One of Gerald's favorite sayings used to be "Man makes plans, and God laughs."
Tonight, after I finished my self-congratulatory post about my successful and productive day, I went down in the basement to get the last load of laundry before going to bed. As I was standing in front of the dryer, however, I noticed that the rug in the laundry area felt damp--damp enough to make my socks wet. Not good.
I peeked around the side of the laundry area, and found that there was nearly an inch of standing water stretching out for a good six feet into the storage side of the basement. The side where we put all the clutter that we don't want to think about, most of which is in cardboard boxes. I'd been putting off the Herculean task of cleaning that side of the basement until other things were more under control, but I guess my plans are the kind that make God laugh...
I found the Shop-Vac, but couldn't find a plug, so I called Gerald, who told me where only accessible plug was--on the ceiling above the washer. I climbed up there, but the Shop-Vac cord didn't reach, so I had to go out into the freezing-cold garage (in wet, bare feet) to find an extension cord. Then it took me 30 minutes to vacuum up the water from the floor and the rug, and clear the soggy boxes out of the way.
It looks like the problem was a clogged drain in the sink that the washer drains into (and, possibly, a skewed hose that was spraying the excess over the edge). I stood down in the basement watching a test run of the washer so I could be sure I'd corrected the problem.
So much for my plan to go to bed early tonight.
Ah well. At least I didn't melt down. And I managed to deal with the problem without making anything worse. Now it really is time for bed.
The way I heard it, it goes: "Want to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans." It's an oldie. I imagine Job cracking it, a couple of decades after his restoration. It can take that long. Or never. Sigh.
Happy new year, Liz.
I know the awful squelching sensation you've described here. You have my sympathies! How often are our great plans and efficiencies thrown awry by some cosmic prankster? Guess it's one way to keep us humble.
It could have been worse... your dishwasher could have caught on fire...
This was my blog entry on Sunday, May 09, 2004. Background: I was on co-op in DC and living with my cousin Guy. He owns two dogs--Zeus and Zoe.
May 09, 2004
Guy, his friend Olivia and I were sitting downstairs Saturday night. I was on the laptop, they were on the couch, when I heard a faint "popping" sound coming from upstairs. I checked for the dogs--Zoe was downstairs, but Zeus was up. I got up and said to Guy, "I'm thinking I should see what that is..." and he responded "sure... good idea..."
I walked upstairs only to be greeted with acrid grayish black smoke. I darted into the kitchen to see the dishwasher on fire.
Fire Extinguisher (none)... Bowl (none)... Water (won't reach)... Towel... TOWEL! I started beating the fire down off the wall. After two swings, I ran back to the stairs and yelled "GUY! FIRE!" He was up in under 3 seconds flat. I continued beating the flames off the wall, and Guy filled a giant mixing bowl (which he'd pulled from a cabinet) with water and started dousing the flames. After two full bowls of water, I couldn't breathe, so I opened the door and went out on the balcony as Guy dumped the third and final bowl of water on the burning dishwasher.
I shudder to think what would have happened if I hadn't gone upstairs when I did. The flames were already 3/4 of the way up the wall.
Note: I tried to make these "pop" but it didn't like target = _blank. Anyone reading this might want to right-click the picture links and "Open in a New Window."
Overview of the damage
Melted door of the dishwasher
Close-up of the front panel (you can see the melted "Heated Dry / Energy Saver" switch
Melted countertop
The fire blew the circuit breaker for the dishwasher, but by that point it was already too late--if we'd discovered it only a minute later, we would have been collecting the dogs and running out of the house.
I did some research online. If you own this dishwasher (image from GE):
(link to image)
... then read this recall information ASAP:
http://www.geappliances.com/plcy/rcll.htm
An interesting part of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's press release:
There have been approximately 90 incidents of fire, smoking and melted switches, 14 of which included fires that spread beyond the dishwasher. Approximately 10 incidents have occurred since the recall announcement. No injuries have been reported.
How's that for excitement? :-)