I threw all the stinky clothes, towels, dish towels, etc., into the washer this evening. Then, into the dryer, which made an unusual loud "Thunk" upon starting up. Ran awhile, then another untoward noise, suggesting real trouble. So, this evening, we have set up a "circumstantial solution force", a clothesline, in the kitchen. My wife took this dryer failure worse than I did...... just another mechanical problem beckoning me to solve. Which I will.....TOMORROW! Right now, a second St. Pauli Girl beer is advisable, to aid my troubled mind in navigating this newest "set-back". Hell, life can be like an ongoing "novel" if you guide your thinking there......more fun to be accepting the challenges it throws forth rather than whining and wringing hands......NO? Frank
Reminds me of this in our kitchen when I was a child... if it was raining..and it often was in Scotland, and my mother had to dry the clothes for 6 people indoors, she only had a similar ''pulley'' to this to do it on... sheets , towels and everything!! Co-incidentally Frank..my dryer packed up yesterday.. so hubs is going to have to repair it today...
When we first moved into this house, our primary heat was a woodstove. We often placed wooden racks around the stove and dried our clothes on it. That served the function of drying the clothes and humidifying the house during the winter, as the heat would dry everything out. We also hung pumpkin rings, apple rings and herbs on the wall near the stove but away from the real heat.
Today I started tearing apart the clothes dryer. My wife printed off a 6-page copy of service info, with parts breakdown. Looked like the drum is supported by two roller bearings in front, an axial bearing in back. The sound it made when it quit sounded like a grinding noise, perhaps bearing out. I began by opening up the back. Decided that the chute which guides air flow down and out through the outside dryer vent, might as well be cleaned, as there is always lint visible down in the lint screen chute. When I slid that big metal chute down and off, it's as tall as the dryer itself, what I found caused an involuntary expletive, which my wife, over by the kitchen sink, disliked considerably. I said "Holy f86k"!! Said it again. She walked over, and nearly fell backwards in horror when she realized: First snake we've seen since moving here 6 years ago! Not a rattlesnake, which Park Service has been warning about lately, several tourists bitten. Color identical to the Copperheads we had in Missouri, but no diamond-shaped markings. The creature had crawled in through the dryer vent, encountering the air blower fan, which nearly chopped it in two. The source of the strange noise identified! A good 4-feet long! She asked for a shot holding it up in the air. I complied, though not pleased to reveal the appearance of my mis-shapen arthritic knuckles. Still capable of snake-handling! The excitement over, I plugged in the dryer, still all apart, set to Air-Fluff, pressed button: voila! Runs fine again. Who could've guessed? My wife asked later, why we seem so prone to the unusual and presumedly impossible experiences? I told her we are "mythical". Frank
@Nancy Hart It is beyond my ability to understand how you are the only one to spot this incredible happening. Perhaps I should have started a thread, entitled "First Snake Seen, 6 years!". Frankly, we were both horrified, to say the least, at opening up our dryer and finding this. Maybe it's commonplace? My wife posted it on her local FB thing, and got over 200 mentions, and nearly as many "referrals", where, as I understand it, registered folks can share with others. One lady mentioned a hamster found dead in her dryer, another stated she would immediately have thrown the snake-inundated dryer away! Maybe I will reveal some more macabre experiences, to taunt the local tastes. Like, maybe, the bat in our living room. Frank
Yikes! Now I'm afraid to open my dryer...not snakes here but Roof rats are a big problem in Fresno and my worst nightmare.
I told my wife the story and she got the shivers even though there are no snakes here. Now she is afraid to open the dryer!
@Frank Sanoica, I think you deserve 1st prize for the most unusual story of the week. Probably the whole month.
@Nancy Hart Hey, at least it's not made-up! The response to my wife's telling it on her FB group was overwhelming! Several hundred responses...... Still, the truly BEST experience regarding unwanted interlopers was this occurrence: My wife, working for a Microwave Oven outlet in Phoenix, took in an oven making "popping" noises. The repair Tech. opened it up, found the inside absolutely filthy with old food, and the inner workings filled with cockroaches! Both alive and dead! They exploded when exposed to the microwaves! Frank