One of Those Crazy Weeks!

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This week truly has been one of those crazy weeks. It started badly but ended well, and I’m just happy the weekend is finally here. Bright and early on Monday morning I dropped my husband off at the bus stop, came home and put a load of clothes in the washing machine downstairs. A very short time later, I heard the smoke alarm go off in the wash room!

I grabbed my cell phone, then hurried downstairs to investigate and found wispy smoke in the family room, which is right next to the wash room. I figured the problem must be the washing machine, so I yanked out the plug, checked for flames or the source of the smoke, and called 911 all at the same time.

The Kirkland firefighters arrived in less that 5 minutes, checked everything out very thoroughly, and reported that the motor on the washing machine must have burned out. They were so kind and reassuring, and told me I did everything RIGHT: had a working smoke alarm, pulled the plug on the washing machine which stopped the problem from getting any worse, and called for help. They set up their big fans and blew the smoke out of the downstairs, and then told me I’d need to take that load of clothes to the laundromat so all our underwear (of course it was a load of underwear) wouldn’t smell like smoke! We were so lucky! No fire, no smoke damage, just a scary way to start the week!!

The rest of the week has been filled with shopping for a new washer (and dryer), and with being at home for the delivery and installation, and with trying to catch up with what seems like massive amounts of laundry that had to wait for the new machine! All this around my husband’s deadline at work, and trying to teach and meet my own report card deadline at school. But that’s okay because all ended well. I have nothing to complain about.

Here’s the little gem that arrived at our house on Thursday afternoon, and that we already love and appreciate. And I am so looking forward to a quiet weekend with time to read and visit your blogs, and perhaps get caught up on the laundry.

14 thoughts on “One of Those Crazy Weeks!”

  1. Bookfool

    Yikes! I’ll bet that was scary. We had a ceiling fan motor burn out and I called the volunteers, just to be on the safe side, when my 17-year-old was a baby. They were such a great bunch of guys. Two crawled up into the attic to make sure there were no hidden fires. 4 or 5 guys stood around in my living room playing with the fan. And, they reassured me I’d done the right thing, calling just to be safe.

    You really kept your head together. Good for you, Robin!!!

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  2. Chris

    Oh no! I would’ve freaked out big time! Glad to hear that everything was ok and that the firemen were so nice! And your new washer is just lovely! 😀

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  3. Chris

    That’s scary!

    I’ve had washing machine troubles before and what a pain it is! I’ve had to go to relatives to doing laundry or have tons of dirty clothes lying around.

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  4. Les

    Thank goodness everything turned out ok! What a scare you must’ve had, though! Eeek. I had something similar happen a few years ago when I started our dishwasher. I heard a strange pop then smelled smoke. I quickly turned it off, ran downstairs to make sure the breaker flipped then called an electrician. Probably should’ve called the fire dept. but I didn’t smell (or see) any more smoke. Turned out the cord to the dishwasher was an old round deal and not grounded. Could’ve been a terrible disaster. Gotta love these old houses.

    Next time I’ll call the fire dept. If anything, I can get a nice photo of their rig. 😉

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  6. Robin

    Thanks, Bookfool…I surprised myself! It’s so scary to have smoke of any kind in the house, and definitely good to be on the safe side.

    Thanks, Chris. I’m in love with our new washer and dryer.

    Thanks, Chris. I thought it would take days and days to catch up with the laundry, but it hasn’t been too bad actually. And I love using the new machines, so it’s been fun to do the wash. That will wear off soon, I’m sure.

    Thanks, Les. Unfortunately I didn’t grab my camera when the 911 operator ordered me out of the house (she did say, “You need to leave the house right now.”). So I lifted the photo of their fire truck off the city’s web site. On their web site, the red lights are animated so they flash!

    Thanks, J.Danger. Yes! I was a girl scout … AND had 3 brothers that were boy scouts! 🙂

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  11. Tara

    Oh my goodness! I’m glad that all ended well. I like your new machine. When I went shopping for a new dryer, I discovered there were only two models at Sears that would fit into my house….that made it easy but not much fun.

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  12. Robin

    Thanks, Tara. This washer and dryer are smaller than the old ones, and we have such a small washroom anyway. It’s MUCH nicer now.

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  13. Nan

    That really is scary, Robin. I’m so glad all is fine. And to get a new washer makes it ‘almost’ worth it!! I’ll be interested in how it works compared to your old one.

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  14. Robin

    Thanks, Nan! We are sooo enjoying the new washer. It’s so quiet we keep going downstairs to see if it’s working! And it uses such a tiny bit of detergent…it’s going to be a huge energy-saver!

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