, though it spun regardless of whether the door was open or not. Today the appliance man flipped that flap back into its proper alignment. Just like that, the washer agitated again. I couldn't believe it; we'd tried that on Sunday!
And just like that I was out nearly $100 for his visit. I felt like a fool, but a fool who can clean his clothes again. It would have cost more had it been what I'd feared. Though the transmission was under warranty, the labor wasn't. (I don't understand that scheme.) So instead of a $150 job, I'd spent $100 for the five minutes this man was in my house.
I told Maureen what had happened. "I spent $100 for this guy to show me I'm an idiot," I said. "I usually get that for free."
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