Follow-up on the washer saga

Here's the rest of the story: The repair tech said the switch on our machine was fried and a new switch (including labor & trip charge for today) would cost us $280. That's to fix a 5+year old machine for which we paid either $299 or $350 (can't remember which). The life span of a washer is 5 years. I had a feeling the machine would cost more to repair than it was worth, so while the tech was working on the machine I was comparison-shopping for new machines. By the time he gave me the above news I had already selected my first choice for a replacement machine. Since the tech was still here I got his opinion on the replacement machine too, and he was impressed and said I'd picked a good quality machine that would last for years.

So once he left I ran off to my favorite big-box home improvement store and purchased our new washer! I got a front-loading, energy efficient washer that will be much more cost-effective than our old one, so hopefully it will begin to pay for itself on day one. It uses 60% less water, half the detergent, its super-quiet and will cut our drying time in half. It cost a bit more than I expected because I also got the base that raises the machine to a much more user-friendly height, as well as the service plan (I was vulnerable and the plan provides full coverage for repair or replacement with a new machine, less than $100 for 4 years). I think I did well. So did Hubby, once he got over the initial sticker shock. I think it's going to be a purchase we'll be happy with for a long time.

I think I know what we'll spend our refund/rebate check on in May - paying off the fancy-schmancy washer! I'm still planning to walk my own talk and use a portion of that money to create positive change. Haven't figured out what I'll do yet, but will let you know when I do. All I know is we shouldn't pass up the opportunity to use the government's money to do some good for a change. One thing I never really found out about these upcoming checks is: is this like the ones we got in 2001 which were just an advance on our refunds, or is this money completely separate? I'd really like to know that, it would have a significant impact on how we spend our check (or it would have, pre-washer!)

After all that my work was not yet done. I still had a basket of extremely wet laundry, as well as a backlog of laundry, that all needed to be washed. So I wound up spending a couple of hours at a local laundromat, trying to study while our clothes washed and dried. Not a bad atmosphere for studying actually, except for this oddly familiar woman who kept on talking to me. I chatted with her because I'm too polite for my own good, and because I was trying to figure out where I knew her from. Why didn't I ask her? She had a really strange vibe that raised caution flags for me, to the point that I never told her my name or anything about myself. After I got home I remembered where I knew her from and was very grateful I listened to my intuition - she used to play poker in the casino where I worked, and she was one of our "problem children". She was "poker scum". She just didn't know how to behave in public and frequently started disputes with other players that I had to mediate. On one occasion I even had to eject her from the poker room. Fortunately my appearance has changed somewhat (for the better) since I left the gaming industry, it's hard to recognize acquaintances when you see them out of their normal context, and she was so self-absorbed I don't think she could see past the tip of her own nose anyway, so I'm not surprised she didn't recognize me. But I was very pleased that she didn't, because all of that is in the past and not worth my time and energy.

Anyway, that was my day - too damn busy with domestic issues to even think about rabblerousing and agitating, what a day! The most fun I had all day was taking my Philosophy exam on Marx, truly a man after my own heart! Worthwhile reading is what he wrote on alienation of labor and how valuing the products of labor more than the laborer himself leads to dehumanization of the worker and idolatry of the products of labor. Heavy, beautiful and so true. One misconception about Marx really gets under my skin: when Marx wrote in opposition of private property, he didn't mean what we think of as private property, i.e. houses, cars, etc. He meant the product of alienated labor. He believed that property and the wealth derived from it by the factory owners, which resulted from the alienation and dehumanization of the workers, was wrong and needed to be abolished. He opposed the spiritual disconnect that occurs when a worker is treated as less-than-human, like an animal or a machine, and believed that each worker puts a portion of his spirit and humanity into the products of his labor, that sharing of the worker's spirit and humanity should be honored, and that the products of labor shouldn't be valued more than the laborer who contributes his spirit and humanity to their existence.

Peace,
AuntieM