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| Samsung top loader. Note the adjoining sink, de rigeur in NZ and Aussie for some completely unknown reason |
We have a washing machine. It's a Samsung top loader we've had for about 7 years.
Note to inhabitants of the UK. Front loaders are not as efficient as top loaders, so why the hell have we been buying the front loaders for the last 20 years?
My Beloved had been a little careless with the washing powder, and it had accumulated in the mouldings of the lid, which was causing rust to form.
2 months ago, I completely dismantled the lid and hinges, stripped them all down, sanded them, gave them a priming coat, an undercoat and then 3 topcoats of a spray-paint enamel.
The whole job took about a week,with the creation of a temporary spray booth taking the longest (Sheets of polythene arranged like a tent)
Finally I had it all finished. A perfectly painted lid had been created and then re-fixed to the machine.
I was so proud; I had done a good job. I wanted at least a gold star or a chocolate.
Yesterday, my Beloved left me a message.
She wanted to make sure that I remembered to put the washing machine on before I went off to Nuova Lazio.
She wanted to help me remember what settings to use.
So she wrote them on the lid.
She wrote these words.
She wrote them with this.
Please note the f*cking word PERMANENT
Sometimes I am not sure that our lovely ladies have enough brain cells to remember to keep breathing.
Lastly I've spent the entire day snoozing. After last week I felt absolutely drained, plus I had a cold.
My Beloved was not amused.
She wanted to go out and buy an antique table.
I just wanted to stay at home and vegetate.
Unusually, I had my way.
Mainly because I closed my eyes and slept. It's difficult to make someone do something when they're unconscious.
I prefer to go shopping. Purely a protection measure you understand. It's amazing how much money can be saved with just the right word or emphasis sometimes. All you have to do is sow that wee seed of doubt in the mind.
ReplyDelete'What? That one? Really?? No of course I like it...... if you're sure anyway.'
'No of course it suits you. Are you sure about the colour? Really, ummm...oh well. Well maybe it'll won't look so em - it'll be better in the light outside.'
Can work wonders in the right circumstances combined with a helpful yet worried frown.
{only sometimes}
Oh my gosh,I can't believe your wife wrote on the lid of the washing machine. That is hilarious(to me, if not to you).
ReplyDeleteAlistair: You are either very, very brave or exceedingly dumb, and I can't make up my mind whch applies to you.
ReplyDeleteEven hinting that the chosen item is in any way wrong according to colour/cut/size etc. has the tendency to raise the lady's ire level to a dangerous point.
Not immediately, you understand. But Later. When you are at a vulnerable moment. Then you will pay.
Poor chap.
Patience_Crabstick: I'm so glad that you find my pain and wasted work so hilarious Jen. To be fair, she wasn't feeling too good that evening when she wrote the message, so I'll put it down to a mild abberation.
However, we do have a large stock of Stick-It notes that she could have used instead, so perhaps there is an element of evil in the whole event.
Yes the old permanent marker strikes again! I have been given new pens at the start of the teaching year, and have quickly found out some ninny put in a permanent marker instead of a whiteboard marker. They looked the same. Luckily I checked the label though before disaster struck.
ReplyDeleteShame about your beautifully refurbished lid though.
Meths will get it off.
ReplyDeleteSo will Jif, even if you just leave a dba on the marks, rather tha scrub, as it has bleach in it which will lift the ink out.
ReplyDeleteIf all else fails try over writing with Whitebaord marker. That works on whiteboard to remove permanent marker.
Hope it does come off. What was your Mrs thinking? I thought you said she was highly intelligent?
I do wonder now.
Richard: Thanks for the tip, I'll try it. I wish I had some Xylene.
ReplyDeleteVG: I'll try the whiteboard cleaner, but I have my doubts. My Beloved is ery inteligent. But sh'e a she, which normally means (no offense) unutterable technical silliness.
This is the woman who wondered why I couldn't just leave the computer alone and not bother with any of those silly upgrades.
Like changing from Windows 95 to XP
Kitchen real estate - to use an American term...
ReplyDeleteUK houses are smaller generally than US and NZ etc. because of density of population and inflated house prices since somewhere after the war we all decided that house prices must go up quicker than inflation for ever so we can all my ooddles of cash for our retirements... DOH!
But that is why - we need ones that slip under a worksurface which is at a premium in most UK houses.
My Mum always had a twintub - remember them? Much more labour intensive but I'm sure more efficient as you could be spinning out one load whilst filling up and washing the next. Haven't seen them in years either
Very impressed with your washing machine repair work. I'd get a man in to do it while I continue reading The Journal of the Semiotics of Loganberry Production in Lower Brabant.
ReplyDeleteFFS has she not heard of post-it notes?
Excellent shopping tips from Alistair there. Will bear them in mind if ever I'm ensnared into domestic slavery -- er, sorry, form a happy and fulfilling shared life with someone.
As F says, twin tubs were great, and the man who repaired Kirsty's washing machine recently said that they are sturdier and more efficient and more reliable than modern washer-driers.
Furtheron: That's what I thought at first; that front-loaders were a space saving design, to slide under a worktop. But now I'm not too sure. Many Kiwi houses are similar in size to their UK equivalent, but manange to find room for a top loader.
ReplyDeleteI do indeed remember twin tub machines. The first washing machine we bought after we got married was a twin tub, very simple mechanicaly, and produced good clean clothes. Bloody noisy though.
looby: Thank you kind sir, I even impressed myself. My peak of self-impression was about 4 years after we got moarried, and I designed and built an entire kitchen from scratch. I'm talking about doors, carcases, shelves etc. all made from planks of pine.
With skills like those TSB you should be taking Hard Material Technology or Furniture Making classes. You are wasted just teaching Computing.
ReplyDeleteVG: I know. But I don't like being in a room with all these power tools. The Bandsaws. The Circular saws. The routers. The thicknessers.
ReplyDeleteToo much temptation.
It's easier to hide bits of the bad kids.
Too much temptation.