Tuesday, August 5, 2008

I need a Superhero Badge :)

Seriously folks. My washer 'broke'. I was washing a cheap bathmat Spanky 'used' when I took off his diaper to take a bath.  I dumbly popped it in my fancy washer and half-way through the wash, I got an OE message. I looked it up--clogged drain.

I panicked. I cannot live without a washer. I have four children--three are not very neat and the fourth has a very specific wardrobe. I cannot live without a washer.

Fixing things is not my thing though. I have difficulty hanging a picture on the wall, I can't tell the difference between a screwdriver with the star and the one with the line (I know one is called a flathead though). I usually leave fixing to the husband but he was busy and would be busy til late. I needed it fixed.

I did what I always do. I called a handyman. He would not be able to arrive til the following afternoon and would charge a hefty service call for a clogged drain. 

Surely there had to be a better way. I goggled the name of my washer and found the manual. I found the page that showed the drain filter and instructions on how to clean it. It didn't look that hard.

I popped open the cover, put a bucket under valve, unscrewed it and out popped the very nasty yuck covered filter, oh and a lot of water. I cleaned it, replaced the filter popped back on the lid, tried the washer and BAM it worked.

I canceled the handyman. No need--Lisa the Super Hero is in the house :)

18 comments:

Texasholly said...

SUPERSTAR!

Oh, and it's a Phillips (the star thingy).

Can you come visit and fix my dishwasher? I figure you would give me a shorter service window. I would also pay you in babysitting and wine.

Anglophile Football Fanatic said...

Wow. I'm super impressed with your skillz. I NEVER could do that.

Amanda said...

Girl Power!
Good for you, i would have been scared to touch the thing and have waited for hubby to fix it!

3boys247 said...

You go girl!

I don't even know where our washing machine is, or so says my husband, he handles the laundry.

Brian and Staci said...

Whoa! Super impressive girl! I am like you...cannot fix a darned thing...my husband though, can fix anything! So I rely on him for everything. Good for you and good for your pocketbook :) How can this be: if I am such a rule follower...how come I CANNOT follow directions!???!!! Because sweet husband says if he has directions, he can almost do anything!!?? (And I'm with you on the screwdriver...I never know which is which...just yesterday, my mom had her eyes dilated and we were trying to screw something together..and she asked me what type of screwdriver...of course I said...I dunno...I described it to her and she said...Staci, really? You don't know?? Um, yep...I'm a loser...but I can clean people's teeth!

mah-meeee said...

yay!you fixed it!

we had a broken washer awhile back too... not fun.

i also fixed our washer... i reset the washer by unplugging it and waited awhile before i plugged it back in. :)

Laural Out Loud said...

AWESOME! You must've felt on top of the world!

I love fixing things for the satisfied high I get afterwards.

Jennifer S said...

I'm totally high-fiving you from here!

Good for you...I'm not sure I would have thought to google the instructions.

Gretchen said...

WooHoo. Do you feel like you just climbed a mountain? There is something so satisfying about saying, "yeah, I did that, no problem." One more thing to cross off your list of Things I Need Help With.
GOod For you!!!

Jacque said...

Good save!! :)

Elizabeth Byler Younts said...

woo-hoo...you are braver than i am. great story...and you are definitely a super hero!

EatPlayLove said...

way to go..one of my girlfriends was very accomplished in this same task last week. she was so proud, as you are.

MOM power! who needs a handy man..

Grace Acres said...

hey I would never have thought of googleing it, AWESOME you are woman hear you roar!

Blogalicious Designs said...

Hello, my name is Stephanie and I am co-owner of Blogalicious Designs (www.blogaliciousdesigns.blogspot.com), a Blog Design Business. With blogging becoming more and more popular each day, we created a business to meet the needs of bloggers around the world by making their blogs fit their personal style.

With that said, we are currently running a "SURF'S UP" special by surfing the blogosphere and offering a 25% discount to anyone who replys to this comment saying "I wanna be BLOGALICIOUS!"

So surf on over to our blog, browse our portfolio, and email us by clicking the "email us" button on our left sidebar.

We'd love to make you BLOGALICIOUS!

Lizz @ Yes, and So is My Heart said...

Nice work!

Anonymous said...

Wow way to solve that problem. No washer is just not an option for say a day even.

CC said...

You can borrow mine!

Oh, and teach Professor X about this. We got charged $40 for a handman to come "fix" our dryer (aka flip the circuit breaker switch).

Unknown said...

Look at you miss fix-it! Way to take control and save on handy man charges. You Rock!